Night was about to fall. The orange canvas of the sky was slowly hiding beneath a mantle of nocturnal blue, and the first stars twinkled like small embers in the vastness. Zack and Gilbert were returning to the academy after another fruitless day in the city. Before heading there, they had eaten something at a street stall, where the smoke from the grills mixed with the murmur of people returning to their homes.
"We'll soon have been here a month, a month!" exclaimed Zack, visibly angry, banging the table with his knuckles.
Gilbert, who normally wouldn't support him, nodded gravely.
"I don't want to disobey the queen, but we've used all our means to get information. We even have Cyril, and still we can't find anything about them."
"That Phantom Troupe certainly lives up to its name. We can't find any sign of them anywhere. Not even the criminals know anything." Zack took a long swig of his beer, trying to calm his bad mood. "The only thing we know is that they hide in the underworld."
"I never agree with you, but this time you're right. I'd like to ask the queen to send others. Even more so because I have a pending investigation case," said Gilbert before biting into a French fry.
Zack, who had left his empty mug on the table, stared at him.
"You're talking about the 'Night Cannibal', aren't you?"
"The very same. I still have nothing, and that bothers me most. Of all the criminals in the country, that person is the only one I can't let escape," replied Gilbert, clenching his fist tightly.
"Well, do your best. We'll meet with Her Majesty the Queen at the end of the month and we'll inform her about this," commented Zack, giving Gilbert's sword a light tap. Gilbert kicked him back in retaliation.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you while you enjoy your dinner, young men, but I need your help."
The knights turned to see who that strange, squeaky old man's voice belonged to. A gold coin swayed back and forth between the fingers of a small man with a cheerful smile and shrewd eyes.
"You are very angry. So, so angry to be here," he said.
The young men stared fixedly at that coin. The food vendor had fallen unconscious on the ground a while ago, and no one seemed to have noticed.
"The one responsible for that anger, for your current situation and all your problems, is a brat you know named Razel."
"What?"
"Yes. It's true."
The tone of voice and expressions of both leaned toward fury every time they heard that strange man.
"You hate him so much you want to kill him for babysitting."
"We hate him so much we want to kill him!" they said in unison.
The strange man gently struck the coin; after a few spins in the air, it fell back into his hand.
"Then go and finish him off."
"Yes!" they both shouted, and ran out of the place like two unleashed furies.
The strange man laughed as he watched them disappear into the shadows.
"Kukuku. I'll give you a little time to do your part," he said to someone mysterious hiding in the shadows, before vanishing into nothingness.
◇◇◇
Every month, Kimberly Academy organizes a trip to the city for all students and teachers. The activity was different for each group, but that day it was theater, so they had booked the venue for the entire student body and faculty. Everyone should have gone, but there was someone who didn't.
Iris had been summoned to a classroom by a letter that said: "We need to talk, it's urgent." She followed the address and the indicated time, her heart pounding in her chest. She was accompanied by Liddy, who walked beside her with short steps.
"Why do you think someone would summon you at this hour and just today?" asked Liddy.
"I think it's because there's no one else around but the guards today."
"Who do you think it is?" Liddy smiled mischievously. "Ah! It might be Razel-sama who summoned you."
Iris turned as red as a tomato.
"W-why would you think it was him? Besides, he has no spare time and he doesn't need to write me a letter for that!"
"Because… you and he have spent a lot of time together since you arrived here," replied Liddy, with a conspiratorial expression.
"Th-that's because he's bound to be my servant here and we have to be together… Look, we've arrived."
Iris turned the knob to open the door. Her heart was beating hard, imagining that Razel would be behind it. But the surprise was immense when she saw that it wasn't.
"Huh? What's going on here?"
In the classroom there were many of her acquaintances: the princesses with their maid, the headmistress, the librarian, and even Erica. All seemed as bewildered as she was.
"One more person here? Is this a game?" exclaimed Erica, very annoyed.
Princess Alicia played with her hair and murmured the same thing, but in a bored tone.
"I came because the letter said it was very important for me."
"Huh? Yours said the same, onee-sama," said Princess Lillie, acting confused, as if they hadn't come together.
Sharon and the others nodded.
"My letter said my future depended on it."
"Mine said my job was at stake. And yours, Sophy?"
"My letter said it was about the school's future."
They all looked at Erica, who had yet to introduce herself. Reluctantly, looking away, she confessed:
"M-mine said it depended on my academic future. I don't think it's blackmail because it didn't seem hostile when it asked me to meet at this hour."
