The chamber groaned as red lockdown barriers slammed over the exits.
Steam burst from broken pipes overhead. Sparks rained from torn ceiling panels. The official hunter stood at the far end of the room with his execution spear lowered, his black armor reflecting the warning lights like a moving coffin.
Kira gripped Shikei no Tsuki, the oversized crescent weapon trembling faintly in his hand as though it recognized the enemy before he did.
Then the scientist moved.
"Down!"
She grabbed Kira by the sleeve and yanked him behind the shattered coffin just as the official hunter thrust his spear forward. A line of compressed force ripped through the chamber and split the floor where Kira had been standing a heartbeat earlier.
The scientist shoved a small metal key-chip into Kira's palm.
"Listen carefully," she said, breath shaking. "You don't have much time. They called you Subject K-0, but that was never your real designation. That was the disposal label."
Kira stared at her. "Then what am I?"
Her eyes flicked toward the official hunter.
"You were Project Kira."
The word hit him harder than the spear strike had.
The official hunter stepped over a dead guard without looking down. "Doctor Sera. Step away from the weapon subject. Your cooperation might still reduce your sentence."
So her name was Sera.
She ignored him and kept talking fast.
"They were trying to create a hunter that could grow through any mission type. Human adaptability. Demon tolerance. artificial reinforcement. Execution-class combat instincts. You weren't supposed to wake up complete. You weren't supposed to wake up at all."
Kira's red eyes narrowed. "Who made me?"
Sera hesitated.
That hesitation told him enough.
Before she could answer, the official hunter vanished.
Kira felt the killing intent a split second before impact. He turned, dragging the moon-shaped blade up with both hands. The spear slammed into Shikei no Tsuki with a deafening shriek. Crimson sparks exploded between them.
The force hurled Kira backward through broken glass and across the chamber floor.
The hunter landed lightly, calm and precise. "He adapts too quickly."
A new black-red screen flashed in front of Kira.
Passive Skill Unlocked: Execution Sense
Effect: Detect fatal intent and hostile pressure
He rose slowly.
Sera's voice cut through the alarms. "Kira! The chip opens a maintenance path beneath the cathedral. If you stay here, they'll cage you again!"
The official hunter tilted his head. "So that's the name you chose to tell him."
Kira.
Not subject. Not disposal-grade.
Kira.
The word settled into him like something stolen finally being returned.
The hunter spun his spear once. "Run, then. It changes nothing. The guild already marked you for erasure."
Kira lifted the giant scythe, chains scraping behind him.
For the first time since waking, he answered with something close to certainty.
"Then they can try."
The room shook as the lower floor began collapsing, and Sera pointed toward a broken elevator shaft hidden behind the chamber wall.
Their escape route had just opened.