Silence wrapped around the selection hall after the last candidate's body dropped under Vixen's bullet. The stench of gunpowder, blood, and metal hung in the air like a dense fog. The surviving candidates stood amid shattered glass and lifeless bodies breathing hard, some trembling, others still locked in survival mode. Aurora Vale remained standing straight.

The blood on her cheek had dried, but her dark eyes stayed sharp and focused as if the chaos moments ago had been nothing more than a warm up drill. Then, a door on the second floor slowly opened. Every head turned.

A figure emerged from the shadows of the upper corridor, his steps slow, heavy, and commanding. Vixen straightened instinctively, like a soldier who had just seen his general arrive.

The man descended the spiral staircase, surrounded by a dark aura that crowned him like an invisible halo. Valerio Blackthorn. A mafia boss whose name was never spoken lightly. The ruler of the black market. The one who controlled the flow of weapons, information, and power currents stronger than government money itself. Aurora froze, her entire body tensing.

Valerio was not what she had imagined from the rumors. He was younger than expected, perhaps in his early thirties. His hair was pitch black, slightly disheveled. His face carried a lethal calm. The black suit he wore was immaculate, untouched by the bloodbath below.

His gaze swept across the hall... then stopped on Aurora. Only for a fraction of a second. Yet that second felt like the cold edge of a blade pressed against skin intense, deep, assessing whether she deserved to live or die.

Then he looked away and continued walking toward the mansion exit without a single word.

Vixen immediately gave a signal, tapping two fingers in the air.

"Follow."

The nine surviving recruits moved out in trained formation, though their bodies still trembled from adrenaline that hadn't yet faded. Aurora took position in the middle of the line, her steps steady. Outside, a convoy of glossy black vehicles waited in perfect alignment like an army of shadows.

Valerio entered the lead limousine without looking back. Vixen followed into the second car. For the first time since the selection began, Aurora felt a strange chill crawl up the back of her neck. It wasn't fear. It was instinct. An instinct telling her that everything they had just endured was only the beginning.

"Move. We don't want to keep the boss waiting," one of the male recruits hissed, his voice shaking.

Aurora glanced at him briefly, then entered the guard vehicle with four other recruits. The convoy rolled forward. That day, Aurora began her first assignment one that would test whether she was worthy of standing beneath Valerio Blackthorn's shadow... or destined to die for breaking her oath.

The drive lasted fifteen minutes toward an abandoned industrial zone on the city's outskirts. The place had once been a steel factory. Now it was nothing but stained walls, dead lights, and the hollow echo of cold wind.

Aurora studied the route and their formation. The boss's car led the convoy, followed by Vixen's, then the guard vehicle carrying her and the other recruits. Two additional cars flanked them from behind.

Perfect formation. But the meeting location was wrong. Too empty. Too quiet. Too... clean. Aurora could smell a trap before the cars came to a full stop.

As the doors opened, the guards spilled out immediately, forming a perimeter. Aurora kept her pistol concealed inside her jacket, her thumb already resting on the safety.

Valerio stepped out of his car. He looked relaxed not like a man entering hostile territory. Even the way he adjusted his suit sleeve suggested he had already claimed the space before setting foot in it. From a distance, a man in a brown suit approached with several subordinates. Leonhardt Vega.

A business rival who had clashed with Valerio for years over illegal fuel trade and cross-border money laundering. Aurora had studied his face in stolen intelligence files. She knew he was dangerous, cunning, and power-hungry. And she knew one critical fact, Leonhardt never intended to submit.

This meeting was theater. Valerio stopped five meters away. Leonhardt smiled. The smile was fake. Too wide. Too sweet.

"Valerio Blackthorn," Leonhardt said lightly. "At last, we can make peace."

Valerio didn't respond. He simply looked at Leonhardt as if weighing whether the man was better off dead today or tomorrow morning. Vixen stood one meter behind Valerio, ready to shoot at the slightest suspicious move. Aurora analyzed the enemy formation. Too many. Too close. And their eyes weren't on the agreement documents they were on weapons. Bad sign.

Leonhardt opened the brown folder in his hand. "Before we sign this peace agreement, allow me to-"

Fifteen men on rooftop two. Eleven on the warehouse floor. Three behind the containers. One sniper trained on Valerio's heart. Aurora counted in her mind. Her instincts screamed. She moved a fraction of a second faster than everyone else. Her eyes caught a brief metallic glint above. And then Valerio spoke quiet, flat, yet loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Vega." Leonhardt's smile vanished.

