“Nice lie, Himeko.” The man shook his head. “Seriously, the extent to which you misguided people would…would…”

“Go on,” said Gaius. “I heard you wanted a duel, no?”

The man jumped and turned to face the boy. Disbelief flickered through his face, and he turned back jerkily to look at the other Knights, who were in various states of proclaiming their innocence.

“Y-you’re real?”

“Your words disclaiming my existence devalues the sacrifice the Knights of Eo-Seu made.” Gaius felt a small flame flicker to life in the pit of his stomach. “Your claim that the Plenum just gave up Eo-Seu…I was there when I saw them lay down their lives to save the civilians.”

The Terminus appeared in his hands, and the boy fixed a cold stare on the man in front of him. Gaius didn’t know who he was, but he didn’t care for that either. All he cared about, right now, was that he had tried to negate the existence and sacrifice of the fallen at Eo-Seu.

“You’re just someone the Plenum placed on a false pedestal,” said the man, his teeth gritted. “These stories are just lies. You’re no Knight. Just a mascot whose very existence is to uphold false heroes to inspire the indolent masses to kill themselves! The Plenum should just give this Feng-Lang to the Lifespring, and stop wasting the people’s lives!”

“And you’re here to persuade the selfless people here to follow your example?” Gaius narrowed his eyes. “Who are you to even make such a bold claim? No, I don’t need to know your name. It’s a stain on this nation’s history.”

“You’re just a brainwashed child working for those Plenum dogs.” The man drew a curved blade. “I’ll beat you, and show the others that the Paragons have been lying to us the entire time.”

“Self-righteous fool,” Gaius answered. “Or are you a profiteer, hoping to charge exorbitant fees from the refugees of Feng-Lang? Either way…you’re no hero. You wanted a duel, no?”

Gaius nodded at the others. “Will there be a problem for you guys?”

“No,” said Himeko. “He won’t be missed, even if you kill him.”

“Kill him?” Gaius tilted his chin. “No. He’s not worthy of that. He’ll just be a martyr for the other traitors rioting in Mi-Zu.”

“Me, a traitor?” The man pointed the middle finger at Gaius. “I’ll wake you up, and then you’ll see who the real traitors are!”

“Bring it, you backstabbing fool.”

Energy gushed out of Gaius, forming a thick bubble around him, as well as a blade of invisible qi. On the other side, the man had taken out a shield, his scimitar raised above his shoulder.

The two locked eyes, but before they could move, a formless pressure had fallen all around the place. It was something that Gaius could now break through, but it came from a Paragon — someone that Gaius didn’t want to offend without reason.

“What’s going on here?” Paragon Ying Xin spoke. “Why are the two of you ready to kill each other?”

“Humph.” The man pointed the scimitar at Gaius. “Of course a Paragon intervenes at this time. Can’t have their cover blown, right?”

“What insanity are you up to know, Kyouran?” The Paragon frowned. “Saito, one of yours is acting up again.”

Paragon Saito walked over. “What is it now, Kyouran?”

“This whole thing is a lie centred around this kid, right?” The man snorted. “Or are you going to stop me from revealing this truth?”

“What stupid theory have you come up with now?” The Paragon held his head. “You keep falling in with the bad crowds. Fine, whatever. Gaius, go beat him up until he forgets about whatever he’s thinking about. I won’t hold a grudge against you for this.”

“With pleasure.” Gaius fixed his eyes on the man. “Let’s go.”

“On the count of three, then.” Paragon Ying Xin was clearly uninterested. “One, two, three.”

The pressure abated, but Gaius had long readied his Blink. His vision shifted to a close up of his opponent, who took a few steps back, and after sparing a single second to dramatically drop the Terminus in his hand onto the ground, his right arm snaked out and struck at his opponent’s wrist.

His left fist shot outwards as a scimitar dropped onto the ground. The ground shook as it landed on the man’s stomach, eliciting a satisfying grunt from his opponent. Gaius swept his left leg outwards, lowering himself just enough to dodge a haphazard punch from his panicking foe.

The man fell backwards, landing on his bum, but Gaius didn’t give him a chance to breath. With a smooth motion, he circled to the man’s left flank, and aimed a casual kick at his sides. His foe’s body rolled and tumbled onto the ground, leaving a long trail of slightly cleaner ground in its wake. Gaius looked at the sight impassively, before walking over slowly.

He wasn’t here to just beat someone up. Fear was a weapon sharper than many others, and he’d learnt enough back on Earth to use it on someone. The requirements were simple — you just needed to establish dominance. Casual movements fulfilled this need perfectly. Like a cat, toying with prey needed slow actions that seemed effortless.

Twenty so metres away, the man had gotten up from his prone position slowly. His eyes widened as Gaius continued to draw closer slowly, and the boy found himself relishing in the fear he could see in them. The man’s chest heaved madly, his hands fumbling around in his pockets for a few seconds before withdrawing a small knife that he held in front of his body.

It was, all things considered, a rather bad way to hold a knife.

Gaius didn’t even spare the weapon a glance. He grinned mirthlessly, continuing on his steady, regular pace, his eyes still fixed on the man’s hate-inducing face.

“S-stay away!” He took a step back, and another. At such a distance, Gaius could see a semblance of insanity appear in his face. It was nice to see it, although Gaius didn’t dignify his words with some of his own. With the smile still on his face, the boy continued walking over to the man.

“Stop walking! S-stop walking!” His wails echoed in the night, and in his frenzy, the man tripped over something and fell on his back. It was something right out of a cliché back on Earth, but Gaius didn’t know that it was possible to actually do it for real on Orb.

Paragon Ying Xin flew over and raised her hand. “Enough, Gaius. He’s nearly gone insane from your approach.”

The boy considered her words for a moment, and then ended his slow approach towards the trembling man on the floor.

“Y-you’re not human! Y-you’re a demon. A demon!”

“Enough of your insults.” The man’s body seized up as Paragon Saito clenched his fist. The body floated into the air as the Paragon walked over to Gaius, his head bowed in apology. “I apologise for this fool’s actions, and thank you for your mercy.”

Gaius glanced at the pale-faced man. “He better not insult the fallen at Eo-Seu again.”

“Definitely.” The Paragon turned to Ying Xin. “I’ll take my leave first. As for the other issues, I’ll settle it for you.”

He glanced at Gaius, before flying upwards, the man floating after him obediently.