"Please, there must be another way!" The man pleaded desperately with the two individuals who were forcefully pulling his daughter's hair. "She's just a child, I beg of you!"

"Ugh, so annoyingly loud!" The woman clicked her tongue, pausing in her tracks to face the distressed father. "Eldric, I'm merely doing you a favor here. This 'thing' is beyond saving. So why don't you shut up and let us exorcise your so-called daughter?"

"And by exorcising, you mean killing her?!"

The woman laughed mockingly and drew her handgun. "I thought you were just a clueless man with deep pockets."

"Dad, please help! It's still me!" The girl cried out for assistance, tears streaming down her face as she struggled to break free from the man's grip.

"See! Can't you hear her? She's still there! I'm begging you!" The father pleaded, dropping to his knees upon hearing his daughter's voice. "Don't worry, Milia, Daddy is here. I won't let you get hurt anymore," he whispered, taking a step toward them. But then, he heard a sinister laugh emanating from his daughter.

"See? Your daughter is gone. Now, get lost!" The woman sneered, pointing her gun at Milia's head. "Oh divine powers, hear my plea, in this realm of fantasy. Grant me the strength to face the darkness and banish evil with a spa—ugh! Too long! Amen!" With a loud bang that reverberated through the room, the father watched in horror as his daughter lay lifeless on the floor, her blood flowing from the hole in her head.

"Ugh, I got blood on my clothes! I'll need extra payment for this, won't I, Josh?" The woman turned to the man beside her, who simply nodded.

"We're here to collect the payment for exorcising your daughter, old man. And I demand compensation for the inconvenience of getting blood on my beautiful clothes. Couldn't she just die without making a mess? Disgusting."

The old man couldn't believe what he was hearing. He understood the words, but he couldn't accept them. They had treated his daughter as if she meant nothing. Rage flushed his face, turning it scarlet. "You killed my daughter! Your payment will be your own deaths! You shall die by my hands, Camilla!" He called out to his men.

Hundreds of his men flooded into the room, armed with various weapons. Just as they were about to attack the two intruders, a laugh echoed through the air, freezing them in their tracks. "Didn't you just say 'you shall die by my hands'? And yet, you called for your men! Hahaha!" Camilla imitated Eldric's own words, leaving him dumbfounded.

Eldric clenched his fists and commanded, "Kill them."

"Josh, annihilate them," Camilla ordered. In the blink of an eye, Josh, who had been a few feet away, now stood before the men. With a single swing of his fist, he sent seven of them crashing into the wall, their bones breaking, their lives extinguished. Shock and fear gripped the remaining men as they fired their guns at Josh, but their efforts were in vain. Bullets had no effect on him. What followed was a scene of pure terror.

Eldric, too stunned to speak, bore witness to the massacre of his men by a single battle priest. And before him stood Camilla, formidable in her own right. The person he had just threatened to kill. "This is a battle priest. I shouldn't have provoked them," he thought to himself, but it was too late. Far too late. Camilla was not known for her patience, and it was wearing thin with each passing moment.

"Now then, will you please give me the money?" Camilla asked, her tone polite but her face betraying her true intentions.

"Yes," Eldric answered fearfully, making his way to the safe and opening it.

"Oh, this is nice! You see, old man, if only you had given us our payment from the start, this wouldn't have happened," Camilla remarked, patting him on the back.

"Does this mean I'm saved?"

Just as Eldric was about to receive an answer, Camilla's phone rang.

"Yes?" There was a brief pause before Camilla responded again. "I see. Okay," she said before ending the call.

Camilla's face grew serious. Her phone received a message, and as she read it, a smile crept onto her lips. Then, she turned to Eldric. "Regarding your question, no. Goodbye."

"Josh, Victor is dead. Deborah just called, and we've received a new mission," Camilla informed Josh, showing him the message on her phone after killing Eldric.

‘Observe Noctis Duskvale’

"Roger," Josh replied, his expression unreadable.

———

“Grandpa Philip, I'm finally home!" I exclaimed as I entered the house, only to be greeted by my grandfather's firm smack on my head. "Where were you last night?!"

Startled, I rubbed the spot where he hit me and stammered, "I-I was at my friend's house."

His expression softened as he smiled at me and patted my shoulder. But then, he suddenly pinched my ear, his voice filled with concern. "But what happened to your pants? Why are they ripped? And your mirror, why is it broken?!"

My face turned pale, beads of sweat forming on my forehead. "I was just playing around and things got out of hand. As for the mirror, I accidentally broke it while sleepwalking last night."