Valerio lifted his chin slightly, emotionless. "Don't bore me."

The next second-

BOOM!

A gunshot thundered from the warehouse rooftop. Chaos exploded instantly. Leonhardt had betrayed the deal. His men drew their weapons in unison. Hundreds of bullets tore through the air. Valerio's convoy took cover behind shipping containers. Muzzle flashes lit the space like a meteor shower.

Aurora moved immediately, yanking her pistol free and kicking the leg of a recruit who had frozen in place.

"MOVE!"

She fired at an enemy hidden between containers. The man's head slammed into steel before his body collapsed.

Vixen barked orders. "ALPHA FORMATION! PROTECT THE BOSS!"

The newly recruited guards ran, falling into tactical patterns they barely remembered from that morning's drills. They had been thrown into real war without time to breathe.

Aurora slid behind a massive truck tire, firing from a low angle. Her bullet struck the wrist of a man aiming at Valerio from the side.

BANG!

The weapon dropped. She fired again this time into his chest.

BANG!

He fell. Valerio stood amid the chaos like a demon king, utterly fearless. He didn't take cover. Didn't run. Didn't duck. He simply stood there, as if the attack itself were part of his plan. Two senior guards shielded his left side, three secured the right. Their fire was precise, forming a wall of bullets that held the enemy back. But the enemy numbers kept growing.

Aurora spotted two new snipers taking position on the roof of the opposite factory. If they got a clean angle on Valerio, No.

Aurora wouldn't allow it. She sprinted forward at full speed, leaping onto a stack of crates and making one recruit shout, "Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

Aurora didn't answer. She climbed the metal pile and ran across it like a black shadow. Bullets screamed past her ears, tearing through the air. She jumped onto the roof of a logistics truck, ignoring the burning heat on her shoulder from a grazing round. Aurora had only one objective, kill the snipers.

When she reached the perfect position, Aurora spotted a man with a long rifle, his scope trained directly on Valerio. She inhaled, tightened her grip and fired.

BANG!

The sniper was thrown backward. Aurora ducked just as return fire tore through the air above her. She slid down the opposite side of the vehicle roof, rolled, and covered her head in one smooth, fluid sequence. The tide of the firefight shifted.

The new guards finally caught up. They fired, took cover, and fought the way only people who truly wanted to stay alive could. As the enemy line began to falter, Leonhardt turned and fled toward his car.

Vixen raised his pistol. "I'll take the shot-"

Valerio lifted a hand calmly. "No."

Vixen froze.

From behind the debris, Aurora watched him breathing hard, her body flooded with adrenaline. She saw how Valerio stood unmoving in the middle of the battlefield, as if the chaos itself bent around him. And for the first time, Aurora understood something. Valerio Blackthorn was not merely a mafia boss. He was a threat that made other threats kneel. And serving as a guard for a man like that wasn't just a job. It was a warning that every day, every mission, every conflict would always demand blood.

When the fighting finally subsided and the last enemy retreated, Aurora rose to her feet. Her body bore minor wounds, but her eyes remained sharp. She swept the area, then returned to formation.

Valerio walked past her. For the second time that day. But unlike before, he paused.

"Move," he said without looking back. "We're not finished."

Then he walked on. Aurora followed in silence. A light rain began to fall as Valerio's convoy left the industrial zone that had just become a sea of blood. Flickering streetlights reflected off wet asphalt, casting long shadows across the road. The black vehicles sped forward, still locked in perfect formation like a unit returning from war.

Aurora sat in the back of the guard vehicle with two other recruits, their faces pale. Their bodies trembled. Their breathing was uneven. Aurora remained calm.

The graze on her shoulder had stopped bleeding, leaving only a dull heat as it dried. Adrenaline still coursed through her veins, keeping her alert.

She knew one thing for certain. That fight... wasn't the last. And she had to survive. When the convoy entered the vast grounds of the Blackthorn mansion, the guards disembarked and formed two lines. Valerio stepped out of the limousine with an easy stride as if he had just returned from dinner, not a firefight capable of wiping out half the district. Vixen followed, then stopped in front of the recruits.

"All of you. With me," he said shortly.

He led them toward the east wing a building of dark glass and reinforced steel doors that sealed automatically. This was the internal training and evaluation center, where new recruits were judged worthy of advancement... or erased from the living roster.

