Harian kept his expression perfectly calm as Leon pointed his sword at him, but inside his head-..
[DID YOU REALLY THINK INTIMIDATING HIM WOULD HELP?]
Vex's voice slammed through his skull so loudly Harian almost winced.
I tried to show him I had nothing to do with the others, Harian argued back internally, but he still chose to target me.
[TO BE FAIR, GIVEN THE MASSIVE EXPLOSION YOU CAUSED, YOU DO LOOK SUSPICIOUS.]
Harian clicked his tongue mentally. I had no choice. I'm still weak. I regressed all the way back to when I was at the very bottom… my skills are deteriorated, my body's useless, I haven't eaten, I barely have essence to use-..
[YOU'RE FRAIL, STARVING, VULNERABLE.]
Shut up, Vex.
But Harian continued anyway.
So I did what I could. Against someone like Maxwell, a long fight was suicide. A sure-kill strike was the only answer.
[AND YOU ALSO DESTROYED HALF THE PRISON.]
I had to take out other factors too, Harian thought sharply. If the guard reinforcements arrived earlier than expected, we'd all be dead. So I aimed for the control center. I bought us time.
[EXCEPT LEON CAME BACK ANYWAY. YOU SUCCESSFULLY LURED THE ONE MAN WE DID NOT WANT TO SEE.]
Vex sifted through Harian's memories.
[IN YOUR PREVIOUS LIFE, LEON LEFT AND NEVER RETURNED. EVEN AFTER YOU ESCAPED WITH GEORGE. THIS TIME… SOMETHING CHANGED.]
Harian gritted his teeth. Yeah. Something changed. Leon wasn't supposed to come back.
[SCANNING YOUR MEMORIES… OH. NOW I SEE IT. THAT'S HOW YOU ESCAPED THE FIRST TIME.]
Mm. And he's probably still back there waiting, Harian muttered internally. But things won't go the same way this time. They can't.
Vex went quiet for a moment as he scanned the area then suddenly:
[ESSENCE SIGNATURE DETECTED. SO IT'S HIM.]
Yeah…
[HOWEVER ONE MORE ISSUE.]
What now?
[I HAD NO IDEA SUCH A DANGEROUS INDIVIDUAL WAS KEPT IN THE PRISON WITH YOU.]
They were talking about the mysterious prisoner who helped his escape in the previous life. The one even Harian avoided. And he was somewhere in this prison awake, watching, waiting.
Harian chuckled under his breath.
"Honestly… I can't tell who's more dangerous Leon or that guy."
Vex pulsed inside his head.
[CORRECTION: BOTH ARE EQUALLY DISASTROUS FOR YOUR HEALTH.]
Harian smirked. "He's probably somewhere in here, bidding his time… waiting for the perfect moment to escape. Or worse slaughter everyone again like he did in my previous life."
Because Harian remembered it well.
In his past life, a mysterious individual had broken free during the chaos. He slaughtered the prisoners. He butchered several guards.He killed the warden. And he escaped.
Only by pure luck and George dragging him like a sack of potatoes did Harian get out alive with a handful of survivors.
[UNFORTUNATELY, YOU JUST COMPLETELY RUINED HIS PLAN WHEN YOU BLEW A HOLE IN THE PRISON.] Vex said.
Harian snorted. "Yeah… he's probably pissed at me right now."
Vex continued:
[SO YOUR CURRENT SITUATION IS AS FOLLOWS: IN FRONT OF YOU STANDS LEON, A GRAND KNIGHT, FOURTH RANK IN THE HIERARCHY OF WARRIORS. KNIGHT → DIVINE KNIGHT → MASTER KNIGHT → GRAND KNIGHT. AND SOMEWHERE BEHIND YOU? ANOTHER MONSTER OF A SIMILAR LEVEL.]
Harian let out a weak laugh.
"Oh, what will I ever do…?" he said sarcastically.
[YOU'VE ALREADY PLANNED SOMETHING IT SEEMS. IT'S AN UNDERHANDED METHOD BUT I GIVE IT A 68.9 % CHANCE OF WORKING]
Harian grinned. "Of course. Leon showing up this early makes things complicated… but not impossible. 68.9% is the best possible rate i can ask for"
[EXPLANATION REQUIRED.]
