Lloyd felt a wave of relief wash over him; his father had come, and he was saved.
"Grrr," Kaleir growled.
The blond was sent flying.
"Uwaaaa."
Fear returned to his body, he'd been thrown and was about to crash into the ground.
Though quickly, he was caught gently by someone.
"Are you alright, young Lloyd?" the butler asked, while setting the boy on the ground.
"Y-yes, thank you," the boy replied, somewhat dazed.
"What's the meaning of this, Kaleir? I never thought you'd do something so stupid," Baltazar commented.
His voice was cold, his gaze sharp and his attitude too calm.
"Screw you," the man spat on the ground while cracking his knuckles. "I've understood what kind of people you are. I founded this gang so discrimination toward xenos would disappear, not to become anyone's bitch."
Baltazar's eyebrow rose. What was he talking about? Though it didn't matter now.
"I don't know what kind of delusions you've been suffering, but my duty is to put dogs in their place. If you don't want to submit, I'll have to subdue you by force."
Black Fang didn't even have value as a pawn to him, they were a simple experiment, a behavioral test.
He could discard them whenever he wanted.
"Pffft, don't talk nonsense," Kaleir mocked. "In the meeting, you were scary, because you were with your men; however, now you're only accompanied by that old man. Do you really think you can win?"
The tension eased with those words, and seeing their boss relax, the others began to laugh more confidently.
Baltazar's expression remained impassive.
"It seems the fear of losing his pup made him walk into the wolf's mouth without thinking twice," the cat man added.
Lloyd clenched his fists, that guy drove him crazy.
"Besides, tonight is a full moon, it's not a good day to mess with us," another voice commented.
Generally, beastmen are stronger on full moon nights.
"You're strong, that's obvious but... You can't handle all of Black Fang," Kaleir finished. "You and that old man aren't enough."
Baltazar nodded.
"What you say is accurate, except for one small detail. I don't even need Sebastian to intervene, I can finish you off myself, and I wouldn't even consider it a challenge."
Baltazar remained calm; he wasn't arrogant; he didn't consider himself in danger.
"Really? Well, let's see if that confidence of yours lasts long."
Kaleir smiled, before the amused looks of his men. His muscles began to grow, and white fur began to cover his body.
Soon his clothes would tear, and his body would now be much more similar to a beast's. He was a huge anthropomorphic white tiger, he must have measured more than four meters.
"Get ready," the tiger roared, his voice resonated throughout the building while flexing his legs.
Some cheers and laughter were heard from Kaleir's men.
However, Lloyd noticed that Sebastian hadn't moved, and Baltazar remained calm even facing the gigantic beast before him.
"Antithesis: involution," the man said calmly.
His eyes glowed.
"DIE!" the beast shouted, while with an explosion it lunged at Baltazar.
That shockwave hit Lloyd hard, though he managed to stay on his feet, focusing on the scene again.
What he saw left him quite confused. There was no longer any beast; Kaleir had returned to his previous state. In fact, Lloyd noticed him thinner.
"W-what?" The tiger man was confused.
His fist had collided with Baltazar's chest, but hadn't managed to scratch him. And for some reason, he'd returned to his base form.
"You acted so confident without knowing the enemy's strength? How stupid," Baltazar commented, with an expression of indifference reflected on his face.
Kaleir staggered back, confused.
"What did you do? What kind of sorcery is this?"
Lloyd was also confused; however, little by little, he began to understand.
"Antithesis?"
How had he not remembered? Baltazar Morfeus; that was the name of an antagonist from a light novel he'd been reading.
He was a mafia boss who wanted to create a form of government based on fear; a criminal who began conquering territory.
He was called, the shadow emperor.
And his power came directly from his bloodline, it was a hereditary ritual: antithesis.
"It's simple, you showed me a power based on evolution, so I used the opposite concept. Your antithesis."
It was a terrifying power, it allowed him to manifest phenomena and powers opposite to those he observed.
He was one of the most dangerous enemies in the novel: Tales of Avalon.
"You're shitting me... This shouldn't be possible... Screw it! What were you all waiting for? Attack already, damn it," Kaleir ordered.
The men came out of their confusion to transform as well, Black Fang was mainly composed of beastmen.
They lunged at Baltazar, but he didn't move.
"That's it! We'll overwhelm him with numbers," Kaleir shouted confidently.
Baltazar didn't defend himself either.
Soon, the teeth and claws of the beasts pounced on him, biting, tearing, and mutilating.
Soon the man was completely covered by a mountain of rabid beastmen.
But Lloyd was calm, he knew another aspect of antithesis, one of the most terrifying.
What is the opposite phenomenon of harming someone? Some might say healing... However, rituals employ concepts.
Magic is linked to ideas and the subjective, it operates under imaginary laws... And at that moment, Baltazar imagined that the inverse phenomenon to receiving damage... Was reflecting on it.
Soon the beasts began to writhe in pain, wounds appeared on their bodies without any explanation, while the damage they inflicted... Simply disappeared.
Even the torn clothes returned to their original state.
Before Kaleir's astonished eyes, his men began to fall or move away from Baltazar, soon, everyone had backed away.
Those who didn't realize the situation instead, had died.
"It seems you're finally aware of the difference between us," Baltazar commented, standing, with crossed arms and completely unharmed.
He hadn't made a single movement in the entire combat.
"What kind of fucking monster are you?" Kaleir asked.
Baltazar just shrugged.
"I couldn't tell you. I don't even know the answer. I just know that being called a monster by a beast is... Quite offensive."
The man's coldness was terrifying, there wasn't a single crack in his expression, no emotion or sign of humanity.
He couldn't be human. That being had transcended his own humanity.
And Kaleir had angered such a being.
"Shit..." the man began to back away, crawling on the ground. "Don't come closer! Don't do anything to me please!"
His expression reflected unprecedented terror, now that he was aware of the true difference between him and that monster, he could only beg.
"Pathetic, you've made me lose any interest in you... However, I can't simply let you go. I know," Baltazar put his hand in his pocket, taking out a round and shiny coin. "If it comes up heads, you become my slave, and if it comes up tails... You die."
Kaleir felt his breath cut short, his body stopped moving while dedicating all his attention to that coin.
The coin spun in the air, to be caught by Baltazar, who placed it on the back of his hand.
The xeno clenched his fists, leaning forward, expectant. The time it took for the coin to be revealed seemed to stretch to eternity, but finally, the truth showed itself.
Heads.
He was saved.
"Yes! Yes damn it!" the man cheered.
He couldn't believe he was celebrating his enslavement, however, staying alive was more important.
"Well, it seems you've been saved. I suppose you already know what comes now, you must be an obedient dog."
The coldness of the man's voice remained there, though with a mocking tone, almost imperceptible.
Kaleir nodded energetically.
"Of course boss! I'll do whatever you say."
He was safe, he'd screwed up big time but had survived.
Even if he was a slave, his life wasn't over. He could still fight for xeno rights, not everything was lost.
"Good, the first order I give will be... Die."
"Huh?"
Kaleir didn't have time to process the words he'd heard... An invisible force had already crushed him.
Turning him into an undifferentiated mass of flesh, scattered across the floor.