Iris spoke after hearing the others' stories.
"Mine just said it was urgent."
None of the women present understood what was happening. Erica stood up.
"What nonsense is this? I'm leaving now. I'm not going to waste a free day of classes here."
Just as she was about to leave, the door opened and they saw someone enter with a box in one hand, as if nothing. He closed the door and walked to the table to place the box there.
"Good evening to all present."
It was Professor Connor, greeting them with his usual composure. No one understood what he was doing there. Iris was the only one who dared to speak up.
"Excuse me, Professor, were you the one who summoned us here, by any chance?"
They watched him as he settled in. The others thought he had only come to get everything ready for tomorrow's classes. But the opposite happened.
"That's right. I summoned you to talk about something important."
The women present didn't understand what this was about. The headmistress stood up, angry.
"Professor Connor, if you need to speak with those present, you can do so in my office during morning hours, not at this hour."
"I'm sorry, Headmistress. I understand you have things to do, but what I have to say is of utmost importance."
Headmistress Sophina looked at him with an expression that indicated the matter was very serious.
"As I said, if it's serious, it can wait until morning."
"It cannot be. Because…"
After reaching the table, he took out a small diary and then something like a photograph. He showed it in front of everyone.
"I can no longer tolerate these behaviors."
"…!"
A photo. In it, the headmistress was kissing a man directly on the mouth inside the school premises. That man was Razel.
Headmistress Sophina didn't know how to react.
"H-h-h-h-h-how do you have that? I-I mean, it's fake!"
"This was taken three days ago, at ten o'clock at night. It's the most recent one."
"Most recent," murmured Iris, feeling a knot in her stomach.
Professor Connor, with a serious expression, slid the photo aside and showed the next one: Jenna kissing Razel in the library.
"Awawawawawa!" she stammered, panicking.
She wasn't the only one. Sharon kissing him in her room during the morning. Erica kissing him in the art room. Even the princesses: Alicia kissing him at night on campus, and Lillie inside a room. But what caught Alicia's attention most was a photo showing Liddy kissing him in the kitchen.
"Liddy?" murmured Iris before turning to her maid.
Liddy covered her face in shame.
"I-I'm so sorry, Iris-sama. Several things happened and I just…"
The princesses and the other women were bewildered, not because they weren't the only ones who had kissed Razel, but because someone had taken a secret photo of them.
"Wait a minute, you perverted professor!" Erica pointed at him, jabbing her finger. "Everything you've shown is an invasion of privacy and it's a crime!"
Connor, with irritating calm, adjusted his glasses before answering.
"I'm afraid that's not the case. I'm not a pervert or anything of the sort. As you may know, or should know, I am voluntarily part of the teaching staff that patrols the place. On my rounds I carry this camera, which only the Empire sells, although recently they've decided to market them abroad. Therefore, when I came across these completely inappropriate behaviors on campus, I took the photos as evidence of your impure acts."
Alicia replied with total anger.
"Even if that's so, it's disrespectful to do this and in front of all of us."
"I'm very sorry, Your Highness, it was not my intention. But doing it one by one was tiring, and it was much more feasible to do it this way."
Lillie murmured to herself.
"So I'm not the only one in love with him. Onee-chan loves him too…"
Iris heard those words: "love." All the women who kissed him did so willingly, even Liddy. But something did anger her:
(He kissed all of them, but not me.)
Erica kept questioning the professor's actions.
"You summoned us here because you want to blackmail us, isn't that right? Don't think the Redford family will stand idly by."
Connor then understood their anger.
"Blackmail you? Of course not! There's a misunderstanding here. I don't mean to harm you, but…"
"Love, isn't that right? Love fills everything."
A strange voice came from the other side of the door. It opened, and everyone saw a huge pillar standing behind Iris, who immediately ran with Liddy toward the other girls. But it wasn't a pillar: it moved to crouch down and enter. When it straightened up, everyone present was astonished.
Dressed in pure white robes as if he were a saint, a black-skinned man entered. He was very tall, at least nearly two meters, or just enough to be so. His body was very toned; his muscles stood out as much as his strange skin color, uncommon in the country. His face seemed carved in stone: he had no hair and was completely bald, had no eyebrows and didn't blink either. His yellow eyes recalled those of a snake. His nose was large and swollen, as were his lips.
