The air froze as all the noise within the restaurant stopped; it didn’t matter if it was the staff, the other customers, or even the knights surrounding the young man

They all went quiet as they felt a wave of killing intent crash into them; it was wild, bestial, and angry.

All of them felt as if the only thing they could do in this moment was to stay still, for if they moved, the predator would see them, and none of them wanted to be within his line of sight

As just feeling the killing intent coming off of him was already making it hard for them to breathe when it wasn’t even completely directed at them, they couldn’t imagine what it would’ve felt like to be at the forefront of his gaze

Not to mention his wrath

All they could do was stay still and watch what was happening through the corner of their eyes

And even that was getting difficult as the temperature in the room was slowly rising, their sweat rolling off their heads and into their eyes, messing up their vision

But the ones who were lucky enough not to get sweat in their eyes were able to see the tiny white sparks that seemed to be appearing around the man at the table

They didn’t stay for long, most disappearing as soon as they came, so much so that if you didn’t look close enough, you would think it was just a simple trick of the light, but it was not

Nowhere close

As every time one sparked itself into existence, the room would get noticeably hotter

Seeing Azreal begin to rise from his seat, the guards surrounding the young man drew their swords and moved to surround him.

Their faces held no emotion even as they started to sweat like they had been placed within a burning furnace

They were the first to see those white sparks appear and the first to feel the temperature changing, but none of that mattered to them; they had a job to do

They had to protect the earl’s son with their lives, or they wouldn’t be the only ones to lose their lives.

It had been drilled into their brains since the moment they were assigned to the young man.

They remembered the first thing the earl said to them, it wasn’t hello, hi or even what do you want for pay but

"If a single hair on my son’s head is touched or you display him in the slightest then come back already prepared for your execution. But worry not I will give you the grace of being killed alongside your family"

That man was truly what it meant to be evil no not just him but most nobles were, almost all of them, except for the king of course "Long live his majesty, Kali Nazar"

If they were to fail at protecting the young master then there family’s would be killed but the man in front of them couldn’t care in the slightest

They had to kill him now, the young master could loot his body after, as it was clear that this man was about to attack

With their swords already drawn, they lunged forward but their strength didn’t pull them forward no they were stuck in the same position they took when surrounding him

But that didn’t stay for long as their bodies started to feel heavy.

Their armor pulled them to the floor as some invisible force was applied to them

Gravity had been increased for the whole restaurant as the other customers and staff were also pulled right to the ground.

But even as everyone in the restaurant was pulled to the floor by gravity the man was still standing slowly making his way to the earl’s son.

One of the guards rose to his feet slowly walking towards the man every step left an op imprint onto the floor and shook everything inside.

It was hard to walk as every single step made his legs fall like they were about to explode but he had to indure he couldn’t let his family die all because of one man

Eventually, he returned the man but before he could do anything the man simply raised his finger and swiped it down

Which caused the knight to fall to his knees again as the gravity around him got even heavier

He was completely helpless, he could only look at his young master who was only a few feet behind him

But that kid wasn’t paying attention to anything around him

The only thing that looked to be in his line of sight was the man’s eyes, his deep amber eyes with crimson rings of red that glowed like a blood moon on a full moon’s sky.

The young man was completely mesmerized by those eyes but this wasn’t the type of mesmerized look that you give when something is beautiful no this was the type you give when it was fucking tarafing and for some reason you can’t look away

Looking into those eyes, he saw his worst fear. No, that wasn’t nearly as close, as if it were just his worst.

Fear that would’ve been fine he would’ve been scarred, but able to move.

He would’ve been terrified, but aware of his surroundings know this was a collection of his fear, and everyone else’s rolled up into a big amalgamation.

A Nightmare

Those eyes have the keys to his dreams, and what they choose to show him through that door. Was something he will never forget

He saw his father, his mother, his brothers, and all his friends suffer.

His father, lost his wealth his mother lost her mind, his brothers were killed his friends betrayed him.

His guards killed him. He was hunted.

He was beaten, he was ripped apart by everything in life from crêpes to be fed to the dogs.

And that was only the beginning.

Next, he saw a different dream.

In this one, he took over for his father, but as soon as he took the reins from his father, everything went to shit.

The kingdom was invaded. The king was killed. He was taken as a prisoner.

He was tortured for information, and he didn’t even have an even when they found that out, they kept him as a pet as they liked hearing his screams it was truly a euphoric sound to them

She saw five other nightmares, all as terrifying as building upon each other, each one more terrifying than the last, each one trying to one-up the other, like they were competing to see who could break his mind first what to be honest,

His mind was already broken from the first moment, he looked that monster in the eyes.

And his fate was sealed far before that.

It was sealed from the first moment he set his eyes on that woman sitting at the table, and even though she still did not move,

She was enjoying her meal. The most she did was look up at the man who was slowly torturing him with his gaze And when she looked at that monster,

You would think she would be afraid, but no, the only thing within her geez was love they both were monsters

The young man couldn’t take it anymore.

He got onto his hands and knees as his waist soaked his pants as a foul stench began to permeate through the room, ruining all smells.

The food had left, marking this room with his eternal embarrassment, but he could not focus on that now.

He apologized he begged to be forgiven

" please sir, I was wrong. Please let me go I won’t ever show my face to you again please please please please please"

Each new word was followed by his head, slamming into the floor, which is for head painted in blood, his own blood, but he gave no mind to this. It didn’t affect him in the slightest his mind was already too far gone for that.

What did this even do to the quarreled anger within Azrael’s heart

Winding down, he took the young man’s hand within his hands, pulling his head up to meet him to make him look him in the eyes again, but this time the young man didn’t see any nightmares. Well, if you didn’t count the man in front of him, and one thing was for sure he did.

Opening his mouth to speak Azrael’s voice came out dark and layered, like a demon was trying his best to conceal his anger

"How dare you speak to my wife that way you insulter brat"

"I would kill you but that would be too kind a fate so let me leave you with this instead"

On the young man’s left hands and legs, gravity was increased, even more, pushing them onto the floor, as if trying to fuse them, but the only result was the breaking of his hands as the bone snapped against the wooden floor.

With that done, he let go of the young man’s hand, letting his head fall straight to the floor as he was knocked unconscious

The man spoke one more time before he turned to leave

" All you filthy things have managed to do is ruin my appetite" With his final words spoken, he turned, grabbed Olivia’s hand as she finished eating, and left the restaurant, leaving behind what could be considered a nightmare