Azalon stared wide eyed at the world that the dream world enfolded around him this time. He was panting heavily as he saw the memories from another world, another time, another him were dug out by this dream world and projected by it.

Tall skyscrapers, wide paved concrete roads bustling with pedestrians and their helper robots, auto pilot hover cars that were zooming at high speeds on the well paved lanes…

They were all utterly familiar to him and he felt his mind stirring as he watched all this. He looked down at himself and realized that he was not the 12 year old Azalon but a lean and well built 19 year old Johnny Rex!

He could never have imagined that whatever was responsible for this dream world could delve this deep into his memories and even create the illusion of Earth!

But before he got out of his astonishment, a loud but smooth voice came our from the various speakers that were placed all over the city.

“July 3rd, the time is now 8 pm. The weather reports have predicted a heavy storm with heavy lightning and thunder. The citizens are all requested to take shelter in their homes and not come out during the storm. I repeat, there will be a storm with heavy lightning and thunder that will hit the city in a few hours. Please take shelter…”

The all – purpose announcement from the Tower Clock of the City. Azalon’s body started trembling when he heard that announcement.

“July 3rd… 8 PM…” Azalon’s body trembled slightly and he immediately turned to a direction and ran.

He ran with all the power he could induce into his legs. His legs and arms were pumping like pistons as he shot through the familiar streets and roads. He didn’t look around to reminiscence about the old times and he was running with even more speed.

“No, this shouldn’t be that time. There is no way.” Azalon’s face was filled with anxiety and fear and he even forgot about the fact that this was all a memory created by the dream world to test him!

“Please let me make in time!” Was the only thought and nothing else mattered to him.

Finally, after a long time, he reached a three storied building that was in a small and dark corner of the city. A simple metal board hung on the arch above the gates and Azalon could still remember every part of that metal board as he was the one that made and hung that metal board.

“Saint Theresa Orphan House.” The darkness prevented Azalon from seeing the words on that metal board but how could he forget about this place?

He was the one who painted and hung this metal board along with some of the children from the orphanage. He still remembered the warm smile he had seen on Mother Lillianna’s face when they showed this metal board as a surprise for her from their side. His eyes glimmered with tears as the memories started flooding with a great effect under the manipulation from the dream world.

As he stood there, he heard a cry from within the building and he came back to his senses. He immediately remembered what the day was and he rushed into the building.

Someone should have pressed the emergency button in the building as the emergency yellow lights suddenly went on in the entire building and a beam of light shot into the sky, the emergency beacon that signaled the highest level of threat.

Azalon simply didn’t care about all this and he was like a phantom that rushed through the wide corridor and stairs before stopping in front of a room on the second floor. He looked around to see a small group of children that were huddling in a dark corner and shivering while looking at the closed door of the room he was standing at.

He remembered two or three of the children that were close to him but he didn’t care about them right now.

There was a deafening silence in the building except for the drone of the sirens. With his heart pounding, he turned the door knob and pushed the door open.

The room was slightly dark and the dim yellow lights were no where enough to cover the darkness in the room. Suddenly, a loud rumbling thunder came from the skies and the bright lightning lit up the room like it was day! But Azalon simply wished it didn’t after he saw the scene in the room.

Before him stood 4 guys that were completely dressed in black. Even their faces were covered in black paint making it difficult in the dim emergency yellow lights. Two of them had handguns strapped to their waists and the remaining two had knives in their hands.

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And one of the knives was dripping with fresh blood…

Azalon’s eyes turned down and a figure lying in a pool of blood appeared in his vision. She had a mature and calm face but right now, that face that had always looked at him with a loving expression had blood splashed all over on it. Her body was covered in knife wounds that were still leaking blood. The sickly yellow lights cast a grim shadow appear making the scene even more gruesome.

The four of them heard Azalon open the door and turned around to look at him. One of them with the handgun recognized him and he pulled out his weapon from his waist and pointed it at him. As soon as he did that, the other three moved and surrounded Azalon from all sides and pointed their weapons at him.