He looked at me, his worry evident in his eyes and voice. "Did you get hurt?"

Avoiding his gaze, I lowered my head and replied, "No."

Relief washed over his face. "I'm glad you're safe. Go take a shower before we have dinner," he instructed, heading towards the kitchen.

As I sat down for dinner, the warm glow of the dining room enveloped us. Grandpa Philip, with his wise eyes and gentle smile, broke the silence. "How's school, Nox?" he inquired, his voice filled with genuine concern.

My grip tightened on the utensils, and I summoned a forced smile to mask my true emotions. "It's alright, Grandpa. Actually, I'm having a blast. As I've mentioned before, I've made quite a few friends."

He studied me for a brief moment, his gaze penetrating through my facade. "That's good to hear," he said, his smile widening.

As night descended upon the room, I settled into my chair, fixating my gaze upon the fractured mirror. "Leviathan, why did you say No?" I murmured, my voice tinged with curiosity.

In response to my query, a mystical figure materialized within the mirror, a dragon standing ominously behind me. "That man poses a grave threat," it declared, its voice carrying a sense of urgency.

"Abe no Seimei?" I questioned,

Leviathan shook his head, "No, I can sense Abe no Seimei’s great power, but he is not the one you should be worried."

Perplexed, I pressed for further explanation, "What do you mean? Didn't they rescue me? And Seimi has extraordinary luck. Without him, you would have surely consumed me by now!"

"Believe as you wish Nox, but there’s no such thing as luck or mere coincidence."

With those cryptic words, Leviathan vanished from the mirror, leaving me to ponder the profound implications of its departure.

——

"Yo, Noctis. Why didn't you come to school yesterday? We were really worried, you know? So worried that I want to give you this!" A punch was thrown at me by one of my classmates as they surrounded me. And the next punch was thrown, and another one, until all of them were satisfied. "Phew! This is why we like to play with you. You just stand there like an idiot while you take all of our punches until you go down," said Bradley, a typical high school bully with blonde hair and a rich family. Basically, his parents own this school, and one day he too will run this school.

Grandpa Philip and I could only scrape by with whatever means we had. If I tried to fight back against them, they would surely come after my family. I only got into this school because of my scholarship. That's why, no matter what happens, I will endure this pain for my grandfather!

"No, you're just scared," Leviathan's voice reverberated, mocking my resolve. She continued, "You're too afraid to take action against them because you know, Nox, you know you can hurt them. You can break them.”

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Hey, look! Noctis is getting mad! Hahaha!" one of Bradley's lackeys jeered as he saw my clenched fists. Anger and frustration burned in my eyes, and just as I was about to make a move, two figures stood there, smiling at me.

Bradley and his gang followed my gaze, but when they looked, they saw nothing but an empty street. "Hahaha! This guy must be going crazy from all the punches!" Bradley mocked. "Here's another one!" He threw another punch at me, but it didn't matter anymore. I knew for sure that I saw two people standing there, wearing the same clothes that Victor had worn.

Fear gripped my mind, and in a moment of clarity, I pushed Bradley away and ran as fast as I could.

"Don't touch me! Stop him! That guy is dead!" Bradley shouted at his lackeys, who tried to help him.

"Bradley, we lost him. That guy is seriously fast."

"You guys are seriously useless! Well, it doesn't matter. We know where he lives. We can just wait for him to leave his house, and then we can kill him!" Bradley laughed, and his followers joined in, agreeing to his wicked plan. But their conversation was soon interrupted by a woman who spoke up, "Will you also let me in on that plan too?"

——

“Grandpa! Grandpa! Where are you?!” I called out to him, my voice filled with anxiety as I searched every corner of the house. After a few nerve-wracking minutes, he finally emerged from the basement, concern etched across his face.

“What's wrong, Nox?” he asked, his voice laced with worry.

“We need to run away now!” I exclaimed, my words rushed and filled with urgency.

His eyes widened in alarm. “What do you mean? And what’s wrong with your face? Who hurt you? Are you okay?” Concern etched lines on his face, momentarily soothing my distress. “Don’t worry about me, I’m okay. But more importantly, we need to leave now.”

His brows furrowed in concern as he struggled to grasp the gravity of the situation. "What do you mean?" he asked, his voice filled with a mix of fear and curiosity.

“I don’t have time to explain. Please, Grandpa, we need to lea—-” My words hung when a knock echoed through the room, interrupting my words. I stared at the door, sweat trickling down from my face, "I'll go and check. That just maybe our neighbor. Stay here, Nox. Don’t worry, I’ll be careful." Grandpa’s words held a tinge of caution and assurance as he cautiously made his way to the door, leaving me with a sense of tense lingering in the air.

