Graham shot forward, one hand in front of him, the other behind him.
As he closed the distance between him and Hao, he lashed the hand behind forward, swinging swiftly with a silver aesthetic stiletto.
Hao immediately backstepped, obtaining a shallow line cut on his cheek.
He crouched and shot forward like a spring, aiming for Braham's crotch.
But Braham was quick-witted; his eyes widened in that mini-moment.
The detriment of what was going to happen to his reproductive organ flashed before his eyes in milliseconds, and all his instincts worked together to counter the situation.
In the midst of the rush of action, Braham staggered backward – that at least saved him from Hao's incoming attack, but his instincts had at the same time already executed a counter.
Which means his knee, as he staggered back, rose powerfully, hitting Hao in his groin.
A sickening crunching sound exploded air out of Hao's back. He felt his entire body shiver from the pain that traveled across in an instant.
His legs trembled, and he succumbed to his knees slowly.
Braham exhaled sharply and blew his front hairs upward with an "Oof!"
Then he combed through them with his hand and looked down at Hao, who was holding his belly and writhing in pain.
"Ah damnit! I can't believe my heart faltered there for a moment..." he wiped his forehead. "Eh? I even sweated? You tried, you really tried, Hao."
He dashed a kick onto Hao's flank, causing him to groan even harder and roll away.
A thick frown crumbled Braham's face; it was as if whatever was piling up behind those sweet smiles of his were now bursting out.
And they were pretty ugly.
The short fight that had played out between them was not something Braham should have won at all.
At least not this early.
What just happened was a coincidence... luck worked in Braham's favor.
And now it made Hao look like he wasn't all that.
But make no mistake... Hao is a very strong drifter, respected even by Gilbert.
Braham angrily stomped towards him—he was at this point trying to get up, but his legs were still trembling.
He looked up at Braham with a strained glare, his brows darkly furrowed.
Braham raised his chin, "Uh, uhh, what is it with that look? Have you not yet learned your place?"
His legs swung past Hao's face, causing the man's head to throw away in a likewise direction.
He opened his palm, revealing a black seed, then he closed it again and threw his hand backward.
As his hand shot forward, a green vine exploded out of his fist, wriggling like the abandoned tail of a reptile.
Before the vine lash could make its mark on Hao's body, Braham's hand stopped midair.
A frown leaked from Braham's face as he saw the person that was holding his hand.
Behind the white-haired dude holding his hand was a black-haired boy, shivering.
He jerked his hand away from Northern's grip and turned around.
"You finally decide to show your face, you filthy criminal."
Northern moved a little, blocking Braham's view.
Braham contorted his features even more darkly and commanded:
"Move away from my front."
Northern cocked his head in response.
"Stranger, know your place. I don't have any dispute with you... I best advise you that it'll be best for you to move out of my face before I show you dread."
Northern's eyes grew wide as he heard Braham's statement. They resonated inside his thoughts, '...dread...'
Northern first frowned, then one of his brows drove slightly upward.
Braham raised his chin, "It looks like you think yourself to be something since you've been the center of attraction for a couple of days. I can bring you the most hellish experience of your life. I can make you regret the moment you met me and dared to hold my hand with those filthy mitts."
A grin stretched Northern's lips. He was first smiling, but the more he thought about it, the more funny it sounded, that Northern couldn't help but burst out in a wild laughter.
He put his hand forward, laughed, laughed and laughed, leaned on a knee while laughing.
"Ohhh... crap, crap, crap," he slowly rose and tapped Braham's shoulder as his laughter came to a galloping end.
"Yooo, yooo bro... you are full of jokes. Such ridiculous jokes."
Braham's brow furrowed deeply.
"Take those filthy mitts off my shoulders."
Northern immediately held Braham's shoulder, gripping him and staring into his face.
His facial features slowly transitioned from leftover front of laughter to a grim scowl that made his blue eyes glow with monstrous flare.
Braham stopped mid-sentence... he tried to move but could feel Northern's grip on his green armor getting tighter.
And shamefully, it was beginning to hurt.
Cracks delved into the armor from the point Northern was gripping. His lips began to tremble, and eyes blinked as the pain registered through his entire being.
He gritted his teeth and resisted the torturous ache that tormented his shoulder and caused his entire being to respond in cold fear.
He could feel his blood almost freezing.
His legs were trembling, but he was trying so hard not to give in to their feebleness.
All his muscles were screaming in protest to the overwhelming threat that gripped their fibers.
At this point, Braham couldn't say a word again; he was gritting his teeth, trying to move but couldn't.
'What is this? What is this pressure... what is this strength?' his mind screamed for answers.
Northern looked intensely at him and squinted his eyes. Then he said:
"You see... the kind of people that I hate the most are the kind of people like you, people who don't know their place."
He paused and looked over at Hao, who was already standing, caution plastered to his face.
"...because you don't know your place, you think you can march an older person anyhow."
He threw a glance at Ellis and continued, spacing his words with palpable confidence.
"Because you don't know your place, you think you can cheat anyone."
Then his face twisted into a deep sea of horror. As Braham beheld them, it was like he was looking into the abyss.
It was filled with void and chaos... there was so much pandemonium burning through his eyes.
Confidently, Northern's words rolled out again.
"Because you don't know your place... you dare think you..." he cast a disgusted look on him, "you... you can show me dread? You can show me hell."
A wicked laughter escaped Northern's lips for a short moment. Then he abandoned Braham's shoulder, swiftly grabbing his neck before he could move an inch.
Northern slowly drew him closer to his face. Then the wicked grin returned.
"Look at me, human... I am dread... I am your definition of hell."