Chapter 35: The Elimination List

"Listen to me," Draven whispered dangerously. "You better change the way you talk to me. I will not tolerate your minglings any further."

Neville scoffed. His wounded pride flared into pure rage. The trauma of his recent defeat twisted his face into an ugly sneer.

"You think you can lecture me?" Neville spat. "You are just some rabble that can be found on the streets. You are nothing."

"Nothing, yeah? Sure, you can call me that. It’s not like you can do anything to me. Let me tell you why I am here first though." said Draven, holding it in.

"Oh yeah! I can do a lot of things to you, slum boy. But let’s hear you out. This Hero shall amuse you." Neville said cockily as he started to pour water from the Jug.

"I am here to check up on you. Recently, there was a Fire-blast incident in the Bastion. You know about that, I saw you on the TV giving the interview. I was involved in that incident."

Neville’s smile vanished as he looked at Draven, but kept his mouth shut.

"I was there as a Prisoner of the Church of the Eternal Eclipse. They were about to experiment some weird shit with me, but then the blast happened and I was rescued." Draven continued.

Neville smirked and said, "You should be thankful to the Police, huh? Why are you telling me this though?!"

Draven said with a heavy voice, leaking his Telekinetic Aura a little pressuring Neville, "During my time as a prisoner, I heard the voice from the Darkness."

As soon as Neville heard that bit, the color faded from his face. But he listened.

"It asked me become it’s follower. It promised me immense power in exchange for my long devotion. But I did not accept that deal. It was too suspicious to be true." Draven said as he was looking out the window.

He turned and looked back at the paled face of Neville.

"Neville, I am warning you!", he said as he increased the pressure.

"The voice I heard was not something I should deal with. That’s what Guild Master Seraphina told me. And I am telling you that I can feel the same aura. That same filthy stench from your body!"

He closed the distance between them and said, "Have you made some deal with that thing, Neville?"

Neville replied struggling to open his mouth, "No... I have not..."

Draven released the pressure and turned back, "Good! Do not deal with that thing again! Forget everything you know about it!"

As he started to leave, Neville finally opened his mouth again.

Not to thank him for warning him, but to retort back.

"But..but who are you to tell me what to do, huh? As I said you are nothing but some rabble from the streets. But I am a Hero! I was chosen to be the Hero."

Hearing this Draven felt incredibly annoyed, but Neville was not done yet.

"You rejected the power because you couldn’t handle the power, but I am the Hero. The voice I heard was definitely the God granting me his Blessings. His Power! I was worthy of his power."

He looked at Draven and then mocked him, "You on the other hand were weak. You just came here to manipulate me into thinking the Voice I heard was Blasphemous. You were trying to trick me, Mordis! but my intelligent self cannot be tricked by the words of a mere commoner. I am the epitome of Intelligence!"

"HAHAHAHAHA!!!!" Draven started laughing like a maniac.

"Epitome of Intelligence he says! Oh my God! I cannot believe this. Why was even here wasting my time on this foolish Bravado?! Here I am trying to save a man from the sinking ship and the man just refuses to believe it!"

Neville was utterly confused, "Why are you laughing like that, Mordis?"

Draven replies, "Oh Great Hero! Do not mind me. How dare I possess enough wisdom to assess the level of your Intelligence? I am but a rabble on the streets. Please do not mind me and continue with your day. I shall leave your foolish ass to die whenever you feel like it."

"Die?! Are you threatening to kill me right now?! Do you have any idea what it means to threaten me? A Noble inside these Bastion?" Neville threatened.

Draven had lost his shit. He was not having it at all.

’I was trying to be nice guy for once and this dude who has his brain in his butt says I am tricking him?! Seriously?! Oh I should not have come here at all. It’s like I am talking to wall. A bloody Wall would move out of the way if asked nicely but this man was beyond that. He is just beyond saving. Dude is just rage-baiting me at this point!’

"Oh! I know what happens to people who threaten a Noble. Death! And that is what you deserve you fool! You don’t even want to understand what I am trying to tell you! You are just constantly being an annoying rat! I have hated you since the day I laid my eyes on you!" Draven retorted without holding back.

He did not stop, he continued.

"The thing that annoys me the most is your hypocritical thinking. You talk about second chances for criminals or monsters, but those rules do not apply when someone crosses a line against you. You are the worst of the worst humans to ever exist."

Neville interrupted him, "Like you are a godly fellow yourself huh?! I know close to nothing about you, but you have hated me since the first day I had met you. Why?! I could feel hate for no reason. Did I do something to you?"

He breathed a bit and started again.

"I remember I saw you score less than me and I offered up a helping hand to help you out. But you not just flatly rejected me, you just went on to humiliate me in front of everyone. how do you think that felt huh?"

Draven interrupted him, "No, no, no. You never wanted to coach me or anything, buddy. You just wanted to get close to Est in the name of teaching me. And it was true you just couldn’t keep your horny ass out of my business, could you? When the bet was proposed, I saw how you looked at her. Those perverted eyes of yours ogling her body. Just thinking of it disgusts me."

Neville smirked and found a critical spot of Draven.

"Oh yeah! How could I forget that young lady?! But do not worry. I do not like used material. You must be having your time with her, huh? Was she delicious? Huh? Tell me, Come on. Tell me."

That was it. He had crossed the line. There was no coming back from it.

Draven’s eyes were dead.

DEAD!

He looked at Neville like he was looking at the bodies of the terrorists he used to kill in the Deserts in his past life.

"Stop talking unless you want that mouth to be separated from your body!" said Draven.

And he did not just say it. It was a statement. A Warning! A testament!

The talk he was hear for was of the table! He was not interested in it anymore. All he wanted was to pull his jaw out of his mouth so he could never talk.

"OH! What will you do, Mordis? Will you kill me? Come on, then. Come on. Or do you want help from your girl again?!"

SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!

Three Back to back slaps.

"Keep talking!" Draven dared him.