22 Afterparty [3]

"C-Come on, Ladies, we've got all n-night! Hic-"

Felix was seated, trying to get the girls that were about to leave to stay with him.

"It's getting pretty late, you should go home too Felix."

"Yeah, and if you continue drinking, you might not be able to get home."

Felix furrowed his brow, standing up, and grabbing the wrist of one of the girls.

"J-Just a bit m-more, and I'm not d-drunk. Hic-"

The girl pulled away, rubbing her wrist.

"Goodnight, Felix."

"Gah! You girls are no fun."

Felix waved them off, sitting back down.

Scanning the area, there were only a few students left.

"They're all men, tsk."

He clicked his tongue.

It was then when his gaze landed on a familiar student with pale-white hair, coming from the hallway.

His suit was torn, and the sleeves were ripped off.

But Felix was too drunk to notice.

"It's that b-bastard! Hic-"

He continued to stare at him. Then the boy looked at the CCTV on the corner for a while, before walking away again.

"W-What a weirdo."

His gaze then landed on another figure, a waiter, coming from the same hallway as well.

"Huh?"

Several theories lingered in his mind, trying to figure out why the two came out of the same place.

"... Could they h-have?"

Felix was suspicious.

From looking at the CCTV, to a waiter coming from the same hallway, the boy must've done something.

"What was his n-name again?... B-Brandy? Gah! Whatever, I just know he's the current Student Council President's brother."

A few distance away, he could see the boy motioning to leave, as he opened the door.

The waiter followed suit, keeping a fixed distance.

There had to be something more.

Thus, Felix decided to follow them.

***

Brandon continued to walk around the sidewalk.

He didn't feel like going home yet.

The street was dark. The only lightsource were the streetlights.

Silence enveloped the street, the only sound he could hear were the noise of crickets.

Gazing up, Brandon could see lights protruding from the tall buildings, a significant distance away.

Step-

He continued to walk.

His thoughts were filled with what just happened in the secret passage.

The maze.

The mask.

The Wraith.

It was suspicious how the academy had a Wraith chained up, just below its official venue.

The fact that the mask was never in the treasury.

'Who was the first one in the cell? The Wraithbound or the Wraith?'

Or both.

'Does that mean the Headmaster never killed the Wraithbound?'

Was it too strong–that all they could do was seal it?

'This is bad…'

It was.

It meant that the strongest mages and duelists of this era were no match for a full fledged Wraithbound.

Since he'd only read up until the 3891th chapter, he didn't know how the story ended.

'...Could humanity have lost?'

He instantly dismissed his thoughts.

But it seemed plausible.

He could have just been jumping into conclusions.

For all he knew, maybe they kept the Wraith and the Wraithbound in the cell for a reason, like torturing for information.

After all, he was able to kill it easily...

'Only because it was significantly weakened...'

But from what he knew in the novels, Wraiths were loyal to their race. No matter how much they were tortured, they would never give in.

There shouldn't have been any reason to keep the Wraith locked up.

There had to be something more behind it.

'The Headmaster is definitely hiding something...'

Reality dawned upon Brandon. He realized that a certain time will come when he'll lose his advantage.

The advantage of knowing what would happen in the plotline.

'And if it was going to happen anyway…'

Then there was no point in keeping the storyline intact.

If the story had a tragic ending, then…

'Could this be the reason why I was brought here?'

To change the ending.

But in the end, it was all speculation.

'Raven couldn't have lost in the end…'

But Brandon didn't know that.

Brandon became conflicted anyway.

Conflicted if he should let the storyline continue to unfold or divert from it.

He had only been in the world for 3 days. But he had already experienced a lot.

In the end, there was only one answer...

'If the story was going to have a tragic ending, then I should change it.'

It was his duty as its reader.

There was no point in following the plot anymore.

Brandon was grateful that he'd interacted with the main cast this early on.

He could involve himself with them without any trouble.

As he continued to be lost in his thoughts, he realized that he had already reached the heart of the city.

Lights from the buildings around him shimmered the streets.

If earlier there were no people around, now the streets bustled with activity.

As he continued to walk, it was then when a voice reached out from behind, calling out to him.

"Haa… B-Brandy… Haa… Wait up…"

Turning around, what met his line of sight was none other than–Felix Osborn, gasping his breath.

He seemed to have been running after him as he bent down, holding his knee, while continuing to pant heavily.

"Tsk."

Brandon clicked his tongue in annoyance, not wanting to entertain Felix at the moment.

"Y-You bastard. W-We've got some u-unfinished business. Hic-"

It seemed like vertigo washed over him, as Felix stumbled, holding onto a nearby wall.

