Looking at them intensely with his eyes, both Bob and Ann seemed to have entered yet another daze! Ran's eyes, to them, seemed to be like a spotlight, searching through their deepest darkest secrets. The blue inner iris seemed to start to swirl as they felt like they were hypnotized and coerced into spilling their tea. It was all in their head, of course.
Closing his eyes, they were immediately kicked out of their stupor, he exhaled and walked towards Ann. Patting her shoulder, he said, "Better luck next time" before walking away. Immediately afterward, his face turned pale and he was out of breath. "S**t! I never knew she could hit so… hard! Good thing she hit me in my gluteus maximus otherwise…" Ran shivered as he thought of various other places where he could have gotten hit. Indeed, anywhere else and his body would have contorted in many angles due to the sheer force of that attack. She was clearly going all out! Just that one kick needed over half of his energy just to recover.
Poof, another wall was shattered and turned to dust. This was the one he used to reflect the damage towards. However, after catching his breath, Rans pupils suddenly dilated. A chill crawled up his neck as he looked towards the entrance of the mansion. Trickles. Tens, no, hundreds of tiny threads of faint red wind trickled into their room. Through the door and even the walls. Just as he was about to warn Ann and Bob, his body stopped moving. His hair stood on end as he looked up, towards the ceiling. A dense, thick, red mist jetted and spurred itself downward as it completely enveloped the ceiling. Then, it started to fill up the entire room like a poisonous gas that wishes death upon all those who inhale it. As it started bearing down on the entire room, not just Ran, but Ann and Bob sensed it as well; with him only being the first.
In a matter of a second or two, all three of them couldn't handle the pressure and their knees buckled, kneeling onto the broken floor. The male servants had already passed out and just layed there, silently.
Boom! Slice. The mansion trembled as if a boulder had landed on the roof. Then, out of nowhere, a seem seemed to appear as it stretched from one end of the ceiling to the other. Crash! The ceiling, after being separated, couldn't support itself and collapsed to the floor like a door opening up to the very heavens (or hell) themselves.
Hundreds of guards surrounded and entered the mansion as they prepared to attack at any moment and only waited for the signal. This was where the hundreds of faint blood wind threads came from. But wait, where did blood mist come from then?
"Ah, you look just like her. Ah, Mariana, what a lovely son you have. Completely unlike my trash of a son. That Goddamn fatty doesnt what's good for him. I sent him there for his own good! His own good I tell you!"
Hearing that voice, Ann recalled where she was and immediately became drenched in sweat. The voice, however, carried a whole different meaning to Ran. He didn't focus on the voice itself, but rather, its words. Mariana, where have I heard that name before… Ran thought. Wait, wait a minute! Mariana, as in… my Mother!?
Bob, on the other hand, was confused. He was just an innocent bystander who got the shortest stick. His eyes grew heavy as he felt drowsy, until eventually knocking out. He couldn't handle the pressure at all, leading to this sight.
After the voice, it came. Well, it was a man. A buff man. A very buff man. A very very buff man! With a mustache. A curly mustache! And a head. A bald head!
In the air, he seemed like an "angel". He took a step and… didn't fall. This guy was floating in the air! The f**k!? But upon closer investigation, he wasn't floating or flying at all. Shameless! How could he trick us like that!? Show us that you're a real "man" and… fly! No, he was standing on something. A red glow under his feet appeared as if red footholds were floating in air, only serving this buff, bald man. With every step, he would come closer to the ground, but this wasn't a good thing; at least for those on the ground.
To Ran, the blood mist that was bearing down on them started to revolve around this man. The pressure all but disappeared, but that might not be a good thing. In fact, in Rans point of view, it was even worse! The mist revolving around the man started to compress itself with every revolution until it was so dense that just by looking at it, Ran started losing control over his bowels once again!
Damn it Ran, not again! Not in front of everyone! Please, I won't do that to you again, just don't embarrass me. If everyone knew that my MC can't control when to use the restroom, how would that impact my reputation!? Not good. Get ahold of yourself man!
Rans soul heart fluctuated to Rans fearful emotions. The threads in his body inexplicably grew extremely tiny hairs as it allowed themselves to pull on his blood faster and harder. The blood did not resist and instead went along with it. The bloodline in his body was stimulated and began helping the heart counteract the threat in front of them. His muscles contracted and taut as he was prepared to run at any moment. Finally, he gained a semblance of control over his body and thankfully, his bowels.