The man kept his hands together in a prayer gesture, with prayer beads intertwined between his fingers. Despite showing no expression, his face changed to a smile when he mentioned a certain word.
"I'm sorry to overhear your conversation, but I was amazed by it. That's right: love is the most wonderful thing in the world, and you express it correctly. Feeling love is the highest expression of happiness in this world."
Although his words were nice and sincere, everyone wondered: "Who is he?" and "What is he doing here?" Liddy whispered to Iris:
"Iris-sama, do you know who he is? Because he walked in as if he worked here."
"N-no. As far as I know, the male staff numbers less than ten people, and none of them look like him. Who could he be?"
Everyone wondered the same, but only one reacted differently. Erica stood up from her seat, knocking over her chair. Professor Connor looked at her; she was sweating profusely.
"What's wrong? Do you know him?"
"I've seen him," she said, trembling as she pointed at him with her finger. "A couple of years ago I saw his face in the newspaper. I remember it well because it was on my tenth birthday. His name is Salaam Naaranatt Peppecabra. The reason I know him is because his strange name was right at the epicenter of a tragedy."
"…?"
She continued, her trembling growing.
"The 'Cult of Love' was a sect of people who prophesied their obsessive message of love. One day, the leader murdered them all and was arrested. Months later he was released along with other prisoners from the most secure prison in the country."
Everyone's eyes fixed on that man, who said with a smile:
"That's right. I killed them. I freed their souls contaminated by the impurities of this world. Love is everything; my parishioners were losing their love for worldly and material things, like you. That's why I freed them. With these hands I finished them all. By the way, I now call myself Void, and I am the eighth seat of the Thirteen Night Swords, the executives of the Phantom Troupe."
After saying that with a smile, cold sweat ran down everyone's foreheads and bodies.
"They recruited me into the Troupe to spread love. My life was born for that: to bring love to everyone. That's why I came together with a companion who disappeared, to give you love. Oh, Amore! Amore will fill your empty, confused, and lost hearts! Let Amore take over you!"
Suddenly he began to shout, to spit saliva, to fill the others with fear. He started walking toward them.
"I understood later, in prison, that I was alive to give love to all living beings, and that I came here to love you until death. Come on, young ladies and other people. Allow me to express my love to you until your skull breaks."
Connor couldn't take it anymore. He took his chair and ran toward Void. With all his strength he struck him on the neck, breaking it. The man's head hung back, lifeless.
Everyone cheered upon seeing it, but then they watched as his hands moved to reposition his head in its original place. Void raised a finger and made a side-to-side gesture, indicating that what had been done was wrong.
"I understand what you did. You love these people and decided to protect them. Love hurts, and I love you all."
He took one of the chair legs and bent the metal as if it were nothing. Void approached Iris, who was staring at him, paralyzed.
"I'm sorry to say this, miss, but the boss wants you dead. Only you should die for my love, but since everyone else is present, they are now accomplices. Therefore, my elimination target has changed. Ah, what a horrible fate! But that's Amore: love judge's no one, and neither do I. Come on, miss, please let me embrace you to death with my…"
This time it was Liddy who pierced his abdomen with the country's flag that was resting in a corner.
"P-please stay away from Iris-sama," she sobbed, crying and trembling.
Void was fascinated; he even burst into tears.
"You are truly wonderful, miss! Your love for your friend is so great that it gives you the courage to attack me! But I'm sorry to tell you: my body is not like others."
He pulled out the flag, and the wound closed after a greenish liquid oozed from it.
"Skull-sama experimented on me. His love for me was so great that he gave me a modified body. Therefore, no attack can hurt me. Yes! This is love. Oh, Amoreeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
Void expressed his madness more and more. Fear filled the room. Connor told all the women present:
"Get out of here, fast!"
Everyone nodded and ran out; he was the last to leave, locking the door behind him. Void stopped crying and raised his hand.
"Let's spread love."
His fingers turned into moss-like roots, which grew gradually and shattered the door. Void walked out and headed toward where the women were fleeing, repeating the same movement. Erica and Iris saw him and stopped. Erica used wind magic and Iris water magic, generating a wall of ice. Void walked calmly while they fled. He reached the ice wall and touched it.
"It's useless. Love will reach everyone sooner or later."
The roots from his fingers slowly extended along his arm, cracking the ice.
◇◇◇
Iris and the others ran through the school corridor.
"Aren't there any guards around here?" she said.
