A voice came from behind as a shadow approached the group.
'Sorry, buddy. We're kind of a little busy right now, and we found her first, so beat it.'
One of the men replied and threw a rock to scare him away. The shadow grabbed the stone and flung it back at the man. The man didn't know what hit him and fell a meter away from where he was.
He might have considered a little before throwing the rock if he had read the atmosphere and sensed the murderous aura leaking from the shadow, which transformed into a man's figure slowly approaching the group. He wore one of the masks selling at the stalls, which had one of the band members' faces.
'Teach that bastard a lesson, guys.'
The men were hesitant, but being drunk was the only excuse they needed to challenge the masked man. They rushed to him, screaming loudly to frighten him. He silently walked up to them, hitting each of them once. Nonetheless, the sound of bones breaking could be heard from every hit.
No one was left standing except the last man, Asuna, and the masked person as he drifted nearer and nearer. In his last attempt, the man took out a knife from his pocket and tried to stab the person in his liver and succeeded.
'Take this, you cocky bastard.'
The masked man did not move.
The man thought he had won and expected the person to soon drop dead. The person inhaled a deep breath and exhaled, forming a warm mist that covered the man. He simply extracted the knife, showed the blade which dripped in blood, and casually dropped it on the ground as the man watched in disbelief.
The person sweetly said,
'Can I ask you a question? From which hand did you touch her?'
The man couldn't believe what was happening and shivered in fear.
'Was it this hand?'
He instantly grabbed the man's right hand with a crushing grip. The man tried to free himself but couldn't.
'Or…was it this hand?'
His voice turned cold as he grabbed the man's left hand. The man realized he screwed up and started apologizing.
'L-Look buddy, I'm really sorry, this was only a joke. I wasn't going to do anything with her, I-I swear.'
The person ignored and continued,
'Or maybe it was….'
The man begged,
'Please don't hurt me.'
'Both!'
He jolted both of the man's hands intensely, breaking his arms all the way up to his shoulder. The man was in excruciating pain but couldn't give a cry as the person grabbed his throat. He appeared to be an angel of death and glared deep into the man's eyes.
'I could end your life right here or continue to torture you for years, but instead, I'm giving you a chance. If I ever see you again or even hear a rumor that you were causing trouble, I'll make sure you'll regret that I didn't kill you tonight, do you understand?'
'Y...es.'
The man whispered and went unconscious due to fear and lack of air. The person let go of the man's throat as he dropped like a stone.
'Now, time for the reward.'
The hair-raising character had not yet disappeared. Asuna was scared stiff that no sound came out of her as she opened her mouth. To Asuna, the masked man was the devil himself.
He rubbed his hands to get ready and got closer to Asuna, who couldn't move an inch. She was petrified by the deadly aura leaking from the masked man. Between the person and the drunk men, she couldn't decide which was better.
He got closer until he was a foot away. He took out his phone and shone the light on her face, which contracted her pupils. With his other hand, he slowly took off the mask.
'Boo!'
A silly voice came from him. Asuna's other senses started working again, and she instantly recognized her favorite voice and scent.
'Alex.'
She leaped towards Alex hugging him.
'See, this why you should not get separated.'
Asuna started crying, but they were tears of relief and happiness.
'Hey, I'm sorry. Don't cry.'
Alex gently hugged her back.
The night came to an end.
Alex and Asuna took Hikaru to the hospital because of his injuries and told a guy to call an ambulance saying that some drunk men got into a fight and were hurt badly.
To put it in a nutshell, it was a night none of them will ever forget.