"It's a pleasure...."
Startled by the unfamiliar voice, Alaric immediately turned around with a vigilant gaze—
"...Huh—!?"
—Only to see an unknown person nonchalantly standing right behind him, with both hands neatly tucked inside his pockets and a gray-colored hood lazily pulled over his head.
A long shadow obscured the man's face, as the setting sun near the distant horizon dimly shone from behind him, hiding his features behind a thin veil of darkness.
However, even though his face was not clearly visible due to the deepening darkness under his hood—
"....to finally meet you, Alaric Vulkas."
—The malevolent glow from a pair of ominous ruby-red eyes still pierced through the dark shadows covering his face, looking straight into Alaric's dim golden ones with a fierce intensity.
*Flinch–!*
