Igor trembled like a frightened insect.
Though he begged for his life, Erick didn't listen.
Merciless, he raised his fist, heedless of the dozen or more crossbows aimed at him.
"Stop!" one of the thugs with a crossbow shouted.
The leader of the kidnappers, without a second thought, gave the order to fire at Erick.
Everyone realized it was too late—Erick was determined to kill Igor.
His fist came down swiftly.
Igor shrieked, trembling.
The sound of arrows cutting through the air lasted a moment, followed by the impact against Erick's body.
Three arrows in one leg, several more in his torso. He looked like a porcupine.
But… there was no explosion.
Erick, who had been staring at Igor the whole time while gripping his arm tightly, saw him vanish.
It happened in a second.
One moment, Erick felt his hold; the next, it was gone.
Yet everyone could still hear Igor's characteristic wail. That pathetic cry quickly morphed into laughter.
He was behind Erick. Igor thrust the dagger into Erick's unprotected back.
"You Sols are tough nuts to crack!" Igor said, his voice now resolute and crazed.
He seemed like a different person.
Erick didn't see it, but the thugs did: Igor was emerging from Erick's shadow.
Igor had a system.
Seizing the surprise attack, after the first stab, he continued with a frenzy of savage thrusts.
"Die already!" Igor screamed, his face twisted in ugly grimaces.
Erick, still standing, watched his signature red suit darken with blood, turning a deep wine color.
"D-die?" Erick said, his voice tinged with despair.
Erick had never been closer to the gates of the abyss. His knees buckled; he was about to collapse…
'No,' Erick thought as he fell to the ground. 'How could I, Erick Sol, die at the hands of nobodies?'
Even on the brink of death, Erick's fear wasn't losing his life.
Erick's fear had always been losing his pride.
Weakened by the toxin that had knocked him out, plus all the blood he'd lost… his chances of surviving were slim.
"No!" Erick said as his knees hit the ground. "I won't die at the hands of trash like you!"
In a desperate move, Erick slammed both fists into the ground, ignoring the pain of the sharp arrows embedded in his body.
A deafening explosion filled everyone's ears.
From Erick's knuckles, a massive blast erupted.
Igor was hurled backward by the shockwave, dropping the dagger in the process.
Some thugs nearby fell and were dragged by the explosion's force.
Quickly, the thugs reloaded their crossbows.
"Don't waste time!" the unmasked leader of the thugs shouted. "Shoot!"
Blindly, those who hadn't fallen loaded their crossbows as fast as they could and fired into the thick cloud of black smoke enveloping Erick.
"T-this is bad!" one of the many henchmen said, struggling to stand. "It's Erick Sol! Since the trial incident, everyone's been talking about his terrifying ability."
One of his fellow thugs smacked him on the back of the head for his cowardly words.
"Don't be scared, idiot!" the same thug who hit him said. "That was a desperate move. No one can survive those wounds, and besides…"
The thug turned to Igor as he spoke, continuing, "We've got someone with a system too, right?"
But as he said this, he noticed Igor reverting to his usual trembling self.
"T-this is bad," Igor muttered, rising from the ground. "Why won't he die?! Why?!"
Igor clutched his head in desperation.
Igor knew better than anyone. The system he'd awakened wasn't built for combat; it didn't make him stronger like Erick or the other nobles.
In that moment, everyone stared at the black smoke cloud as it began to dissipate.
Every arrow that entered the smokescreen vanished.
More than one thug expected to find Erick's broken body once it cleared.
But in that tense calm, after several seconds of heavy silence, an arrow shot out from the smoke.
"Agh!" a thug cried in pain as the arrow struck his chest.
Then another arrow.
And another.
And another.
As if fired from a crossbow, they flew with speed and force, hitting the hooded henchmen.
The leader, without hesitation, reloaded his crossbow to keep shooting…
But then, Erick emerged from the smoke.
In Erick Sol's hand, he tightly gripped one of those arrows.
'Impossible…' the thug thought in his final moments. 'No human should be capable of this.'
Igor, though at a distance, saw the scene:
Erick burst from the smoke, driving the arrow into the stomach of the kidnappers' leader, and in an instant, an explosion reduced him to dust.
"Why are you trembling, Igor?" Erick said coldly. "Are you afraid of death?"
A chilling dread coursed through Igor's body.
The confident, crazed look on Igor's face vanished, replaced by that of a child about to cry.
Erick was bleeding from multiple wounds on his back, torso, and limbs. He looked more like a walking corpse than a person.
"In that case, I'm sorry for you," Erick said, advancing toward him, "because I am the reaper."
Enduring the pain, Erick yanked one of the arrows from his body and prepared to throw it.
Seeing this, Igor instantly used his ability.
Igor melted into the ground, like liquid. But it wasn't water—Igor became a literal shadow.
Erick grimaced, but it wasn't from displeasure.
Erick was in immense pain, and if not for that, the grimace would have been a smile.
He threw the arrow, but not at Igor. It was aimed at one of the two remaining thugs still alive.
"P-please!" the last surviving thug begged. "Don't kill me! I only did it because they paid me!"
Erick looked at him without a shred of mercy or humanity.
"Fine, then you'll answer my questions, won't you?" Erick said.
The last thug, on his knees, only nodded.
◇◆◇
The next day, at the House of the Sun mansion…
Mako paced back and forth, visibly nervous.
"Is this the right thing?" he asked himself repeatedly.
Mako couldn't stop pacing the hallway, standing before a door.
In one hand, Mako held a bouquet of flowers.
"Alright, it's now or never…" he told himself, summoning courage.
He knocked on the door in front of him…
That door belonged to none other than Ana's room.