Reborn with my killer's looks-Chapter 39: Once it’s broken it can never be repaired.

Huey didn’t move from the doorway.

"Calvin."

Calvin stopped what he was doing. "I was just leaving."

"I can see that."

A silence ensued between them, and Huey’s eyes drifted to the photos scattered on Calvin’s bed.....

Old pictures, their edges worn from handling. One showed a younger Calvin with his father, both smiling at some kind of metalworking convention.

Another showed Calvin holding his first Gun.

Calvin noticed him looking and quickly gathered them up, tucking them back into the place he had been searching.

"I’ll be coming to St. Helena tonight," Huey said quietly. "To meet with your Magister."

Calvin’s hands froze and he turned. "What if I already told her? About you, and abiut everything."

"Like I said before, I’ll just have to deal with it."

"Seriously?"

"I told you I’d trust your decision." Huey’s voice stayed calm. "So I’m proving it. I’m going there without knowing what’ll happen next. Besides, the Blue Reaper is still partnered with the Golden Chalice. It’d be suspicious if I didn’t show up."

Calvin’s jaw tightened. "Cut the crap about trust. Why did you really reveal your identity?"

Huey was quiet for a moment.

Then he stepped into the room, letting the door close behind him.

"I made the decision after watching Peter and Phillip fight," he said. "They’re lunatics, both of them. But each side had good points. And it... Well, resonated with me."

Calvin’s expression shifted slightly. "Elaborate."

Huey leaned against his desk. "You remember I mentioned having a brother?"

"Vaguely."

"That was eleven years ago. He did something to protect me. At least, that’s what he called it." Huey’s voice hardened. "I saw it as him holding me back and hindering my progress. Our relationship’s been... strained ever since and I haven’t even talked to him in years."

Calvin said nothing and just listened.

"I also did some digging on you," Huey continued. "Your father was involved in that same incident eleven years ago. The one that destroyed my relationship with my brother."

Calvin’s eyes flashed. "My father is innocent—"

"I know." Huey’s tone was gentle. "That’s why you joined Law Legion, isn’t it? To prove it someday."

Calvin’s fists clenched.

"You said it yourself," Huey said. "You understand what it’s like to want to believe someone so badly, but everything else is telling you otherwise. Not knowing what to think."

He met Calvin’s eyes.

"So it’s not that different with me."

The silence stretched between them.

Then Calvin exhaled, his shoulders dropping slightly.

"We haven’t briefed Sister Jewel yet," he said finally. "She let us rest after seeing how battered we were, and we weren’t planning to tell her about you anyway."

Huey raised an eyebrow.

"Josephine protested at first," Calvin continued. "But Luna and I convinced her. We’ll be investigating Sister Jewel and the Golden Chalice secretly to see if there really is a mole."

"And if you find one?"

"Then we deal with it." Calvin picked up another box. "So you’ll Come tonight, after we’ve had our talk with her??"

Huey nodded. "I will."

Calvin paused at the door. "For what it’s worth... I don’t think you’re a bad person, Huey. I just think you’re an idiot who doesn’t know how to ask for help."

"Sorry to burst your bubble but I’m probably a bad person too."

Calvin almost smiled. "A man who’s self aware. That’s a gold trait"

The door closed behind him.

Huey stood alone in the room for a moment, then grabbed the small gift from his desk drawer.

Time to get to work.

Vie’s Pie was quiet in the evening.

Huey wiped down the counter, the smell of fresh-baked pastries filling the air.

Mrs. Vie hummed in the back, packaging the day’s leftovers.

"Huey, dear, you’re doing it again."

He looked up. "Doing what?"

"That thing where you clean the same spot five times because you’re thinking too hard."

Huey glanced down at the counter. She was right.

"Sorry."

"It’s fine." Mrs. Vie emerged with a shopping bag full of wrapped pies. "Here. For your friends. You look like you could use some good karma."

Huey took the bag. "Thank you."

"And Huey?"

"Yes?"

"Whatever you’re dealing with, always remember you don’t have to do it alone."

Huey managed a small smile. "Alright Vie."

He left the bakery with the bag in hand and the evening air cool against his face.

Time to meet up with the Trinity.

But first...

He closed his eyes and the zone materialized around him in geometric patterns of blue light.

Robert Azzuri sat at a small table, his elbows resting on the surface, and his fingers clasped in front of his face.

He had a smug look on his face

A chessboard sat between him and... nothing.

"Your move," Jazz’s voice echoed through the space.

Azzuri grinned and moved his bishop.

His expression shifted immediately from smug to shock.

"Checkmate," Jazz announced.

"Fuck this." Azzuri flipped the table, the pieces scattering across the void.

"You are a terrible at chess, Mr. Azzuri," Jazz observed. "That is the seventeenth game you have lost today."

"Where’s the Blue Reaper?" Azzuri stood, stretching. "I’m tired of being cooped up in here with nothing to do."

