As night replaces day, darkness blanketed the sky. Nonetheless, it didn't deter anyone from flooding the city. The streets were busier and the number of people has doubled.

Lights from the building glittered through the night and loud, excited chattering broke the tranquility—not that it was quiet before.

​​

Because the night in Fenhua was something you shouldn't miss, as this was the climax of the excursion; the time where all of the fun happens.

Of course, it's not only the people in the Human Realm who are having fun.

Demons littered the street, mortals unaware of the danger at arm's reach as they mindlessly proceed on with their lives.

Clueless on how many times they've just walked past a murderer, human trafficker, drug pusher, and many more criminals.

And these unlawful individuals are all going in one direction.

"Watch where you're going!" An intimidating-looking man with tattoos covering most of his face and neck rudely exclaimed in outrage at Ethan, who accidentally bumped into him.

But actually, the tattooed man deliberately knocked his shoulder against Ethan's. You can't argue otherwise because the alleyway was wide enough for five people to pass through in a horizontal line.

This man was looking for trouble.

But Ethan didn't want to ruin his date with Lillie with something like this so he apologized. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to appease the man's anger.

"Now hold on just a minute, you rude punk," The tattooed thug heavily grasped Ethan's shoulder to stop him as they started walking past him. "Is this how you apologize sincerely?"

Ethan gave him a side-glance. "Is there a problem?"

"Are you deaf or just stupid? I asked if this is how you apologize to someone?" The thug harshly turned Ethan so he could face him. "You better apologize properly or else..."

Ethan glanced down at the sharp pocket knife the thug drew out from the pocket of his hoodie.

But instead of expecting to see the frightened expression of his target, the thug was met with his cold indifference.

"What do you want?" Ethan felt Lillie's grasp on his hand slightly tighten in a silent message.

She was starting to lose her patience with this fool who thinks he could scare her and Ethan off with their valuables.

The thug—ignorant that he's standing on a thin thread for offending two underworld overlords—has an arrogantly triumphant grin on his ugly mug, assuming Ethan's question was an act of compliance.

"As compensation for almost injuring me, how about you give me all of your valuables?"

Injure?

If anyone else heard him and saw what happened prior, they would look at him funny and think he's losing his mind.

Pal, why don't you just go straight to the point and rob them? Was lying so blatantly even necessary?

"Oh?" The thug trained his eyes on his male target's female companion. Now that he looks at her closely, she was unbelievably pretty!

With the alleyway's dim lighting and her head slightly lowered when she and Ethan were walking down the path, the thug didn't notice her beauty right away.

"What's this? You dare hide such a pretty thing from me?" The thug was inching closer towards Lillie but Ethan was quick to block him from advancing.

"Hey, hey, what's gotten into you, huh? Who do you think you are?"

"Don't touch her."

Suddenly, a dark premonition devoured the thug's senses as soon as those words escaped Ethan's mouth.

The thug flinched and unconsciously took a step back. He almost dropped his pocket knife as his hands trembled.

Cold sweat trailed down from his forehead, his Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he gulped down a lump in his throat.

No. It wasn't the statement that caused the thug's heart to pound rapidly out of his throat and made him feel as if the air in his lungs was getting squeezed out like a lemon by iron hands.

It wasn't just the underlying threat in his target's tone nor the promise of death in his eyes.

But the aura.

This—this sensation!

The thug's eyes widen with trepidation as the suffocating sensation struck a chord.

This man is a Demon!

The thug cursed in his mind.

He's survived long enough in the Underworld to take note of what differs a sheep from a wolf in sheep's clothing—a civilian versus a Demon pretending to be a civilian.

And you could immediately tell the difference by their auras.

He should've known better than to attempt robbery on someone randomly. Particularly during times when there's an Underworld event in the city.

This is bad. He once heard from others that a Demon in incognito has the highest chance of being a big-shot in the Underworld.

Don't tell him he unknowingly stepped on a high-ranking Demon's foot?

He was only looking for a way to get some quick extra cash before he heads towards the underground fighting tournament to try his luck on the betting pool.

But it seems like his luck has run out.

"Hey, you! Stop right there!"

Lillie and Ethan blinked when a flash of green tackled the thug on the ground and pinning him after proceeding to knock the pocket knife out of his hand.

The stranger's back was facing them, but Lillie and Ethan could tell it was a young girl based on her voice and figure.

A young girl wearing a green Soaring Dragon Academy uniform, indicating that she was an Earth-ranked student.

The thug should be glad that this student happens to be patrolling the area.

Whichever deity he prays to saved him from a terrible fate that comes in the form of a vengeful Ethan Li who was about to enact retaliation on the thug for defiling his wife's dignity with his disgusting eyes and words.

"Get off me, you crazy b*tch! I wasn't doing anything!"

"Yeah, yeah, tell that to the police, you hoodlum! I'm not blind, you're clearly trying to rob these people!" The unknown Earth student restrained the thug's arms behind him as she pushed her weight to keep him immobilized.

"Argh!" The thug screamed in pain before passing out.

"Oops, I didn't mean for that to hurt him. But oh well." The Earth student casually shrugged.

"I doubt hitting an extra pressure point to render him unconscious was done purely by accident," Lillie called her out in amusement.

With her detainee now unable to pose a threat on anyone, the Earth student whipped her head to face the two with a surprised look.

"You know about this nerve point combination?" She asked.

When Lillie and Ethan saw the face of their 'savior'—and the thug's guardian angel—they were greeted by a familiar one.

The world is truly small.

Although Fenhua City has hired Soaring Dragon Academy to send out missions for

its students to guard it against thugs like that unconscious tattooed man under her, still, what are the chances for them to stumble across sweet, little Yang Nina in her first mission outside the academy?