Everyone noticed that there had been no sign of them for a while. They reached a hallway that led outside. They had to get out of that place and find help. But from the shadows a familiar face emerged.
"We meet again, brat."
It was Sting, grinning at them with his horse-like smile.
"I'll take care of that brat later. First I'll go for you…"
As he revealed his wicked intentions, Iris remembered his face and, immediately, ran toward him and punched him. Razel had taught her some self-defense in case someone caught her again.
Sting fell to the ground. Then Liddy, the princesses, the headmistress, Sharon, Jenna, Connor, and finally Erica jumped on top of him several times, stepping over him. Sting was left badly beaten on the ground.
"I-it can't be… again."
Then, with a completely transformed arm, Void arrived, who looked at him with disappointment.
"You look pathetic. You lack love. Love reaches us all, but you are a repellent to it. Did you say you would defeat him easily after winning our bet? I see you're just words. Leave it to me; you're not needed here."
He grabbed Sting with his tentacles and threw him toward the city.
"I threw you to a safe place."
Immediately after, his body began to generate more moss-like tentacles.
◇◇◇
After arriving in the city, I separated from Briana and the others. I tasked them with handling the assassins while I handled the Phantom Troupe.
I was thirty minutes away from reaching the academy when something attacked me. I jumped aside to dodge it. I didn't see what it was, but a scratch appeared on the ground.
A shadow peeked out from the rooftop. Razel raised his head, thinking it was the Phantom Troupe. It wasn't.
"Zack? What the hell are you doing?"
The guy with spiky hair looked at him with an expression that indicated something had been stolen from him and that's why he wanted to kill him. At that moment, something else happened. Razel felt his abdomen being pierced. He looked down: a thin, stinger-shaped sword protruded from his stomach. He turned around and saw Gilbert, who was smiling. He hit him with his elbow, and Gilbert withdrew along with his weapon.
(I could feel him piercing my organs, but thanks to Blut it closed quickly.)
He told them both:
"If you're angry with me, we'll sort it out later. Right now we have to go rescue Iris."
But Gilbert spoke to him with a hate-filled gaze.
"I'm sick of you. All the problems in my life are your fault."
"For once we agree on something," commented Zack from above.
From his back he drew two huge swords, similar to knives. They began to vibrate.
"Sound magic: Sonic Blade," he said, and after a slight movement, Razel's shirt was cut, as was his skin. Blood gushed out in torrents.
(He cut me and I couldn't see it.)
Razel threw himself to the ground to recover quickly.
(It was instantaneous, and he also said "sound magic.")
The one person who could use sound as magic came to his mind.
(My mentor, Manfred. This guy has the same magical power.)
Then Gilbert touched his neck. The grip was directly on his jugular.
"My turn. Poison magic: Light Dose."
After saying that, Razel's nose started bleeding.
"Increasing dose to medium."
The blood wouldn't stop. Razel removed the grip and lunged aside.
"My magic isn't poison as such," explained Gilbert. "It's sending my magical power through others and turning it into poison through the rejection of your cells."
"Have you both gone mad?" Razel asked them, because he didn't understand why they were attacking him. (We don't get along, but we work for the queen, so we're allies whether we like it or not.)
They continued ignoring him and proceeded to attack him. He dodged them, and then he noticed something: their eyes looked strange. They seemed to be spinning on their own axis. He recalled the words of that guy earlier: "Two more of them came." Which meant that one of their companions had managed to brainwash them, surely. That explained their behavior and their eyes.
(I have no way to prove it, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.)
He ran through the streets thinking of a plan to defeat them without killing them. And that's when he saw him again.
"Damn it, I can't believe what that guy did to me."
"Huh?"
He was walking straight toward him.
(What is he doing here?)
He seemed happy to see me.
"We finally meet again, brat. My plans have changed a little, but my goal hasn't…"
"You're in the way! Get out of it!"
Razel came running and, with a light hit, sent him straight into a dumpster as he passed by.
(There's no way he's the one controlling them, because he's a weakling.)
"Tsk. What a weakling you are."
Then he heard a voice, but couldn't identify where it came from.
(It must be the puppeteer.)
They were coming behind him, throwing their attacks, and he dodged them.
"Because of you I had to drop my investigation!"
"Because of you I have to babysit when there are so many idiots to lock up in jail!"
A vein of anger appeared on Razel's forehead.
