I let go of my clutch over his jaw while holding him with my knee against his chest.
"I'll kill you, I swear in my family's name!"
Albert's eyes glow red, emitting the phoenix flames like Rosalyn earlier, along with his skin. The compulsive mana around his body is getting denser. It's getting hotter. Also, his uptight face was about to explode at any given moment. I admire his courage despite pissing like a coward earlier.
I punch his face.
-Bang!
"Ugh! I-I—"
Another one.
-Bang!
Albert tried to strangle me with weak, flailing arms. So, I gave him another one. I'm not sure why I'm doing this, but it felt right to me. Do I feel joy? Pleasure? From punching him? I can't tell. However, I keep remembering Stephanie's face.
-Bang!
It continues until I saw his submissive eyes. Albert's nose was broken and was bleeding a lot. However, one thing remained; the fiery rage of the phoenix burning under his eyes; the resentment and anger to me. He's really passionate about killing me. Yet, I stayed aloof.
"Are you willing to shut up now?" I said, grimly.
Albert kept his mouth shut, so I punch his face once again.
-Boom!
The broken, destroyed roof tiles behind expanded exponentially after that punched. If any normal person would receive that punch of mine, they would surely die. Albert managed to protect himself with the phoenix's barrier, but my fist pierced through it, destroying his hopes of saving his gracious face.
"Now, are you willing—Oh, he got knocked out. Better to wake him up. There we go."
At my palm, I summoned a spear and stabbed it over his shoulder, shocking him with pain.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
Albert was clutching over his shoulder with tears of pain all over his face.
"Wow, you look so pathetic, Albert."
"Aaaah! Y-You! I'll make sure to haunt you and kill you!"
I grab his forehead and move my mouth closer to his ear. "How? With your pathetic, weakling like you? You're no match for me. Don't compare yourself to me because I'm far more superior than in every way, it's like heaven and earth. That's how pathetic you are. That's why Stephanie chose me over you."
At the end of my line of sight, there was this enraged pair of red eyes that's staring at me, as expected. A tense feeling engulfs my chest. The corner of Albert's mouth jerks upward and lets out an incredible amount of air from his lung, laughing his ass off—a maniacal laugh. Despite the ongoing pain on his shoulders, he still managed to laugh at this state.
"Hahahaha, keep talking! Do you really think, you have the right to say to me? You, the failure of the Belmont family? How laughable! You're just nothing, but an abandoned child that was picked up on the street! One day, you'll be abandoned once again, and I'll get her from you! She's mine, mine, mine..."
"At this situation, do you think you also have the right to say a word to me? I can kill you right here, right now. No one can know because I teleport myself out and burn you into ashes." I said to him while mulling over the words that he said. I thought to myself how crazy and spoiled this boy must have been to have this kind of mentality. "How deluded can you be?"
"Hahahaha!" Albert's reddish skin brightened, emitting heat from within. "Phoenix Ramnient!"
The suffocating red smoke hindered my eyesight, blinding me off. Suddenly, I felt an excruciating increase in temperature over around me. From deep within the smoke, a man emerges highlighting the blazing fire from his head to toe, portraying the burning fire of the phoenix with Albert's face plastered over it, and his feet elevated above and standing tall. The width of his shoulder was slightly slanted to the side, from dislocating his shoulder earlier. His laugh still continues on.
"Hahahaha, she's mine! Mine!"
I unleashed an immense pressure of quintessence as the sky beyond me also felt it, letting it feel its wrath to the peasants below. The protruding veins around my eyes signify the turmoil of my raging feeling inside my chest. A sensation that I have never experienced, the anger, the hunger for blood, and the urge of one's life falling to my hands. Then voices of people rang inside my head.
It's been like forever. At first, I was planning to just intimidate him, but a mysterious phenomenon occurred inside my chest—an uncontrollable burst of emotions. Shutting this man up is a means of catharsis for me right now. Or should I say, vindication?
There's only one thing in my mind and sight, and it was the man in front of me. The sickening, arrogant face of the man who incited and woken up this feeling deep within me. The shattering of glass resonated along with the fear of the crumbling ground below us. A tight sensation wrapped around my arms, encircling around as if I'm being embraced by these cold chains.
Unconsciously, I found myself walking at a steady slow pace, dragging my feet, ascending to the man that was responsible for everything. The fear has finally gotten to Albert, as he backs away with mixed expressions of confusion, fear, and mystery.
However, a voice of concern reached out to my consciousness. (Claude! Wake up!)
'This isn't like me. What just happened? Why do I feel cold...? What—'
A string of thoughts resurfaced in my mind, lighting up the torch of my rationality. I found myself in this dark, gloomy place where the only light source was the man in front of me as if my only desire was to annihilate the man in front of me; however, my rationality took over my anger and hatred, so I kept those emotions hidden back to where they should be kept.
The obstreperous quintessence was causing unnecessary havoc around me, I let air into my lungs and gently let them out. "Hooo..." Dispersing the pressurizing feeling on the air and scattering a cold wind, as well washing away the fire of Albert on his body, leaving him vulnerable.
