Betas:This chapter was beta'd by Eveakane and Gaouw back in QQ forum.

Chapter 6


Heavy.

Everything is too fucking heavy…

And Cold too!

…I really should have thought this through.

The eerily silent Hellbeast jumps to my side, trying to take a bite out of my shoulder. I almost got scraped by a bone blade that grew out of its torso when I dodged. My small fist pulverize its stomach midair.

The thing hit a tree in an entirely new outside from its early trajectory, the strength of the hit causing blood and gore to fly out of its mouth, but in mere moments it's up on its feet again while rapidly healing.

Right, they are almost immortal now. I forgot about that.

On the right, I could see three more of them circling me, trying to find or make an opening; the other five must be among the trees, staying unseen for a possible ambush, or to act if I try to escape the kill zone. The last one would take a few minutes to get its insides uncrushed.

These are the most dangerous kind of Hellbeasts; individually, they could take out a Middle-Class devil, but together they could bring down a High-Class one. And the terrifying thing is… They are still getting stronger.

I would know. I made them that way.

The one on the right moves to attack, but it stops upon my own movement. I quickly jump back when my lunge triggered their trap, causing another one to burst up from the snow on my previous position, its teeth would have lacerated my legs, or my belly if it was lucky. But I saw it coming.

Now, the Dantalion's Forest is not really a dangerous place overall. It's located on the immediate vicinity of the Dantalion's Castle, so the guards would work to decrease the Hellbeast population on a regular basis, keeping it just enough not to bother the Family or visitors, while still showing the might of the Dantalion's lands.

Over the last two years, that became virtually unnecessary; as I 'marked' every big player in the forest, effectively taming the entire beast population. Now, the forest is an active part of the Family's defense.

And I ordered every Beast here to 'evolve' and 'grow stronger'.

The beauty of the orders is that I don't really need to worry about the wording; the important thing is my intention.

The one on the left moves its body a certain way. Wait does that mean? – Yep, they can throw the bone spikes like a projectile now, that's neat…

The Beasts also serve as an excellent training partner; I only need to order one to 'kill me' to have them go Animal Planet on my six-year-old ass. But that's not really the problem.

The problem is that my 'weight seal' (Which is not really a seal, I'm just being cheesy) decides that now is an excellent the time to increase its intensity, right on the middle of a life and death battle.

I tear the bone spike from my shoulder. Another one moves in my blind spot and took the opportune to bite my arm, throwing his weight over me to make me fall. The other should join in less than a second… And sure enough, a pair of mouths with teeth that could tear through steel joins the first one.

…They couldn't even pierce my skin as all my muscle hardens to an absurd degree.

My primary reason for fighting these beasts is to work on my Warlord Essence and only that. Once again I'm reminded of how much bullshit they are…

You see, this Essence gives me a 'Supernatural mastery' to many combat styles, be it armed or unarmed. The first thing I noticed is that it doesn't actually teach me the style, no- it makes me a Master in it. But the other thing is much more meaningful…

As the Essence did not specify which styles I can become a master of.

"Shigan!"

My finger pierces the eye of one of the beasts. It wasn't long enough to reach the brain, so I made sure to pass my entire hand through the skull, destroying the brain in the process.

The other two Hellbeasts jump away immediately; the rest of them cut the ambush short to get back to their early position. The one with an open head was dead; no matter how much they regenerate, they couldn't do brains.

Usually, the death of a pack member would cause them to retreat. But my orders are absolute.

I stand up with difficulty, my body struggling against an enormous pressure, which was built for the past two years in a continuous, torturous circle. The seal would always increase the pressure on the moment I grew accustomed to it, making my life one of constant effort.

Fuck… A few minutes ago I would be able to use 'Shigan Oren' and kill the three of them at once, but the new pressure forced me to adapt until I can use my melee techniques again... I could still use 'Soru', but 'Geppo' was out of the picture for now.

