Atticus, seeing Ronad looking at Ember, immediately tried to stand but couldn't even move an inch, Alvis's aura completely locking him in place.
Ronad started walking toward Ember, who was also locked in place by Alvis's aura. "You know what your father's last words were when I ripped his head off?" Ronad said to Ember with a huge grin.
How could Ronad not know the children of the one who killed his son? Before he had planned and killed Ariel, Ronad knew basically everything there was to know about him.
He had initially wanted to target and kill Ember and Caldor to make Ariel feel the same way he felt when he killed his son. However, seeing how they hardly left the estate, and even if they left, it would be within the sector, accompanied by a significant number of guards.
Despite him being able to take care of the guards, he still couldn't act recklessly within the sector. If any significant battle occurred in the sector, the response would be immediate.
Ember's expression immediately shifted. Everyone had refused to tell her who exactly killed her father. What they were all trying to avoid was Ember growing up solely for the sake of revenge.
But Ember had left it as is because she knew she couldn't do anything to him currently. She had wanted to grow stronger first before taking any action.
To see the man who killed her father in front of her evoked emotions that couldn't be explained. "You killed him," she said, her voice cracking.
"You killed him," she repeated,
Each time she spoke those words, the air around her seemed to thicken and chill. A cold mist began to seep from her, wrapping around her like a shroud.
"You killed him,"
Each time she spoke, she strained and forced her body to move, but Alvis's aura remained strong, her bones creaked as they tried hard to withstand the pressure she was putting on them.
Her gaze was directly fixed on Ronad, her expression filled with absolute fury. It was obvious she wanted nothing more than to tear every single part of Ronad apart.
Ronad, seeing that look, grinned from ear to ear, revealing his white teeth. Seeing a completely charred-black individual smile was unsettling, to say the least.
"Ho? You want to kill me?" He asked, grinning at Ember.
"Hahaha!" he laughed, his voice resounding through the forest. "Do you think your feeble strength can do anything to me?" His voice boomed as he questioned.
Ember didn't respond. She just kept struggling to move her body despite the intense pain she was feeling.
Atticus watched it all, his teeth gritted hard, his hands already bleeding from the intense way he was clenching his fists.
While the rest of the trainees remained quiet as they watched the scene. What could they do?
Ronad suddenly turned to look at Atticus. "And you must be Avalon's son, Atticus," his grin widened.
Alvis's eyes narrowed. 'So he's that child,' he thought. Although he had asked Hugo to watch over Atticus and report anything worthwhile, he had never really bothered to know his face.
Of course, because of Atticus's position, he would eventually have to find out more about him, but he saw no reason to know the face of a 10-year-old.
'It's a good thing I was able to find them before they escaped,' he thought. If they had successfully escaped, then their attack on the camp would've been worthless.
Ronad closed the distance between him and Ember and turned his gaze at Atticus on the ground and spoke, "You have 10 seconds to answer the questions, or I pop her head," he threatened with a sinister glint in his eyes, already counting down, "10."
Hearing this, Atticus's eyes widened, and he immediately tried to get up, but Alvis's aura didn't even budge.
Ronad didn't stop counting, his expression initially smiling already turned serious. It was obvious that after the time was up, he'd really kill her.
'He'll kill Ember.'
The realization seemed to make Atticus's mind shatter. Immediately, he gathered every single inch of strength remaining in his body and tried to get up.
His bones creaked, threatening to break, bulging veins threatening to burst, filling his face. He placed his right hand on the ground and pushed with all his strength.
His teeth gritted hard, blood seeping from his mouth, but his determination paid off as he pushed his chest a few inches away from the ground.
Alvis's eyes narrowed. 'He's still able to move? How?' The aura he was currently releasing isn't something that even an advanced rank can withstand. But an intermediate rank was withstanding it?
Astrion dying to him now seemed to look more believable. Now he wanted to know how he was able to do it. What if it was some kind of treasure that could make an intermediate rank defeat a powerful expert rank? He must have it!
He immediately increased the intensity of the aura on Atticus, making him slam onto the ground even harder.
Atticus was completely in a daze, his mind blank. He had initially tried to ask for help from the katana earlier, but it remained completely silent.
His entire focus was on getting up to save Ember. The only sound he could hear was the sound of Ronad counting down.
"6, 5..."
Each reduction in number made his heart tremble, but no matter how hard he tried, his body wouldn't budge.
'Will I lose Ember here?'
As soon as that thought entered his head, he killed it immediately, 'Never!'
He screamed in his head and tried to move again, attempting to stand.
He put both hands on the ground, mustering every fiber of his strength in his body, Atticus pushed.
The battle cry that escaped him was fierce, fueling his resolve.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"
And then, slowly but surely, a red aura slowly started to envelop his form, empowering him.
He began to gradually stand, with bulging veins in his body bursting as his body got covered in blood. But Atticus didn't even flinch.
He finally stood up straight, his gaze fixed on only one person: Ronad.
His eyes were completely red, looking at Ronad with an utter chillingness that would frighten many. But Ronad remained unruffled, his expression not changing one bit as he continued to count down slowly.
As Atticus was about to take a step forward, suddenly, the aura surrounding him increased twofold, slamming him brutally back down onto the ground, unmoving.
The only thing he could hear was Ronad's voice, sounding like a reaper's call as he finished counting down.
"2...
1..."