Chapter 206 Chapter 206- Rings of Fate

Eva and Kaya looked at the boxes for a while before they moved their hands and picked them up. Then, they slowly unwrapped the boxes, showing beautiful, small cubes made out of soft fabric and metal. It's design was simple yet elegant.

The two immediately got a hunch as to what these could be but they didn't think it was possible at first. But, when they opened the boxes slowly, their eyes widened. Resting beautifully inside the boxes were a pair of rings.

One was a beautiful shade of red and the other was pure golden with a yellowish hue. Each one was more beautiful than the other with a unique feeling to them that struck the two at first glance.

Staring at the two rings silently, neither of them knew what to say at all. If anything, they didn't know what to do at all.

"Do you like them?" Kai broke the silence with a question.

"It's…"

"Beautiful…"

The two girls murmured. That question made Kai exhale a small breath before spoke. "I didn't know what colors you liked so I simply chose those."

"I love it!"

"Me too!"

The two never expected their gifts to actually be rings and beautiful ones at that. It was something that filled them with endless happiness.

'Wait, a ring? Isn't this?' Suddenly, the realization hit Eva as she looked at Kaya with a shocked expression.

It didn't even take them a split second to understand what the other one had in mind and they're very similar.

'Propsal! He's proposing!' The thought.

'I mean it makes sense! Right, kiddo?!'

'You're right! Rings aren't a simple gift! He's proposing!'

The two basically communicated through their eyes as if it were some kind of superior language. Meanwhile, Kai confusedly looked at the two girls. He didn't understand what they were doing so he instead took the boxes from their hands.

"Extend your hands. I will put them on." He said as he pulled the rings out.

'This is a proposal!!'

Gulping down a mouthful of saliva, the two girls felt their heart rate increase to horrifying degrees. The development was too fast and too sudden to the point where they forgot to even care about the fact that they were getting the rings at the same time.

But, it was happening and they needed to keep up or they would be left behind. If anything, even though they were overworking their minds into believing it was a proposal, they realistically knew it wasn't.

Extending their hands, Kai slowly brought the rings closed before he put each one in their fingers. The two rings were perfectly adjusted to their sizes.

"Wow…" Looking at the rings on their hands, the two girls were speechless again for a while before they smiled at Kai.

As they were about to thank Kai, the door suddenly knocked, ruining the moment. The two girls felt really annoyed by this predicament.

'Goddamit! Who's the bastard that would knock on the door now of all time?!'

'They're dead meat if they aren't here for a good reason.'

However, before they could even sound their complaints, Kai stood up, walked toward the door, and opened it only to see someone he didn't expect. It was Aria, lying unconscious on the ground.

Completely covered in blood with a deadly injury in her stomach. She was lying against the wall as she heaved up and down painfully.

"...!!" Seeing that sight, Kai's eyes widened as he quickly looked around, scanning the area for any unwanted attention before he quickly picked her up and rushed inside. His hands were immediately soaked in blood.

'She's not bleeding but she already lost a huge amount of blood and most of her organs have been destroyed.' He thought as he looked at her condition.

The injury Aria sustained was deadly, even for an Origin User. Kai didn't even know how she could preserve her life for this long with that injury. Perhaps it was because she was able to stop the bleeding which gave her a longer time.

"What the hell? Is that…" Seeing the injured girl, Kaya and Eva immediately sprung to their feet.

Kai nodded his head before he quickly put Aria down on the sofa and put his hand on her stomach. She was still breathing even if she was very weak so he could heal her. Using his powers, the injury started to visibly shrink at a rapid pace.

'Restructuring organs consumes too much Origin.' Kai frowned slightly.

It was rare for him to actually have to heal such an injury so it did take more Origin than he thought he needed.

The process took 30 seconds before the hole was finally closed and the pained expression on Aria's face finally relaxed a little.

"How did she end up like that?" Kaya asked.

"I don't know… A rare few can deal much damage to her. She's very strong." He murmured.

Kai knew Aria and her talent and he only had one description for it… 'Deadly'. Her ability was simply ridiculously powerful even by Kai's standards.

It allowed her to be a great offensive power and an unpenetrable defensive power. She can use it in ranged combat, close combat, and even for an even stronger boost to her body on top of Origin.

"How strong exactly?" Eva asked.

"She mastered Origin manipulation at around the same time I did."

Just those few words were more than enough to give them an idea of how powerful Aria was.

"Her talent is Blood Manipulation. She can use her own blood or the blood of her targets in any way she wants." He murmured.

"Blood Manipulation… Sounds like a really powerful ability."

Blood existed in basically every living creature in the world, so her talent could work anywhere and do anything. It was quite insane, especially coming from someone they thought was just a popular singer.

'The only people that could do it… Hmm, tsk, I think I know who it is.' Cursing inwardly, Kai shifted his eyes to Kaya and Eva.

"It will take a while before she wakes up. Let's leave her like that for now." Kai murmured as he put on his shoes. "Keep an eye on her for now. I will leave for a while."

"Where are you going?"

Eva noticed the solemn look on his face and she could only worry more.

"To check the area. If she came here in that shape, someone must've tried to follow her." He murmured as he stood up and left quickly.

The world outside was dark with no source of light except for maybe the light of the streets.

'I doubt I will find him but if he's there, he shouldn't be far.'

Saying that Kai vanished into the night.

***

*A few hours later*

"M-Mmmm…" A hoarse groan leaked out of Aria's lips as she started opening her eyes. Seeing the place she was in, her body quickly flinched as she rose up warily, looking around. However, her sudden movement made her groan from pain. Her hand moved to her stomach as she looked down. She was wearing different clothes and the injury she sustained was nowhere to be seen.

'What happened?'

Trying to remember, all she could recall was walking through the streets with a half-working brain that barely kept her awake. She didn't even know where she was going for the most part.

"Don't move suddenly, you're still soar." A cold voice pierced through her ears and made her look up.

Kai was sitting on the sofa reading a book with glasses on his face. The room was dark with the only source of light being the lamp beside him.

Seeing the person she yearned for the most, Aria's eyes swirled with countless emotions. However, she suppressed her emotions and was about to ask.

"No, he didn't follow you. I scoured the entire city and there was no trace left of him including the hotel suite you were living in." Kai predicted what she was going to say and responded.

"I… see… What time is it?"

"3 am. You slept for 5 hours." Kai sighed before he closed his book before he turned around and looked at Aria.

"Now, tell me what happened, in detail."

Aria opened her mouth to speak quickly but closed it again as she hesitated.

"I would like if no one else would hear this." She said as she looked up at the two girls in the other room. She could sense that they were awake and listening.

"They're trustworthy."

"No, it's not that. If they listen to this, they might become targets too. I don't want to make the situation even worse." She said.

"I see."

Kai understood her hint before he quickly flicked his fingers, creating a sound barrier around them that stopped anyone from listening. He knew the trouble that could be brought along with more people hearing what happened.

Everyone could become a target, including Eva and Kaya, and Kai didn't want that, at all.

"Now… Speak."