"G… grandma?", Victoria could not help but stutter as she saw her grandmother suddenly stopping Van from going with them.

"It's fine", Charlotte nodded her head, "You can go ahead, I just have something to talk about with the little man"

​​

"O… okay", seeing the look on her grandmother's eyes, Victoria could only nod her head.

Van could not help but watch nervously as the group left him all alone with Charlotte. Are they really leaving him alone with this eccentric old woman?

'What does she want?', he thought as he let out a tiny breath as he turned his head towards the finely muscular old woman. Numerous thoughts were racing in his mind.

Was she going to kill him now that he knew that secret of their family?

He just made the impossible happen, and death was his reward?

Will he even be able to escape?

Will Beatrice and Harvey be alright?

Is Andrea going to miss him once he is gone?

And as soon as Beatrice and the others were gone, Charlotte turned towards Van and slowly stretched her hand towards him.

"!!!"

Van quickly turned on his [Time Perception] skill and ran the other way. But before he could even take 10 steps, he felt someone grabbing his shoulders from behind.

Van quickly turned off his skills to look at Charlotte.

"L… let g--"

"Thank you"

"Let-- hm?"

Van instantly stopped struggling as soon as he heard Charlotte's sedated voice. He could not help but blink his eyes a couple of times as he saw Charlotte's face, which already had tears trailing down from her eyes.

"Thank you for making my family whole", she said softly, "I will never forget this debt, little man"

Van instantly stopped struggling as soon as he heard Charlotte's sedated voice. He could not help but blink his eyes a couple of times as he saw Charlotte's face, which already had tears trailing down from her eyes.

"Thank you for making my family whole", she said softly, "I will never forget this debt, little man"

"I…", Van was about to say that he only did it because Victoria was now one of his friends, but he refrained from doing so. The strongest Enhancer in the world being indebted to him? That doesn't sound too bad, Van thought.

He then nodded his head as he awkwardly tiptoed and patted Charlotte on the shoulder. She was too tall so he had to stretch his arm fully.

Seeing Van trying to console her, Charlotte could not help but slightly chuckle as she wiped the trail of tears from her face.

"Now…", she then let out a breath, "You truly are quite the interesting little man, aren't you?", she said, her previous spontaneous tone returning as she stared Van straight in the eyes.

To be able to even escape 10 steps away from her without her even noticing, even some of the Gold Rank explorers were not able to do that. Not to mention the way he moved was unnatural as well. It was faint, but Charlotte heard Van's heart beating abnormally for a few seconds.

What she did not hear, however, was the sound of Van's muscles contracting as he ran at almost blinding speed. It was as if he did not even need to force his muscles to be able to move the way he did.

Charlotte could not help but place her hand on her chin as she scanned Van from head to toe.

Van, on the other hand, could only gulp nervously.

***

With darkness wrapping the skies and the moon shining its rays to the land, the sounds of whimpering and groaning reverberated throughout the ground.

Sarah was currently standing outside a huge mansion, inside a spacious estate. There were dozens of men sprawled on the ground, trembling and groaning as they tried to crawl away.

"W… who are you!?", roared one of the men that was still left standing.

"Call your boss out", Sarah said, her tone colder than the night itself.

"W… what!?", the man stuttered, "Are you crazy? We won-- Guh!"

Before he could even finish his words, he found himself unable to speak as he felt something wrap around his throat.

Sarah was already gripping his neck, her eyes completely red with blood. "Call him out before I lose control", she said.

"You dare!"

"!!!"

Sarah quickly jumped into the air as she heard someone suddenly approaching her from behind. She squinted her eyes as she looked to the ground, only to see a golden-haired boy wearing the Academy's uniform creating a small crater on the ground with his fist.

"...Are you Gerald Lauder?", Sarah casually said as her toes gently landed on the ground.

"Who else would I be!?", Gerald roared, "And you, who are you to trespass in our property!?"

Gerald could not help but look around the estate grounds. He just came back from the Academy, and as soon as he got home, he saw their guards crawling on the ground like ants.

"Trespass... in your property?"

As soon as Sarah confirmed Gerald's identity, she let out a light chuckle as she slowly raised her hand and floated in the air.

"Gah!"

All of the guards that were struggling on the ground started to wail in unison. Their body started squirming as their limbs twisted in a way that they shouldn't be twisted.

And soon, blood started gushing out from their wounds, but instead of dripping to the ground, the blood floated towards Sarah's hand.

The guards could not help but scream in pain once more as they felt their blood being sucked away from their bodies.

"What are you doing!?", Gerald screamed as he quickly rushed towards Sarah with his fists loaded.

But before he could even reach halfway to Sarah's position, Sarah opened up her palm, and the blood that was floating on top of her hand instantly multiplied. It then spread and circled around her, moving continuously as if a tornado...

...A cyclone of blood.

"!!!", Gerald quickly stopped his steps. He then slowly touched the blood and instantly felt a tinge of pain on his fingers.

"Tch", he could not help but click his tongue as he backed away, "Are you just going to hide there, intruder!?"

As soon as he said that, the tornado of blood instantly dissipated, revealing Sarah who was now wearing red-blood armor which was accurately fitted on her body.

There were now also a pair of wings protruding from her back, but if one were to look closer, one would see that the feathers of the wing were made of blood… and the armor that she was now wearing was the same.

The light of the moon reflecting from her armor caused the whole estate to be drowned in the color of blood.

"You… who are you?", Gerald could not help but furrow his eyebrows as all the muscles on his body seemingly contracted, his fists rolled and ready to charge at any moment.

"Your men burnt my sister's clothes…", Sarah then whispered as she slowly landed on the ground. She then stretched her left arm to the side, and in an instant, a sword, which was once again made with blood, appeared from her hand.

...I hope you don't mind me doing the same"