The two began circling once again, and other two came out of the tree line, one of them starting to dig. They are changing tactics…

I could always stop this; a single order would make them stop, or I could release the weight seal to make the fight a piece of cake or decrease the level of pressure to the one I was used to before…

I feel my face spread into a feral grin.

…But where is the fun in that?

-0-0-0-

Nine wolf-like beasts stand perfectly still in a straight line, their white fur blending with the snow on the ground, their two pairs of eyes giving a vastly wider field of vision compared to most of the creatures in this forest. The bone spikes decorated their torso, each with its own unique design, making each member of the pack look distinct from one another.

They are beautiful, a far cry from the hungry pack I found a year and a half ago.

With just a hand sign, they burst forward. Moving to eat their old corpses as a reward of a good training session, and after that, they would be gone, running almost invisibly through the forest, searching for more food and new ways to fulfill their primary orders.

I wonder if there are any limits to how strong they could grow; I didn't give them the essence of the Blank, but the right orders seem to produce a similar effect on a marked being…

Every single beast here is now a force to be reckoned with, and ironically made the surrounds a much safer place for the staff and visitors, but a hellish nightmare to any invader.

I sat down on a new tree stump caused by the fight, letting my body catch its breath.

I'm not tired, my infinite stamina taking care of that pesky problem forever, but my body still feels the superficial effects of a heavy exercise. I could even become sweaty and breathless, but that's about it, and I could easily power through it if I wanted.

The immunity to pain is also a boon, it's… difficult to explain the exact sensation to someone, as the ability to feel pain is one of the fundamental characteristics of a biological creature; it's very hard to conceptualize life without it. I'm not incapable of feeling pain, I can register it and its intensity just fine, it just doesn't faze me in the slightest, the negative effects of pain doesn't affect me anymore.

Those two abilities helped me a lot in my training; honestly speaking, I don't think I'll ever subject myself to this if I didn't have them. Seriously, one thing that media loves to skip over, is that the Shounen 'Training From Hell' is really fucking hard, and is really fucking long.

Try sleeping while your body is crushed by tons of pressure… Not even the breast pillows helped- alright, they helped a little.

My point is, in these last two years, with the immediate danger gone; I could properly focus on my training. I don't really know how strong I am now without a proper measurement, but I'm definitely stronger than Gerhardt in every single aspect. And with him being a High-Class devil and officially the strongest Devil in the Dantalion's region, I say my power is growing well.

But that's not a reason to become complacent, Hell no. I will never grow complacent; there is always something that I could do to be better, to be more powerful, and to reach my objectives faster.

My potential is unlimited, so as long as I don't stop, I will continue to grow… And Gerhardt isn't even the tip of the iceberg for these world's true powers.

It's still not enough to fight against the underworld and win, which I would have to do if I really pick a fight with the Gremory in the future. To tell the truth I don't even care about them all that much, my real problem is with Grayfia and the current Lucifer, but yeah, that would draw a lot of attention, and involve a lot of people, so my focus is not on revenge but to build a safer base, where I can get to the suitable power level without interruptions. The revenge is more of an inevitable side effect for when I get strong enough to fuck the world.

Even Mother doesn't care about that; she is perfectly happy living the way we are now.

Speaking of Mother…

I look up to the sky at the encroaching clouds, barely managing to see the purple above; we will not have a blizzard tonight, it's not that time of year yet, but the snow level would increase considerably by night, and in the Dantalion's region, it gets dark pretty early.

…I should probably get back before she becomes agitated, the worried thoughts should begin to arrive any minute now.

I sigh as I drop into the shadow of the stump, heading to the guard post first to get a clean set of clothes; no need to give her a mental breakdown from all the blood.

-0-0-0-

"Welcome back, young master. I hope you had a fruitful training."

Belinda was guarding the door outside the room, which means…

Fuck.

"How is she?" I say, trying to suppress the wince.

