System Mission: Seduce the Strongest S-Class Hunters or Die Trying!-Chapter 127: [LOOK UP]

Eli’s breath hitched. His head tilted back, vision trembling through the haze of pain.

’Am I... seeing things?’

The ceiling.

Zaira’s aura rolled outward like a tide, painting the cavern in that soft pink shimmer. The walls glowed faintly, the black water rippled with its tint, even the jagged stone coiling around Mio shimmered like glass.

But above—where the uneven ceiling stretched high—her aura stopped.

It didn’t climb further. Didn’t spread. It cut off midair, as if it had smashed into an invisible wall.

Eli’s stomach twisted. He could see the stone ceiling clearly, shadows still dancing there. Nothing blocked his eyes. But his instincts whispered otherwise. Something was there. Something the aura couldn’t reach.

Or maybe... maybe it wasn’t real.

His vision blurred again, swimming with black dots. Pain pulsed so violently through his skull he couldn’t trust what he was seeing anymore. His chest stuttered with panic.

’Is this real—or is it just my head breaking apart—’

The thought was ripped away by the next wave.

"AGHHHH!!! FUCK. I SAID STOP IT!!!"

Mio’s scream tore through the cavern.

The sound rattled everything—walls, water, bone. His threads cracked out in wild bursts, silver slamming against stone with enough force to send sparks showering down like fireworks.

Each shriek sent shockwaves of raw intent pounding into Eli’s danger sense, doubling the pressure in his skull until he thought it would explode.

"Ah—!" Eli gasped, his whole body convulsing. His hand flew to his face as something warm spilled across his skin.

Sticky. Wet.

Blood.

"K-Kairo..." His voice shredded on the word, a rasp so weak it barely reached past his lips.

Kairo’s head snapped instantly, black eyes locking onto him. For the first time, the calm cracked—the scarlet glow of his obsidian blade reflecting the sharp wideness in his gaze.

"Your nose..." His voice carried the faintest tremor, almost imperceptible, but it was there.

Eli’s hand shook as he dragged it down his face, smearing crimson across his pale skin. His chest heaved, vision flickering with static.

His danger sense wasn’t just screaming anymore—it was fracturing, jagged pulses overlapping, one on top of another, relentless, impossible to separate. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Every nerve in his body trembled under the overload.

Kairo’s jaw clenched. His grip on Eli tightened, steadying him against his chest, before his gaze snapped toward Zaira.

"Make it stronger."

Zaira froze, her eyes snapping wide. Disbelief cracked through her expression. "Captain—he’s still an S-Class!" Her dagger trembled slightly in her grip as her aura shimmered, unstable at the edges. "You know how my ability works. I can’t overwhelm someone at his level without burning myself out! And even if I force it, it won’t last more than five minutes."

The pink shimmer of her aura flared faintly, then wavered, as if the cavern itself strained under the pressure.

Eli could feel it, heavy and suffocating. His head pounded harder.

’Five minutes...? I don’t even think I can survive one more like this—’

"You’ll have to," Kairo said, his voice low but absolute. A decision carved into stone.

His obsidian blade tilted, catching the faint scarlet glow bleeding from his aura. The air itself seemed to tighten around its edge, humming with restrained violence.

"Because if you can’t..." His gaze fixed on Mio, unflinching, merciless. "...I’ll have no choice but to knock him out."

The words hit like a hammer.

Eli stirred weakly in his arms, body trembling as if every muscle was fraying apart.

His voice cracked, a whisper shredded at the edges. "N-no... wait... you can’t—"

"You won’t last," Kairo cut him off, sharp as steel.

His tone left no room for argument. He adjusted his hold, steady and certain, Eli’s fragile weight secured against his chest like a shield he refused to let fall. "Your body’s already breaking down. If I let this go any longer, you’ll collapse."

Eli’s heart lurched violently, fear clawing past the haze.

His nails dug into Kairo’s sleeve, desperate, blood from his trembling fingers smearing into the fabric. ’No—he doesn’t understand. If he knocks Mio out and the monster moves to one of us—’

"No—listen..." His breath rattled, chest heaving. "Look..."

He wasn’t sure.

He wasn’t sure, but there was no time for hesitation. No detail was too small. If there was even a chance he was right, they had to know.

His head tilted back again, vision splitting under the pressure. Pain blurred everything, blood still dripping from his nose, running hot down his lips.

"Up," Eli gasped, lungs hitching as his throat fought to form words. His yellow eyes widened, glowing faint through the haze, locked onto the ceiling. "Kairo—look up."