Aurora followed the line, taking in the room. Bright white lights. A long table. Large monitors mounted on the walls. Several technicians sat behind computers, waiting. Vixen tapped the digital screen. Footage from the earlier firefight played instantly. The recruits' faces drained of color as they watched how close they had come to dying again and again.

The recording showed Aurora climbing onto the vehicle roof, firing at the sniper, rolling down, and rejoining formation without hesitation. One technician glanced at Vixen, raising an eyebrow.

"That woman... she's not recruit-level."

Vixen only shrugged. The other recruits stared at Aurora with a mix of fear and awe.

"I don't like long speeches," Vixen began the inspection. "Today, every one of you made mistakes."

He pointed at the screen, freezing the frame on a male recruit crouched behind a car.

"Marcus. You changed position without orders. If Aurora hadn't kicked you out of the enemy's firing line, your brains would be on the asphalt."

Marcus swallowed hard. Vixen switched to another clip.

"And you three too slow sealing the perimeter. Do you think the enemy waits for you to get ready before attacking?"

Several recruits lowered their heads. Then the footage paused on Aurora shooting the sniper. The room fell silent. The technician slowed the playback. "This is insane," he muttered. "She fired while mid-jump?"

Vixen didn't look surprised. He turned to Aurora.

"You."

Aurora straightened. "Yes."

"Who trained you?"

"No one," Aurora answered flatly.

Vixen narrowed his eyes. "Don't lie. People like you don't exist without someone shaping them."

Aurora met his stare without flinching. Her eyes said: Believe it or don't. That's your problem. Vixen didn't press further.

"I don't care about your past," he said finally. "Starting today, all of you will be trained. And you will learn to follow orders not just charge in on instinct."

Aurora almost laughed. It was precisely because she hadn't followed orders that she was still alive. But she said nothing. She wasn't foolish. Then the door opened. Everyone fell silent. Valerio Blackthorn entered. The atmosphere shifted instantly cold, dense, suffocating. Even the overhead lights seemed reluctant to touch him.

Aurora felt a strange pressure in her chest. Not fear. Alertness. Valerio didn't bother scanning the recruits. He walked straight to the monitor, watching the slow motion footage of Aurora killing the sniper. His gaze was dark. Calculating.

"What's her name?" he asked softly. The voice was gentle but gentle like a freshly sharpened blade. Vixen answered, "Aurora Vale."

Valerio turned toward her. Aurora felt her breath hitch as those black eyes locked onto hers. This wasn't just an assessment of skill. Not merely a calculation of threat. It was reading. Peeling her apart. Searching for something beneath the surface.

"You don't hesitate," Valerio said quietly. "Your shots are clean. Your instincts are fast. And... you don't wait for orders."

Aurora held her breath.

"Is there something you'd like to explain?" he asked.

Aurora answered honestly without fear, without disguise: "If I had waited for orders, you would be dead."

The room froze. One recruit dropped his pen. Vixen's eyes widened. Very few people dared speak to Valerio like thatnespecially on their first day. Valerio wasn't angry. He wasn't offended. Instead, the corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly. Amused. Or perhaps... intrigued.

He stepped closer, closing the distance. Aurora restrained the instinct to raise her weapon. Valerio stopped one meter in front of her.

"Not many people dare speak to me so directly," he said.

Aurora replied flatly. "You asked. I answered."

"And your answer was correct," Valerio said. "You saved my life."

There was a brief pause. A dangerous one. Then Valerio turned away.

"From now on, you're part of the core team."

Vixen stiffened. "Boss... she's just a recruit-"

"She's faster than my senior team," Valerio cut in. Vixen closed his mouth. The other recruits stared at Aurora with a mix of envy, fear, and reluctant respect. But Valerio wasn't finished.

He looked at Aurora over his shoulder. "And burn one thing into your memory..."

Aurora lifted her chin, listening. Valerio's gaze settled on her impossible to define. There was danger there. Interest. Threat. And something else... something even Aurora couldn't read.

"Don't move without my order," he said coldly. "Next time you act on your own, I'll be the one who puts a bullet in you."

Aurora held her breath.

"Understood," she answered shortly.

Valerio walked past her, and something strange happened. As their bodies brushed by, Aurora felt a surge of cold or heat? crawl up her spine. Something that made her instincts want to strike and, at the same time, want to... step closer. No. That couldn't be allowed. Aurora forced her thoughts back into focus.

