Run

I looked straight into the man's eyes and raised my hands in the air.

What do you want?

I tried to steady my arms as I stared deeply at the purpling bruise stretching across her cheek, a clear reminder to me that negotiation wouldn't work.

Heh-

That was exactly why I was using negotiation.

Grandpa had given me an emergency item in case something happened.

The only problem was that it was upstairs in my drawer.

Fuck.

I needed to buy time somehow and retrieve 'that' to turn this situation around.

The man in black leaned in, his hands holding the armrest of the couch as if nothing mattered to him...Like he was prepared to die at any second-

I heard his smooth voice echo in the silent rome as I waited patiently. 

He must have a motive for coming here.

And I was damn sure it was not just to kill me. h

"Your-" A faint groan interrupted our conversation, making me realise that our situation had just gone from bad to worse.

Grandma had been stirred awake, her head lifting weakly.

She fluttered her eyes open, unfocused and glazed with pain.

"Noah…" 

My breath caught in my throat. "Grandma!"

Her gaze shifted to the assassin, and terror filled her expression.

She struggled against her bindings, her voice trembling. "Please… don't hurt him.

Take me instead.

I'll do whatever you want.

Just... let him go."

The assassin turned his head toward her, amusement flickering in his cold eyes. "Cute," he said mockingly. "But I don't need your life, old woman. He's the one I've come for."

"No!" Ma cried, her voice breaking. "He's just a boy! Please!"

The assassin's smirk deepened. "Desperation suits you," he said with a cruel indifference.

Something inside me snapped.

I couldn't let this happen.

I couldn't let her sacrifice herself for me.

I had to do something, anything.

Ahhhh!!

I groaned out loud, shouting. 

Do you even know who she is? Dont mistake her pleas for weakness.

You fatherless bastard.

She is the previous Matriarch of one of the 7 Commandments-

She was the one who everyone in the 9 seas feared. 

She is none other than the one everyone thought had disappeared.

SHE IS SYLVIA ROMERO.

I saw the assassin's mouth twitch, a wry smile on his face. 

"If I had to give the award for being cringe, boy?

That would certainly be you."

Even though he seemed to be mocking me, I did not mind it and saw as frustration started to cover his face. 

"You think I don't know her?

Do you think I don't know that her mana core was sealed?

Or the fact she was exiled from the Romero house?

Boy, you are too naive." 

my brain ran in circles as I tried to make sense of the situation.

How did he know all this?

I thought that our Patriarch was the only one who knew all this.

What in the world was happening in that kingdom?

A bad premonition hit me as I reached the only other conclusion I could think of.

'Unless'

The one who sent this assassin was from the house itself.

"...FUCK."

We were royally fucked. 

Just looking at the situation..I realised that this was all thoroughly planned. 

"Noah! Run. I'll hold him off. Run as far as you can!!"

I saw grandma shout at me with frustration as memories of what I had read in the book came surfacing to me.

That version of me had run. He had left Grandma aside and escaped this hellhole.

Ughhh

No.

I can't leave her.

My face paled as I barely resisted the urge to vomit.

Ma would detonate her mana core and kill the assassin along with her while I had ran away to hide in the shadows.

Pathetically waiting to have my revenge.

But that won't happen again.

I screamed in my mind.

'I did not know what ending this book named "The tower of Sin" had in store for me.

All I knew was that this was not how I wanted to live.

I did not want to lose my grandma.

And I certainly did not want to fall to the dark side!!

Whoever this bastard of an author was, I am not gonna let him or this wierd book define my life.

After all, I awakened my powers way before the me in the book had.

My mind raced as I frantically skimmed through the things I read in the Book of Sin.

Just then, I realised.

One line had stood out when I had read of my physique; a cryptic verse I hadn't understood until now:

"The liquid consumes not what it touches but what it desires. Shape the will; the rest follows."

Desire.

Will.

The truth hit me like a thunderbolt.

The orb hadn't failed me—it simply wasn't ready.

I wasn't ready.

The me who had mastered Gluttony didn't exist yet.

I had only just awakened my physique.

My current powers weren't something I could wield from a distance; it was meant to be part of me.

Summoning every ounce of courage I had, I closed my eyes and focused.

The pale liquid reappeared in my palm, swirling like molten light.

My hands shook as I pressed the orb against my skin.

A blue light erupted from my hands, coating them like a second skin.

My breath caught as the power surged through me, alien and insatiable.

And even though my hands ached, the pale light pulsed like a living thing.

I saw the assassin's expression shift from smugness to wariness. "What are you doing?" he asked, his voice sharper now.

That's it.

He must have felt the mana fluctuations coming from my body.

HHAHAHAHAHA

I felt alive.

This was the first time in the last 18 years of my life that I felt mana in the air around me.

He questioned me again, this time standing up from the couch.

But I didn't answer.

Instead, I lunged.

The blue glow trailed behind me like a comet as my hand slashed through the air.

The assassin moved to block, but the moment my glowing fingers grazed his sleeve, it began to dissolve.

Fabric disintegrated into ash, I could literally see the decay creep up his arm.

While this happened, I secretly ran to Grandma and untied the rope around her body.

"Run! Noa–" She tried to speak but I quickly cut her off

"Go go go! Get that stupid orb from my desk!!" I saw Ma's eyes widen with surprise as she quickly caught on.

Tsk*

The man clicked his tongue as he slowly but steadily removed his hood, making me uncomfortable. 

'What is going on? Why isn't he scared?!?' I screamed in my mind as I walked closer to the stairs; looking at the man wearily.

The assassin cracked his neck, looking straight into my eyes.

"You brought this upon yourself."

***

A/N:

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