"No! Nick! I'm sorry! Please, let me go!" Horua shouted in panic as he tried to get past Nick.
Nick just shoved Horua forward, making him fall on his ass.
"This is for your own good, Horua," Nick said with a serious tone. "You have to work with the Dreamer! You have to!"
Horua could feel the dead eyes of the Dreamer on his back, causing his mind to spiral further into panic.
"I can't! No!" Horua shouted as he tried to leave again.
Nick gritted his teeth and pushed Horua away again.
"I don't want to do this either, but you have to!" Nick said.
"Why?! Why do I have to?!" Horua asked in a mix of betrayal, rage, and terror. "What did I ever do to you?! I thought we were friends!"
Nick didn't immediately answer.
'I can't tell Horua that Wyntor would have killed him if he left. If he knows, he will become enraged and do something stupid! He might try to cause Wyntor as much damage as possible, which would be spreading all secrets that Horua knows.'
'I can't let him do that!'
'Not because it will hurt Wyntor but because it will mean that Horua will die.'
'Horua is a kid, and it's my fault that I didn't see that sooner!'
'If he gets too angry, all of this suffering will be for nothing, and he will die anyway!'
'I can't allow Horua to die!'
'And for that, I have to be the bad guy.'
'It's my responsibility anyway. It's only right that I also pay the price.'
"This is for your future, Horua!" Nick shouted. "You do not know how lucky you have been in the Dregs until now!"
"If you don't take the plunge now, you will forever remain in the Dregs!"
"You're lying!" Horua shouted back. "You were willing to let me go, but then, you talked to that other guy!"
"And now, you're suddenly forcing me to do this!"
"It's him, isn't it?! He's the one that forces you to force me!"
Nick grew more anxious and gritted his teeth even more.
BANG!
Horua felt like the world was turning.
The next moment, he felt himself hitting the ground.
Horua's world spun, and it took a while for him to think clearly again.
That's when he saw it.
Blood.
Teeth.
Nick had backhanded Horua, breaking three of his teeth in the process.
Luckily, the three teeth were still baby teeth, which meant that the real teeth were still there.
Yet, Horua still felt an incredible amount of pain at this moment.
But stronger than the pain was the shock.
Nick had hit him.
Nick had never hit him before.
Even more, this wasn't just an innocent slap.
No, this was a strong backhand that caused Horua to bleed.
"You will thank me later," Nick coldly said.
Yet, contrary to how Nick appeared on the outside, he actually felt absolutely disgusted with what he was saying and portraying.
'Thank me later? As if!' Nick thought with gritted teeth. 'If I were him, I would hate me for the rest of my life!'
'I'm not his family, and I've only been his friend for a couple of months.'
'I have no right to force him to do any of this.'
Nick took a deep breath, but he made it seem like he was breathing in deeply out of frustration and anger.
'I'm so sorry, Horua.'
Nick slowly walked forward.
BANG!
And Nick kicked Horua towards the middle of the Containment Unit.
'I'm sorry.'
Horua rolled into the middle of the Containment Unit as he looked with pure shock at Nick.
It was like Nick had transformed into someone he had never seen before.
'Is this who he really is?' Horua thought in fear, shock, and betrayal.
'Was everything else just an act?'
'Did he just want me to sign the contract so that he can force me to do things?'
'Is this who you really are?'
Yet, Horua didn't say anything.
Silence.
"Go work with the Dreamer," Nick said coldly. "I will stay here until you're done."
At that moment, Horua remembered that he was in the Containment Unit of the Dreamer and slowly turned around.
Just two meters behind Horua was the Dreamer.
It hadn't moved until now, and it was still looking at Horua with its dead eyes.
Horua's mind froze.
His heart rate shot past 200 beats per minute, and his world began to swim.
Horua started to breathe very rapidly, which only increased his dizziness.
And then, he fell over.
Horua had lost consciousness due to his overwhelming shock and fear.
When the Dreamer saw that, it slowly turned to look at Nick.
"He will be working with us from now on," Nick said slowly.
"You are allowed to feed off him for the next eight hours, and if he survives, he will continue to work with you."
"If he doesn't, I will be the only one working with you from now on."
"If everything goes well, I will also search for a third person to work with you."
"Don't do anything stupid," Nick said coldly.
The Dreamer slowly turned to look at Horua again.
Then, it slowly walked towards Horua's head.
And it stopped.
The Dreamer simply stood beside Horua's head and looked fixedly at his closed eyes.
A moment later, Horua's eyelids twitched, but at that moment, Nick noticed that the Prephyx in the Containment Unit increased.
Nick only hoped that this increase didn't mean that the Dreamer wanted to attack.
Luckily, the increase of the Prephyx didn't sound the alarm, and Horua's eyelids calmed down two seconds later.
Horua's breathing changed, and his body involuntarily moved into a more comfortable position.
He was asleep.
When Nick saw that, he sighed and sat down in front of the door.
For a while, Nick just took some shaky breaths, and he slowly put his head in his hands.
The Dreamer started to feed.
The Zephyx container was being filled.
Yet, Nick wasn't happy.
Not even one bit.