At this mont, the atmosphere was unbearably heavy in the room where the humans resided. Matthew and Maya sat on one side, their expressions unreadable. Taylor clenched his fists tightly, remaining silent.
On the other hand, the dark espers stood off to the side, looking relaxed and exhilarated.
Suddenly, Julia stretched, her face bored. "So, when exactly are Clow and that useless guy returning?"
Alexis giggled. "Clow? No idea. But that useless guy? He’s probably still writhing under Leonard, hahaha."
Jack scoffed indifferently. "Wouldn’t matter if both of them died. They’re equally worthless anyway. For ages, I’ve wanted to cut out that Leon guy’s tongue!"
Alexis reminded him, "Don’t forget, he’s the heir to the Curtis family. If we take him outside, we’ll never have to worry about money for the rest of our lives!"
The group chatted excitedly, completely ignoring the gloom that surrounded Matthew and Maya.
After escaping Ace’s captivity, Matthew rushed off to find Nerio, but he hadn’t seen a trace of the boy or Clow anywhere in the village. The only thing that greeted him was water stained with blood.
He had wanted to kill Ace. But Matthew knew that, right now, acting on impulse would be aningless.
No matter how much he wanted to deny it, Ace had been right—he couldn’t save anyone. He couldn’t even avenge Nerio... He was useless.
Maya had remained silent ever since Matthew returned. He knew it wasn’t her fault. He didn’t bla her. But that didn’t change the fact that neither could find any reason to be happy.
Just then, the door was suddenly pushed open.
Alexis brightened. "Finally, he decided to co back."
However, the person who walked in left everyone stunned—it was Leonard, and he was covered in blood!
Julia narrowed her eyes as if reevaluating him, then smirked. "Looks like you won that little struggle, huh? Unbelievable."
Maya also looked at Leonard in surprise but said nothing.
"Why isn’t Clow back yet? Did he bury the body underwater or sothing?!" Alexis joked in mock irritation.
But Leonard replied flatly, "Yes."
Alexis froze in shock. Then, standing up, he smirked at Leonard. "Seems like killing soone made you a whole lot braver."
At that mont, tiny footsteps echoed, drawing everyone’s attention. Nerio appeared from behind Leonard, hiding behind him.
Both the dark espers and the humans sprang to their feet in shock.
Nerio was alive—so where was Clow? And what was the aning of the bloodstains on the river’s surface?
The dark espers’ gazes turned icy. But at this mont, as Leonard stood shielding Nerio, he suddenly realized—these people weren’t as terrifying as they seed.
"I killed both of them. So now we’re short on wedding guests, aren’t we?"
He stood there, his body drenched in fresh blood. His slightly overgrown hair was matted together, soaked in crimson, revealing his shadowy eyes—his pupils flickering with a vivid red hue.
The dark espers glared at Leonard with cold hostility.
"You killed one of our own," Julia said icily. Though neither she nor the others harbored much emotion beyond surprise at Clow’s death, they couldn’t allow soone to trample on their pride so blatantly.
Alexis snarled, "Die!" With that, he suddenly lunged at Leonard.
"Stop!" Matthew shouted. A light arrow shot toward Alexis, but vines from Ace intercepted it.
However, what happened next shocked them all.
Leonard, with sheer brute force, stopped Alexis in his tracks. Then, without hesitation, he opened his mouth—
and bit straight into Alexis’s neck!
Blood sprayed three ters away. A massive chunk of flesh was torn from Alexis.
He let out a scream of agony, staggering backward, his eyes filled with disbelief as he stared at Leonard.
Blood poured endlessly from his wound, and at that mont, even his regeneration seed to slow.
Leonard spat out the piece of flesh onto the ground. His gaze was cold, predatory—a look that warned he was ready to devour anyone who dared approach him or Nerio.
The others looked between Leonard and Alexis in astonishnt.
Julia suddenly laughed. "Looks like he’s awakened as an esper, too. Though his ability is a bit..."
Jack smirked. "Maybe he always fantasized about eating his cruel little brother, and that’s why he got this kind of power, hahaha!"
Ace remained silent. None of them seed particularly enraged by Alexis’s injury.
"Captain!" Alexis cried out.
But Ace only looked at him and coldly spat, "Useless."
It was as if, at this mont, sparing Alexis a finishing blow was already an act of rcy.
Alexis froze, clutching his wound in agony. The blood flowed faster than his body could heal, leaving him gasping for breath.
Taylor stood on the sidelines, fists clenched as she watched but did not intervene. She knew all too well how cruel Alexis was—he had tried to kill her and the others more tis than she could count.
Ace stepped toward Leonard and extended an invitation. "This ability of yours suits our team perfectly. With a power like that, what could be more fitting than becoming a dark esper?"
They had no genuine concept of a "team"—rely a gathering of ruthless individuals where the weak could be discarded.
"I need ti to think," Leonard said, forcing himself to stay calm.
Ace smirked. "Think fast because we have no intention of letting those who harm our teammates walk free."
It was clear: Leonard had two choices—join Ace’s group or die.
Matthew, standing nearby, spoke coldly. "Don’t listen to him. The governnt will protect you once we get out of this dungeon."
"Then I should just kill you here," Ace remarked casually, glancing at Matthew as if he were nothing more than an afterthought.
Matthew clenched his fists, saying nothing, but his stance made it clear—he was ready to fight.
At that mont, Nerio suddenly peeked out from behind Leonard, looking up at him with confusion. "Why are you afraid?"
Leonard stiffened at Nerio’s question.
Julia burst out laughing. "You stupid kid—he’s afraid because he doesn’t want to die."
Nerio looked at her, then Ace, before finally returning to Leonard. "They’re the ones who should be afraid. You’re much stronger than them. Why didn’t you just kill him? You could’ve done it with one more bite—why did you let him go?"
Leonard stared at Nerio in shock.
Was he stronger than Ace? He didn’t know. But he had spared Alexis—that much was true. He hadn’t wanted to beco sothing terrifying.
How did Nerio figure that out? It could have been sothing to do with his ability, Leonard thought. But instead of saying that, he simply muttered, "Don’t talk about killing people all the ti, Nerio. That’s not a good thing."
Nerio pursed his lips and fell silent, clearly displeased at being scolded.
[I know this isn’t the right ti to say this, but I want to pinch Nerio’s cheeks. Bite them, even. My god is he puffing them out?!]
[No, it’s just your imagination. But yeah, he’s seriously adorable.]
[Maybe Leonard and the others think this is just so dumb thing a kid would say, but they have no idea—Nerio ans it, hahaha. I’m starting to suspect he’s trying to push Leonard into killing people, lol.]
[I forgot Nerio isn’t as harmless as he looks...]
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