"Simple," Harian said. "I can't fight Leon. Not now. But I also can't let that other freak show get loose and ruin things by stabbing me in the back while i fight Leon. Dying wasn't fun. I'm not doing it again."
Vex paused.
[SO YOUR STRATEGY IS… TO BUY TIME. WAIT FOR AN OPENING.]
Harian nodded internally.
"Exactly I'll do more than that something that man won't expect. And…" his grin widened, "I am a regressor. I know things no one else knows yet."
Leon, finally done observing, tightened his grip on Arondight and raised his blade. Essence gathered like a miniature sun.
"You ready?" Leon asked. "Are you scared?"
Harian stared straight into his eyes. And smiled. Leon inhaled, focusing essence into a lethal strike.
But then-...
"Lucietta," Harian said quietly.
Leon froze. Everything stopped his essence, his stance, even his breath. His expression darkened instantly. Muliad's eyes widened, horrified. He gasped. "How… how in the world does this boy know that name…?" he whispered.
With venom rising in his tone and his essence turning sharp and chaotic, filled with murderous intent, Leon spoke softly:
"I don't know how you know that name… but whatever you say next, if I were you, my advice is I'd think about it again."
The air tightened. Even the prisoners felt the temperature drop. It was clear Harian had genuinely angered the Leon Lighthart.
Harian tilted his head already throwing Leon's advice in the gutter "If I told you how I knew that name… what would change? Would you find the answers you're looking for?"
Leon's jaw clenched. "Liar," he said coldly. "You're a spy. And spies… always reveal information when put under the right conditions."
The implication was torture. Slow, methodical, royal-approved torture.
But Harian wasn't shaken. He only smiled harder. "Oh? And what if I told you… I know where the Lady of Light is? In fact, I'm the only one who does. Kill me now-..." he leaned forward, eyes gleaming, "....and you'll never find her."
The old man blinked, confused. "Lady of light? Never heard of...."
Muliad's eyes snapped shut. A deep, pained frown creased his face.He whispered, "The Lady of Light… that information is classified. How....."
Leon's face darkened even further. Then a violent burst of essence exploded from him.The ground trembled. Dust jumped. Prisoners screamed, shoved back like rag dolls.
Except Harian. He remained standing, grinning, unaffected.
Harian said calmly, "So? Have you decided? Kill the one person who can help you?"
Leon didn't answer. Instead, he began to laugh slow, humorless, dangerous.
"You have my undivided attention now," he admitted. "But I have zero reason to trust a criminal. I know why you said what you said because you know you can't survive me. So you resort to tricks and words."
He gave Harian a cold smile.
"Impressive tricks, admittedly. But if you think this will help you escape… you're very wrong. You've only made me MORE determined to capture you."
Harian's grin widened."Who said anything about escaping? I said all that to catch you off guard. And..." he raised his sword slightly, " to buy time."
Leon narrowed his eyes.
"Time for what?"
"For this."
In an instant Harian vanished.
He had gathered enough essence for Null Step. Everyone jumped, looking around frantically. Even Leon leaned forward, senses sharp.. And then he saw him.
Harian was suddenly beside the unconscious red-haired kid, sword poised at the boy's neck.
Harian smiled, deadly. "Wake the fuck up."
Then he stabbed...Straight through air as he hit the rubble on the ground. The old man screamed, thinking Harian had lost his mind. But the red-haired boy was gone.
Completely gone. Silence drowned the entire prison. Even Leon froze. Then a voice boomed across the ruins. Ragged. Evil. Distorted. A voice the prisoners had never heard.
But Leon knew it. Every muscle in his body tensed.
Harian lifted his head. On the roof of the shattered prison tower stood the red-haired "kid" grinning wide, his posture confident, threatening, and nothing like the broken prisoner he pretended to be. It had all been an act.
"To think," the man said, voice dripping with dark amusement, "that other than Leon Lighthart… there was another monster I needed to be wary of."