Akari maintained a vigilant gaze against the newcomers. This time her very accurate gut feeling is telling her that these are the bad guys. The bad feeling coming from them made her even more nervous than before. And seeing Ye Han in his current state pained Akari.
She plans to have the damn collar off her neck so that she could retaliate and bring the beaten Ye Han to safety. "Hey! You 4, remove this collar of my-" But her command fell into deaf ears as she saw the quartet fawning over the man as if he's some sort of hot stuff. "Thank you very much! We can now return the money we owe to this guy." Chain pointed at the unconscious Ye Han.
"Return…. Money?" Akari was shocked and at the same time skeptical about the whole thing.
"The reason we cannot explain it to you earlier is that we did something very shameful. We cannot bear to share such uncool experience. Definitely minus 100 respect points." Akari maintained a calm face as she tries to suppress an incoming wave of fury brewing inside her system. "So, what happened?"
The 4 lowered down their heads in shame. They then huddled close to each other and inaudible whisperings linger through the air. And with a flash of determination, the 4 put their hand together like a team competing against a formidable opponent. Other may find this touching but this only served to add more fuel to the burning rage inside Akari's heart. 'I bet this is something stupid.' She thought.
"Our master, the Tripitaka himself commanded us to come down from the sacred mountains and hone our skills. He said words along the lines of 'interactions are an integral part of life, seek them, my students.'" Bat started. 'It's because of your stupidity!' She thought with resentment.
"So we went down the sacred mountain. But along the way, we lost our money." The 4 are already sniffling and holding back large drops of tears. Seeing such manly men cry like little girls somehow dampened the fury inside her. Even the newcomers are showing a hint of sympathy alongside their leader.
"We starved and struggled. It was a nightmare living in this city without any money. Compared to the hellish training we had on the sacred mountain, the city is the real hell." Pierce shivered.
"And 2 weeks without any food and shelter, we stumbled upon a tattered wallet. When we peeked inside, there is cash, 500 dollars to be exact." The rest except the quartet are dumbstruck to hear such petty reason. For them, 500 dollars is just pocket money and to see people crying over 500 dollars is a new thing for them.
Akari felt a light shudder coming from Ye Han. But she dismissed it as nothing. How could he react in the situation knowing that he is currently unconscious?
A goon raised his hand to catch the attention of the grieving 4. He asked, "Why are you crying over 500 dollars?"
After the random good asked, a crushing pressure was felt all over the place. Some goons fell down their knees and the other more capable ones are trying to shrug it off but with huge bullets of sweat rolling off their face. And suddenly-
Boom!
Chain just punched into a nearby wall, blowing a massive hole in the process. "That 500 dollars fed us throughout the week!" The others were shocked by the sudden outburst. "Although we survived using that 500 dollars, for us it was a torturous experience. All throughout our life Master have imbued us the moral values we must uphold. This includes returning an item to its rightful owner. But we failed to do that! We tarnished our master's name and we deviated from our way of life."
Hearing their explanations, the others were astounded of their sheer will and incredulous to the fact that it also sounded very stupid.
"So we vowed to ourselves, to find the rightful owner of that wallet no matter the cost."
"Even if it involves kidnapping me?" Akari raised.
"Yeah…" The 4 answered nonchalantly.
Akari wanted to scream and just break the living daylights out of her throat. However, the situation deemed it unnecessary. So to release her anger she just facepalmed herself so hard that it managed to somehow break her nose and make it bleed. The others just winced sympathizing with her agony.
"Since our job here is done, we can finally return the wallet to him. Thank God for our luck since it has identifications inside it. And of course, we are also removing the collar." Bat asked for the password and Chain just gave him a small piece of paper. "Hey guys, why isn't the password working?"
"Are you sure? That's the one he gave to us." Chain said pointing at the man in question.
"I gave you the wrong one." He answered smugly.
