?Silence.
Nick looked at Wyntor with an unreadable expression.
"What do you mean?" he asked, a slight bit of agitation audible in the back of his voice.
Wyntor took a deep breath.
"I killed the kid," Wyntor said, looking at Nick.
Nick just looked into Wyntor's eyes without blinking.
"I told the Dreamer to kill him."
"If he somehow woke up, I was sure that he would try to take revenge at some point. On top of that, I was sure that he would hate you, which would cause issues for you."
"If he survived, you would never be able to come to terms with your past. Only if he-"
BOOOOM!
Nick grabbed the desk between them and threw it against the wall before his hand moved towards Wyntor's neck.
Instantly, a blue gleam appeared around Wyntor's body.
However, his Barrier couldn't hold for more than two seconds against Nick, and it broke into pieces.
Nick grabbed Wyntor's neck and pushed him to the wall.
Wyntor couldn't breathe and looked into Nick's eyes.
Hate.
Rage.
Nick's eyes were filled with nothing but hatred.
"It was you!" Nick shouted, pushing Wyntor so hard against the wall that the steel started to bend.
"You killed Horua!"
"You made me believe I killed him!"
"I nearly killed myself!"
"I nearly said the Sentence!"
"You took my happiness from me!"
"I took care of him for months!"
"I was willing to make my mistake right for years!"
"But you made it impossible for me to ever do that!"
"Because of you, I have to live with this guilt for the rest of my life!"
Nick watched as Wyntor's eyes moved upward and lost focus.
He was unconscious.
But Nick kept squeezing.
His eyes were still filled with hatred.
He hated Wyntor!
He kept squeezing.
He hated Wyntor!
Nick's arm shook.
His teeth were gritted.
He watched Wyntor's face change color.
He had killed so many people.
What made this one different?
It wasn't difficult.
Just use a bit more power, and his neck would break.
Just a bit more.
But then, Nick's eyes lost most of their intensity.
Instead, they became icy.
BANG!
Nick threw Wyntor at one of the walls.
Wyntor's body hit the wall and slid to the ground like a puppet.
Nick looked at Wyntor with coldness.
The next moment, Wyntor started to cough and move.
Meanwhile, Nick walked out of the office before leaving Dark Dream.
He didn't pay attention to anyone greeting him.
After jumping from building to building for a while, Nick finally stopped.
He was near the edge of the city.
The outermost perimeter of the city was cut off by a wall since it was possible to see the edge of the Crimson Sea from that location.
Nick just stopped on top of a building in front of the wall, just watching the red wall of mist in front of him.
This was an isolated location, and Nick sometimes came here if he didn't want to talk to anyone.
He just looked at the red wall with cold eyes.
Why had he left Wyntor alive?
There was only one reason.
'I wish I could kill him,' Nick thought.
'But if I kill him, his family will kill me.'
Self-preservation.
That was the sole reason why Nick had stopped choking Wyntor.
Friendship?
Humanity?
Morals?
None of these things mattered to Nick right now.
Wyntor had fucked Nick's life!
For the past three to four years, Nick had always been plagued by nightmares.
He dreamt about murdering Horua.
He dreamt about accidentally killing him.
He dreamt about Horua getting killed by something and Nick being unable to save him.
And in nearly every dream, Horua cried out to Nick, telling him that he was sorry.
If the Parasite hadn't come to talk to Nick, he might have gotten the courage to actually say the Sentence back then.
Nick hadn't felt happy for even a single fucking minute for four years.
He felt happy for a couple of seconds whenever anything positive happened, but then, he was immediately reminded of what he had done in the past.
His entire life was consumed by this overpowering feeling of guilt and self-loathing.
He couldn't enjoy food.
He couldn't enjoy company.
He couldn't enjoy getting stronger.
Everything had been absolutely miserable and horrible for almost four years!
Nick had genuinely hated himself for years!
And what was the reason?
Horua's death.
'Yes, I fucked up by considering Horua as a Zephyx Extractor!'
'Yes, that was dumb as fuck!'
'But he didn't deserve to die because of that!'
'And if it were up to me, he wouldn't be dead right now!'
'As soon as he ran out of the Containment Unit, I wanted to drop the matter.'
'Maybe, we can slowly teach him?'
'Maybe, we can give him some time to acclimate to working with the Dreamer?'
'And why couldn't we do that?'
'Wyntor!'
Nick remembered the day like it was yesterday.
Wyntor had said that since Horua had signed the contract, he had to work.
Wyntor was also the one who said that he would have Horua killed if he quit.
After all, Horua knew about the Dreamer.
'Bullshit!' Nick thought with gritted teeth.
'If knowing about the Dreamer was so bad, why the fuck did you name our company after it just two weeks later and tell every single employee about it?!'
'The Dreamer is and was our flagship Specter, and these kinds of Specters are never kept secret!'
'So, why is it suddenly a fucking issue that a random kid knows about that Specter?!'
'What's so bad about waiting?'
'What's so bad about allowing him to quit?'
'Would anyone even believe an 11-year-old when they claim that they were once an Extractor?!'
'Yes, I fucked up by asking him, and I was willing to take responsibility!'
'But you were the one that killed him!'
'Twice!'
'I was the one that took Horua to Dark Dream, but you were the one that forced me to throw him to the Dreamer!'
'And when he survived, and when we finally had the opportunity to make it right, you killed him again by telling the Dreamer to kill him!'
'Why?'
'Because you didn't want your favorite little toy to get distracted!'