System Mission: Seduce the Strongest S-Class Hunters or Die Trying!-Chapter 122: [PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE]

’Please. Please. Please. I hope this works.’

Eli blew the whistle until his lungs burned, the shrill note cutting through the cavern like a blade.

The sound ricocheted off the jagged walls in desperate waves, a signal that screamed louder than his voice ever could.

PREEEP!PREEEP!PREEEP!

His chest heaved between each blow, throat raw and stinging, but he didn’t stop.

He couldn’t.

"Enough."

Mio’s hand shot forward. Fingers clamped around Eli’s wrist like a steel trap, halting the whistle against his lips.

The next breathless note died in his throat.

Mio ripped it away. The sharp clatter of silver against stone echoed once before his arm swung wide.

The whistle splashed into the black water and vanished beneath the surface, its faint glow swallowed whole.

"No—!" Eli’s voice cracked, panic hitting him like a hammer. His eyes darted frantically, searching for even the faintest shimmer, but nothing came back.

His only lifeline... gone.

’Motherfucker!’

Before he could even move, fingers slammed around his throat.

"Kai—!" Eli’s body jolted, the rest of the name strangled as Mio’s grip closed tight. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Danger.

His entire body screamed with it. His chest thundered like war drums, the alarm deafening in his ears.

Eli clawed at Mio’s arm, nails raking, but the muscle was too solid, too unyielding.

Every squeeze tightened the chokehold, his airway shrinking into nothing.

Each breath came shorter. Thinner.

’I can’t fucking breathe.’

His vision shook, blurring at the edges.

This—this was the nightmare.

The strong hand. The weight pressing against his windpipe. The drowning panic that came with not enough air.

The only thing missing was a voice whispering sorry.

His pulse spiked, body trembling as tears burned his eyes. "M-Mio... please—" His voice broke into shards of gasps. His yellow eyes widened, frantic, desperate. "S-stop—p-please—"

Mio’s expression was cold steel. His voice was a blade. "You’re about to die now."

The words dropped into Eli’s chest like a stone sinking into deep water.

His panic spiraled out of control. His lungs convulsed, clawing for air that didn’t come. His arms tore at Mio’s wrist, nails cutting skin, leaving streaks of red—but nothing loosened.

Ding.

[SYSTEM WARNING]

> Player is close to passing out.

’Fuck... no shit!’ Eli’s mind reeled, the message flashing behind his eyes as his vision tunneled into black. His chest spasmed. His legs kicked weakly. He was slipping.

He didn’t want to die again. Not here. Not like this.

Then—

CRACK!

A brutal sound tore through the cavern. A crimson blur slammed into Mio’s temple with the force of a hammer, spraying droplets across the dark.

"What the—" Mio staggered, his grip faltering.

Eli collapsed. He hit the water hard, coughing, choking, both hands flying to his bruised throat. Air tore back into his lungs in jagged, broken gulps.

He wheezed, gasped, spat water, each breath raw fire that seared his chest. His body heaved, his ribs shaking as sobs tangled with the coughing.

Alive. Barely.

His fingers pressed against his neck, feeling the burn of torn flesh where the threads had grazed him. His vision still swam. His chest felt hollow.

’Fuck. This is another hospital trip,’ Eli thought weakly, groaning as he tried to lift his head.

Mio’s growl cut through the ringing in his ears. "What the hell was that—"

A voice answered, low and cold, slicing through the cavern with the weight of command.

"What the fuck are you doing, Mio?"

Eli froze. His eyes snapped toward the sound. His throat worked painfully around the word, broken and hoarse. "Kai...ro..."

The name cracked out of him like a prayer.

Mio’s lip curled, though his stance wavered, one hand still pressed against his bleeding temple.

"Captain. Nice of you to join us." He spat blood into the water, a bitter grin twisting his mouth. "Should’ve known that red circle of blood was yours."

The water at the far end of the cavern rippled. Heavy steps echoed, steady, measured, each one radiating an authority that pressed on the air itself.

The darkness seemed to peel back, as if refusing to hide him.

And then Kairo emerged—his crimson aura bleeding out like wildfire, the air itself trembling around him.

Eli lifted his head, throat burning, eyes locking onto Kairo. Anger twisted his expression, even through the pain.

"I was walking when I heard a whistle," Kairo said, voice cold, sharp enough to cut through the cavern’s air.

His crimson gaze flicked to Eli, then hardened on Mio. "I don’t know why, but I knew Eli was in trouble. And much to my surprise..." His eyes narrowed, blood aura flickering faintly around him. "...someone from my own team was the one hurting him."

Each step Kairo took was deliberate, the sound of his boots echoing against the wet stone. He wasn’t rushing—he didn’t need to.

The weight of his presence alone pressed down on the cavern, heavy and suffocating, until even the water rippled under it.

Eli’s chest trembled as he watched him approach, relief mixing with humiliation.

Mio, however, didn’t wait. He snapped his arm forward, silver threads shooting out with a vicious hum, sharper than before, slicing the air like blades.

Danger surged—Eli felt it spike in his veins like ice water.

"Kairo... ab... ove..." Eli coughed, the words shredded by his ruined throat. He tried to warn him, but his voice broke apart, nothing but useless fragments. ’Shit—I can’t... I can’t tell him—’

But Kairo didn’t need it. His sword flashed with a single, clean motion—steel meeting silver—and the threads fell in shredded pieces around them, severed before they could ever reach him.

Sparks hissed off the blade, and the air itself seemed to slice open in his wake.

He didn’t even flinch.

"Don’t waste your breath," Kairo said calmly, kneeling as if the danger had never existed. His arm slid under Eli’s back, lifting him with ease. Eli’s body slumped against him, but he didn’t complain. He couldn’t.

Because despite the humiliation—despite hating how weak and useless he felt in this moment—this was safer. This was Kairo.

"I know how to handle Mio," Kairo murmured. He adjusted Eli carefully in his grip, then raised his gaze, black eyes burning into Mio’s. "And Mio..." His voice deepened, carrying the weight of command. "We both know you can’t win against me. So tell me. Why are you doing this?"

Eli’s chest clenched. The air shifted again. He felt it. The spike of danger. The same pulse he’d felt when the threads first wrapped around his body.

His eyes widened. "Kai—!"

Too late.

The cavern filled with a storm of silver.

Mio had unleashed everything—dozens of threads bursting from his hands, snaking through the air, coiling like blades that sought to crush and slice from every angle.

Eli’s breath caught. ’Shit—there’s too many—’

But Kairo only shifted his weight. With Eli cradled in one arm, he bent his knees and leapt.

The ground cracked under the force.

He soared upward, blade flashing in arcs of scarlet light. Each swing cleaved through multiple threads at once, sparks flying as the silver shattered and rained into the water below.

To Eli, it felt like time slowed—the rhythm of Kairo’s cuts so clean, so sharp, that it was less like fighting and more like a dance.

Not a single thread touched them.

They landed with a splash, the water recoiling violently, sending ripples across the cavern.

"Fuck you, Captain!" Mio roared, his voice raw, fraying at the edges. His eyes were bloodshot, his face twisted with fury. "This is all your fault too! For pampering that already rich, pompous hunter!"

The threads whipped again, his movements frenzied, uncontrolled. "Because of him, our teammates are unconscious! Because of him, I’m exhausted, dragging them around while you carry him!" His words cracked like brittle glass, spit flying.

"Why the fuck is he so special?!"