Chapter 155: The Smile that shouts Death

Anna arrived in five minutes, just as she had said. Silas literally flew out of the mansion to meet her and pulled her into a tight embrace. Anna could feel all his love and affection, his worry, his obsession, every goddamn feeling.

She could feel his fear and his barely contained anger. She smiled.

"I’m alright..." Anna whispered, her fingers brushing his hair. It was soft to touch, and she was almost drawn into his hold.

"Thank God. If anything had happened to you..." He let the words hang, the venom in them slipping through the atmosphere. The killing intent radiating from him made Chloe, Gromda, Alpha, and Raymond, who were standing at the entrance of the mansion, shiver.

Raymond, especially, almost collapsed. He felt as if his heart was being squeezed tight, while his nostrils were stuffed with piles of cotton. He didn’t even realize how hard he was sweating.

Even Anna felt it, shock evident on her face. The strange part was that it wasn’t even directed at any of them. This was just a brush of the true thing.

’Scary!’ This thought passed through everyone’s head. For maybe the fourth time, Alpha felt blessed to be on Silas’s side.

"Silas... Don’t..." Anna suddenly whispered when Silas broke the hug. The expression on his face was calm, only up to his nose. From his mouth downwards, his mouth stretched into a wide smile.

His eyes glowed with a deep pink light, and for the first time, everyone could visibly feel a presence around them. They felt as if they were linked to countless threads. The feeling was unnerving.

They felt like puppets tied to strings.

"Wait for me here," Silas said in a quiet voice, but it was so deep that everyone heard it.

"Silas, I’m alright."

"They sent a message, so I will just send one. Isn’t that how conversation works? Communication, Anna."

"No..."

Silas disappeared. He didn’t exactly vanish or open a portal. He just jumped high into the sky. His single wing burst out of his tank top, stretching to its full length. With one flap, he shot into the distance with a loud sonic boom that caused the earth to tremor.

"No, no, no..."

[Don’t worry. He won’t kill anyone... yet]

The system’s words didn’t help in any way. And by the way it spoke, everyone could tell that it was more than just amused. It was happy, and radiating with... Pride?

***

Leon sat on the hard bed he, just like his croonies, had been assigned to. They were currently in a jail cell, two to a cell. They were still at the police station, in remand, waiting for their contacts to pick them up.

Of course they wouldn’t be staying here for long. That they were sure of. And somehow, it was true, just that it wouldn’t be where they were expecting.

***

Night had settled in when Silas arrived at the station, hands in his pockets, slippers slapping the asphalt as though they had an issue with silence. His expression was blank, but anyone who glanced at him could feel the chill.

The weather was already cool as it was nearing winter, but the kind of chill he brought was something else. Silas strolled and entered the station under the stunned gazes of the people outside.

One lady fumbled to take a picture of the only pink-haired person in the world, the S-Rank, only to find out that he’d disappeared inside.

Inside the station, it was a different matter. No one saw Silas entering. They just heard the sound of slippers slapping the tiled floor, and it was gone. They only bothered to look towards the entrance for five seconds, and returned to doing whatever they were doing.

Silas had activated Silent Steps, and with his current speed, it would take only another S-Rank or a truly experienced A-Rank to even notice him. His eyes glowed deeply as he moved through the dim corridors of the station, his threads glowing and showing him the way.

And he didn’t have to walk for long. He found them, all eight kidnappers, with their leader, the ninth one. They were all in cells, two in a cell, with the leader taking one cell. Even in jail, he still got the luxury to exhibit his position and authority.

Silas almost laughed at the absurdity. When he was weak, people bullied him, insulted him, and did all kinds of stuff to him. He hadn’t forgotten. He would never forget those days. They were his scars, his sins, his curse, and his experience.

If he had been attacked, that would be understandable, because after all, he was very annoying. He wouldn’t even be that worried if it was Alpha... maybe he was just joking, but that’s that.

But Anna? The only person who had taken him for who and what he was? The only person who didn’t see him as some disgusting alien, but a human? The first person who had made him release without using his hands? Maybe the last part wasn’t needed.

Those guys, whoever they were, had just signed a warrant worse than death.

***

Evans and Godfred sat playing cards when they felt the air around them cease to exist. The other seven also felt it. It was as if a huge weight had fallen over them. Fred, who was in a cell with Harrison, was already suffocating.

Then they saw something that looked more horrifying than IT, Chucky, and the Nun combined. They only saw a pair of pink glowing eyes and a wide smile. For some reason, they couldn’t see the person’s face well, but they didn’t want to see the full thing at all.

Just what they were seeing was enough.

"You know... For kidnappers, you are exceptionally courageous."

They heard the person say, and his voice was calm and even elegant. It was a huge contrast to the expression they were all seeing. He stood in the middle, the intersection of their cells, with his hands in his pockets.

"You already know what you did, or tried to do. Unfortunately, you didn’t succeed. Which is very bad. You should have tried to escape from the police and run far away..."

"Who are you?!" Leon barked, already standing with apprehension on his face.

"If you’d run, maybe it would’ve taken days to find you. But I would’ve still found you nonetheless. It would just take longer."

"WHO ARE YOU?!"

"Shush, son. We are getting to that part."

Right in front of them, they saw a portal swirl into existence. It was pink with violet edges that glowed with a deep and bright light, which, strangely, didn’t light up the whole corridor. The portal radiated an ominous aura that washed over them, causing Ron to pee on himself.

They saw the person’s mouth widen as massive and thick green and blue arms, four pairs of them, erupted slowly from smaller portals that had appeared in the cells, grabbed them, and threw them into it.

Leon was the last, and he got a glimpse of a small creature, about five feet tall, a goblin, kneeling in front of the person and smiling.

"Tell Gorda to treat them nicely. They shouldn’t be killed... not yet," Silas said in a cold voice, his Authority trait radiating outward.

"Understood, my King. Anything else?" The goblin messenger asked, his eyes darting around, taking in the sight of his king’s home world. He would talk about it, even in his death. He was the first person to set foot in the king’s world.

"Not for now, Yomir. Just do your thing."

"Thank you, my king! May you live long!" The goblin immediately genuflected, tears streaming from its eyes. It had been named by the king. That was an achievement worth celebrating.

With a wider smile and tears, Yomir stepped back into the portal and vanished along with it. Silas turned, looked around the now empty cells, and exhaled.

He disappeared just as quietly as he had appeared.