Darius knew those footsteps belonged to Alicia. He turned toward the door, and as expected, a knock came before two minutes passed. He calmly stated, “Come in. The door’s not locked.”Alicia had come to say the same thing Erin did earlier. She opened the door and exclaimed, “Sir, have you seen the situation online?”“I saw it,” Darius replied with a smile. He leaned against the balcony railing and said, “But you don’t have to worry. The person behind this was so rushed that he’d never wait for us to make our move. He’ll probably arrive soon.”That was when one of the hotel’s security guards came to speak with Alicia. His face creased with anxiety as he said, “Miss Alicia, someone sent an invitation to Mr. Reid. They told me to deliver it to him ASAP. Otherwise, I’d regret not doing it and have to pay a hefty price.”The guard kept his gaze on the ground, not daring to say anything more as he could tell Alicia was glaring daggers at him. However, two people had given him a thick wad of

“For some reason, Mr. Reid seems so terrifying! It’s as though he’s the keeper of hell who’s come to earth to claim a lost soul!” Edward thought.Darius opened his eyes, his attention snapping toward the door at once. “Come in.”Only then did Edward try to take a step forward and peek out from behind the door with a smile. “S-Sir, I just wanted to know your decision since both invites state the events take place tomorrow night.”“Right, I’ve decided to go to neither.” Darius nodded while speaking as if he could not care less. He then tossed the invites onto the desk ahead. Leaning comfortably against his chair, he crossed one leg over the other and appeared relaxed.Standing before the desk was Edward, whose mouth had opened so widely that he could catch flies with it. He could not understand a single thing that Darius had in mind, so he kept parting his lips, but no words came.Darius’ patience ran out after the former did that several times. Irritated by the delayed response, he de

Silence ensued until the man chuckled. “There’s no need to be so panicked. My book and I have lingered in your body for some time. I’m only revealing myself now because my wounds have finally recovered. Darius Reid, I believe you should address me respectfully as your mentor.”Darius was still frozen in shock upon getting stared at by the man. It almost felt like his father was gazing at him just then, so he needed time to snap to his senses. After hesitantly nodding, he was about to do as told when the man’s calm voice spoke once more.“Call me ‘sir,’ like you’d address a father figure,” the man said.Darius’ lips fell wide open again. Yet, the man did not seem upset by Darius’ delayed greeting. Instead, he smiled even more and added, “I’m an Easterner. The martial arts skills you’re currently learning also originated from the East. That’s why I’d like you to call me your mentor.”The man did not waste his breath on unnecessary pleasantries or beat around the bush.Thus, Darius imme

Darius stared emotionlessly at his phone. No one could have known what he was thinking, not even Alicia, who had eavesdropped on the call from the beginning.Moments of silence went by before Alicia gathered the courage to approach his side. She kept two steps away from him while speaking. “Sir, shouldn’t we go and save Kate? She hasn’t done anything wrong all this while, after all.”Although Darius turned to meet her gaze, it took a while before he sighed and responded, “Indeed, she’s innocent. However, the best person to deal with this isn’t us.”Darius spoke emotionlessly, just like how he looked at Alicia. It lacked warmth to the point where Alicia’s body instinctively quivered. She no longer dared meet his eyes at that moment.Sighing, Darius asked, “Are you aware what you’re doing now is the same as what Erin did before?”Alicia paled at once, her head shooting upward with determination at Darius. “Then, I’ll go to Kate alone.”Eyes sharpening like blades, Darius scrutinized Al

Despite how impossible that was, Erin did it.Darius’ gaze hardened at Erin. He knew his carelessness had put Erin in her current injured state, and he blamed himself for it. Eyes narrowing with determination, he shot a bolt of life force forward. At that moment, Erin’s grey gaseous life force was already halfway out of her body but struggled with all its might to stay inside her.Darius had never seen such a situation before, so he looked down at his arm and called out, “S—.”Like clockwork, Teivel appeared before Darius could finish saying “sir.” He glanced at the gas with a smile. His figure then projected behind Darius to say, “It’s merely a plume of regular life force. The only reason it’s resisting your attacks is that its owner fused her blood into it.”Simultaneously, he waved his arm at the desk ahead, causing Darius’ cup on the desk to float into mid-air. The glass cup seemed to come alive as it emptied its contents onto the gas. Almost instantly, the grey gas no longer res