Steam rose from Leo's body, dispersing around the room. Despite getting more and more powerful, Leo didn't feel well at all. All of his muscles had come to a standstill, while the fatigue in his eyes only worsened.

It felt like he was going to fall on the floor at any moment, but he still didn't dare to close his eyes. Leo didn't want to see that gruesome image again...ever again.

'!!!'

Strangely enough, Leo suddenly felt something cold touching his skin. He promptly opened his eyes, but he wasn't prepared for such a pageant. Leo's expression became desperate, his breathing intensified as sweat dripped from his forehead, yet the blade that was located on his neck only continued to push further into his skin.

"One move and you're dead"

The dark figure said, standing in front of Leo with a dagger in one hand. Though the person seemed hostile, the voice that emanated from beneath the clothing was undoubtedly feminine.

"The warrior in the purple armor. Where is he?" The figure quietly asked while gnashing the blade further into Leo's neck, causing a bit of blood to tingle from his skin.

"Why are you being so quiet? Answer me," The figure repeated in an irritated voice after seeing Leo staring at him speechlessly.

Desperation and menace loomed in Leo's eyes.

Unbeknownst to the figure, each word filtered past Leo's ears without being heard. Before Leo's eyes, the familiar red sky appeared, the corpses of his family and friends rose from the ground, Warden...materialized in front of him.

"Long time no see, kid! I almost thought I'd never see you again!" Warden smiled gravely as he moved forth, "Shall we have some fun again?"

"Go away!!" Leo roared in anger as he began to crawl away, passing by the countless corpses.

"Haha...Boy, it's impossible to escape from this place. You can never get away from me," Warden chuckled. Suddenly, all the bodies in the vicinity straightened up, their heads tilted 180 degrees. Locking their gazes on the frightened youth, all of them lunged at him.

Tap! Tap!

All the people were closing in, while Leo tried to slither elsewhere. Yet, his retreat was just a waste of power. Two hands emerged from the crimson ground and grabbed Leo by the waist.

More and more people circled the struggling Leo, each of them throwing their hands at him. By the time he realized it, Leo was already embraced by the myriad of bodies with no way out.

"Why are you attacking me! I'm Leo, your friend!" Leo cried out in despair. He couldn't bear to see his own mates attacking him, furthermore, getting controlled by Warden.

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"Hahahaha, that's because you're weak! No one cherishes weak people! You're completely useless!" Warden, who was hidden from Leo's eyes, laughed out loud. Along with the echo of his words, all the bodies around Leo suddenly liquefied and turned red.

"Haha...How does it feel to be drenched with the blood of your own friends? Is it fun?" Warden laughed again, nearly falling backward with amusement.

'It's not real...it's not real,' Leo repeated in his head, but the acrid smell and tingling throughout his body said otherwise.

"You think it's not real?" Warden grinned as he pointed off into the distance on the left.

"No...Layla?" Leo noticed a figure approaching from the side. Though there were many different cuts scattered across her body, it was undoubtedly still Layla.

"Hi, Leo, how are you?" The familiar, playful voice sounded from her mouth, but Leo only took a step back. Despite sounding so cheerful, she had a wicked grin on her face.

"Ohh...why are you running away? Didn't you miss me?" Layla said as she began to move forth, increasing her pace with each passing second. After a few more seconds she was already charging full-on towards Leo.

"Come on Leo, I am truly disappointed. You're so weak you can't even run away from someone like me," Layla giggled after appearing right in front of Leo, "You should have died with us, it's a shame such a coward even exists on this planet!"

"Stop talking! You're not the real Layla! She would never say such a thing!" Leo yelled out in frustration. Not wanting to see this place anymore, Leo closed his eyes and placed his hands on his face.

.

.

Silence.

.

.

After shutting his vision, Leo was greeted by an overwhelming silence. Endless darkness spread to every corner of his vision, finally bringing some peace to his heart.

'Ah...what am I even doing?' Leo sighed inwardly.

'I've been constantly running away from every thought of the village... I haven't even bid a proper goodbye to my family...I'm such a bad son,' Leo began to curse endlessly to himself, getting even angrier.

'I can't go on like this...I have to face my fears, only then will I truly become strong.'

With persistence in his soul, Leo decided to reopen his eyes. Unexpectedly, he was greeted by a completely different scene. Everywhere his eyes wandered, there was only crystal blue sky. A few birds flew over his head, later disappearing into a white cloud.

"Leo."

Suddenly, a soft voice rang out in front of him as he felt a hand touching one of his cheeks. Layla, shimmering in all her beauty, stood before him.

"Everyone loves you, Leo. It's not your fault." Layla said with a smile as she stretched her head forth. Leo felt a pair of soft lips brush his cheek before fading away softly, leaving an overwhelming bliss in their wake.

'Layla...everyone...I will have my retribution.'

.

.

.

.

"Where is the armored man?! Answer me, kid!" The dark figure repeated, seeing that Leo still did not respond. However, this time, something changed. The immense fear in Leo's eyes was suddenly replaced by determination and a slight trace of delight.

"What's wrong with you?" The dark figure was even more alarmed to see a hint of blue, explicit color appear in Leo's pupils. Sensing the intense danger and killing intent emanating from the boy, he inadvertently thrust his blade further.

"That's enough."

A cold, hoarse voice boomed from behind the figure.

"?!"

Unfortunately, before the figure could even spin around, he felt a sharp pain jostling onto his neck. His vision blurred while his eyes rolled rearward. Then the person fell to the ground with a loud thud, later being followed by the exhausted Leo.

"Excellent. It seems that not interfering in the situation was a wise idea after all. Something has definitely changed within Leo." Cale smiled broadly before locking his gaze to the prone figure.

'With such terrible abilities and hardly any Qi...this is definitely not an assassin....interesting,' Cale thought as he reached out his hand and took the clothes off the person's face.

"..."

"No way."