Chapter 113: Conflict.

The crowd around the line to the small world transporters was much bigger than it was before and it seemed like something important was happening. The crowd only became bigger as Haru, Maya and Jasper joined in to see what was happening.

"Hey what's going on?" Jasper tapped a tall elven man on the shoulder and asked him.

"Oh, Jasper. Do you know that guy who came and defeated a bunch of demon clansmen? He is going up against the eldest son of the demon royal family." The man turned and replied to Jaspers question.

"Really? That human is fighting against prince Nox? He looked pretty strong but I don't know if he is strong enough to defeat that guy." Jasper said quietly.

"Yeah. Everyone else here thinks so too. People have already started making bets. You want in?" The man asked.

"No, I will pass. I don't have that much money in the first place... I don't feel like losing it all again." Jasper laughed.

"Okay, suit yourself." The man laughed along and then made his way through the crowd.

"So two strong people are going to fight? How do they plan on getting matched against each other though? I thought people were matched at random?" Haru asked. He was still a little confused as to how some things worked there.

"Well, it only matches you with people who have entered the small world recently. If no one enters for a while and then two people enter together it will match those two together." Maya explained it before Jasper had the chance to.

"Oh, I see so as long as no one enters for a while then they will be matched against each other without any difficulty," Haru said out loud to confirm it to himself.

"Pretty much," Jasper responded as the crowd began to make more noise.

"That's him!" A few people began to shout as someone came down from the steps at the front of the pyramid.

Haru then turned around to see a man dressed in all black. He was wearing some kind of tattered and matted fur cloak and had dark grey skin. His hair was slicked back and purple in colour with a slight curl that hung above his left eye. His fingernails and eyes were both pitch black.

"Who is he?" Haru asked as he says the attention he seemed to get as he made his way down the steps and toward the crowd of now cheering demon clansmen.

"That is the Prince of the demon clan. He has a reputation for being extremely brutal and uses a special soul torturing whip to strike his opponents. I heard he got it special made for when he enters the Soul Tempering Grounds just so he can inflict long-lasting damage on people." Jasper explained in a hushed tone.

"Yeah. He is also sick in the head and has a reputation for killing his lovers after they can't serve him anymore." Maya also whispered.

It seemed that both the human and the elven clan were talking bad about Nox as he came closer. But as soon as he reached the bottom of the steps they all went silent. He seemed to be using a technique to silence people within a certain distance.

Haru looked around looking at people's faces as they struggled to form words. But all that came out of their mouths were inaudible whispers.

"He is really that bad?" Haru asked Maya. Before noticing that she also was unable to speak.

Maya reached up toward Haru and tried to cover his mouth with her hands. She looked panicked and her eyes widened as soon as he spoke. But it was too late.

Haru felt something strike his back with a lot of force as a loud crack echoed out. He then turned to see the man dressed in black holding his arm out with a long black whip that trailed all the way over to Haru.

"I didn't give you permission to speak, human." He said and then pulled the whip back. All eyes seemed to be on Haru now. And the people nearby all began to step away from him.

Haru opened his mouth to speak but Maya quickly covered his mouth before he could say anything. He struggled for a second before finally prying her hand away.

"Listen here and listen well. I don't give a shit about your fucking permission or whatever. I will talk whenever I want to. You and your shitty little whip can't change that fact.

You're lucky this is a safe zone or else I would shove that whip so far up your ass you will be bleeding for weeks! Try that again and I will take that whip and strangle you with it, you little bastard." Haru's eyes were filled with rage as he shouted toward him.

And then the thought came. 'This is a safe Zone. Why can he attack me? Shouldn't someone be here to stop him? Will I even be able to defend myself?' Haru began to think about a lot of different things and then quickly calmed down from his state of anger.

But in the meantime a look of shock formed on the demon prince's face. And then he pulled the whip back over his shoulder and swung it forward once again.

The sound of the whip cracked through the sky once again but the impact vanished, as a flash of blue appeared in front of Haru.

It was a man who looked to be in his early twenties. His skin was as smooth as ice and his hair was as dark as ash. He held his hand outstretched toward the demon prince with the end of the whip tightly grasped in his hand.

"Aren't we supposed to be fighting? Why would you bring the younger generation into this? Are you really that pathetic?" The man laughed hysterically.

"There's nothing to fear young one! I will take revenge for the embarrassment you have suffered today!" The man yelled loudly as he looked at Haru.

"Why are you shouting so loud? Do you have no respect? Don't you know that elves have sensitive ears?" Haru asked as he saw many of the elven clansmen in the crowd covering their ears in pain.

"Sorry I was just…" The man began to say but Haru cut him short.

"And what makes you think I need you to take revenge for me? If you didn't show up just now I would have slaughtered that bastard. Don't come here and interrupt the ass-kicking I was about to dish out and then act like you know me." Haru's presence seemed to grow more and more intimidating as he scolded the man who had untrusted.

"Ah, Whatever. Just go fight or something. I am not in the mood to fight anymore." Haru said and then began to walk up toward the steps to the reception area but stopped just as he was passing the demon prince.

"If I ever see you outside the soul tempering grounds I will rip off both off your arms and beat you with them," Haru whispered as he carried on up toward the doors.

He entered the reception and everything seemed quiet. It looked like everyone who was in the soul tempering grounds was already outside watching the commotion happening.

He looked over to see all the people at the reception area talking with each over since they had no work to do and then decided to take a seat at the opposite side of the room so he would be left alone.

'What was that about? I swear shit like this always happens and it is so infuriating. Why do people think it is okay to attack someone for no reason? I swear the next time this happens I am going to make them eat shit.' Haru thought to himself.

He was so lost in thought that he didn't hear the footsteps approach him or the cough let out by the old man standing in front of him.

He just continued reflecting on his feelings about what just happened until he felt a hand reach out and grab his shoulder.

Out of reflex Haru jumped up and grabbed the arm tightly, not knowing who had come over to him. As he began to squeeze he felt no give.

The flesh on the arm didn't move a single millimetre as he squeezed with all his strength. He then looked up to see the same old man he had seen earlier in the day.

"Quite the grip you have there. If I didn't know any better I would think you were trying to tear my arm off." The man chuckled.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You just startled me." Haru said as he let go of the man's arm.

"There's no need. It was my fault for approaching when you were so lost in thought." The old man dismissed his apology and then lowered his arm down to his side.

"So, Do you want to talk about what just happened?" The old man asked Haru.

"You saw that?" Haru asked, surprised by the fact he knew.

"Yeah, I saw the elder of the demon clan rush outside so I went to investigate. We arrived just as that royal brat attacked you. I was going to go and bring it up with the elders but I saw your head in here and I wondered if you wanted to come along?" The old man spoke with sincerity.

"What do you want from me?" Haru asked. He was confused about why the old man had invited him to come along. What motive would he have to bring an eighteen-year-old kid to a meeting with the elders?