'That jerk..' Erina cursed as she rubbed her slightly red glistening eyes. To be honest, she hated what her father had done. But, in her mind he wasn't a person who would do wrong to them or her mother.
She always thought that there must have been some reason behind his action. But over all these years, she didn't find any.
Not to mention, her father's neglect for her mother increased. But, being the type of person that Erina was, she still held onto the hope that there must be something going behind the scenes. Something which she wasn't aware of.
Axel's words had literally shattered her glass-like hope that she had been holding onto. The guy had targeted a weak spot, and Erina had nothing to retort to it.
'This is the place? He should be around here.' Erina looked around with a gloomy face. She had reached the place of meet up.
It was not far from the Academy. This place was frequently used by suppliers all around to store their stock of supplies.
It basically was a huge collection of warehouses. This place was leased to the Yule Family to carry out their business.
And, now that guy was using it to the full extent. He was trying to sort this matter out in his own territory without making a ruckus. It was better kept secret. After all, what he was about to wasn't something he could afford to let the public know.
"I am here! Where are you?!" Erina shouted, looking around the place.
"And, here I was worrying whether you would come or not." A voice echoed around, and a figure soon appeared in the vicinity.
Erina immediately turned around to look at Neo standing behind her. There was a surprised look on his face. Even though he was suspicious of his plan working, it seemed that the intel on Erina being an emotional fool was more than true.
"What do you know about my mother?" Erina looked at him with a concerned face.
"Hold your horses, Miss. We will get to it..'' Neo smiled as he looked at her.
Erina stared at the guy. This was the first time that he had shown her his true face. It sure was different than his usual act.
"What do you want?" Erina looked at him with a serious expression on her face.
"Seeing how you are not surprised, I guess you Wilson jas already told you about me. And yet you still dare to come…" Neo looked at her with an amused face, "Should I admire your courage or laugh at your foolishness?"
"Get to the point, I am not here to have an idle chat with you." Erina glared at him.
"Sure then, I will tell you everything I know, and in exchange, you will return me the thing that your brother stole from me."
"Stole? Shouldn't it be you guys, who stole it from my mother?" Erina snorted.
"I think you have some misunderstanding. That thing belongs to the Yule Family, and after marriage your mother was no longer a Yule. She ought to have returned it." Neo looked at her with a calm look in his eyes.
"You think I am a fool?" Erina sneered at him.
Her mother would have never promised her that weapon if it didn't rightfully belong to her.
This guy was clearly here to get that weapon which probably held a significant value to him.
"Don't you want to know about your mother?" Neo asked with a smile. He clearly had her weak point.
Erina's frown deepened.
She obviously didn't want to miss this chance. But was this really worth it? Could this guy really be trusted?
The more she thought about it, the harder it got for her to turn down the offer. In all these years, this was the first time she had heard about anything related to her mother's condition.
She just couldn't let go of this opportunity.
"How can I trust you whether you really do know anything about my mother?"
"And, what if you are trying to fool me?"
Erina looked at him.
Neo shook his head with a sigh, "Miss, you need to have some trust while making business deals. Besides, there is nothing I can do about this."
"How about you tell me what you know first? I will bet on my name as a Scarlet that if the information is genuine, I will hand over the thing you want."
Erina was serious about this. She was willing to give it away. After all, she had no idea that it was an artifact which literally had the fate of humanity depending on its user.
To be honest, there was still a chance that she would have made the same decision even if she knew about the truth of the artifact. She was Erina after all.
Neo looked at her as a frown appeared on his face. He needed the artifact at any cost. If he returned without that thing in his hand, he would be doomed for sure. It would cause a huge problem.
And, if possible, he wanted to resolve this in a peaceful manner.
"Why don't you show it to me first then?" He asked, looking at her.
"I don't have it with me currently, it's with Wilson."
Erina really didn't have it. It truly was with Wilson. There was no way they were giving something so important to her.
"Hahaha!!!" Neo couldn't hold his laughter at that.
A few seconds later, he finally stopped and his face turned into a menacing one.
"I really don't know just what kind of star you were born under."
It really was a wonder. It seemed every Scarlet had a brain defect since birth.
"You really don't want that weapon? I know that you must be pretty desperate to contact me upfront." Erina snorted. She could understand this much at least.
"Cool, it makes things easier for me. If you know how desperate I am then you can understand that I will get that thing at any cost don't you?" Neo smiled, and it immediately raised a sense of danger in Erina.
"Whoosh!"
Several figures appeared all around her and she was immediately surrounded by them.
"You b*stard…" Erina glared at him.