The 4 opened their eyes widely at his statement. The man just put on a gloating expression, expressing his evil intentions. Tension filled the air as the opposing party ready themselves to the incoming retaliation they might bring.
"So you gave us the wrong collar!" The expected rage did not happen instead, the look of the quartet was filled with understanding. "It's okay bro, sometimes we often forgot about things sometimes. And we're really fine about that. Our master would chastise us when we forget some incantations. So it's really okay."
"I am tricking you!" The man growled.
"I thought that April Fool was in April? I'm really sure that April far off the calendar. Anyways, Happy April Fool's too!" Mohawk chirped.
The man dropped down his knees and slammed his fist on the floor. "Aaaarrrghhhhh!" The shout was filled with grief and anger. Lifting up his head he saw the look that Akari is giving him. Her eyes were also the same shade as him. It was at this time that the two opposing strangers agree with each other. Those 4 people are complete idiots.
Gaining back his bearings. He said something that would make the 4 idiots understand him. "I'm Evil."
This, in turn, earned shock gasps from the 4. The others just looked relieved. Finally, the idiots are getting it! "How could you trick us?!" The 4 shouted indignantly.
"Yes! I tricked all of you! AND-I-WILL-HURT-YOU-ALL!" His last sentence was overemphasized so that it would penetrate the thick skulls of the idiots.
"And I'm also going to hurt that girl and your….. ummm, benefactor? Whatever you call him."
"Who are you, and what do you want?" Asked Akari.
"You can call me Sieg. And as for my goal? THE LOVING FEET OF MY MISTRESS!" Akari just looked at him in disgust. "Those fools think that just observing that fool is enough? They are all wrong. As a loyal servant of the mistress, I must always bring utmost satisfaction for her. And by capturing that trash your holding I would get my wish. Her feet!"
"What does your mistress want with him?"
"I also find it weird," Sieg answered. "One day she suddenly ordered everyone to search for information about a white-haired man. It was a tedious search I tell you, she just gave a vague description, a white-haired man that's all. But as a loyal servant, no task of the mistress is hard. We eventually found him."
"Why is she searching for him?"
"I don't know, anything the mistress says is the law. But we found something interesting. Any information about him only dates back 1 year ago. Any information about him before that period is non-existent." He said while maintaining his condescending smirk.
"He said that he came from a very rural and far away village and only recently went to this city 1 year ago. Maybe that's the reason." Akari tried to defend Ye Han.
"I'm really not sure about that. We searched most of the recorded village but found no traces of him. We tried doing cross-examination of his facial features and compare it to others, still no results. DNA examinations? No match, the closest match is the members of the Ye Clan and I'm really sure no member of the Ye Clan has white hair. She even used her spies planted inside clans and sects to scour for information about a missing member perhaps. They turned up empty-handed." Akari is already shocked by all the information they gathered about Ye Han. She thought he was just a simple country bumpkin, enforced by the fact that he was terrible in technology and is very clueless about the current happenings. As it turns out, he was shrouded in a veil of mystery.
"I don't know where the mistress found him but I'm sure that she ordered us to satisfy her curiosity. And by bringing him to her, I would definitely get rewarded spectacularly. How could I pass up such an opportunity?! I bet I'll become a step closer to her with this achievement!"
Akari finally understood his motive but there is one thing unclear to her. "Why involve me and them." She pointed at the four who are currently glaring at the man.
"All of you would make excellent bargaining chips. I'll capture the 5 of you and offer you to the mistress. You, the successor of the Water Monarch. And them, direct disciples of the Tripitaka. A wonderful combination, I'm sure the mistress will find good use of you all."
"We will protect our benefactor!" Shouted the 4.
"Nice try." Sieg snapped his fingers and suddenly they plopped down the ground motionless.
"What did you do to us?! Answer me!"
