"Your men burnt my sister's clothes… I hope you don't mind me doing the same"

Gerald could not help but slightly back away as he saw Sarah's ominous-looking armor. This was the first time he was seeing something like this so he was a little taken aback.

​​

"You think you scare me!?", Gerald said as he tilted his head and cracked his neck.

"Probably not", Sarah muttered as the blood sword she was holding slightly wriggled, "You seem to be too weak to see the difference between us"

Hearing Sarah's words, Gerald's eyes could not help but twitch, "What did you say!?", he then rushed towards Sarah, his steps hard enough to crack the hard ground, "Get out of our property before I f*cking kill you, you f*cking intruder!"

Sarah nonchalantly raised her right hand again, creating a wall of blood to block Gerald's advance.

But Gerald only smirked as he quickly stepped to the side, effectively passing beside it. And as soon as he was through, he leaped towards Sarah, his fists locked towards her face.

"I got you!", Gerald's smile could not help but widen as he felt his fist touch make contact with Sarah's face. Sarah's eyes bled out and her mouth instantly spewed a huge amount of blood. Gerald was about to burst out in laughter, but then he felt his fist going through Sarah's face.

"W… what?", Gerald could not help but furrow his eyebrows as he once again looked at Sarah's face, which now looked like it was melting.

'This… is blood?', as soon as Gerald thought of that, Sarah's body collapsed to the ground, and as soon as it hit the ground, it turned into a puddle of blood and started littering everywhere, making a small pool of blood beneath Gerald's feet.

"You're quite strong for your age"

"!!!"

Gerald could not help but look behind him as he heard a voice whispering in his ears.

"But still, nothing special"

"You…", Gerald let out a small breath as he saw Sarah slowly walking towards him, her face completely intact and without any damage. Was the thing that he attacked just now a puppet of some kind?

No, that wasn't important right now, Gerald thought. "Enough with your tricks!", he roared before rushing once again towards Sarah. However, before he could even take a single step, he tripped to the ground.

"Khh!", Gerald quickly turned his eyes towards his left foot, only to see it being wrapped by the puddle of blood on the ground.

"L… let go of me and fight me fair and square!", Gerald roared.

Sarah, however, just stared at him straight in the eyes, looking down on him as he struggled to free himself.

Gerald could not help but bite his lip as he saw Sarah's arrogant gaze.

'Why… why is everyone looking down on me!?', he thought before letting out a roar and slamming his fists on the ground with all his might, "F*ck!".

Gerald's fists slightly shook the whole estate as the birds on the trees flew from their nests in panic. Sarah, however, hovered in the air, completely unaffected by the small crater that Gerald made.

She then slowly floated towards Gerald, pointing her sword directly to his neck.

Gerald wanted to dodge, but he was unable to do so as the blood that was wrapping around his foot started to crawl all the way through his waist, completely covering his legs.

His eyes could not help but widen as Sarah slowly raised her sword, blocking the light of the moon.

"N… no", Gerald could not help but tremble as the silhouette of Sarah's sword reminded him of his father's cane. The way his father beat him up until he could no longer stand up, the way his father forced him to absorb countless Crystals even though his body could no longer take it.

He could only close his eyes and winced in pain as he waited for the sword to cut him down.

"Stop this now!"

But it was then that Gerald heard his father's voice, which made him tremble even further instead of making him feel relief. He slowly opened his eyes and turned his head in the direction of his father's voice.

He was walking out of the mansion, limping as he supported himself with his cane, "What are you doing?", he said.

"F… father", Gerald could not help but gulp as he slightly tried to back away, but was unable to do so, "Father… this woman… I was trying to protect--"

"Silence!", his father roared, "I am not talking to you, boy!"

"...", Gerald could only grit his teeth as he looked away.

"What is the meaning of this, Sarah?", Gerald's father squinted his eyes as he stared at Sarah.

Sarah let out a deep breath. And as she did so, the blood that was confining Gerald's leg instantly dispersed and streamed to the ground, returning to its liquid state.