The new head of the battle maids takes a moment to organize her thoughts before responding. "Better… definitely better than the last time, nothing happened yet, at least." A flicker of worry passes through her eyes, before she remembers who she was talking to. "I humbly ask for the young master to quell my Lady's worries before it becomes too much for her." She finished with the required formality, a bit more daring for a maid, but it was alright considering our weird relationship.

"Right, thank you for taking care of her." She bows deeply as I move to enter the room.

I eventually forgave Belinda for her early inaptitude towards my mother's situation. Right now, she is the head of the battle maids, after the old Head and two of them, ah, 'mysteriously disappeared'. But more importantly she is Mother's new personal maid and bodyguard, and they were actually quick to form an actual friendship, one of the few my mother's ever had in her life.

Now, I didn't miss how she called mother 'my Lady'… Yeah, she does have a crush on Mother; I don't know if this is a recent development, or if she felt that way before, when I first checked her mind, I was more preoccupied in Gerhardt's abilities than her thoughts about my Mother.

And that left our relationship on a weird vibe, but not the bad kind of weird. I'm the son of her crush and the 'Young master' of the house, so she tries to treat me as nice and formally as possible, but in our time spent together, we ended up developing an odd friendship; that happened when she realized that I'm brilliant for a six-year-old and could actually follow conversations, and when I realized that she is a genuinely good person.

That didn't prevent me from messing the fuck out of her mind of course, safety comes first after all.

She isn't 'programmed' as rigidly as the other staff members are though. They still see the days passing with little change from two years ago. To them, Mother is still sleeping with Gerhardt every night, and still spending time with me at all hours of the day, with a few minor differences that happened naturally. And of course, they are incapable of noticing anything wrong with each other, and that everything my Mother and I do is considered perfectly reasonable to them.

Belinda has a perception more close to reality. To her, the new role that she is enjoying is because of a direct order from Gerhardt, and the fact that Mother and I are sleeping together now is because he grew tired of her after all these years. She also wouldn't notice anything wrong if she shares histories with the other maids, or see anything suspicious about me.

The Essence of Binder is pure bullshit

About her crush, well I actually feels really happy about it. Her friendship with Mother is genuinely helping. Furthermore, according to all the information I manage to dig up, I learned that devil's relationships aren't normally monogamous in nature, with harems and open relationships being kind of the norm. And sure enough, the thought of sharing Mother with a beautiful woman or several doesn't irk me whatsoever… but if it is with a man… that's a different fucking story.

But as she is right now, the thought of relationships with others still has some time to take root. I don't think she would ever stop being obsessed with me, not after seeing the intensity of the feeling first hand, but she is still so dependent.

"I'm back Mother, sorry to keep you waiting."

I saw her shadow stop midway from warping to my waist and pulling me to her. She was sitting on a comfortable chair near the window - with what looked like a pair of knitting needles? - And a ball of yarn on the table beside her. The late afternoon light was working wonders to enhance her natural beauty. In fact, very few things don't improve her natural beauty now, with the Gerhardt's threat over I let the Breeder's Essence run its course (with the fertility setting still turned off) and the effect was quite apparent. Luckily for us, she is not very active in devil society, or someone would be bound to notice something.

She now looks as 'perfect' as she could ever be; I think she grew a few centimeters, her legs and ass are more prominent and well formed, even her breasts are a little bigger… But that could be because they were full of milk most of the time now.

I ignored the partially projected shadow on the floor and went directly to her. Her face was locked in a kind smile, all her muscles were clenched tight, and she wasn't breathing.

I sighed, this woman has some really weird ideas sometimes.

"Stop doing that Mother, is very weird." I tried to keep the annoyance out of my voice. "If you want to hug me, then go ahead, I'm not disappointed with you."

On the next instant, my body was crush against hers, with my head in the familiar valley between the mountains as she began to circle around the room, carrying me like a doll, the relieved laughter ringing in my ears.