Kairo’s black eyes flicked upward, sharp but skeptical. "Look up? What am I looking at?"

Eli’s chest convulsed with another cough, violent this time. His body jolted in Kairo’s grip, and dark blood splattered against his hand as he covered his mouth.

His throat burned raw, his ribs screaming with every breath.

"Zaira’s... ab—" He broke off, hacking into his palm, crimson staining his pale skin. His chest rattled like something inside might snap.

Kairo’s head snapped down toward him again. "Eli—"

But Eli shoved weakly at his jaw with his free hand, forcing his face back up. His fingers trembled but didn’t let go. His voice tore out between coughs, fractured but certain.

"Look—cough—Zaira’s ability... the aura..."

Kairo’s eyes narrowed, black gaze lifting once more toward the ceiling.

"What are you talking—" Kairo cut himself short. His eyes locked upward, obsidian-dark irises narrowing, then widening a fraction as something shifted across his gaze.

Eli’s heart jolted. ’He sees it too.’ Relief rippled through him even as he kept coughing, blood staining the edges of his lips. ’I’m not imagining it...’

"Captain?" Zaira’s voice carried tension, her aura flickering faint around her shoulders. She glanced between them, blade still ready. "What do we do now? Do I continue?"

"Yes," Kairo said without hesitation. His tone was a blade itself—calm, clipped, merciless. "But also prepare for anything that may come from above."

The words froze Zaira in place. "...Above? What does that mean? Is... the monster above us?"

Her head tilted, eyes darting upward into the black ceiling.

All she saw was uneven stone, jagged shadows. But the weight in Kairo’s voice left no doubt.

"We’ll see."

His grip on Eli shifted, tightening slightly, more secure. The obsidian sword in his other hand tilted upward, its edge bleeding faint scarlet as it resonated with his aura.

His stance coiled like a predator—he was preparing to jump. Preparing to strike.

Eli’s body sagged against him, strength leaking out with every cough. He pressed his forehead weakly into Kairo’s shoulder, the fabric dampening with sweat and blood.

"Hold on tightly," Kairo whispered, his voice low but steady in Eli’s ear.

Eli nodded, his trembling fingers digging harder into Kairo’s sleeve, clutching like it was the only thing keeping him tethered. His coughing slowed, seized by sheer exhaustion, but the pain remained, pounding in his head and chest like war drums.

Then the shift came.

Kairo’s legs bent, aura pooling around him, stone cracking faintly beneath his boots. A coil of raw strength. The cavern itself seemed to brace.

Eli shut his eyes. The last thing he saw was the shimmer of Zaira’s pink aura breaking strangely against the ceiling, warping like glass under pressure.

Then—

Kairo jumped.

The moment Kairo launched upward, the cavern seemed to collapse beneath the weight of his leap. Wind whipped past Eli’s ears, pulling at his hair, the world blurring into streaks of black and scarlet.

Then Kairo’s obsidian blade arced high.

He raised it with precision, his grip steady, aura tightening around him until the sword itself thrummed with pressure.

The strike wasn’t wild. It was aimed. .

Eli, despite the pounding in his skull, cracked his eyes open. He forced himself to peek over Kairo’s shoulder, his yellow gaze straining past the haze of pain. ’There has to be something—anything—’

Then he saw it.

The sword didn’t pass through empty air. It caught.

The obsidian edge sank into something unseen, the motion jerking like steel piercing flesh. The resistance was wrong for stone—softer, yielding, but not human.

Not anything like the monsters they’ve encountered so far.

Eli’s heart lurched. ’He... actually pierced something—there really is something up there!’

"Got you," Kairo said, his voice dark and certain, the words almost a growl.

The reaction was instant.

The cavern trembled violently, dust and loose stone raining down from above. Then—

A shriek.

Not just a sound. A detonation.

"SKREEEEEEEEEEEEE—!"

It tore through the air like razors. The noise was so piercing it rattled Eli’s bones, shoving against his skull until he thought his head would split open.

He clamped his hands over his ears too late—blood already trickled from one, hot and slick.

Even Kairo staggered mid-air, the force of the scream throwing his balance off for a fraction of a second. The obsidian blade shuddered in his grip, vibrating from the creature’s thrash.

Eli’s breath caught, chest seizing. ’Fuck—it’s so loud—it feels like my ears are going to bleed out completely—’

Below, Zaira stumbled, clutching her head with both hands, her aura faltering as the shriek shattered across the cavern like an earthquake of sound.

’WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!’ Eli forced himself to look as the monster finally revealed itself.