Chapter 55: New POV

Chapter 55: Chapter 55: New POV

After the mess at the mall with Angel, the Safety Commission finally decided. They sent Agnes—yes, Agnes of all people—to start protecting him. Angel’s movements got locked down hard after that. With Agnes everywhere he went, he was not even allowed to go to meetings. At this point Angel felt like freedom had turned into something he only remembered.

But at the same time, the available Virtues were now on the move. Fahai and Layla decided to come straight to the capital to search for the Destruction, since they were the most combative out of all the Virtues.

All of that was happening while Randal, the God of Destruction, walked the same streets looking for something of his own.

Those worms...

The thought sat heavy in his head as he pulled the black hoodie tighter and slipped into the thick evening crowd. In his mind the Virtues were nothing but worms. Obsessed. Every ten decades the same tired cycle. Same rules. And the same battles. Randal was done with it. It’s high time I break this foolish system and this entire reality of calamities.......

He moved through the people without drawing eyes. It’s hard to believe he was already past five hundred years old. He still looked like a lost kid—reddish hair falling messy over his forehead, small frame, quiet and calm steps. Only the eyes gave him away. Half-bored, fiery red. One slow look from those eyes could make even the strongest Good Deeders freeze and rethink their whole life.

Randal turned into a dark alley. The noise of the main street slowly faded behind him. Up ahead a Good Deeder had a girl pinned against the wall. Her clothes were torn. She was shaking, trying to push him off. The man had one hand over her mouth and the other doing what he wanted. His body blocked most of the view, but the sound of her muffled cries was clear enough.

When the Good Deeder noticed the small figure walking closer, he jerked in surprise.

How did he get past my barrier... wait, did I not even set one?

His name was Jake—Jake the Writer. He kept his grip on the girl while he glared at the newcomer.

"Civilian, back away!" he barked, trying to sound like he was doing holy work. "I have this Calamity under control. Leave this alley if you want to keep breathing!"

Randal did not stop. He kept walking, voice low and almost bored.

"All you damn Calamities are the same... all of you chasing the same thing..."

Jake’s face twisted. He instantly felt that something was wrong about the kid. He let go of the girl long enough to pull a pen and a thin scroll from his coat. Mana flared around the paper.

"Don’t blame me for what happens next, you brat!"

He drew a quick line. Chains of glowing script shot out and wrapped around Randal from head to toe. The metal-like links locked tight.

"How do you like that, you brat?"

The girl on the ground managed a broken shout. "Run! He’s going to kill you if you stay!"

Jake laughed. "Already too late. Didn’t your parents ever teach you not to stick your nose where it doesn’t belong, kid?"

He stepped closer, already reaching for Randal’s hair. Randal’s head stayed down. When Jake’s fingers were almost there, Randal lifted his face.

Their eyes met. A single red pulse left those eyes.

Jake staggered back like he had been punched in the chest. Every hair on his neck stood up. His hands started shaking.

"What... was that? Your eyes..."

"What are you?!"

Randal’s voice stayed quiet, almost soft.

"I am Destruction."

The words left his mouth and the air itself changed. Power slammed upward in one thick wave. A beam of deep red light tore straight into the sky, then spread out like ink in water. A heavy red-black cloud rolled across the rooftops and swallowed the streetlights. The whole block dimmed under it. Mana energy poured off Randal without end, like a broken fountain that has no limit.

Jake knew he was finished, but panic still made him fight. He slammed both hands onto a fresh scroll.

"Good Deeders, Fourth Wave—DRAGON!"

A massive water dragon exploded out of the paper. Its body was pure condensed mana, scales shining like wet glass, long neck coiling high above the alley. It twisted once in the red-tinted sky, then dove straight down, jaws wide enough to swallow the entire lane in one bite.

Randal watched it come. He did not raise a barrier. He did not dodge. When the dragon’s mouth was only a few meters away he simply lifted one hand and gave it a light slap across the snout.