Then…

"BLURGHHH!"

He puked on the sidewalk.

Brandon tilted his head in confusion.

'What does this bastard want?'

He continued to stare at Felix, who continued to puke non-stop.

Brandon then turned around, his back facing Felix, motioning to walk ahead.

"If you're gonna continue with whatever it is you're doing, then I'll be on my way."

"W-Wait!"

Brandon paid no heed to Felix, as he continued to walk away.

"I said wait up, b-bastard. Hic-"

Felix grabbed his shoulder.

Slap-!

Brandon flicked his hand away as he turned to look at Felix.

His eyes were red and his mouth had some lingering puke.

Furrowing his brow, Brandon asked,

"What do you want?"

"L-Like I said, w-we have some u-unfinished business."

Brandon already knew where this was headed.

At this point in the story, Felix wasn't a full fledged Wraithbound yet.

'I can beat him.'

It was then when Felix flicked his head towards a peculiar alleyway, signaling for Brandon to follow.

"Follow me."

"And if I refuse?"

"You think I'll let you?"

Felix's confidence seemed to stem from the fact that he was ranked in the 200s.

"Haa.. lead the way."

Brandon let out a heavy sigh as he followed Felix in the alleyway.

In the first place, it was convenient.

It meant that there would be witnesses for whatever any of them were about to do.

And Felix must've thought the same

They continued to walk until they were completely isolated from any witnesses.

Felix stopped and turned towards Brandon who was behind him.

"If you agree to whatever I demand, then I'll let you get out of this unscathed."

"..."

Brandon didn't respond as Felix continued,

"Guess that means a yes. Here's my demand. On June 5, I want you to call Rachel and tell her to go to this hotel over here."

Felix pulled out his phone to show a specific location, most likely the hotel, then continued.

" Be sure to tell her the correct room number."

"So you think she'll come just because I called?"

"I'm not sure but it seems like she trusts you."

"And if I refuse?"

"I knew you'd say that, which is why I'll give you two choices."

Felix lifted his hand and fixed two of his fingers up.

"With the same plan, either call Rachel or…"

At Felix's next words, something clicked inside Brandon.

"Call your Sister."

Seething rage welled up within Brandon at the mention of his Sister.

He wasn't particularly close with her, but she treated him well.

He could admit that she was the person he could trust the most.

After all, even if he wasn't the Brandon Locke that Belle knew, they were now family.

And Brandon will always treasure his family.

Thus, Brandon decided to kill Felix.

Retrieving the Mirage Mask from his inventory, Brandon donned it on his face.

"H-How did you do tha–"

Fwoooo- Crash-!

Instantly, a strong gust of wind blew Felix away as he crashed towards the wall.

"Kughhh."

Felix spat out blood.

Suddenly, a single horn protruded from Felix's forehead.

It seemed like Felix decided to reveal himself as a Wraithbound.

But Brandon wasn't intimidated.

Felix lifted his hand, trying to conjure up whatever mana he could use.

But…

[Mana Disruption]

It was no use. The mana instantly dissipated.

"W-What?"

As Felix tried to get up, Brandon encapsulated his feet in a thick layer of ice.

"N-No way, a Deviant?!"

But Brandon wasn't done.

Brandon strode towards Felix, as blue sparks of lightning were left in his trail.

Felix's eyes shot wide open as his teeth began to chatter.

He messed with the wrong person.

"T-Three elements?! That's ridiculous!"

Spark-!

Blue lightning protruded from Brandon's fingertips, rapidly heading towards Felix.

Noticing this, Felix lifted his hand again, trying to defend against it.

But once again, nothing happened.

"How is this possib– AGHH!"

Tszzzzz!

The spark of lightning struck him, piercing a hole on his shoulder.

"F-Fuck, what the hell are you?!"

Swoosh-!

It was then when a blue torrent of flames escaped from Brandon's palm.

"F-Four–"

Voosh-

Those were the last words that escaped Felix's mouth as he turned into nothing but ashes.

There was no point in sparing Felix.

He wasn't human anymore.

And even if he were, then he had to be the most scum of them all.

Brandon couldn't make any compromises.

If he were to be conflicted with killing, like what happened with the Wraith, then changing the storyline was out of the question.

[You have slain a Wraithbound!]

[+100 EXP]

The entire time, Brandon stayed silent, keeping a blank expression.

Looking up, he could see Alpha from above the building, just watching the scene unfold.

Brandon then retrieved his phone and sent him a message.

[Clean this up.]