"You cannot go outside, you are presumed dead and the best course of action is to remain here."

"I need action. I need to get my hands dirty." Azzuri started walking, exploring the Zone.

But no matter which direction he went, he always ended up back at the same spot.....

The overturned chess table.

"I hate this stupid place." he muttered.

Then he spotted a door on the far end of the Zone, barely visible in the blue haze.

Azzuri ran toward it.

"Mr. Azzuri, I would advise against—"

Too late.

Azzuri slammed his hands against the door. It creaked open slowly.

Shadows moved inside and growls could be heard.

Emerged from inside were echoes.

Several of them, their glowing eyes fixed on Azzuri and their bodies low, just waiting to pounce.

Azzuri stepped back slowly. "Nice kitty, kitty..."

"They are tamed," Jazz said. "They will not attack unless hungry."

"What do they eat?"

"Many things. But they are variants. Their favorite is human flesh."

Azzuri bolted.

The Echoes chased him, snarling and snapping at his heels.

He ran in circles, literally. The Zone kept on looping back on itself and Azzuri kept on spamming curses.

A calm voice cut through the chaos.

"Sit."

The Echoes stopped instantly.

They turned, trotted back, and sat obediently in front of the Blue Reaper.

Huey stood at the entrance, already in full gear; mask, katana, gloves and Trench coat.

He crouched and patted each Echo’s head. "Good boys."

He looked at Azzuri, sprawled on the ground, panting.

"What are you doing on the floor?"

"Your fucking pets tried to eat me!"

Huey walked past him toward a section of the Zone where a chair materialized. A massive holographic display appeared, hovering in the air with blueprints, maps, data streams.

"Would you rather be here or out there getting hunted by Arcanum," Huey said, scrolling through the data. "Or worse, mauled by your son and the seventh seal."

Azzuri groaned, and hopped to his feet. "Speaking of that bastard—"

"Tell me about Q."

Azzuri’s expression darkened. "The Veltman family never accepted him and I was kind enough to let him into my home. I Took him under my wing, Taught him everything."

"And he repaid you by trying to kill you and stealing your company."

"Well he did help me gain full control over Zhao Enterprises in the first place. We Turned it into Azzuri Innovations." Azzuri spat. "But he was always greedy."

"Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree," Huey muttered, still working.

"I’m greedy for money. Quantico’s thirst goes beyond that." Azzuri’s voice turned grim. "He’s a psychopath. He suggested Kaiser to handle the illegal experiments on pneuma, Crests and Variants. Pay came from the upper class for any new breakthroughs we could make. But for Q, it was never about the money. He enjoyed it."

Huey’s hands paused on the display. "The St. Helena massacre."

"Kaiser was using the hospital basement that day. Experiments on Achusoi." Azzuri leaned against the wall.

"Azzuri Innovations had Achusoi on payroll as test subjects, didn’t they?"

"Yes."

"One of them was kidnapped."

Azzuri nodded. "A paid test subject, got sacked by Azzuri and then taken by Kaiser. I knew the kid personally and he softened my perspective on Achusoi a little; The kid had guts."

Huey’s eyes narrowed behind the mask. "What was his name?"

"Do you expect me to memorize the names of all my underlings. What do I look like to you, Franklin. D . Roosevelt??"

Huey turned back to the display, and then he stepped back. "Finished."

The holographic map solidified; a complete layout of St. Helena Church. Every room, every hallway, every part of their underground archives.

"What’s this?" Azzuri asked.

"St. Helena. Our investigation begins tonight." Huey’s voice was calm. "When we get the photos and records of everyone who died that day, you’re going to help me identify if one of them is the Achusoi who worked under you."

Azzuri’s eyes widened. "But you said I couldn’t leave here...."

Huey unsheathed his katana.

The blade gleamed blue in the Zone’s light.

elegant, deadly, and inscribed with Byzantine script along the edge.

Thanatos’ Severance.

"Don’t worry," Huey said.

He drove the blade through Azzuri’s chest.

Azzuri’s body crumpled to the ground, and he became souless.

But Azzuri was still standing.

Or rather, his soul was.

He looked down at his own corpse, then at his translucent hands.

"What the...."

"Thanatos’ Severance," Jazz explained.

"The Blue Reaper’s blade can split souls from bodies and imbue those souls into objects or entities without souls. He discovered it shortly after becoming the Blue Reaper."

Huey walked toward one of the Echoes.

He placed his hand on its head.

Azzuri’s soul was pulled and dragged into the creature.

The Echo’s eyes shifted, gaining what they call awareness.

Azzuri now inhabiting the Echo, stared at his new body in horror.

"You’ve got to be shitting me."

Huey crouched in front of him, eye-level with the Echo. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"This is how you get around without being caught," he said.

Azzuri’s Echo body growled in frustration.

Huey stood, sheathing his blade. "Now let’s go. We have a church to investigate."

The Zone pulsed with blue light.

And the Blue Reaper vanished.