"You already knew about it, didn't you? Don't tell me you don't even think of the scenario at all when coming here?" Neo looked at her with a mocking smile.
"I am sure your brother would quietly hand over the artifact for her sister's life.."
"Flare!"
Flames immediately lit up on Erina's body. Her expression already showed her resolve. There was nothing that she could do about this situation. It was her own fault, but she was sure not to drag Wilson into it.
"Catch her!"
"Boom!"
Erina immediately exploded in flames as the people around closed in on her. A high flaming avatar appeared within the ball of flames.
It held swords of flame in its hands and with just a swing, it sent a ring of flames spreading out.
A frown immediately appeared on Neo's face. He tried to get in and apprehend her, but the flames were just too unbearable. He had gravely underestimated Erina.
"Flare!" Blue colored flames immediately lit up on his hands and he punched forward towards incoming ring of flames.
But, the next instant, his eyes widened as he felt a burning sensation over his fist.
"Whoosh!"
He immediately retreated far away from the ring before looking at his fist in horror.
"Impossible!"
He couldn't just believe that this was happening.
His fist was burned.
Erina's flames were hotter than his. How was this possible? He had received the enhancement of the artifact, and converted his flames to blue ones.
This shouldn't be happening!
Just what was going on?
He clearly remembered that the last time they sparred, Erina's flames were nowhere near as overbearing as this.
Something definitely had happened in between…
'Could it be related to the Artifact?' The moment Neo thought that, his expression immediately changed.
The Artifact was actually a very important object in the Yule Family. And, getting recognised by it was a feat to achieve.
In this generation, Neo was the one to have the greatest enhancement with it. Hence, he was given the artifact and responsibility to carry the family as the next leader.
But, what if another person appeared who could gain even more from the artifact than him?
Was it possible that his position would get snatched?
Well, it certainly was…
And, it certainly looked like Erina had a considerable increase in strength. This too when she had no idea about the artifact and it's enhancing ability. So, what if she made a deliberate attempt to gain some power through it?
Would she grow even stronger?
Neo suddenly began to feel the sweat dripping down his forehead.
Even though it was just a hypothesis, it was a terrifying one. And, one that he couldn't afford to come true.
He had to make a decision now before it was too late.
If the Patriarch of his family found out about it, then it would be too late to make any amends. That was obviously considering that his hypothesis was true in the first place.
'That jerk..' Erina cursed as she rubbed her slightly red glistening eyes. To be honest, she hated what her father had done. But, in her mind he wasn't a person who would do wrong to them or her mother.
She always thought that there must have been some reason behind his action. But over all these years, she didn't find any.
Not to mention, her father's neglect for her mother increased. But, being the type of person that Erina was, she still held onto the hope that there must be something going behind the scenes. Something which she wasn't aware of.
Axel's words had literally shattered her glass-like hope that she had been holding onto. The guy had targeted a weak spot, and Erina had nothing to retort to it.
'This is the place? He should be around here.' Erina looked around with a gloomy face. She had reached the place of meet up.
It was not far from the Academy. This place was frequently used by suppliers all around to store their stock of supplies.
It basically was a huge collection of warehouses. This place was leased to the Yule Family to carry out their business.
And, now that guy was using it to the full extent. He was trying to sort this matter out in his own territory without making a ruckus. It was better kept secret. After all, what he was about to wasn't something he could afford to let the public know.
"I am here! Where are you?!" Erina shouted, looking around the place.
"And, here I was worrying whether you would come or not." A voice echoed around, and a figure soon appeared in the vicinity.
Erina immediately turned around to look at Neo standing behind her. There was a surprised look on his face. Even though he was suspicious of his plan working, it seemed that the intel on Erina being an emotional fool was more than true.
"What do you know about my mother?" Erina looked at him with a concerned face.
"Hold your horses, Miss. We will get to it..'' Neo smiled as he looked at her.
Erina stared at the guy. This was the first time that he had shown her his true face. It sure was different than his usual act.
"What do you want?" Erina looked at him with a serious expression on her face.
"Seeing how you are not surprised, I guess you Wilson jas already told you about me. And yet you still dare to come…" Neo looked at her with an amused face, "Should I admire your courage or laugh at your foolishness?"
"Get to the point, I am not here to have an idle chat with you." Erina glared at him.
"Sure then, I will tell you everything I know, and in exchange, you will return me the thing that your brother stole from me."
"Stole? Shouldn't it be you guys, who stole it from my mother?" Erina snorted.
"I think you have some misunderstanding. That thing belongs to the Yule Family, and after marriage your mother was no longer a Yule. She ought to have returned it." Neo looked at her with a calm look in his eyes.