Feeling the weight on his leg loosen up, Gerald quickly rushed towards Sarah, but before he could do so, his father shouted at him to stop.

"But fathe--"

Gerald was unable to finish his words like the sound of his father tapping his cane to the floor whispered into his ears, causing him to flinch. Seeing his father staring at him straight in the eyes, Gerald could only grit his teeth in frustration once again.

"Why are you doing this, Sarah?", Gerald's father asked again.

"Your men destroyed something of mine, Mr. Lionel", Sarah finally spoke as the sword on her hand softened up and quickly gushed to the ground.

"What?", Lionel furrowed his eyebrows, "Why would I do that? I am close friends with your grandfather"

Sarah then slightly glanced towards Gerald.

"...Gerald?", Lionel could not help but frown.

"What!?", Gerald waved his hand, "I don't even know yo--"

"Stay out of this, boy."

Once again, Gerald was interrupted by his father before he could even finish his words. Gerald's breathing was starting to get erratic as his hands trembled in anger. As far as he knows, Sarah was an intruder and he just tried protecting his home.

So why was he the one being told to shut up?

Sarah could not help but let out a slight breath as she saw Gerald's frenzied expression.

"Tell me, what did my son do now?"

"His men made a mess of a property I used to own", Sarah stared Lionel straight in the eyes, "...and also destroyed something I consider priceless"

"...", Gerald furrowed his eyebrows. The only thing that he could think of was the men he sent to Van's house. Does this mean that…

'That little beggar had someone like this behind him?', Gerald could not help but bite his lip. Seeing the way his father interacted with this woman, it would seem that she was someone of high status. If she was not, then his father won't even be talking to her in the first place.

"...Can you overlook it for now? I would pay for whatever it is that was damaged", Lionel let out a deep sigh, his tone containing a hint of disappointment, "You have also made a mess of my home, so why don't we call it even?"

"Even?", Sarah quickly scoffed in reply.

"The boy is still young and has lots to learn", Lionel once again sighed as he looked at Gerald, "I will be sure to punish him accordingly. So please, why don't we call it even for the sake of our family's friendship?"

"..."

Sarah looked back and forth between Gerald and his father before closing her eyes and taking a huge breath. She remained in silence for a whole minute before opening her eyes again.

"You better put your dog on a leash", she then said nonchalantly before her armor and wings dropped to the ground. "Take care of yourself, Mr. Lionel", she muttered before walking to the gates.

"Y… you!"

Being called a dog, Gerald could not help but chase after Sarah.

"Stand down, boy!"

"Why!?", Gerald roared as he watched Sarah leaving and just casually walking out of their gates like nothing happened. "I could have beat her!"

"Beat her?", Lionel instantly scoffed upon hearing his son's words, "Consider yourself lucky we're not wiping you from the floor"

"She's nothing!", Gerald waved his hand, "Just one hit and she would have died! What do you even know? You're just a weak pathetic old ma--"

Once again, before he could even finish his words, he felt a slight discomfort on his face as his father struck him with his cane.

"..."

"The fact that you were able to move during your fight means that she went easy on you, boy", Lionel blatantly expressed his displeasure as he shook his head slowly before walking back to the mansion, "Go clean this mess up by yourself", he then gestured towards the guards that were sprawled on their estate ground.

It would seem that all of them were still alive as their weak moans whispered through the air.

Gerald's hands continued to tremble even stronger as his anger crawled through the deepest parts of his body. He slowly stretched his trembling hand towards the back of his father's neck, 'I could kill you right now', he thought.

But after a while, he closed his eyes and let out a stuttered breath. His head shaking uncontrollably as his lips bleed from him biting it.

Why… it will be so easy, he thought. It would be so easy to just snap his father's neck right here and now. But why can't he do it?

"...f*ck."

"...f*ck."

"F*ck!"

Gerald's seemingly endless roar echoed throughout the night.