Cradling a cup of coffee in his hands, Nero leaned back on the chair and let out a deep sigh.
The corner of his eyes was freshly bruised red – a clear indication that he was crying until very recently.
Rubbing his nose, Nero looked up and saw a woman lying unconscious on the hospital bed, her arresting beauty held true even while she was at death's door.
Many state-of-the-art medical machines were attached to her to monitor her vitals and provide support if needed.
A gaping hole was visible where most of her abdomen should've been. Even in this state, her body was slowly regenerating, trying to restore back to its natural state.
It would've been slightly easy if her mana core wasn't destroyed, but since it was, the problem was going to be exacerbated even further.
The truth of the matter was, Liz Snyder could die any moment now.
Yes, she was the master of soul magic. So as long as her soul remain intact, she could theoretically recover from any wounds.
However, theory and practicality are two very, very different things. She must be in excruciating pain right now.
Without mana to aid her and make the process easier, no one could say if Liz was going to be fine, not even the top doctors and medics.
The most they could do was stop the bleeding and transfer blood every few hours so that her body could heal on its own without going into a severe anemic shock.
Nero gritted her teeth and finished his cup of black coffee in one big gulp. Slamming the cup onto the glass top of a nearby side table, Nero clenched his fist.
His nails bit into his flesh until his palms were bleeding, but even then he didn't stop.
His throat felt heavy and tears filled his eyes to the brim. Barely, he stopped himself from breaking down again.
However, no matter how much he tried, Nero could subdue the feelings that were resurfacing in his heart.
He was powerless… Even after all these years, nothing changed. He was still the same kid who could only hide in the closet to see his mother getting killed right in front of him.
Even after all these years… He was still powerless. Too weak to matter… Too weak to change anything.
Gods, it was as if the world was mocking him right now, utterly ridiculing his efforts to change himself.
Even after all these years... the world was still able to take whatever it wanted from him.
"No!" Nero bit his lower lip and stifled a scream.
No, the world still hasn't taken anything from him.
Gritting his teeth again, Nero got up and walked over to the side of the sole hospital bed situated in the room.
Grabbing his master's hand, he talked to her unconscious body.
"I know you can listen to me, master. I just want you to remember… You promised that you would never abandon me… So… please don't die."
Feeling like he was about to break down again despite his best efforts, Nero rubbed his eyes and turned around to stride out of the hospital room.
After coming out in the hallway, Nero leaned back on the cold, hard white marble wall and slammed his head back.
"Even after all that big talk… Even after you promised yourself that you'll never let your loved ones suffer, just look at what happened," he mocked himself.
But right then, another voice accompanied his own.
"And you know what the worst part is? It all happened because of you." – the voice said.
Pulled out of his self-ridiculing thoughts, a frown etched onto Nero's face as he turned his head around to look at the source of the voice.
What—or rather—Whom he saw made the frown on his face turn deeper.
Walking toward him was a silver-haired youth of tall stature and a lean figure. The youth was dressed in a casual sleeveless black tee and matching slacks.
Yes, the fashion choice of his attire was indeed questionable, however, even Nero had to admit that the kind of fetching face that the boy possessed would allow him to pull even being dressed in nothing but leaves.
Perched atop the youth's right shoulder was… a crow? An oversized black crow? Nero had never seen a crow like that.
Was it a mana beast? Did Lucas tame a mana beast recently? Nero didn't know anything regarding that.
…Nor did he care for that now.
Currently, his mind was focused on what Lucas had said a few seconds ago. After a bit of thought, Nero opened his mouth to speak:
"What do you mean–"
Before he could finish, however, Lucas interjected.
*By the way, have you tried the coffee that they serve here? I swear to god, I don't like hospital coffee because usually it's burnt but the one they serve here is actually pretty good."
Lucas' voice carried a bit of mirth but Nero was in no mood for fooling around.
"Lucas, I asked you–"
Right before Nero could finish, Lucas jumped in again.
"Oh, I forgot to ask, how's Instructor Liz doing? It must be hard for her to always clean your mess, no?"
Nero stayed silent for a few seconds as if his brain was processing the words he had just heard.
After a while, he spoke, "What? What did you just–"
But once again, Lucas cut him off.
"I mean, now that I think about it, didn't your mother also die while trying to hide you? Liz is also on her deathbed because she tried to save you. Oh, yes, I did some research on you so don't mind me."
For a few silent moments, Nero stood there like a statue, dark shadows covering his eyes.
In the very next second, however, a dark, crushing aura swept over the hallway and it felt as if a mountain had fallen on Lucas' shoulder.
Despite the fact that Nero unleashed the full force of his crippling mana pressure and bloodlust, Lucas didn't even flinch.
He stood there unscathed, the smug smile still intact on his sharp visage. The marble walls around them began to screech as if they were about to crack.
Right then, before the walls could give in, Lucas spoke up, "Yeah, go ahead. Do it."
As if Lucas' words shook out him of some berserk state, Nero swiftly retracted his mana pressure, however, his bloodlust was still lethally aimed at the silver-haired youth.
"I said," Lucas uttered again, his smile fading and a cold, icy look taking over his face. "Go ahead, do it!"
His voice echoed in the empty hallway, but Lucas continued.
"Summon your Gift, cast your chants, don't restrain your anger, and just put me in my place! What's the worst that happened last time you did all that, huh? So go on ahead, do it again!"
A long, awkward silence settled between the protagonist and the young wolf until Nero finally parted his lips and spoke:
"You knew… You knew something like this was going to happen!"
His tone was harsh and a bit grating, but Lucas shrugged his killing intent off and replied:
"I'd be stupid to not see it coming. I tried to warn you, Nero. I told you, your actions will have consequences, didn't I? I told you that you'll realize this fact soon, didn't I?!
"Unfortunately, it seems to me that you've still failed to grasp the meaning of my words, let alone the consequences that your own actions have followed!"
Nero calmed down a bit, averted his gaze, and gulped hard before hesitantly speaking in a barely audible tone:
"I know… I know that the vampires were targeting me… They knew that Master would never have let me die so they targeted her too."
Satisfied a little, Lucas nodded, "Yes. But do you know why they were attacking you?"
"...I do but I don't understand," Nero shook his head. "I'm not the first one in the history of Global Academy who has shown threatening talent, so why did they target me?"
To be honest, this was a question even Lucas had been wondering about for the past few weeks.
Even in the novel, many people showed overwhelming talent and possessed dire Gifts that could've threatened the balance between the United Army and the vampire forces.
Yes, Nero's Gift was more devastating than anyone in history. Yes, he had the potential to be a real menace on the battlefield.
However, he still had years before becoming the threat that the vampires should be wary of.
There would be multiple opportunities to eliminate him in those years, and none of them would be as hard and troublesome as breaching the Global City barriers to attack him inside its safe confines.
So why were they growing so desperate oh him?
Lucas could only come to one real reason…
The vampires had guessed that Nero was one of the three prophetic Heroes of this world.
The more time they give him, the closer he'll be to realizing his destiny. And what could possibly be more dangerous for the villains than the hero who has realized his destiny?
