9 Captain of Guard

"Come here." A commanding tone reached Kai's ears.

He took his eyes off the things and focused on the people, but the former felt more alive than the latter. In the middle of the hall, surrounding a big round table, were three people, including Desmond. Kai found the hood on his head had fallen back, letting others see his short black hairs. A few white patches lingered on his head as a sign of age.

Kai approached the table, searching for an exit, but couldn't find one. The door behind him had shut the moment he had walked into the supposedly small hut. 'A dangerous place,' Kai reflected.

Standing on Desmond's left was a man, leaner and younger, giving an impression that he was taller than Desmond. But he was not. His shoulder-length hair was brown, leaning towards red, and he was shaved. That much Kai could tell even though the man hadn't looked up, his head still drowned in the map.

But the woman was watching him, Kai noticed. She was on the leftmost, and taller than both men.

"He is… uh?" Desmond tried to introduce.

"Don't tell me you haven't even asked his name?!" the woman looked shocked. A twitch of shame appeared in the corner of Desmond's mouth. Even Kai had found it odd when Desmond had introduced himself but didn't ask the same of Kai.

"It doesn't matter, Sonia," the same commanding tone came out from the middle. The man struggled to take his eyes off the map, but he won the battle in the end. Blue. Kai saw the color of his eyes, and the man was looking at the same. "Your eyes…" he was about to say something. But he didn't.

"Let me do the honors, Captain." Desmond stepped out of the group, his face already red from the intense stare of the woman. "I am Desmond, you know me, right? She is Sonia, and we both are from the 2nd Floor. Shae, the one glued to the books over there, is the newbie I told you about. Then there is Simon, from the 1st floor. He is in the basement, guarding You-Know-Who."

'There is a basement,' Kai thought, feeling more amazed the more he got to know about it.

"You seriously have the gall to make jokes, Desmond," Sonia rebuked.

"Oh, come on, that would have floored him if he knew what I was talking about." Desmond felt wronged and shrugged at Sonia.

"You mean…" Sonia gasped and spun her head towards Kai. But it was the man who approached Kai, leaving his post.

"A newbie who knows nothing about this world…" the man muttered with a brilliant shine in his eyes. Kai didn't like it. The man looked Kai up and down, sending a creepy sensation to Kai's mind. The man smiled, and the smile grew larger as he kept looking at Kai.

"I am Arlen Willey, Captain of Guard of the Thunder Faction." Arlen introduced himself, but the commanding tone never left him. And now Kai could feel a hint of pride mixed in it. Kai was laughing too now, just not in plain sight.

"Blood Demon."

Desmond looked taken aback by Kai's Code Name. Sonia's brows pressed, looming over her long nose, and even the distant Shae ripped her eyes off the book in her hand. They all were looking at him, Kai could tell. He didn't know if they had given him their real names, but he would never tell them his, even if they had.

The most nonchalant of them was Arlen, and the smile on his face had turned into a chuckle. "You were right, Desmond, he is funny," Arlen said. "How old are you, boy?"

"16," Kai answered. He knew the proud Captain of Guard had put his Code Name in the box called Boy's Fantasies. It was the most favorable outcome Kai could have hoped for. Kai noticed Shae approaching them from the corner of his eyes. Her hands were wrapped around a thick book, her hair was blond, and hidden behind her glasses were ebony-colored pupils.

"Young," Desmond observed.

"Old enough," Arlen replied, his eyes never leaving Shae's approaching figure. 'A weakness,' Kai pupils narrowed. These were all killers, according to the rules of the Primordial Tower. Kai felt he had to up his game if he wanted them to dance on his fingers.

"Go on then, hand over the letter," Arlen demanded, looking away from Shae reluctantly.

The casual atmosphere suddenly turned sharp. Even Desmond's cheery attitude vanished at the mention of the letter. Sonia walked away from the table, and Kai found her stopping on his right. Shae was already on his left, backed up by Desmond.

'I am surrounded,' Kai told himself. 'Well then, have a good look.'

The four Contestants around Kai had no time to utter a sound when Kai drove his hand inside his pants. All could see him fumbling with something long, round, and pointy there. The loose pants failed to prevent them from seeing its exact shape as it kept protruding out beneath the cloth. A deep red-blue blush appeared on Shae's face, and Sonia's black eyes widened, her face crumbling with an ugly expression.

Slowly, Kai took out the parchment, unwrapping it off his manhood. Despite its condition, it was still in one piece. Arlen's smile had vanished, but it was Desmond who was shocked the most. His finger was already hanging in the air, pointed at Kai's face.

"You, you weren't joking?!" Desmond was astonished, and then came the burst of laughter. "Hahaha!"

Arlen looked at the proof letter and snatched it off Kai's hand, but not before shutting up Desmond with a glance. 'Anytime now,' Kai's concentration reached its peak. He saw Arlen's blue eyes tracing every word, moving left to right. 'He is reading it.' Kai's fingers felt the shard.

Arlen's expression was the same, and then it exploded with anger. His eyes shot wide open, his lips parted and closed. His eyes didn't move down any longer, only left to right, and left to right, as if reading the same words repeatedly, not believing their presence.

The roar came soon, like the growl of a beast in its throat.

"Apprehend him."

******

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