(These guys are just as irritable as Lambert. Fine, I'll knock them unconscious.)
He decided not to hold back. The first to approach was Zack. He got close to him and would have quickly defeated him with an Impact. But when he touched him and said his attack, Zack dodged it.
"That attack won't work on me twice!"
And he attacked him with his sonic slashes. Gilbert said the same after stabbing him in the side.
"Same here. Your attack surprised us last time, but we won't lose this time."
(I couldn't use any other attack but this, since it was the only way to defeat them without killing them. I couldn't use my sword: I had forgotten how to summon it. I only relied on my Impact to knock them out.)
They were very irritable, but strong; that's why he dodged their attacks to the point of jumping and ending up fleeing over the rooftops.
(To defeat them I must be faster than them. I would activate Raijin, but that only powers up my attacks; I might accidentally kill them, so that's not an option. I need to make them move slower, at least. Huh? Slower?)
He said to himself as he thought of an idea.
(After the attack of Alvin's ship, I asked my mentor during a break at the academy.)
"Mentor, any idea how not to miss my attacks? That time, that guy managed to dodge them or they didn't do anything to him. I need your wisdom in these cases."
I bowed and begged for his help. He laughed while drinking some juice.
"Hahaha. You don't need to do that. If you need help with your attacks, umm…" He paused in thought. "Think about my magic. I use sound as attack and defense. When I face an opponent, I must measure the amount of magical power I use so as not to kill them. The same happens with your lightning attacks, right?"
"Y-yes, that's right."
(I lied because I always attack to kill.)
"Same goes for Impact. You concentrate your attack power and release it. Magical attacks have a slight delay of 0.1 seconds. That's why you can't attack constantly. So I propose this…"
After recalling it, he thought he understood how to defeat them without killing them. They came at him again.
"Don't run away!"
"Fight like a man!"
"Another time!" he told them as they got closer.
(Accumulated magical power makes the waiting time to use it again one second or more. It's something like a gun after being fired. So, to defeat them I must use that duration, only instead of making it take longer…)
"Die!" they both shouted as they got close.
(I must increase it!)
He ducked and then lightly touched their stomachs. They sensed he would use Impact and immediately backed away. Razel concentrated magical power in his fists when he touched them. When they moved away, he said: "Impact."
Nothing happened. They thought he had used it, but he hadn't. Razel smiled, showing the result of his improvement.
"Impact: countdown, increased fivefold."
In the spot where he was going to hit them and they dodged, two signs of being punched appeared, multiplied five times. Immediately after, they were hit by the Impact he had used earlier and were sent flying against a chimney. Both fell to the ground, marking their defeat.
◇◇◇
After a while, already tied up, both woke up. They looked at each other confused and then saw Razel.
"What happened?" they said in unison before asking the important question. "Why are we tied up like pigs?"
(I tied them with ropes, tightening arms and legs to make it impossible to break free, as a precaution.)
Razel quickly told them:
"You attacked me because someone manipulated you, and I knocked you out for that. That's why you're tied up like this."
The boys seemed not to understand what he was saying. But Gilbert thought for a moment and then said:
"I vaguely remember a strange guy approaching us."
"And he made us look at a coin, right?" Zack completed.
"I see. So that's what happened. The Phantom Troupe has strange elements in its ranks. I recently defeated a guy who could make spirals, and now a group of assassins is coming this way."
"Really?" they both said.
Since they were fine now, he decided to untie them.
"I see. We apologize, so please untie us so we can help."
"Sure, but first…" Razel was a bit resentful, so he poked both their noses with a twig.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Revenge."
After poking their noses, he released them and told them:
"Go to the academy because they're after Iris."
"What about the group of assassins?" asked Gilbert, adjusting his head from the bad position he had been in.
"Someone will take care of them already. The priority is to defeat the remaining members of the Phantom Troupe."
Zack, who was stretching, said:
"In that case, we'll go to the academy. We don't know what abilities they have."
"Exactly. I'll take care of the one who manipulated you. I can't let anyone escape."
"Understood," they said, and then they left.
"Let's go hunt some rats."
◇◇◇
Sting lay sprawled in the dumpster. He kicked to get out and fell to the ground, covered in filth.
"Damn it…"
From the bottom of his heart, he cursed his situation.
(When I was in the underworld, everyone feared me, praised me, adored me. But out there, everyone mocks me.)