Finally, we ended up on the bed, my shadow moving to prevent hers from forming a cocoon around us, last time that happened it took a while to get out.

"Hey, sweetie… mommy missed you." she says from somewhere above me, her voice losing strength as it goes on, "…I'm sorry, I know that mommy has to be a bit less clingy but she just-"

"I know Mother. You lasted for almost four hours this time. I'm proud of you."

On the first time I went training alone, the terror and anxiety got the better of her, and she lashed out. Belinda managed to keep her rampage in a single room until I arrived, but she got really hurt in the process. Even since then, she orders Belinda to guard the door if she begins to despair, usually sending me a pleading message in the process.

"Hehehe… 'I'm proud of you.' Ahhhh~! Ely is so cute when he tries to sound grown up."

"S-shut up, woman, what the hell are you saying?"… I don't actually sound like that, do I?

We wiggled in bed some more; neither of us were really willing to let go yet. The result was her sitting against the pillows, while big spooning me. Meanwhile, her hands moves to caress my chest, slowly popping more buttons of my shirts to reach more skin.

"Sooo, how was your training Ely." She doesn't really like to hear the bloody details, but an overview always makes her happy.

"It's going well, I got to a new level today in the physical aspect, beat up some monsters too. Tomorrow I'll try to focus on the magical aspect; I haven't managed to create the spells that I told you about, but I'm getting closer, so maybe the next time I'll get it right."

"Hmm… Ely is always so successful when training!" she buries her face in my hair, "Maybe you will become a Maou when you grow up."

"Woman, I will surpass the Maous when I grow up." She mumbles an affirmative and continues to bask in my warmth after spending four hours separated. "How was your afternoon, mother?"

"Hehehe. Belinda is teaching me how to knit! I am going to make you a sweater!"

Wait, Belinda knows how to knit?

"That totally doesn't fit her image," I say contemplative.

"I know right! That's what I said." She giggles, "After that, I showed her my new lingerie collection, the ones I showed you yesterday. Her face stayed red for hours. She is so fun to tease!"

I remembered the impromptu's fashion show yesterday… Victoria's Secret would kill for some of the pictures I took.

"Anyone's face would be red after that,"

"MMnn… Ely called me pretty. Mommy is so happy!"

Well, she seems happy and relaxed now, a far cry from the pile of nerves minutes ago; my presence must have reassured her. But still she did become anxious, so I had to know if I have to reinforce the 'seals' again.

"How is she?"

Mother understood immediately.

"She hasn't moved once, I think she's beginning to understand when I'm really in danger, she been very calm lately." She answers patiently, still nuzzling my head.

The Abyss…Or Abby as mother began to call her. Over the last two years I tried to learn more about the childlike entity that lives in my Mother's shadows, and didn't find any documents about it, and is unlikely that I would, as the original Dantalion's library was burned centuries ago. But remembering grandmother's hints in the memories, I got the impression that this was not a unique case, and it also explained why Mother was so well regarded to her family even with an apparent subpar skill when it came to handling shadows. But then again, it could be that they just loved her, that's also a possibility.

Anyway, the entity has its own mind, and could only affect the world through mother, when she emerged the two shares the same body, but she has no problem with following mother's command. Mother also could give her complete control over her body, but that doesn't work too well, as she has difficulty controlling a humanoid form.

Power wise, the two can become a nightmare to anyone who pisses them off. However, Abyss' action is very instinctual, showing a preference for brute strength over finesse… But it's still a being of shadows, so sometimes it shows some of its more esoteric capabilities.

The downside is, beyond the extreme stress that it puts on the body, is the emotional state. It greatly intensified Mothers emotions, especially the one she is feeling in the moment of the 'summon', she had managed to summon her in a meditate state once, but the slight feeling of triumph, turned into a mad happy dance, and ended up as a wild naked chase. Many people got their memories removed that day…

So yeah, Mother is not capable of using 'Abby' and keeping a clean head at the same time, that has its place in a fight, but until she has better control, it is best to be used as a last resort.