As Valerio walked away, a single sentence echoed in her mind: That man wasn't just a target. He was a danger capable of destroying her. Vixen dismissed the meeting, and the recruits filed out with tangled emotions. Aurora left last.

As she stepped into the corridor, Vixen called her name. "Aurora."

She turned. Vixen looked at her seriously, without his usual edge of humor.

"You need to be careful."

Aurora frowned. "About what?"

Vixen stepped closer, lowering his voice. "About Valerio."

Aurora met his gaze, waiting. "There are two kinds of people who catch Valerio's attention," Vixen said quietly.

Aurora stayed silent. "The first: enemies he intends to kill."

"The second: people he keeps close... for reasons that are never good."

Aurora returned his stare without flinching. "I didn't come here to be either of those."

Vixen gave a thin smile. "That's exactly the problem. You don't get to choose."

Aurora said nothing. She continued down the hall toward her new room in the mansion. But even after the door closed behind her, she couldn't erase one crucial fact: Valerio Blackthorn had started paying attention to her. And attention from a man like that... could mean survival. Or a very slow death.

Night swallowed the city whole. Skyscrapers loomed like giant shadows, their dim lights flickering as if watching something never meant for ordinary eyes.

After the port ambush and the intense evaluation in the training room, the recruits dispersed to their quarters. But for Aurora, the night didn't simply end. Her body was tired, but her mind remained sharp and there was something she couldn't ignore.

Valerio Blackthorn. He wasn't just a mafia boss. Aurora had seen every kind of criminal, street lord, and gang leader throughout her life. But Valerio... There was something different about him. Something cold, precise, lethal and somehow... compelling. Danger had never looked so captivating.

Aurora brushed back her still damp hair after a quick shower, pulled on a black shirt and lightweight tactical pants. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she sharpened a small folding knife, her thoughts drifting where they shouldn't. Why did he look at me like he knew every secret I had? Why did it feel like he was watching even when he wasn't in the room? The thoughts unsettled her. Aurora didn't like being unsettled.

Knock! Knock!

The sound came from the door. Aurora straightened instantly, set the knife aside, and stood. Her hand reached for the pistol on the table, holding it behind her back as she cracked the door open.

"Yes?"

A senior guard stood outside, expression blank. "The boss wants to see you."

Aurora raised an eyebrow. "Now?"

"Now." No emotion.

She holstered her pistol, grabbed a light jacket, and followed him out. The mansion corridor was silent. Yellow lights cast a dim glow, turning every corner into a shadowed place where a killer could hide. The guard didn't speak again, walking briskly toward the west wing where Valerio's private office was located.

Aurora kept her steps even, but her mind was already mapping every possibility. Why is he calling me in the middle of the night? A test?

Something worse? Or... something personal? No. She shook her head slightly. Assumptions were dangerous.

They stopped in front of a large black wood door. The guard knocked once.

"Enter," Valerio's voice came from inside.

The guard opened the door and stepped aside. Aurora went in. The door closed immediately behind her.

The office was vast, its walls lined with bookshelves, a large window overlooking the dark city. The dim yellow light sharpened Valerio's silhouette. He stood with his back to her, staring out as if watching over a world he already owned.

He didn't turn when he spoke. "Sit."

Aurora chose to remain standing. "I'm more comfortable standing."

"Not a request. An order."

She summoned every ounce of control not to snarl and sat in the chair opposite the massive desk. Only then did Valerio turn. His gaze was sharp dark blue, like the night itself. Aurora didn't blink.

"You don't sleep?" Valerio asked.

"I don't sleep early."

"Good." He reached into his pocket and placed a black folder on the desk. "Because I have a mission for you."

Aurora focused instantly. Valerio sat back in his black leather chair, fingers interlaced.

"After the port incident, it's clear someone leaked the meeting schedule."

Aurora remained silent.

"That information was known to only four people," Valerio continued. "Including me."

"And you suspect one of them is a traitor?" Aurora guessed.

Valerio smirked faintly. "I suspect everyone."

He slid the folder toward her. "This is your target. You'll escort them. From a distance. Unseen. And if they make a single suspicious move..."

Valerio lifted his index finger, pressed it lightly against Aurora's temple, then slowly pulled it back as if squeezing an invisible trigger.

"...you eliminate them." Aurora stared at the folder. "Is this... our target, or one of your people?"

"My person," Valerio said without blinking. "One of the four."

Aurora tightened her grip on the folder. "You want me to watch and kill your own man?"