9: You Looked At Things From Your Own Perspective.

" You seem to be a bit too friendly with that man. It's been quite obvious that he's been trying to provoke you the entire time but you chose to act nonchalantly throughout your conversation." Fred said, following behind Leo as they passed through a door onto the balcony.

Leo chuckled in his usual manner, keeping his gaze slightly down as he gazed down at the main city, he said, " You seem to be too attached to things my dear friend, he's only acting based on his view of things and that's one thing I want to change without a violent means involved."

" And the lady who was trying to escape, what do you plan on her case? She'll only be a burden to everyone else in her current state."

" If you feel that way then I shall have her stick to the young man's side while you watch over the both of them. That way you can fulfil your wish while still helping me on this urgent matter." Leo said, turning around and placing his right hand on his shoulder with the usual bright smile on his face.

Those exact last words kept ringing in his head as he stared at the empty bed. His hands began to tremble and the expression on his face quickly turned into one of shock. His eyes were slightly widened and his lips were separated.

He had failed his friend and master. He didn't know what had happened or could have happened to those two but one thing was constantly going through his mind.

" Could they have tried to run away?"

This thought left him brimming with anger as he stood up. The shocked gaze he had earlier turned into a frown as he stared at the empty intensely for a while.

Another golden gate appeared in front of him and he quickly stepped through, appearing in his room. He walked straight to the closet and brought a black shirt which had a raven mask attached to it.

Before long, he was completely dressed in black, including the black raven mask and a black cape. There was a black golden glow which he was engulfed in and immediately after that, another gate appeared before him.

He walked through it, appearing at the scene of their disappearance once again. He wanted to take a hint of the aura of their attacker's mana and use it to potentially track down the both of them.

He held out for about a minute before a hawk came flying towards him and landed on it. He then proceeded to slowly move his hand across the hawk's face and let it fly away while he stood there idly.

" Hey, you there! What do you think you're doing in a place in a place like this?" One of the guards asked, walking towards him.

He proceeded to take off the mask and said, " I'm Fred Giuliano if that helps to answer your question."

" Oh it's you sir but why would you be clothed in such a manner of fashion?"

" I assume that is quite none of your business." He said, quickly walking away, "Now get back to your duty."

He got about thirty metres away from where he was standing before and stretched out his hand once again as the hawk slowly perched on it.

" I see then." He mumbled, his gaze fixed on the hawk as a gate appeared before him. He walked through it, appearing in front of what looked like an abandoned-story building.

There were multiple cracks on the walls and the windows were all broken and falling off. The building seemed to have a sinister blue aura surrounding it and he could sense the presence of many people living inside it, all of which were other-worlders.

He began to thread lightly towards the abandoned-looking house in the middle of nowhere. There were no roads leading to his current location and it was surrounded by nothing but the hard ground and the forest many meters away.

A few meters towards the house, a blue glowing barrier enclosed him and he stood there watching as intense heat began to build up.

Everything happened quickly but he didn't seem fazed in any way. His heartbeat was still in rhythm, his posture remained straight and sturdy and he kept on staring blankly at the abandoned-looking building.

Bright blue flames instantly erupted and he still maintained his composure in the midst of the flames for about three minutes. The ground was scorched black from the heat but he remained fine after the case of certified death, even his clothes weren't damaged in the slightest.

******

Back inside the room where he was locked up before the man left, he turned around one more time and asked, "What is it that allows you to manipulate soul energy? You're the strangest I've ever seen I'll agree but none of that links to soul manipulation."

There wasn't any response from his hostage once again and after a few seconds he finally turned around only to turn once again and walk towards his hostage.

He brought out a camera from his pocket and began to take pictures of him in his helpless state. He simply bent his head and accepted everything that came his way, he just wanted to be out of that situation and nothing more.

After he was done taking the pictures of him, he put the camera back inside his pocket and proceeded to leave the room.

It wasn't long before he was outside the building and standing before Fred who was only a few meters away from where he had just come out from.

" He managed to survive the flames. Well then, seems that he's not the only interesting one among the lot of his." He thought as he slowly began to walk forward.

" Before we proceed I would like you to tell me what your reason is for taking all these innocent people hostage! Your choice of location certainly isn't the best in terms of trading options?" Fred asked, slowly walking towards him.

He instantly began to laugh in his usual sinister manner after hearing everything which the young man had to say.

" To think you've been around such a dark age for so long that such thoughts cross your mind each time something like this happens is that right? If you're with the young man I captured then I assume that you must think you're helping these innocent people, well I'll show how wrong you are in every way possible." He said, flames quickly engulfing his body as he began running towards Fred.

Blue spiralling flames shot out from his hand and went straight for the young man but a gold portal appeared in front of him and devoured the entire flames.

" If you're trying to protect them just like we are, then we should be able to talk this through without involving any violence," Fred said, backing away slightly.

" And you say all that without your soul being bent to guilt in any way. What could possibly prove your point with?! When was the last time you actually tried to see what their problem was from their own point of view rather than yours, answer me!" He yelled at the top of his lungs as he charged straight towards him.

The flames that had engulfed his body quickly grew with each passing second up to the point that had forced a gigantic armour of flames on his body.

" I'll have to end this quickly while limiting the damages as much as possible." Fred thought, sweat slightly running down his face.

As he charged forward, aiming to burn his enemy to crisp, multiple golden, glowing gates appeared before him and it wasn't long before they all surrounded him.

He began to hear voices from every one of them saying, "You forced me to use this and I can assure you, you'll regret your actions."

That was a bright golden light began to shine down on him and he looked up to see a golden orb which had a ring constantly swirling around it.