Abby also used to lash out if she ever felt that mother was in danger, which translates to every time she felt a negative emotion. But that seems to have lessened a bit.

"And your shadow?"

"Moo, Ely worries far too much, I'm fine, worrying is my job. You just have to have fun, ok?"

The 'seals' I put on her aren't exactly to seal away the Abyss, there is no reason to do it, as she proved to be quite benevolent; their function is to lessen the 'weight' of the abyss over mother's shadow and allow her to use it with its full capabilities for the first time. But the seals don't restrain the Abyss' movements in any way, so if she moves too much, or is summoned to reality, the seals break, and I have to remake them.

"I'm having fun getting stronger and plotting world domination, mother."

"Hehehe, whatever you say, sweetie."

I feel her move from behind me, falling to the bed and changing position, and I didn't do a single thing to stop her.

She ended up straddling me; her loose dress disheveled by the early movements, with the collar now in the middle of her breasts, just above the nipples. I ended up lying on the bed, arm lazily spread to the side, with my dress shirt completely open, giving her an unimpressed look.

"Now, now sweetie, we are getting a bit distracted here. It's almost dinner time so we have to hurry." The blush already began to show.

She grabs the waist end of the dress to keep it in place, and it only took a small push up with her chest to make her boobs pop out with an artistic bounce.

"Here Ely! Your post-training snack is ready- hum?" she gives another beautiful bounce, "Hehehe, Mommy hypnotized Ely again..."

Soon my vision is taken over by boobs as she leans over me, her fingers interlacing with my own because why not? We're already fucking degenerates…

"Like I say, we are a running a bit late today, so you have to do it a little stronger than usu-OOOooo~!"

-0-0-0-

Lying on the bed in my mother's naked embrace, I let my mind fall into the shadows, my body falling asleep on the outside.

And my shadow spread over the horizon.

The Dantalion's lands are not kind to its inhabitants; the biting cold temperatures that could suddenly drop even more in random locations, bringing a cold, lonely death to everything in it. The terrifying Hellbeasts which were honed into highly efficient killing machines by the brutal environment, and the strange magical phenomenon that are caused by the proximity to the death bed of an old Satan, which usually results in death and destruction. All of that makes for a very vicious place to live, one that only the strong have a chance to survive... And you'd think that would discourage my fellow Devils from coming here.

Well, you would be wrong, the Devils living here are proud of the dangers that surround them; to be able to live and thrive in these lands is considered a badge of honor. Every day thousands of Devils come to this region; maybe to test their might, maybe they would try to build a life here, or perhaps they were just proving their power to someone. All in all the Dantalion's region is a highly regarded one in the underworld, for its abundant mineral resources, and attractive wild dangers.

…I could see all of that, while my mind traverses through to shadows.

Every desperate minute as a beast fights to survive, every cold fear as the white death takes away another life, every tear of frustration when arrogant travelers find out that they bite way more than they can chew, every shout of triumph as a warrior kills a beast after a hard-fought battle, only to become one of fear as a second beast comes out of the woods were it was waiting. Thousand tiny moments of life and Death, all caught by the shadows within my range.

Truly, if it weren't for the essence of the Archmage, I would've been overwhelmed long ago.

Then, I reach the City of Hiemsfell, and the shadows sang a different but so very similar song.

The Capital is the Heart of the Dantalion's domain. Like it is with every part of the underworld, its economic and industrial importance couldn't be ignored, and its cultural wealth is a staple of the region. The entire city is protected by a climatic force field, similar to the one that the Castle have, but in a much larger scale. It kept the worst temperatures away, making it actually possible to survive there in certain periods of the year, and the government there has a rigorous beast raid regime to keep the Hellbeast population around the City as low as possible. All of that combining with the well-structured and attractive constructions makes for the safest and most desirable place to live in the region, save for maybe the castle itself.

