The last thing Grey expected was to have a human projectile sent flying at him the moment he wanted to walk out. Though, he was ready for it nonetheless.
An attack he probably could have seen coming.
One like this was very different, though. He was a bit speechless about the whole thing.
"Squirt?" Grey stepped out completely and plopped the boy down. "You need better hobbies, kid."
Squirt was still shaken up about the whole thing and didn’t have a smarmy reply ready.
"I..." his voice trailed off.
If he had been thrown into the trial just now his life would have been basically ruined, but at least he would survive most probably. The problem was that he wasn’t really flying toward that portion of the gate, his head had been moments away from slamming into the arch itself.
He had thought the best case scenario was a snapped neck and permanent paralysis. He wasn’t even sure how Grey managed to stop his momentum as easily as he did without the backlash hitting him nearly as hard as it should have.
Grey ruffled his hair. "I’m just teasing you. What’s got you all twisted up? Don’t tell me you went and grew a pussy while I was away."
Squirt let out a laugh beside himself. He hadn’t known Grey for long, but even though he made fun of him for being young just like all the others did, it felt more like he was one of them when Grey did it.
"Hey, Grey," Squirt said, looking up at Grey with a bit of confusion in his eyes.
"Hm?"
"Are you really a Dark Kin like they’re saying?"
Grey blinked, looked up and met Calixan’s eyes, then a few others, before it landed on the envoy. He choked out a laugh beside himself.
He swore to himself he was trying to be serious, he really was. He assumed that if Squirt was saying that now, it probably meant that Calixan had made the choice to be his enemy when he came out. The entire process, the logic, or exactly what was happening didn’t actually matter all that much to Grey. He really didn’t care.
But whatever the fuck was on Frantz’s head looked ridiculous. Those three shingles on his hair looked like they belonged more on a princess than they did on a grown ass man.
"What the hell is on your head, retard? If you’re going to wear a helmet, why is it only covering 10% of your skull? Is that all the brain you’ve got?"
Edmun almost fainted on the spot. That was it. He really had made a mistake getting himself this disciple. He had thought he would do something decent with the last few years of his life, only to realize that Grey was just a reaper come to take away what few days he had left.
Did he actually have just a few days left? No. But at this rate he might as well.
Squirt rolled his lips over themselves, and Blain covered his laugh with a cough into his elbow.
Frantz, the envoy himself, was in so much shock he didn’t even know what to say.
These three shingles were a matter of great prestige in the capital. They represented that he was not just a Mid-Tier Holy Knight, but that he had elevated three Abilities to the Mid-Tier level. That was quite rare, especially for someone who wasn’t a direct line descendant of one of the noble houses.
It was ridiculous for Grey to try to make fun of him for this of all things, especially after he came out of his trial so quickly.
Grey only came out a few seconds after Blain who definitely didn’t have the aura of a Mid-Tier Holy Knight. Even if Grey was faster, he couldn’t possibly be faster by that much more.
And as far as Frantz could tell, Grey didn’t have the aura of any knight at all. He was practically a civilian.
On top of that, Grey didn’t have a single injury on him. That was even worse.
Not only had he performed terribly, he was a coward who didn’t dare to push himself despite the fact he could have given up whenever he wanted.
Not that any of that mattered. Even if Grey had come out a Paladin, he would be taken in for Divine Judgment after Calixan’s words. But now, it made things even easier.
Grey wasn’t even a normal Holy Knight, so no one would even bat an eyelash. They wouldn’t even have to bring him in for Divine Judgment like this. Killing him directly would at most cost them a reprimand.
"Die." Frantz said coldly. He drew a finger across the air, slashing from his side, forward. A blade was pulled out from his spatial ring and whizzed through the air so fast it was already nearly at their group in half a blink.
Just the pressure alone would have destroyed Squirt, Blain, and Chogh. If it actually landed, the aftershock would have left nothing of their bodies.
Grey was immediately pissed off. His mood had been quite good just a few seconds ago. But he was really, really tired of people he knew dying.
Grey let go of Squirt and took a step forward that was so fast he seemed to blur into several afterimages. The Turning Shield unfolded on his wrist and he punched upward.
Frantz’s pupils constricted, but it was already too late to add more power to his strike. His blade was deflected perfectly, and Grey didn’t even take a single step back.
The blade went from flying straight and true to spinning in the air so fast it blurred into a single circle of gold.
Grey’s hand shot out and he snatched the hilt of the sword out of the air, pointing it forward toward the envoy’s neck.
"I have no idea who the fuck you are, silly man with the stupid fucking helmet. But since you attacked first, I’m going to make your head into a nice little piss jar."