As I sat down to try to calm myself, when suddenly, Leviathan’s reverberated in this quiet room, “It’s them.” My heart raced in fear as I immediately jumped up from my chair, and towards the door. "Don't open it!" I screamed, but my warning came too late. The door was already halfway open.

Through the narrow opening, I caught a glimpse of a man dressed in a white priest's robe, smiling ominously. Then, without warning, the door was violently ripped open, splintering into pieces. "Good evening~" greeted the woman standing beside the man, wearing the same attire. "I'm Camilla, and this burly fellow next to me is Josh."

Fear gripped me as I watched the scene unfold. My grandfather spoke up, his voice trembling, "W-what do you want?! Who are you!!?"

Camilla responded, her tone filled with sinister delight, "We're here to exorcise him." She extended her hand, revealing a menacing handgun, which she then pointed directly at me.

Understanding the gravity of the situation, Grandpa Philip rushed towards me, his voice filled with urgency, "Noctis, run!"

But before I could react, Camilla uttered a chilling command to Josh, "Nuh-uh. Josh, kill." In an instant, Josh retrieved a concealed object from behind his back, revealing a bloodstained club. With a sadistic grin, he lunged towards me, swinging the club with brutal force.

Splat!

The sickening sound filled the air, I found myself drenched in blood. I realized that only my grandfather's feet remained, while his lifeless body had been mercilessly torn apart.

I stared in horror as I watched the aftermath of what had been done to my grandfather, when my attention suddenly pulled towards the chilling laughter of a woman named Camilla. “Kahahaha! That old man was so soft! He was torn apart with a single swing!” Her words echoed in my mind, igniting a mixture of fear and anger within me.

“What's so funny?” I asked, my voice tinged with darkness as my heart raced from Camilla's laughter, but more than that, I can feel Leviathan’s anger resonating within me. Then something just snapped at me and the next thing I knew, a chilling words came out of my mouth,

“I'm going to kill you.”

Noctis declared with a cold expression, advancing towards a man named Josh. He swung his club, but Noctis effortlessly caught it with his bare hand. Their eyes locked, instinctively, Josh quickly jumped in front of Camilla, assuming a protective stance.

“What are you doing?! Kill him too!” Camilla exclaimed in frustration, kicking Josh in the back. However, Josh remained unfazed, uttering only a single word: 'Danger.' Camilla's expression turned serious upon hearing Josh's warning.

Josh was like a machine, obediently following orders and able to speak only one word at a time. Nothing he said should ever be ignored.

Noctis observed the pair, clicking his tongue before lunging at them. His punch was aimed at Josh and Camilla, but despite Josh's attempt to block, Noctis's immense strength shattered Josh's club and sent them both flying.

Noctis advanced slowly, repeatedly uttering the chilling words, “I'm going to kill you,” with an empty expression.

Josh assumed a defensive stance as Noctis threw a punch. But the strike was too swift for Josh's eyes to follow, and although he tried to retaliate, Noctis effortlessly caught his fist. Without hesitation, Noctis tore Josh's entire arm from his body and struck him with it.

The impact was so powerful that even someone who has the ability of toughness and skilled as Josh, a battle priest, was nearly knocked unconscious. As he struggled to regain balance, Noctis prepared to strike him once more with his own arm.

But just as Noctis was about to deliver the final blow, a single gunshot rang out, Bang! it echoed, grazing him from his cheek and freezing his movement.

“You had me worried there for a moment! And this is your power without even calling your dweller. What are you?” Camilla said, blowing the smoke from her handgun. “But more importantly, you- uou messed up my clothes! I swear I'll kill you for this!”

Though Camilla was physically weaker than Josh, her speed had propelled her to become one of the high-ranking battle priests.

Noctis couldn't react in time to her lightning-fast movements, and before he could even blink, the gunshot had already been fired. It was as if she moved faster than the sound itself.

Camilla targeted Noctis's legs, knees, arms, shoulders, rendering him immobile and unable to escape. While she desired to kill him, she took pleasure in making her opponents suffer first. Once she was certain that Noctis could no longer move, she halted her advance and stood before him with a smirk on her face.

In a swift and merciless move, Camilla delivered a powerful kick to Noctis' gut, causing him to convulse in pain and spew forth crimson blood. A wicked grin spread across Camilla's face as she glanced over her shoulder at Josh, who struggled to regain his balance. “Try not to lose your arm so easily next time,” she taunted, nonchalantly kicking Josh's fallen arm back towards him with her boot.