"W-W-What?!" Albert's eyes were gawking at his arms and body.
The phoenix flames that covered his body suddenly dispersed in thin air, mysteriously. An unknown phenomenon had occurred, even I'm confused by what just happened.
"What did you do!" Albert screamed as he's about to plunge unto me. I slap him with the back of my hand, sending him flying, destroying the roof tiles along the way.
"Wow, he flew further than I expected. You got a strong arm, young boy."
A voice reached my ears, it was an old man. He has short brown hair with white hair strips, wearing this fancy clothing for nobles, also dried-up blood near his mouth that still looks fresh in my eyes. He was sitting at the top of the slope, stroking his beard.
"Who are you?"
"Oh, I'm the headmaster of the Atlas Academy. Winster Crawford. Nice to meet you, the disciple of the Saintess Irene."
My brain short-circuited when I heard the man sitting introduce himself, like the spark of hope got dimmer or should I say the chances of my admission to the academy because I caused a scandal. Sweats are gushing out of my forehead, back, and armpit, ferociously. It feels like I crashed into the wall just near the finish line. It's already at my grasp, but I still managed to screw it up.
"Hahahaha, you have some interesting expression!"
The principal jumps from his seat and wraps his arm around my neck before leading me to the unconscious Albert. Because of the difference in height and body mass, I feel a lot smaller than him. He's like a giant in my eyes, yet not at the same time. It's a complicated feeling.
"You know, I've heard some stories about some fascinating enrollee these years and you're among them. The Fenrir, Phoenix, White Dragon, Bellerophon, and there are more. I would say, this year was the best batch of enrollees that I've gotten throughout my life of working here. However, among them, I got one particularly interesting, a man with similar powers to Christine."
'That name again.'
After his last sentence, he grinned. Then we stopped at the body of Albert who's already at the edge of the slope, almost about to fall at any second. He was just there like a corpse. "Well then, I'll bring him to the infirmary."
"Um..."
"Worry not, you're not trouble, hahaha! As a man myself, I consider the fight between men as sac religious belief among us. If you can't seem to be in an agreement, answer it with a brawl! Dispute? Brawl! All the problems in this world have always ended in battles. That's why resorting to fighting when in dispute is the best choice possible! Hahaha!"
His laugh and the way he speaks kind of remind me of a certain man that I met before in my spirit ceremony. The demeanor and aura between were completely similar as if they're the same person. However, listening to his dumb, atrocious remarks about what happened between Albert and me, dumbfounded me. He sounds like a battle-junky.
But, I mean, he's kind of correct. Whenever there's no agreement in dispute between two parties, particularly in this world, it would just result in combat or who ends up getting knocked out or dead. This is based on my observation of the guild and my other missions. It's a screwed-up way of thinking, but it's a fantasy world where one individual needs to kill a fellow man or monsters, for their own survival.
"I see, thank you for understanding, Mr. Winster"
"No worries! But, I prefer my students to call me Prince."
"Huh?"
"You know? Principal? I removed the -pal and took the nickname princi- then ended it with the word prince because the two sound similar. Isn't it a smart nickname?! I'm proud of that nickname, even my colleagues can't handle how ingenious it is. They can't comprehend it because my brain is way ahead of everyone else."
"Oh, I understand, Prince." 'It feels freaking weird, to be honest.'
"I like you more! See ya, then!"
The principal jumps off the roof with the beat-up Albert over his shoulder. But he comes back after landing on the ground. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, tone it down when fighting. I may have a lot of money, but I prefer for my students to not destroy the building because it's a hassle, so I will only give you a fair warning for now. Okay?"
"Yes."
"Bye-bye!"
Then he jumps off again before his silhouette disappears from my sight. He's quite a fast person sprite of his looks. I turn my sight around to see the damages that I caused. "Well, shit. I better keep that warning of his."
Before continuing with my search for the two, I rest my butt over the ledge of the roof to mull over my thoughts and breath some fresh air. There's this frightening feeling whenever Rosalyn pops from my mind, just seconds ago. "What happened to me... Plus, I can't get over how chilly it is whenever I recall the earlier events with her, hyiii! But, thinking about it, Albert and Rosalyn are twins... They're just psychotic twins... What a fucked up combination!"
Understanding Albert and Rosalyn's behavior they're quite similar from what I've seen, the eyes, craziness, and most importantly, the obsessiveness. They're picture perfect from how the two acted similar, earlier.
(Husband... Are you okay?)
(I'm good, Diana. Thank you for worrying.)
(Um... Are you sure? Because you can just join me here, and I'll take care of it.)
(How sweet of you, but I need to get home first, okay?)
(Okay... But if you need anything, I'm here okay? You'll get a sermon later, be ready. Mhmpf!)
(I see. Thank you.)
"Huuu... Time to go home." I said and stood at the ledge, stretching my limbs before disappearing to another location.