Of course, as one would expect from a city localized in Hell itself, this safety was only an illusion.

As I predicted, the city has a deep and powerful dark underbelly; in fact, I say that the pretty surface is only a front to attract more flies to it. Everything there is corrupted, and everything happens there; drugs, gambling, prostitution, slavery, human trafficking, disappearances, unsolved murders, rape, gang warfare, widespread violence, you name it, it's happening there right now. The government is also part of it, and most of the efforts are spent just to keep appearances. That's actually a golden rule in the city, keep the dirty things in the shadows, under the light everything must be clean and beautiful. Every gang, petty thief, and crime syndicate follow that rule, and if someone breaks it…

Quite frankly, they're fucked.

And my dear Family... Well, they are right on top of it, in fact, the heads of the underbelly answer to the Dantalions as much as the city council does.

Indeed, Hiemsfell isn't all that different from the lands surrounding it; it is a place where only the strong have a chance to survive.

And I adore the place.

Every shadow there tells a different story, some tragic, some hopeful, some violent, and some peaceful, I could get lost in the tales of every single soul living in there, watching as they rise and fall, basking in their glory or defeat.

Of course, I have a few favorites, people whose life is more interesting than the rest, whose tales are more engaging than the next, who have more to lose or something to prove, or that have something different or unique about them.

Watching them is my favorite past time when I'm not training, so like a shadow-ish voyeur, I began to-

Hm.

It looks like something exciting is about to happen tonight.

… Let's see how that goes.

And maybe… just maybe… I would put my own spin on this particular narrative.

-0-0-0-

[XXXXX's Pov]

It's cold.

It's always cold...

Yet my body is burning from the ache. Each difficult breath only worsen the fires, the blood already frozen on my dirty coat, my right shoulder hurt pretty bad. I can't move my arm, and my legs feel like they would fall off.

How long have I been running?

I…

Onee-sama told me to run and I just…

The alleyways started to look the same a while ago. The snow is fighting my steps. The world began to blur occasionally. I… I can't recognize where I am… my head hurts so badly.

…How could that happen?

Lila and Tyrion had just got back with the spoils from the night… I was told to organize it, as I always have, because Mister Baskin doesn't like to buy a messy package, and I can't do much else because I'm too small… And then, Onee-sama got down and started shouting, And the walls blow up.

Onee-sama told us to run... But they closed off all of our escape routes, there were so many…

I just kept running.

My leg hit my other one, the misstep making me fall.

I have to keep going, they could be there any minute.

What did Onee-sama tell me to do if that ever happens…

I can't remember... My head is pounding... Breathing hurt so much... My heart feels like it will explode... The snow feels so nice against my cheeks.

I'm so sleepy…

A soft sound of crushing snow came close to my ear; it took everything I had to turn my head.

A boy, young, but bigger than me - he would be big enough to start contributing to the field - my vision was too blurred to see his face properly, but his clothes were black and shifty, his feet were bare against the snow. Isn't he cold?

"Hey."

What…

His neck is exposed.

Put the shoulder bone back in place, jump to the prey, claws to the tender flesh.

"Ah" I let out a gasp, and I suddenly held against the cold wall of the alley.

"Woah, that was actually much cooler up close, is it your bloodline's ability?"

His voice sounded far away; all I could feel was the blinding pain in my head. His hands were the only things keeping me standing.

The arms are free, jab him beneath the ribs the piercing the prey's soft organs inside.

"Oi! That's dangerous. You shouldn't be using this ability like that, especially in your state."

It hurts... so much…

Why am I on the ground?

...He is so heavy.

"Can you control it, yet?"

Pop the shoulder bone out again for better mobility, aim for the-

Darkness.

... Warm.

Something warm, entering my chest, spreading to my entire body, bringing a burning heat with it... I can breathe again; my head doesn't hurt so much now, and my vision starts to come back.