“You know, we were supposed to dispose of you swiftly and efficiently, but you just had to go and dirty this beautiful robe of mine!”, Camilla sneered, her voice dripping with venom. With a swift motion, she struck Noctis across the face with the butt of her handgun.

Noctis, his voice trembling with grief and anguish, mustered the strength to speak through his battered and bloodied lips. “You took away the only family I had left in this world, my grandfather! I swear, you will pay for that!” The pain coursing through his body paled in comparison to the agony of losing the one person who provided him solace and a sense of belonging.

His eyes ablaze with fury, Noctis clenched his teeth and let out a primal scream of despair. Summoning every ounce of his remaining strength, he fought against the pain, his determination propelling him to rise once more.

As Noctis struggled to stand, he caught sight of Josh, clutching his torn arm. It was as if a haunting memory or a deep-rooted trauma had resurfaced, causing Noctis to scream and cry in anguish. Emerging from his blind rage, he lamented, "No, no, no, I've done it again," his voice filled with pain.

Camilla raised an eyebrow, her curiosity piqued. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," Noctis repeated, his words punctuated by his tears.

Camilla clicked her tongue, reloading her gun and aiming it at Noctis' head. With an irritated expression, she remarked, "I don't know what happened, but thank you for making this easy."

"Pull that trigger, and your head will be sent flying," a woman's voice interjected from behind Camilla.

The woman had long brown hair that fell just below her shoulders, sharp cinnamon brown eyes, and thin lips. Her features were sharp, yet undeniably beautiful. With her sword pressed against Camilla's neck, she issued a stern warning.

Camilla glared at the woman and hissed, "Akaku."

Camilla stepped away from Akaku and joined Josh's side. "But what can you do? There's only one of you. There are two people here, well, the other one is only half a person now."

Akaku let out a sigh before sheathing her sword. "Did you really think I came here alone?"

Upon hearing Akaku's words, Josh and Camilla felt an overwhelming pressure building behind them. Beads of sweat formed on their foreheads as they slowly turned to face the source of the pressure.

With a messy blonde hair and piercing scarlet eyes, a woman exuding an aura of pride and beauty emerged. "The King has arrived! Make way!" With those words, she struck her staff into the ground, causing it to split apart.

Camilla, relying on her speed, managed to escape, but Josh couldn’t react in time. "Stop making him lose body parts! He's not a half person anymore, but one-fourth!" Camilla screamed, stomping her feet in frustration.

"Leona, you're late," Akaku remarked.

"The King is on time when she says she's on time," Leona replied with a smile.

Akaku shook her head, bemused by Leona's logic. She turned to Camilla and spoke in a cold voice, "Now, will you retreat, or do you want to die?"

But before Camilla could respond, a footstep echoed through the air, and a woman emerged from the shadows. With pale white skin and long black hair, her siren eyes were adorned with long eyelashes. "That's enough for now," she said.

"Deborah," Leona greeted her with a smile, though her eyes showed a different story.

"I'm not here for you, Leona. I've come for those two battle priests who disobeyed their orders," Deborah coldly stated, casting a disdainful gaze upon the two priests. "Zemo and the other heroes are waiting for you two."

Camilla remained silent, simply nodding, and Josh did the same.

"Before we depart, let me offer these parting words or perhaps a warning, Leona. I am now stronger than you," Deborah declared with a smile before snapping her delicate fingers and disappearing into thin air.

"I see... So, you’re underestimating now. Kahahaha!" Leona laughed, causing the ground beneath her to crack under her immense pressure. However, her attention was soon drawn to Akaku's call.

There, she saw Akaku with the young man lying on the ground. A young man with tousled, midnight-black hair with beautiful yet piercing azure eyes, crying and repeating the words "I'm sorry."

"This is bad. If we don't bring him back to the Yūgen Garden, he will lose his soul. Right now, he's in a broken state. We must take him back there," Akaku explained, her gaze fixed on Noctis.

"Isn't this the guy who refused Abe no Seimei?" Leona questioned.

"Yes, but Seimi also asked us to come to this place and find him. Right now, we need to bring him back," Akaku responded.

"Interesting! To be able to refuse Abe no Seimei's offer and catch Seimi's attention, this young man is truly fascinating!" Leona proclaimed. "A king is someone who never forsakes her people!" With those words, Leona hoisted Noctis onto her back and sprinted back to their home, the Yūgen Garden.