Resigning its position, the moon fell below the horizon leaving the sun to perform its duties. Announcing the beginning of a new day, many animal howls sounded through the village. The morning light shined on Kevin's face, disturbing his slumber.
Letting out a yawn, Kevin's eyes fluttered open. Only then did he realize he was left outside.
"Huh? Where am I?"Kevin whispered to himself while memories of his last fight began to resurface.
'Tch! What a dumb deviant element!'Kevin inwardly cursed.
"Ugh!"Kevin grunted as he tried to move. Turning his head to his unmoving hands behind him, he then noticed he was bound to a wooden pole. Kevin constantly kept pulling yet the rope refused to budge.
Due to refusing to eat and getting thoroughly beaten, he was unable to muster the strength to use magic. He could not even gather enough strength to break free. Letting out a sigh, he regretted his decision not to eat.
"Tsk, if I had known about his pesky deviant element, I woul-"
"..... Done what?"A female voice chimed in.
"LILITH?" he shouted in surprise, up till now he still had no idea where she vanished last night.
"Yeah? That is my name, by the way, speak quietly."
"Where were you?"Kevin questioned her as though if not for her disappearance, he would never have changed the leader of the night hawks. Although he had to admit, charging in carelessly was majorly his fault.
"While you were having the time of your life, I was proceeding with my plan, "Lilith answered, shocking Kevin greatly.
' Lilith's plan? Does Lilith have a plan? Since when was thinking part of her capabilities?' Kevin inwardly thought, still surprised Lilith formulated a plan on her own.
While Kevin was thinking, Lilith stared at him with a disappointed look in her eyes. She did not require the ability to read minds to know that Kevin was once again greatly underestimating her.
"So what is your plan?"Kevin asked.
"Not telling, after all, you did not even have an ounce of trust in me. But...what drove you to go and confront the Janguri?" Lilith questioned, instantly making Kevin sweat buckets as he averted his gaze from her.
'Janguri? So that was his name?'Kevin thought.
"I'm....I..I-I thought you went after him when I realized that you were gone," Kevin responded nervously.
"Psh, hahahaha!You moron, you actually...."Just like he feared, Lilith rained shame upon him.
"Anyways due to my plans, you may receive harsh treatment."Lilith added trying to cease her laughter."Try your best to survive!"
"What do you mean?"Kevin asked.
After those words, she gave Kevin a thumbs up before she walked away.
"Hey, wait. At least untie me!" Kevin pleaded. His cries fell on deaf ears as Lilith walked away, getting farther with each step. Having nothing to do literally, Kevin could only resort to sleeping.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Splash!
Kevin was forcefully woken by an unknown liquid that splashed on his face, probably water. He slowly opened his eyes, only to see many blurred figures. In an attempt to see the figures clearly, he blinked repeatedly, until he could well.
"Wake up!" A loud deep voice commanded Kevin who was still bound to the pole.
Growl! Kevin's stomach growled, demanding food which just added to his struggles.
Seeing now, a crowd of people surrounded him assumingly bandits.
"Some of my men are missing and supplies were stolen! Where did you hide them?"The leader asked in an angry tone.
"What me-" Before Kevin could ask, he was met with a fist to his gut, causing him to vomit the few remains of food he had.
"Janguri, calm down! He cannot answer if he is dead."A bandit said, trying to calm down his leader.
'So this is what Lilith meant by harsh treatment.'Kevin thought, letting out a sigh.
"Are we boring you? Tell me!"Janguri once again shouted as he slammed his elbow into Kevin's face. As a result, blood slowly descended his nose.
"I... do not know, "Kevin replied truthfully, just like when he met the hunters he had no clue of what they wanted.
"Tsk. We will find it and our men after a search, but as for you.... consider yourself dead." Janguri yelled as he pulled out a pocket knife.
Boom! Right before Janguri slashed Kevin, a large sound echoed across the area, instantly attracting the attention of the bandits.
"Janguri, I think that's our supplies."A bandit suggested.
Glancing back at Kevin, Janguri tightened his grip on the knife as he began to lay out orders.
"Mister! The white-haired girl sent me to save you!" A village boy whispered. Using the explosion as a distraction, he quickly untied the ropes binding Kevin.
'I guess Lilith did have a plan.'Kevin grunted as the ropes became loose.
Although now he was free, he had no strength to fight let alone escape. Seeing this the boy attempted to grab his hand to aid him. In the process of trying to lift Kevin, his tattoo lit up and crawled upon the young boy's body. Just like the fight with the Yeti, he felt energy flowing through him, it also satisfied his hunger in the process.
The boy on the other hand felt his energy being drained rapidly. At a fast rate, he became lean before falling unconscious. He collapsed to the ground creating a thud sound upon his fall, alerting the remaining bandits.
Realizing what was happening, Kevin pushed his hand away from the boy not wanting to kill him accidentally.
"You little shit!" Janguri shouted in anger, realizing Kevin had escaped. Unfortunately, though, he had given most of his bandits orders leaving him alone with a few. Not that it worried him, he was rather confident in catching Kevin a second time.
"Kevin! This was my final plan, a retaliation. You like it?" Lilith asked hoping for praise as she removed her mask.
"Mika? Where is sh-" Janguri stopped his sentence midway, focusing on Lilith's earlier words." a retaliation?"
"She is dead! Have you ever wondered, where the supplies I stole could be? It's simple, with the very villagers you held captive! It's time for
a turnover." Lilith explained. Due to the explosion, many buildings were now burning to cause a cloud of smoke to rise towards the sky.
"You stole it?"
"Yep. Sadly, I still not be your opponent. He will."Lilith said pointing to Kevin, who carefully laid the young boy near a building.
"Time for round 2!" Kevin eagerly announced, now filled with vigor.
[Lightning magic: Tiger form]