CHAPTER 138: [MINE TO PROTECT]

Kairo’s gaze sharpened, his black eyes narrowing on Eli.

’He’s lying.’

Eli’s face gave him away. Wide eyes, trembling lashes, the faint twitch at the corner of his mouth—none of it matched the words he’d just forced out.

But what unsettled Kairo most wasn’t the fear.

It wasn’t the exhaustion.

It was the anger.

Not loud or obvious, but simmering.

Flickering through Eli’s expression in a way that didn’t belong.

’That look...’ Kairo thought grimly, jaw tightening. ’Something’s off with him.’

He wanted to press the boy right here, force an answer, shake out the truth—but he couldn’t. Not now.

Not with the weight of the cavern pressing in and silence gnawing at the edges of his awareness.

There were two problems. Two massive problems.

First: Mio and Zaira.

They weren’t anywhere nearby. No voices, no ripples in the water, no telltale flare of aura. He’d called for them, but nothing came back.

Second: the monster.

The octopus was gone.

Kairo’s teeth clenched as his thoughts replayed the moment—the creature falling from the ceiling, shattering stone, birthing that tidal wave.

That alone should’ve finished it, or at least forced it to show itself.

But it hadn’t.

No—the thing was still here.

Watching.

Waiting.

It wasn’t dead. Not even close.

’Why hide? Why not finish us now? It knows how weak we are.’ His pulse hammered steady, steady, his aura curling faintly at his fingertips. ’It knows it could crush us in a heartbeat.’

The thought twisted into something colder.

’It’s waiting. Planning. This thing isn’t acting like a beast—it’s acting like a hunter.’

The water around them felt heavier for it, darker. Every drip from the cavern ceiling sounded like bait being dangled in an open maw.

Kairo pivoted toward him. "Let’s find Mio and Zaira."

Eli’s head stayed bowed. His hands shook against Kairo’s sleeve, fingers white on soaked fabric. Kairo’s eyes narrowed at the sight. ’Something’s wrong with him.’

He didn’t snap. He watched. He gave Eli a beat to answer.

Nothing.

Only heavy, ragged breathing, the kind that trembled through the chest instead of coming cleanly.

"Eli." Kairo’s voice tightened. No softness left—this was a command now. "Is something wrong?"

Of course there was. Kairo felt it in the way the air around Eli hummed off—an off-note he couldn’t ignore.

But he had to be careful.

Whatever snarled under the boy’s skin wasn’t a simple fear; it needed handling, not a shove.

Time was against them, though. They had to find their teammates and regroup before the octopus decided to strike again.

Kairo couldn’t waste more minutes—yet he couldn’t risk pushing Eli the wrong way.

When the silence stretched too long, Kairo placed his palm on Eli’s head and tipped it up to see his face.

Eli’s voice came out in a broken whisper. "...ill...you..."

Kairo leaned closer, trying to make sense of it. "What did you say?"

He stopped cold.

Eli’s eyes were rimmed red. His face trembled. Every muscle pulled tight like a wire. The look in his gaze wasn’t fear. It wasn’t pleading.

It was fury—sharp, raw, animal.

Before Kairo could react, Eli snapped up and lunged.

"I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!" he screamed, a guttural bellow, and attacked like something that had forgotten how to be human.

Kairo’s body went rigid.

Eli’s hands were at his throat—thin, trembling fingers pressing down with a desperation that shouldn’t have been possible in his condition.

But Kairo caught him mid-lunge, palm flat against his chest, steady and unyielding.

With a single push he held him back, the strength gap almost insulting.

The boy’s grip shook, too weak to bruise skin. Yet the feral light blazing in his eyes made Kairo’s jaw tighten.

Those weren’t Eli’s eyes.

Not the boy he’d carried this whole time.

Not the one who bled himself dry to keep them alive.

This was something else.

’So that’s it...’ Kairo’s teeth ground together as the realization hit like ice. ’The octopus. That’s why it vanished. It’s using him, the same way it used Mio.’

A bitter weight settled in his chest. He should’ve seen it sooner. When the creature had retreated instead of striking, it wasn’t fleeing—it was burrowing.

’Damn it.’

"Get off—!" Eli’s scream tore out, raw and guttural, like it was being ripped from somewhere deeper than his lungs. His fingers clawed harder at Kairo’s neck, knuckles white. "It’s your fault! All of it’s your fault!"

Kairo’s arm flexed once, shoving Eli’s body back just enough to keep the pressure from his windpipe, his palm still pressed firm against the boy’s sternum.

But the words didn’t stop—spit, blood, rage spilling out of Eli like venom.

"Because of you!"

"Just die already!"

"Why won’t you die?!"

Each shout grew sharper, more frenzied.

Kairo kept his face neutral, his black eyes locked on Eli’s twisted expression. Inside, though, he was cursing.

’Not again. First Mio. Now him. This thing isn’t finished with us.’

His aura flared faintly at his wrist, a warning glow, but he didn’t use it. Not yet.Not against Eli.

"Eli." His voice was low, controlled, steady despite the tension running like wire through his arms. "It’s not you. I know it’s not you."

The boy snarled, teeth bared, his whole frame trembling with the effort to break free.

"I’m going to kill you!"

Kairo’s grip hardened, his hand pressing against Eli’s chest like an anchor. "You hear me? This isn’t you. Fight it. Even if you can’t—" his voice dropped into steel "—I’ll hold you here until it breaks."

But even as he said it, he knew words weren’t enough. This wasn’t a beast you could shout down. It was inside him, twisting his mind, trying to turn him into a blade.

The frustration clawed at Kairo’s ribs, sharper than Eli’s nails could ever cut.

’This dungeon... every step, another trap. Another problem stacked on the last.’

He drew a slow, deliberate breath, holding the boy in place as his scream echoed off stone.

"I won’t let you strangle me," he said, voice a cold whisper now, clipped and final. "And I won’t let you kill yourself by letting this thing use you."

His fingers curled slightly, thumb brushing against the boy’s collarbone—enough pressure to pin him, not enough to hurt.

"You’re mine to protect, Eli," Kairo said, black eyes unwavering. "So snap out of it."