CRACK.

The sound was small, almost polite. Then the dragon fell apart. Scales, teeth, the glowing core—everything shattered the way a poorly stacked tower of blocks collapses when you pull the bottom piece. In less than a second the whole creature turned to gray ash that drifted down and vanished.

Jake dropped to his knees. The scroll in his hand went blank. He could not even form words.

Randal walked over, steps slow, voice still calm.

"Your type is the exact reason I have to rewrite this reality. Even if the system throws a thousand obstacles in my way, nothing is going to stop me."

"Please..."

"How many have you killed? How many have you raped?"

"Bu—"

"How many?"

"Sir, p—"

"I said how many."

Jake’s face twisted with sudden hate. "BUT THEY ARE NOT HUMAN! WE ARE PRIVILEGED TO KILL AS MANY AS WE WANT! THEY ARE NOTHING BUT ANIMALS THAT SHOULD GO EXTINCT!"

Randal’s tone never rose. "They are human as well. You Good Deeders will never change."

He placed his open palm against Jake’s forehead.

"Cease to exist, you vile thing."

Jake’s body cracked the same way the dragon had. Skin, bone, clothes—everything turned to fine ash. A light night wind carried the last of him away until nothing remained but an empty patch of dirty pavement.

The girl pushed herself up, still shaking, clothes barely holding together. She opened her mouth to say thank you, but Randal was already gone—leaping onto the nearest rooftop and sprinting across the tiles.

"Wait!" she shouted. She forced her legs to move and jumped after him. "Please let me be your follower! Take me under your wing!"

Randal did not answer. His eyes stayed fixed ahead. She kept pace anyway, refusing to fall behind.

Finally, when he saw she refused to quit, he stopped mid-run and turned.

"What do you want? I already saved your life. Is this how you repay me?"

"You didn’t save my life," she said, breathing hard. "Someone else would have caught me tomorrow or the day after. I’m still marked."

"So what are you asking?"

"Take me with you."

"Absolutely not."

"Why?"

Before he could answer, a giant advertising screen lit up on the building across the street. Bright light washed over both of them. On the screen Angel sat in a polished chair while a smiling interviewer spoke to the camera.

"We all know it’s been a while since Angel made an appearance. Well, good news, everyone—tonight on Daily Heroes we will be interviewing once again the capital’s most beloved Good Deeder, Angel!"

The girl—Shei—noticed that Randal’s whole body had gone still. His gaze locked onto the screen and refused to move.

"Are you o—"

"My soul..." Randal whispered. The words came out almost like a prayer. "Who is she?"

"Who is who?"

He lifted one finger and pointed at the woman standing just behind Angel’s chair. A quiet figure in a simple uniform, face calm, posture straight.

"Who is she?"

Shei followed his finger. "Oh. That’s Agnes. Bodyguard of Angel. She belongs to the Safety Commission."

"Do you know where she is right now? How can I reach them?"

Shei blinked. The sudden intensity in his voice told her everything she needed to know. This quiet girl on the screen mattered to him more than the entire city.

"I can take you there," she said carefully. "But only if you agree to let me stay as your student."

Randal did not even hesitate.

"Yes."

That single word made Shei straighten. She had never paid much attention to Agnes before. The woman always looked like background—dull, silent, easy to forget. Now it feels like she was not so sure. Maybe she had been wrong the whole time.

Randal stood on the rooftop for another long moment, staring at the screen even after the image of Agnes had faded. The red in his eyes burned a little brighter. He pulled the hoodie lower again and started moving, this time without trying to lose the girl behind him. Shei stayed close, matching his pace as they crossed from one rooftop to the next. The city lights stretched out below them in every direction. Somewhere in that maze of streets and buildings, Agnes was still with Angel. Randal would find her. The system, the Virtues, the endless cycle of Good Deeders and Calamities—none of it mattered as much as the quiet figure he had just seen.

He kept walking. Shei followed without another word.