And everything went according to what Rick predicted. He couldn't remember the last time that he watched the news with a grin on his face."Oh my lord," his mother exclaimed, covering her gaped mouth. "Who would have done such a thing?""The Gotham tower that lies in the middle of Lauxdale city was put on flames sometime last night," said the announcer. "The authorities can not yet figure out if this was a terrorist attack or merely bad luck.""Bad luck?" Rick murmured under his breath, setting the spoon down. "Can't they make up a better excuse?" he wondered as he stared at the screen, taking in the charcoaled building….taking in his handy work."And you can say that it isn't?" Joanna scoffed. "Do you know any better than they do, brother? I know that you hate them so much but still…" she paused."A lot of people died," she finally added.Part of Elfric was thankful that they didn't show on screen the sight inside. Even in the dimness of

 The streets were quieter than Rick was used to, on the route through the slums of London to drop off his sister at her school. It was because of the pressure caused by the presence of the men from the Black Cross.'An act to secure the safety of the commoners in old London.' That's what they said.They won't bluntly state that it is to secure the Nobles from them.Who else could be the culprit for all these attacks that are befalling Lauxdale?Obviously not a Noble.So, they have no one to blame other than the powerless slum rats."Seriously, they should always be here," said Joanna.Elfric snapped out of his murderous thoughts, hoping that his sister didn't pay attention to him. But the look on her face told otherwise."Brother, you have been having these weirdest, scariest looks on your face these days," she raised her brow.She couldn't get over the murderous look she saw on her brother

'Villain,'The word echoed in Elfric's head, from both that strange entity that took residence in his body and his very own voice.The word tasted awkward on his tongue.'Doesn't this word apply to those who bring corruption and chaos to the so-called peace?' Orathan questioned.'I don't think that that word…fits your description.'Elfric inhaled deeply before putting his legs to work again. If he moved fast enough, he would make it to school before the first period's bell, not that he cared about that at the moment, but he had a reputation in school for being the role model.Honestly, he didn't want to let go of that title.It will come in handy one day, he thought."That word is exactly the one that fits the most," said Elfric. "The whole theme of good and evil, hero and villain, angel and devils…it's something so subjective if you think about it. To some, you might be the devil. The deliverer of evil in this world, but to others, they might see you as a savior and the one who bring

The week passed rather quickly for Elfric. He even started believing that his old life was back; everything had been as peaceful as it was before.He decided to take that leap of faith and change his future – and probably the future of everyone else if he actually managed to get what he sought.During these days, he took the opportunity to get accustomed to the new powers that resided within him. It felt overwhelming at first, but the more he used it the more it became like a sixth sense to him. He felt his body building.Gaining muscles that weren't there before.'It's because your body is trying to contain what it has inside,' said Orathan to him as he explained everything in detail.His body was a vessel; the more he trained, the more it would be able to withstand the powers.He made sure to warn him against going beyond his capabilities.If he uses too much, it was going to overflow and he was going to

 The banquet was filled, for a moment, with exclamations over the calamity that had befallen Shaw Gotham — a half-empty champagne glass had spilled all over his suit.Elfric couldn't help the half-smile of mockery tugging at his lips as he took a sip of his own drink. Such lives they lived — making such a fuss over something so trivial. But that wasn't the case, as Elfric soon realized.The Nobles feared Shaw Gotham. He wasn't the most powerful Noble in Luxdale — there were far stronger families. For example, the Cosmos Group was hosting this banquet.However, Shaw wasn't weak either. Elfric could feel that for sure.He almost pitied the brunette whose once-enchanted face was now coated with terror over what she had done. He couldn't hear what she said to Shaw through the murmurs and gasps of the crowd that tangled together into one loud noise, but he could make out a few words from the movement of her painted lips.S