My head is laying on something soft, my coat was open, and one hand was placed in the middle of my chest, through the collar of my shirt. The upside down face of the boy starts to become clean.

"There, you're all good now. You really shouldn't push your demonic energy like that, you could really die if you're not careful."

…What?

I don't understand, where am I? W-Where is Onee-sama?

Wait... it's coming back… it's- there was an attack. T-the hideout! Everyone! LYONA ONEE-SAMA!

CLAWS TO THE NECK!

JUMP FORWARD, AIM FOR THE THIGH!

SPIN AROUND. LOW KICK TO CREATE AN OPENING!

RECOVER FROM THE FALL! JUMP TO HIS SIDE!

BOUNCE ON THE WALL, USING LEGS TO INCREASE SPEED!

CLAW TO THE BELLY!

BITE HIS THROAT!

BREAK HIS RIBS!

SEVERE HIS ARMS!

CRUSH HIS LEGS!

RIP.

AND.

TEAR.

…A pair of arms wraps me in a gentle embrace.

BREAK THE HOLD, MOVE TO THE R- Death.

DUCK DOWN, HIT THE LEGS TO- Death.

BREAK THE ARMS, GO To tH- Death.

HeAdbutT HiM, MaKe A- Death

LeAn Forward, pier- Death.

Hit to the ches- Death.

Move to- Death.

Bring- Death.

Mo- Death.

Death.

Death.

Death.

Everything stops.

I staid there with my face against his chest, smelling his sweet lavender smell, feeling his comfortable warmth, and listening to his beating heart. Absently, I notice that my headache was back, but quickly began to fade as the early sensation appeared again.

He's giving me demonic energy… I saw Onee-sama do that once.

"Are you calm now?" He chuckled, "You went quite wild for a moment."

"Ah, sorry?"

"It's ok," He draws back, allowing me to see him clearly for the first time, "How are you feeling?"

My eyes widen…

He is beautiful.

I never really noticed that about someone before, everyone just looked like everyone, but he is completely different. Nothing more came to mind when describing him; his nose is beautiful, his mouth is beautiful, his red eyes are beautiful, his white hair is beautiful, everything about him is on a level of beauty that is hard to put into words. My heart grows warm and starts beating fast; my empty belly began to twist… I couldn't tear my eyes away from him; I have to see every inch of his movements, looking at him feels so good…

I want to look at him forever.

"…So?" One beautiful eyebrow rises.

Hm… Oh!

"I-I-I'm fine!" I shriek, bringing my red face down in shame. I made a fool of myself! Veronica would have laughed at me. My fingers began playing with each other unconsciously.

"…Really?" His voice sang.

"I-I'm…" Then, I actually pay attention to how I was feeling, "Yes…Yes, I'm feeling very well right now, actually."

I'm not feeling a pain anymore, and my body feels really light, like all of my exhaustion disappeared, I'm just a little hungry, and dirty…

So much frozen blood…

Oh!

"Hum… nice to meet you? I'm–"

"I know who you are." He says with a smile, "You're Reiko, the youngest member of the small gang of thieves named Winter Foxes."

"O-Oh, ok hum, how do you…" Then, a pit forms in my stomach as the night's happening come hitting back once more.

My eyes began to be filled with tears-NO!

I-I have to stay calm. I can't freak out now. Onee-sama told me what to do in this situation… I just have to get to the safe house, and it would all be alright… r-right I will just.

"It's gone."

"What?" I…I forget that he was here.

"The Omerta's men burned all. Your emergency safe house is gone."

What…

"How… How could you know that?"

He didn't answer. Just keep the mysterious smile; something deep inside told me that he wasn't lying.

I…

…What do I do…

My knees feel weak, barely capable of supporting me. I have to stay calm. I have to…

Onee-sama…

I drop down to the snow. The tears came pouring down uncontrollably, soon after, a warm body was embraced my own.