“So, you really came out, you bastard. When you went missing after the heist, we all thought you were dead! We were even celebrating! But who could have guessed that you were hiding in this rat hole? I didn’t even believe when one of my men informed me about you. It turned about to be really true!” The one with the handgun pointing at Azalon spoke with a grim tone. But seeing that Azalon was not registering his words but instead looking at the dead body at his feet made him angry!

“Oh! You were worried about this bitch? We asked her about you nicely but she stubbornly refused to talk about you. So, we had to be a little hard on her, but even in her death, she refused to open her mouth. She even begged us to spare the children in this shit hole with her final breath! Can you believe it? The children in this house are practically moving wades of cash that could be sold for working in the factories!” He lightly kicked the corpse of the woman and licked his lips as he imagined the amount he was about to make after he sold the children to those factories and industries in the second – ranked countries.

And as for Azalon, he could deal with him easily as all he had to was pull the trigger and the big enemy he always felt in the Underworld would be finally finished! He was simply enjoying the fruits this day had brought him. He can finish his enemy, one of the rising big shots in the Underworld and assimilate his forces into his own and rise as the new boss, and with an additional bonus of some worthy cash that would serve as his investment through the children, he almost danced in joy!

But Azalon didn’t hear nor see the group of four around him or the blathering of the man with the gun. His eyes were fixed on the face of the woman as he slowly took a step forward. His mind was roaring with the flood of emotions and memories that were rushing like an unstoppable flood. His eyes slowly turned red as he slowly lifted his legs and started walking towards the woman in the pool of blood.

He didn’t care about the guns and knives pointed at him or the fact that it was all a dream. All that filled his vision was the woman in the pool of blood and all that his mind was thinking was a single sentence and all his heart felt was a deep regret and… guilt!

“This is all my fault! This is all my fault!” Azalon was mumbling incoherently as he walked step by step like a zombie till he reached the body. He squatted down and extended his hand towards her face. He tried to rub off the splashes of blood on her face but it made it even worse by spreading the fresh blood across her face. Two lines of tears unknowingly started streaking down from his eyes and dripped onto that bloody face mixing with it and continuing down.

“Mother! This is all my fault! I barged into your life and that brought my world into your peaceful world. THIS IS ALL MY FAULT!!!” Azalon’s heart that was filled with grief and guilt instantly transformed into boundless killing intent that sprung up like a coiling snake that finally bared its fangs!

The killing intent that was filling his heart, his mind, his soul made his eyes go completely red and his entire thoughts were screaming with a single purpose. Kill! Kill all those that dared to hurt his mother!! Kill all those bastards that killed the only person who showed love and treated him with warmth!!!

KILL!!!

But in a corner of his mind, his consciousness was screaming at him that this was all an illusion, a memory and nothing more. It was screaming not to lose himself and come back to his senses!!

But how could Azalon who was lost in his grief and anger recognize these words?? His killing intent was like a baleful wind that completely filled the room making the knees of the four go weak and a cold chill run down their spines, especially for the one that kicked the corpse of Mother Lillianna. His face was pale and cold sweat poured out from his body. Looking at the pair of cold eyes that were staring at him without a single shred of emotion within them, he felt as if he fell into the deepest pits of Hell and was being stared by the King of the Hell himself!

He tried to pull the trigger but under the killing intent that almost manifested like a physical entity around him made his mind go numb and his hands were trembling so much that he couldn’t even hold the gun steady let alone pull the trigger! With each step Azalon took, the more fearful he got and the more despair he felt! He tried to signal to the other three but how could they be faring better than him! The two punks that were carrying the knives fainted under the killing intent with foam coming from their mouths and the other one with the gun was kneeling on the ground with his head buried in his chest and his pants were wet between his legs!

His heart was pounding so violently that he was sure that it was audible to those in the room! His despair raised to the skies when he saw that Azalon was standing almost face to face with him and the pair of cold eyes filled with killing intent under the yellow lights and the fist that was descending onto his head made his blood run cold!

But just as Azalon’s fist was about to pulverize the man’s head, he heard a light cough and Azalon’s entire body froze as a faint voice reached his ears…

“John…”