CHAPTER 369: CHAPTER-369.

"If someone has to risk their life today, it’s going to be me."

Veer looked at her, and for a moment his eyes actually softened.

He stared like he couldn’t quite believe it—that this sharp‑tongued, violent woman who always ready to beat him up whenever she felt like it would care enough to stop him from getting even a single scratch.

But Kaya’s thoughts were nowhere near that romantic.

’Care?’ Of course she cared—about her ’’free ride’’.

How could she let her main escape ticket walk into a ring and get half‑killed for pocket change?

Last night she’d already tried that flying thing again, whatever it was.

She’d stood on the roof, jumped, whispered, muttered, cursed, even chanted like an idiot under her breath for half the night—’fly, jump, do something’—and nothing happened.

No floating, no lightness in her legs, not even a twitch.

If anyone had seen her, they would’ve thought she’d lost her mind.

And thanks to the bunch of psychos who wanted her dead, she couldn’t even experiment properly here.

She didn’t have the luxury to gamble her escape route on some ability that worked once in a panic and never again.

Veer, on the other hand, was a different kind of problem.

This idiot, aggressive vulture—Kaya was a hundred percent sure that once he stepped into that ring, he would ’not’ stop at "just survive."

He’d try to win.

Even if his bones cracked and his feathers got ripped out one by one, he’d keep going.

And what if he lost?

Kaya didn’t even know the rules here.

Did losers just walk away? Or did they leave in pieces?

No. She wasn’t taking that risk.

She was a soldier.

She’d been trained to deal with bigger, stronger opponents, to use speed and timing instead of brute force.

A rhinoceros was terrifying, sure—but not impossible.

Even if she couldn’t beat him outright, she was confident she could at least drag the fight long enough to tire him out, hit and move, hit and move, until he slowed.

So when Veer said, "I would go," Kaya’s refusal had nothing soft or sweet behind it.

It was cold calculation.

She needed him uninjured, mobile, functional—because when things finally went to hell, he was her fastest way out.

But just a few seconds later, all of Kaya’s courage went straight to the gutter.

There was a heavy ’slam’ that shook the ground. Dust exploded upward, stinging her eyes and throat. Kaya flinched and took a step back on instinct, hand already reaching for her knife, when a shadow dropped in front of her. Veer moved without a word, wings snapping open as he wrapped one around her like a shield. The impact of the sound hit the feathers instead of her ears, turning it into a dull, muffled boom.

When he finally lowered his wing, the noise of the crowd rushed back in—shouts, cheers, wild laughter. Kaya looked past him and froze.

The bull was on the ground.

The rhino was not.

That beast stood in the middle of the ring like nothing had touched him. Not a cut, not a bruise, not even a scuff she could see from here. His chest rose and fell calmly, like he’d just taken a short walk instead of sending another man flying.

A cold tremor ran through Kaya.

’Damn it... what the hell...’

It wasn’t even her fault, she told herself. She had never fought a rhino in her life. Tigers, yes. During service she’d gone against a tiger once, and a few others built like bulls—heavy charge, strong impact, simple pattern. But this? This was different. She’d never even imagined fighting a rhino, and now she was watching one move with her own eyes.

The bull tried to stand. He barely got one knee under him.

The rhino was far—too far to reach him in time, Kaya’s brain said.

Her brain was wrong.

In a single, shocking burst, that massive body blurred. One moment he was standing still, the next he was there—right in front of the bull—horn lowered, legs pounding the dirt. Kaya’s eyes couldn’t keep up. It felt like he’d crossed the distance in less than a breath.

She’d heard somewhere that rhinos had weak eyesight. Great. Useless fact. No one had bothered to mention they moved like a damn truck at full speed.

Kaya swallowed, her throat suddenly dry.

When she finally dragged her gaze away from the ring and looked up, Veer was already watching her. His expression said it all. He knew. He knew the exact moment she realized just how stupid her idea had been.

He sighed, more tired than scolding, and said in a calm, flat tone, like he was reading from a manual, "A rhino can reach about forty to fifty kilometers per hour when it charges. They have a burst of power. No beastman in their sane mind would fight a rhino alone."

His eyes held hers, steady, serious.

"That’s why I was trying to stop you."

Instead of accepting defeat, Kaya stared at the rhino one last time—eyes narrowed, jaw tight, like she was trying to burn the image of that monster’s speed into her brain for later.

When she turned her head, Veer was standing there wearing that ’look’. That faint, smug little edge that said ’I told you so’ without him having to say a single word.

Her pride flared hot and sharp.

"You." She jabbed a finger at his chest. "You couldn’t have said that ’earlier’? What the hell are you looking so smug about?"

Veer blinked, caught completely off guard.

He’d been ’trying’ to tell her from the start—she was the one who wouldn’t listen.

But who in this world could win an argument with a woman like Kaya?

She didn’t give him time to defend himself.

"Yes, yes, it’s all my fault," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "Like I’m supposed to just ’know’ what you beastmen can and can’t do. You’re a man, aren’t you? You should’ve told me properly." She crossed her arms. "This is on you."