Feeling a spike in his headache, Rans mind became clear again and he looked at this "angel". The blood mist continued condensing itself until it turned into an orb that revolved around the man. If one looked into the orb, they… wouldn't be able to see anything! What do you think this is, some kind of crystal ball that tells one their fate!? Please… let's get real here. Ran knew the sheer terror one would experience if they were to be anywhere near that orb let alone the person it is revolving, but this only served to confuse him even more. The orb had stopped radiating that unbearable pressure. It was like the creation of the orb stopped it from leaking. This observation of Rans wasn't too far out from the truth.
Then, the orb was slowly closing in on the man until they made contact. A part of the orb seemed to be scraped off as its spherical shape was distorted while a slight glow appeared on the spot where they made contact. As it made contact over and over again, it disappeared and the man was covered in the same thick blood glow. It then proceeded to bore into the man and seep into his skin like it was returning home after a long day's work. Just like that the entire scene disappeared and Rans vision returned to normalcy, besides the man was now standing in front of him; close enough to feel his breath.
Dazed by the man in front of him, he didn't hear a voice speak. "Y-your Majesty." Ann stuttered a bit because of all the trouble they had inadvertently caused (even though it was really Rans fault).
"Oho, do you really think I would let this transgression go?" "Yes your Majesty. I am willing to serve my sentence and obtain justice for this mansion." Balling her hand into a fist, she vowed to kick Rans buttocks a hundred times when they get back. Her thoughts were obstructed though because of a guard. "Fool! Who gave you permission to speak to the king? Why I oughta…" the guard proceeded to spit as he looked on with disdain.
At this, Ann's eyebrows shot up. A mere guard wishes to speak to me this way!? Don't you know, I serve the mighty his Tiny Holiness! I am the one who says fool! Fool! There I said it!
Ann was infuriated with the guard because he was basically tarnishing her dignity. Because she serves his Tiny Holiness, and as his servant, having her dignity ruined is the same as his Tiny Holiness' dignity getting ruined as well! How could she allow anyone to ruin the dignity of his Tiny Holiness!? But in the end, she just can't do anything! Her eyes reddened and her breathing quickened as she looked at the guard in frustration before calming down and looking at the king questioningly. Clearly she took any issue about his Tiny Holiness very seriously! What was the purpose of the king coming here? Just a scuffle of this magnitude wouldn't be enough to make the king come over. There's more to this than it seems, it seems!
With a flick of his finger, a head suddenly flew into the air. It was the guard that had spoken out of turn earlier! Why would the king do such a thing? Well, we're about to find out.
"My my, you are racking up quite a number aren't you fellas." The king looked at Ran and Ann with a mischievous smile. One that would immediately tell someone that they're up to something! And that thing is most definitely not good!
"First, you get me to search for this kid, the one in front of me, who by the way is perfectly fine. Then, you destroy my house (a little play on words here), and you even force me to kill one of my own men!?" A deep frown was shown on his face like he had lost his own mother. Ran had recovered at this point as was stunned again by the sudden turn of events. What destroyed your house and forced you to kill your own men! How about I destroy your bald a** head!? How about I force you to bend over!? On second thought, I did kind of destroy your house. Wait a minute. You're the one who sliced apart the ceiling!
"Three." "Uh… three what?" Ann questioned. "That's how many favors you owe me." The smile once again appeared on his face as this time, he looked directly at the recovered Ran.
"How about this. Thanks to my friendship with your father, and therefore you, how about I reduce that favor down to one?" So this was his plan!
Ran was still somewhat confused. You know my dad, you looked for me, and a guy died, huh? Looking at the man in front of him, he couldn't see any trace of the blood wind. Thus, placing his trust on his senses, he got up. He patted his clothes (which somehow survived that kick by sheer "luck"), walked up to the king and stretched a hand.
No Ran, don't you know what's happening!? What if he didn't wash his hands!? What if he didn't do it for twenty seconds!? The king inevitably shook his hand. No!!! It's game over man, game over!
"You have yourself a deal, err…" Ran backed away and did a slight bow with a swing of his arm. "Today's weather is quite lovely don't you think? Ran, is my name, by the way." "Aya, I've forgotten to introduce myself. Aaron. Aaron Mistocoff, king of the Conclave. This weather certainly is lovely. Absolutely, positively, scrumptious. Might need some tea to go with this."
And like that, Both Ran and Aaron each had an arm around each other's shoulder as they looked through the broken ceiling and out to the early morning sun while sipping tea. One could even hear the faint musical chirping of birds.
Ah, I always love a good ending, don't you?