I let it all out right there, crying and screaming against him, grabbing his clothes with all my strength.

How long have we been here?

"Feeling better?" He asks gently.

"A little" My throat feels raw. I clear my nose with my hand as he reluctantly let me go. "H-How could that happen?" I don't know why I ask him that, but he seems to have answers.

"That angry looking boy with purple hair betrayed you guys. I think he wanted to become an Omerta or something. He told the Omertas all of your routes and hideouts, so it was easy for them to set up a trap." He said with a pensive look.

What!... purple hair, t-that Big Brother Kou, He… He couldn't have done this.

"B-But, my friends-"

He shook his head.

"Dead, all of them, except your leader, she got captured, I think the Omertas want to make an example out of her, your guys have been a pain in their asses for a long time, so it is likely that will take a least a few weeks for her to die."

All- all of them.

My friends…

My family…

They're all dead.

"NO!" I grab on his clothes. "I managed to run right!? S-Someone might have escaped too, right!? Please!"

He chuckles.

Why did he chuckle!?

"Oh Reiko, Don't you remember?" His hand goes to my face wiping a few impossible tears that had left. "You didn't just run from them. You slaughter your way through them."

...What?

I…

What?

"A five-year-old girl…" He slowly got down to his knee, his voice coming closer to me. "Butchered twelve armed Omerta's Devils with her bare hands… it was incredible."

I can't…

I can't breathe.

Did I kill them?

T-The blood…

PREY.

"AHH!" I throw myself back, hitting the wall behind.

Everything is spinning.

The world doesn't make sense.

I-I can't do it anymore. I just want to wake up.

I just want this night to be over.

"Reiko, listen to me. Reiko," His hand came to hold my face again, my eyes snapped to him, I don't want to deal with this anymore, but his touch is the only thing holding me together. "I need you to calm down. I have a question to ask you."

"I-I'm so sorry, I can't… Everything just doesn't make sense anymore. Just let me rest a little."

"What would you do, if you have your friends back by the end of the night?"

My friends!

"What are you tal-" His fingers silenced my lips.

"Answer my question, Reiko." His eyes were so intense.

…I don't know why, but it feels like that my answer is going to be very important.

"W-we… We would save Onee-sama."

He nods. "Only that?"

"No." The answer came reflexively, I open my mouth to continue, but my thoughts tangled together... What would we do then?

...We.

"What more would you do, Reiko?"

And just like that, the pieces came together.

"Revenge," I whisper breathlessly, feeling the calming movements of his thumb on my wet cheeks. My arms fell limp on my sides, I'm too tired to feel cold, but I could think clearly for the first time since the attack. "We wouldn't stop until we made them pay, even if it takes years to do so, even if it caused our deaths. We would make them bleed."

The most beautiful smile I have ever seen appears on his face.

"I see." He whispers, his hands going to my neck.

That's dangerous, I must always protect my neck, my friend's lessons were very clear on that, but I don't have the strength-

"Aaaaaahhhhnnnn~" A moan escaped my mouth as the wonderful feeling of something spread throughout my entire body, coming from my neck.

My head rises, giving him more access, the odd warmth spreading all across me, it made my heart jump and my toes curl, the pulses of the feeling made me shiver with the nicest sensation ever.

What was that!?

Suddenly, it was over. Only few slight echoes remain, and I try to hold on to what was left the best I could.

"Reiko… open your eyes." He says, and I do so.

…He looked Radiant.

"I'm going to give back your friends now Reiko, but the rest is up to you."

He is going to…what? I could say anything at that moment, I was too overwhelmed, so many emotions in so little time… could this really be happening?

Finally, I found my voice.

"…Why?" I wanted to ask so much more, but that is the only thing I managed to give out.

"Because life isn't fair, it could take everything you ever loved." A cheerful smile appears on his face, bringing color to my whole world.

"But it also could give you everything you ever wanted…"