The contempt Sting felt was real. When he came out of the underworld, he could only feel like a fish out of water. Despite being a member of the Thirteen Night Swords, the contempt came from within.
Some time ago, while carrying boxes during one of his guard shifts, he inadvertently overheard a conversation between Bermuda and Skull, who were chatting cheerfully.
"What was that guy's name? The new one the leader brought."
"Ah, you mean… Spika? No, it was Stinger!"
"What about him?"
"That guy's a weakling. I gave him a strength test to check his level, and he couldn't even make me step back."
"Well, for starters, you can't compare yourself to the others, Bermuda. You're stronger than them."
"I know, but that's no excuse for someone within the thirteen to be weak."
"Remember this: the seat number doesn't measure your strength. At least from the fifth seat upward, their strength does matter; the rest are just filler. Shields we can use."
"Shh. Quiet, they might hear you."
"I don't care. They know perfectly well they mean nothing to me. The leader believes in them because they have potential, but I'm the one who has actually brought that potential. You're one of the examples. But we need extra hands, so I understand better than anyone. Of all the seats, he's the worst. He should be the thirteenth."
"Remember that the order doesn't matter, they're just arrival numbers."
"Well, at least the subordinates will have faith in something, right? Even if it's useless."
Sting couldn't take it anymore and entered the place.
"Hey, how dare you mock…?"
Upon seeing the eyes in the slits of Skull's mask, Sting understood he was serious. He was a mouse yelling at a cat.
"Get lost, trash."
That day Sting understood that he was there only to make up numbers, and that subordinates like him are replaceable. He clenched his fists remembering how Razel had humiliated him twice, then Void, and finally Iris and the others who had trampled over him.
(Everyone treats me like garbage. I hate it. I want to teach them a lesson. I feel so insignificant, and I hate it. I would sell my soul for power and to subjugate them all!)
Nothing happened. Despite saying that cliché phrase, nothing happened. Sting could only resign himself to the future of a weakling like him.
"I hate you all!"
"It's okay to hate."
"…?"
Sting wondered where that voice came from.
"Just now? Who are you?"
"Here I am," said the voice, similar to that of an old man.
Sting looked everywhere and saw no one. After spinning around several times, he got dizzy and fell to the ground. There he saw a white rabbit staring at him.
"Get lost or I'll devour you."
But the rabbit had something particular: it had golden eyes like gold.
"I'm afraid I won't let you do that," said the voice, which came from the rabbit.
Sting got scared and backed away, hitting himself against the dumpster.
"W-w-w-w-what the hell are you?" he said as the rabbit approached by hopping.
"I came here because I felt your hatred."
"My hatred, you say?"
The rabbit didn't speak through its mouth but through telepathy.
"That's right. I detected your hatred and came to see you."
"I must be very drunk to be talking to a rabbit."
"Do you want power?"
"Of course I want power, but a rabbit won't give it to me."
"Are you sure?"
The rabbit approached and, using its paw, managed to puncture the wall behind him. The depth was immense, with cracks everywhere like spiderwebs. Sting couldn't believe it.
"I'll give you my power. You just need to say that you want it."
"What are you? What would you gain from it?"
"Nothing. I just want to see."
"See what?"
"See the future you will generate, nothing more."
Sting thought for a while, then smiled his horse-like smile.
"I want power. I want to kill my enemies and subjugate those who despise me. Give me your power!"
"Order confirmed."
The rabbit began to glow with a golden light, and Sting shouted:
"What the hell is that?!"
◇◇◇
Razel ran through the area where Zack and Gilbert had been, looking for the puppeteer.
"I can't find him. Where could he be?"
A couple of hours had passed since then. (Those two should have already saved Iris. I shouldn't worry about that.) He stopped running and started walking through an alley.
"Where is he? I need to hurry and capture him."
"Where do you think you're going?"
Razel heard a voice and turned around. No one was there. Immediately after, an object fell on top of the dumpster behind him. The object was so heavy that it caved it in. When the smoke cleared, he could see what was there. Sitting on top of the dumpster was Sting.
"You're the guy from before? What are you…?"
Then he noticed something: Sting looked stronger, taller, and above all, something about him radiated danger. Sting stared at Razel. He had golden eyes.
"For having entered my territory, you will not leave alive."
__________________
In case you're wondering, "Amore" means love in Italian. It's also a phrase they used in a show I watched when MTV was good. Void's expressions are based on them.
The fanservice is for Erica.
https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/11342039