(A couple of minutes ago)
Northern and Ellis kept searching. The moment Hao left them to attend to the person at the door, Ellis began to freak out.
Whatever was happening in the city due to the appearance of a monster, he was sure it was the event of Dark Terror.
And most likely they'd be looking for him too. After all, he was the only person from the party that was missing.
If they were looking for him, that means undoubtedly that man too was out searching for him.
This was his perfect excuse to get to Ellis.
To have Ellis completely and destroy his life for daring to disobey him.
Ellis, in that moment, felt like everything he had tried to do in the while all of a sudden became useless.
He felt weak in the legs; the thought of being captured and tortured plagued him with so much cold fear.
"Please Sir Northern, you promised to help me remember?" His voice shook.
Northern looked at the boy and felt so sad for him; his face was so disheveled, broken apart by intense fear.
Northern stared at Ellis for a while, his eyes picturing the fear on his face. It was somewhat beautiful.
Northern thought, 'How powerful is the person to make him cower so much...' and again he thought, '...man, I'd sure like to recreate this kind of fear on the face of that person.'
A smile slowly curled up his face while his eyes still stayed glued to Ellis's.
He touched the boy's shoulder and said to him:
"Ellis, I have decided not to run away." 'I must recreate this!'
Ellis's countenance shattered even further; his brows drifted up, and his lips trembled as he spoke.
"Wh–what do—do you mean? You promised!!"
"Exactly, Ellis, and I am about to fulfill my promise to you. I will beat that guy to a pulp for your sake." A villainous grin slowly crept on Northern's lips.
His shoulders shuddered as a silent laughter escaped his lips.
He tapped Ellis's shoulder again: twice in a row.
Then he turned around and demanded of him.
Ellis first stood in a few seconds of silence. He felt his throat grow dry; he tried to muster some spit and swallowed it, then hurried after Northern, who was already reaching the entrance.
They trudged up the stairs for a couple of minutes before they finally got to the door and opened it.
What Northern saw, however, immediately caused something to begin boiling within him.
A green-haired guy was kicking the man that they had all come here to exchange items with.
Seeing this immediately caused a grim anger to dawn on his face. Even though his eyes were plain and almost emotionless, which hinted at an even more dangerous facade.
"Hey, Ellis... it's that bastard, right?"
Ellis shook his head; his hands were trembling, but he tried to hide them behind his back. He knew Northern was strong and powerful.
But this person had instilled so much horror and fear within his bones that it had become an instinctive reaction to cower before his presence.
It was how disastrous and strong of a person he was.
However, the more Northern saw this, the more he wanted to repaint it... on the face of this person.
And seeing how much of a nuisance and stupid person he is, Northern was glad he was not going to be doing the wrong thing.
Northern inhaled and exhaled steamy breath through his mouth.
In a flash, he covered the distance, his legs barely touching the ground.
As Braham swung his arm back and created a vine lash, Northern appeared behind him, and Braham didn't even notice—he had ample time to strike down the stupid fellow.
But he decided in that instance:
'Let's do this slow and painful.'
As Braham's hand swung forward, the vine lashing out in a frenzy dance, Northern caught it mid-air, causing Braham to look back at him.
(Back to this moment)
Braham was a distinguished individual; by class alone, he was placed on a pedestal far above a lot of people.
He was one of the very few among the students who were true nobles.
Not just his class, he was strong and talented, different from many among his peers.
Green pretty hair and eyes, when he awakened, he awakened an impressive talent that further rose his pride, the pride of his parents, and people's expectation of him.
And thus, he had grown up shouldering so much pride and expectation, and so he had never in his entire life lived a moment where he dared to consider anyone higher than himself.
Even when he got accidentally brought to the Dark Continent, Braham was one of the very few persons that adapted quickly to the change of things.
He was just that intelligent and talented.
Unfearful and brave in every possible way. He recognized people's strength but was never intimidated by them.
However, for the first time in his entire life, he stood before someone he thought so little of... and a terrifying notion crossed his mind.
'He's strong! Shit! He's strong!!'
Braham felt absolutely powerless as Northern's grip tightened around his neck.
The hollow sea of horror that reflected on his face sent so much cold fear into Braham's system.
It made him tremble involuntarily.
He had never cowered before.
He had never in his entire life been so scared.
An ear-to-ear grin adorned Northern's face as he saw the guy's face crumble with intense fear. He slowly tried to open his trembling lips and after a few trials managed to murmur:
"P–p–please... sp—are m–m–me."
Northern turned his ear to the guy's mouth, "Huh? I don't think I heard what you said."
Braham pressed his lips together, hesitating before he tried to open them again.
However, he suddenly stopped and weakly looked back. Then a small smile slowly graced his lips.
At that point, Northern felt very disturbed.
His eyes suddenly widened, 'Crap! How did I miss it!!'
He immediately released his grip on Braham and delivered a powerful slap to his chest, causing him to fly away and crash into a nearby tree. Then he swiftly turned, beholding the person standing behind him, with a couple of others...
A forced grin graced a corner of his lips.
"Uh... we finally meet again. I didn't know we'd be meeting so soon."
He, in fact, thought they'd be meeting sooner.
Because she had said she would get back to him.
However, this meeting of theirs didn't look like it was going to be a friendly one.
She was, after all, standing with her sword unsheathed.
"So, to what do I owe this pleasant surprise?"