Exception

As Regis watched Dahlia leave, his heart was filled with a myriad of emotions.

Happiness. Sadness. Nervousness. Longing. Fear.

All kinds of emotions whirled in his heart, almost making him feel sick.

Huuuu~

Calming himself with a deep breath, Regis began to think of possible situations.

"Okay… Now what?"

To be honest, he was stumped.

Nevertheless, he did not plan on giving up.

'Hmmm… I just hope that there will only be one pursuer.'

Rustle— Rustle—

As he heard the sounds of footsteps, Regis worked his brain to its maximum capacity.

The things he could do as an 8 year old boy could only be described as extremely limited.

He did not even have aura and was only a normal little boy.

Rustle— Rustle—

Both panic and adrenaline coursed through his body.

'Let's do this.'

Rustle—!

"There you are!"

"Oh? The color of his eyes…"

Two demonic humans grinned as they looked at Regis with crazed expressions.

"A Devil's Spawn!? How fitting would it be for him to be a demonic human!!"

"I agree! But first…"

Regis flinched and looked up with tears in his eyes, "Please don't kill me, Brothers!"

'Shit!' He cursed in his mind.

Regis could see two demonic humans in front of him.

He was hoping for it to be only one pursuer, but in the end, he got two.

"Shhh! Don't worry, we won't kill you. Just tell me where your other companion was…"

The other demonic human with the same pitch-black eyes had a teasing grin on his face as he spoke to him.

Regis's face became filled with innocence as he shook his head while sniffling, "I-I don't have a companion… Hic… hic… I-I'm alone… please don't kill me!"

Bang—!

The other demonic human punched the ground beside Regis as he shouted, "Do you think we're fools!? We sensed two people earlier! Now tell me, where is the other one!?'

However, Regis did not respond and only kept his silence.

"Oh? You want to play that way, huh??"

"..."

"Pffft! Hahaha!"

The two demonic humans suddenly burst out laughing after a moment of silence.

Regis still remained silent, but the nervousness in his heart only grew.

At this moment, One of the demonic humans spoke, "We were just messing with ya'. We don't really need you to guide the way."

The other demonic human grinned teasingly as he closed in his face to Regis's, "Oh you're angry, huh?"

"Well, what are you going to do about it?"

'Shit…' Regis bit his lip, so much that they were bleeding.

Then, he said as his voice trembled, "Please… Just take me…"

"Hahahaha!!"

"What a hero!!!"

"To think that he would choose to sacrifice himself for the other…"

"Unfortunately, we have quotas to meet. You see, our leader sensed two children who escaped through the forest soo…"

With that, the demonic human turned to look at the direction to which Dahlia ran to.

However, just as he was about to take a step, he felt weight on his leg.

The demonic human looked down and saw Regis hugging his leg.

"Oho?" He raised his brows, looking amused at the desperation he was sensing from the child.

Although the demonic humans could still see the fear in the boy's face, his desperation overwhelmed his fear.

"Please! Just take me!!" Regis would not let them chase after Dahlia.

Therefore, he desperately clung on the demonic human's legs.

However, the demonic human raised his foot and kicked Regis in the face repeatedly.

Thud— Thud— Thud—

However, the boy did not let go of his pants.

No matter how many kicks he landed on the kid's face, the strength he was exerting did not weaken.

On the contrary, the boy's grip on his pants became tighter.

"This fucking kid…!"

The demonic human was slowly losing his patience.

"You're killing the boy, stop!!"

Just as he was about to use aura, his companion's voice sounded.

The other demonic human forcibly took Regis and held him to make sure he wouldn't move. 

"We still need this child, so don't kill him."

"Tsk!" The demonic human clicked his tongue before he turned around.

"Hold him tightly. I might accidentally kill him if he annoys me any longer."

'Shit. Shit. Shit. He'll chase after Dahlia!'

Regis panicked, he knew that it would take no time for the demonic human to catch up to Dahlia.

After all, Dahlia had only awakened now and didn't even know how to utilize aura.

Regis's mind blanked as he saw the demonic human about to run towards the direction of Dahlia.

'No. No. No. No.'

Desperation filled his heart as he tried to think of ways to stop the demonic human.

However, nothing came to mind.

Suddenly, the scene of Aunt Amabel using an Aura Art replayed in his mind.

It replayed and replayed in his mind, over and over again.

Until that moment in which Aunt Amabel chanted something that resounded with the entirety of the world.

Subconsciously, his lips parted and followed the chant of Aunt Amabel in his mind.

"Heart Ignition!"

The two demonic humans suddenly looked at Regis.

"Hahaha! Is this your desperate attempt to buy time?" One of the demonic humans burst out laughing.

Then, he looked at Regis teasingly, "Do you know that I'm at the Two Star Realm? No matter how many seconds you buy that companion of yours, I'll still be able to catch up to your friend!"

The other demonic human looked at Regis, who he was holding, with an amused expression on his face for he could see just how desperate the child was.

Interest welled in their eyes.

After all, the two of them knew that Heart Ignition was a taboo aura art even for them.

"Heart Ignition!"

"Heart Ignition!"

"Heart Ignition!"

"Heart Ignition!"

…

However, Regis relentlessly shouted again and again.

"Ah fuck! You're really annoying me, huh!?"

A nerve could be seen visible on the demonic human's temple.

"Heart Ignition!"

"Heart Ignition!"

"Ugh, forget it. You can't do anything anyways. I'll just go and bring your friend so both of you could have your little reunion hehe." He teasingly stared at Regis in the eye as he licked his lips.

However, just as he was about to take a step and run…

[Heart Ignition]

Boom—

…a chant echoed in the area which caught everyone off guard.

The two demonic humans all had shocked expressions on their faces as they turned their heads to look at Regis.

Humans have rock bottom affinity to energy.

They couldn't naturally sense the mana in the surroundings nor could they sense the aura inside their bodies.

However, there were exceptions.

At this moment, for the very first time in their lives, the two demonic humans witnessed the birth of said exception.

"A monster…" The demonic human who was holding Regis said absentmindedly as he looked at the aura being manifested by the kid.

"Fuck! Don't let him condense aura in his heart!" The other demonic human shouted urgently.

The demonic human snapped out of his daze and hit the back of Regis's neck, causing him to fall asleep.

"Quick! Check his body to see if he has any aura in his heart!" The demonic human quickly followed after, feeling nervous.

The demonic human who was holding Regis heaved a sigh of relief and said, "I can't sense anything in his heart. The aura must've dissipated before it could fully condense."

"Oh thank goodness, we would've been fucked by the leader if he were to successfully awaken aura."

"Now what?" The demonic human who was holding Regis spoke.

"You bring that brat to the leader, just so he will not be able to pull up any tricks. I'll go and catch the other brat."

The demonic human nodded in agreement and said, "Well, I'll go and take this brat to the leader then."

The two demonic humans then parted ways.

One proceeded to exit the forest.

Meanwhile, the other demonic human hurried in a certain direction.

It was the direction in which Dahlia had ran to.