"Let me present to you, our newest development. A paralyzing spell. A spell formation is carved into these darts." He said as he pulled a dart from one of the quartets. "Unfortunately, it is at it's testing phase and need more modification. It can only paralyze for 3 minutes, sadly. But enough time to tie you all up and bring to the mistress."
His goons started tying up the four against their protests. "And now, can I get a little stab? I'll just stab him 12 times, nothing to worry about, it will not hit any vital areas." Sieg took out a knife from his pocket and walked towards where Akari and Ye Han are. "How dare that trash tries to catch the attention of the mistress?! I'll hurt you real bad!"
"Stop! You can't hurt him!" Akari tried to shield him.
"How cute. You won't get away? I'll just sab you first! Hahaha." He rushed towards her with his knife and a manic expression plastered on his face. Akari remained frozen in fear. She tried moving away but knowing the fact that if she tried to get away he will stab Ye Han. Only one thought remained inside her mind, protect Ye Han. Closing her eyes, she braced herself for the incoming stab.
Moments passed, then seconds but the incoming pain did not arrive. When she opened her eyes, she let out a horrified scream. Standing in front of her is Ye Han, dripping with blood. Lodged on his chest is the very same knife that Sieg was holding earlier. She wanted to stand and help him but fear rooted her to the same position.
"Oh, you're awake huh? Well, that's one stab! Ahahaha!" Sieg pulled out a knife accompanied by a sickening squelch and splutters of blood. And drove in another stab to his chest. Second stab!"
"Please stop!" Akari plead.
"Three!"
"No!"
"Four!"
"Get away from him!"
"Five!"
"Please!"
"Six!"
"… don't hurt him anymore."
No matter how much she begged but Sieg was totally focused on getting his 12 stabs. Tears flooded her eyes as the thought of her friend dying in front of her overpowered her mind. She remembered the day her mother died and it brought endless pain to her. She doesn't want to feel that pain anymore.
"Seven!"
"…"
"Eight!"
"Why…"
"Nine!"
"Why are you not stopping?"
"Ten!"
"I don't want this pain anymore."
"Eleven!"
"I don't want to lose anyone I love anymore."
"Twelve! Ahahahahahaha! This feels, wonderful!" His psychotic laugh reverberated throughout the place as Ye Han plopped towards the ground, bloodied. "This feels so satisfying!" He kicked ye Han so hard that he flew back where Akari is currently at. Akari looked at the bloodied figure of Ye Han and something inside her mind snapped."
"You... will pay for this." Her voice became scary. She slowly stood up and ripped the collar off her neck. Then mana started to gather around her. A blue aura surrounded her and her hair started flossing. Everything around her froze, except for Ye Han. Everybody felt a biting cold creeping unto them. They started shivering, even Sieg is also shivering.
"Why can't I block this cold?!" He yelled.
"There's no use. What you are doing is futile. For hurting him, you will all feel, DESPAIR!" Her normal voice is now replaced by a cold and ruthless tone.
"Black Ice."
"Wha-"
But before Sieg could comprehend the whole situation, he felt a severe cold on his legs. When he tried to look down he saw that it was encased in black ice and it is still creeping up to him. Devouring him and encasing him inside his frozen prison. Even his goons were not spared. And in mere seconds Sieg and his group were frozen inside a block of black ice.
After her outburst, Akari started to calm down as her raging magic starts to recede. She immediately went to Ye Han cradling him in her arms.
He looked at her and he gave her a look of relief. "I'm glad your safe- cough!" He started coughing out blood due to his injuries.
"Don't speak! You'll worsen your condition!" She tried preventing him from any actions.
"I haven't slept for 5 days, I feel so tired. I wanna sleep." His eyes started drooping indicating his exhaustion.
"No Ye Han! Don't sleep! Stay with me!" Her tears soaking Ye Han's face. "Not again! I don't want to lose anyone I love anymore! Please… don't go."
"Goodnight, Akari." His eyes slowly shut itself and his body starts to turn cold.
"Noooooo!"