"You think I am a fool?" Erina sneered at him.
Her mother would have never promised her that weapon if it didn't rightfully belong to her.
This guy was clearly here to get that weapon which probably held a significant value to him.
"Don't you want to know about your mother?" Neo asked with a smile. He clearly had her weak point.
Erina's frown deepened.
She obviously didn't want to miss this chance. But was this really worth it? Could this guy really be trusted?
The more she thought about it, the harder it got for her to turn down the offer. In all these years, this was the first time she had heard about anything related to her mother's condition.
She just couldn't let go of this opportunity.
"How can I trust you whether you really do know anything about my mother?"
"And, what if you are trying to fool me?"
Erina looked at him.
Neo shook his head with a sigh, "Miss, you need to have some trust while making business deals. Besides, there is nothing I can do about this."
"How about you tell me what you know first? I will bet on my name as a Scarlet that if the information is genuine, I will hand over the thing you want."
Erina was serious about this. She was willing to give it away. After all, she had no idea that it was an artifact which literally had the fate of humanity depending on its user.
To be honest, there was still a chance that she would have made the same decision even if she knew about the truth of the artifact. She was Erina after all.
Neo looked at her as a frown appeared on his face. He needed the artifact at any cost. If he returned without that thing in his hand, he would be doomed for sure. It would cause a huge problem.
And, if possible, he wanted to resolve this in a peaceful manner.
"Why don't you show it to me first then?" He asked, looking at her.
"I don't have it with me currently, it's with Wilson."
Erina really didn't have it. It truly was with Wilson. There was no way they were giving something so important to her.
"Hahaha!!!" Neo couldn't hold his laughter at that.
A few seconds later, he finally stopped and his face turned into a menacing one.
"I really don't know just what kind of star you were born under."
It really was a wonder. It seemed every Scarlet had a brain defect since birth.
"You really don't want that weapon? I know that you must be pretty desperate to contact me upfront." Erina snorted. She could understand this much at least.
"Cool, it makes things easier for me. If you know how desperate I am then you can understand that I will get that thing at any cost don't you?" Neo smiled, and it immediately raised a sense of danger in Erina.
"Whoosh!"
Several figures appeared all around her and she was immediately surrounded by them.
"You b*stard…" Erina glared at him.
"You already knew about it, didn't you? Don't tell me you don't even think of the scenario at all when coming here?" Neo looked at her with a mocking smile.
"I am sure your brother would quietly hand over the artifact for her sister's life.."
"Flare!"
Flames immediately lit up on Erina's body. Her expression already showed her resolve. There was nothing that she could do about this situation. It was her own fault, but she was sure not to drag Wilson into it.
"Catch her!"
"Boom!"
Erina immediately exploded in flames as the people around closed in on her. A high flaming avatar appeared within the ball of flames.
It held swords of flame in its hands and with just a swing, it sent a ring of flames spreading out.
A frown immediately appeared on Neo's face. He tried to get in and apprehend her, but the flames were just too unbearable. He had gravely underestimated Erina.
"Flare!" Blue colored flames immediately lit up on his hands and he punched forward towards incoming ring of flames.
But, the next instant, his eyes widened as he felt a burning sensation over his fist.
"Whoosh!"
He immediately retreated far away from the ring before looking at his fist in horror.
"Impossible!"
He couldn't just believe that this was happening.
His fist was burned.
Erina's flames were hotter than his. How was this possible? He had received the enhancement of the artifact, and converted his flames to blue ones.
This shouldn't be happening!
Just what was going on?
He clearly remembered that the last time they sparred, Erina's flames were nowhere near as overbearing as this.
Something definitely had happened in between…
'Could it be related to the Artifact?' The moment Neo thought that, his expression immediately changed.
The Artifact was actually a very important object in the Yule Family. And, getting recognised by it was a feat to achieve.
In this generation, Neo was the one to have the greatest enhancement with it. Hence, he was given the artifact and responsibility to carry the family as the next leader.
But, what if another person appeared who could gain even more from the artifact than him?
Was it possible that his position would get snatched?
Well, it certainly was…
And, it certainly looked like Erina had a considerable increase in strength. This too when she had no idea about the artifact and it's enhancing ability. So, what if she made a deliberate attempt to gain some power through it?
Would she grow even stronger?
Neo suddenly began to feel the sweat dripping down his forehead.
Even though it was just a hypothesis, it was a terrifying one. And, one that he couldn't afford to come true.
He had to make a decision now before it was too late.
If the Patriarch of his family found out about it, then it would be too late to make any amends. That was obviously considering that his hypothesis was true in the first place.
