- His Fear -

The uninvited person was a gigantic eel who Charlotte, Khun, Rak and Hockney encountered when they first entered the Hidden Floor.

When the eel arrived swimming on the water, it launched an attack first, declaring a fight against them. And his attack was launched at Charlotte and Noah.

"Charlotte!" Bam shouted to warn her.

Charlotte accepted his challenge and extended her empty hand.

"[Time- Manipulation] --"

Before she could use the [Time- Manipulation], Noah had woken up after sensing the threat and released her hand. The feeling that she was no longer holding his hand made her turned around and looked at him. And when she did that, Noah had already carried her and leapt away to dodge that attack.

It seriously surprised Charlotte when she realized what Noah had been doing. When the attack was launched towards them, Noah carried her with both of his arms and dodged it. She was unscathed and there was no need for her to waste her energy on reversing the time in order to block that attack.

"Are you okay?" Noah asked. He was trying to stay calm, but honestly, he was annoyed.

The dazed Charlotte could only nod her head.

'What the hell is that guy doing with my sister? Why is he carrying her in that way?' Bam questioned Noah's motive. He thought that from all the brothers within the group, Noah should be able to understand his feeling whenever he saw another guy approaching his "naive" and "little" sister. But what the heck was this?

Kiseia couldn't believe her own eyes.

'Who the hell is stupid enough... to consider a monster like that their sworn enemy?'

The eel was not giving them any breaks. As soon as his large tail failed to get rid of Noah and Charlotte despite the two of them were not his sworn enemies, it roared and targeted both Kiseia and Bam.

"Watch out!"

'I have to finish this soon!' Bam thought as he concentrated himself. With the thorn, the orb shinsu had changed into red.

[Orb- Rapid Fire Shinsu Canon]

It worked. The eel failed in harming them thanks to him. And Kiseia was amazed by it. Just like the brown- haired girl who threatened her, aside from their appearances that resembled each other, they also shared the same dangerous potentials and strengths.

'The two of them don't seem like they're from the 10 Great Families. Who are they?'

'It's okay. It feels like-- this power's so enormous that it's overwhelming for me to even be near with it. But something inside me is controlling it right now. Maybe I'll be able to control... everything in this place right now.'

[Orb- Spatial Control]

His power was definitely dangerous. Although the eel had tough skin that protected him from all physical attacks, but there was no perfect armor in this tower. If it kept receiving the same and powerful attack from Bam, the armor would be destroyed in the matter of time.

"I don't know who you came here to attack... but stop it now," Bam spoke with a rather friendly and calm smile. "There is nothing you can do here."

The eel knew its own limits. It wasn't an ordinary creature without intelligent. And so, his best choice was of course to follow the order of the stronger one according to the law of jungle. Only those who knew their limits and knew which battlefield worth sacrificing his everything could prevail.

And in this battle, it would be stupid to give his everything for a clear defeat.

'... I can feel it,' Bam thought with his eyes closed. 'My power keeps growing... with this power... could I defeat Zahard's data?'

Noah put Charlotte down on the floor and allowed her to stand. She was still dazed from his actions before, but she still knew how to thank him for saving her.

"Thank you," she said.

Noah maintained his calm expression and nodded his head. He didn't say anything else.

The two of them turned their heads around and looked at the brown- haired youngster with his red orb. He was still concentrating on his power that kept increasing steadily.

Charlotte saw her brother from distance before she ran towards him suddenly with a solemn expression.

"Charlotte--!"

Noah was aware that Charlotte knew that Bam was concentrating right now. And it would have been the best for them not to disturb him. So, he was surprised to see Charlotte running towards Bam's direction. Was she trying to disturb his training?

No.

There was no way in hell she would do that. She was so happy to see her brother improving himself each day for the sake of his own safety and protection. She wouldn't disturb her brother's training and won't allow anyone to disturb or harm him.

She had expected a data to launch an attack. Therefore, she ran as fast as she could. And while running, she extended her right hand and opened her right palm.

"Return!"

Her white fan that was lying on the ground waiting to be summoned heed her command and flew towards her direction. She caught the fan and jumped high on the air. Right when she was on the air, she opened her fan and swung it.

"Destroy!"

She swung her fan and created powerful shinsu slash that cut through the shinsu attack and destroyed the attack. She purposely jumped high on the air to determine her angle better. She didn't want to injure her brother even a strand of his hair.

She landed in front of him, ready to fight.

Bam was surprised to see Charlotte suddenly launching an attack. When his golden eyes noticed someone's presence from distance, he understood immediately that his sister was protecting him.

"[Orb]!"

Before his sworn enemy could get any closer, he immediately launched an attack to stop him.

[Endless Sky]

The attack cut through the ground in front of Jue Viole Grace, preventing him from flying closer with his [Blue Oar] if he still wanted to stay alive.

"Go back now," he spoke towards Jue Viole Grace. "Any more fighting would be pointless. You will never be able to beat me."

Jue Viole Grace remained silent after hearing his words.

From the moment he had been generated by the Hidden Floor to be his sworn enemy, he had been chasing him and attacking him. His main purpose was to fight him as that was how a sworn enemy should behave. But Bam was different. Perhaps because Jue Viole Grace was him, was his past, he was unwilling to fight him.

He only defended himself against him and even saved him several times. The unwillingness to fight him was clear.

Jue Viole Grace only wanted to fight against Bam like how a sworn enemy should be. But never once he intended to harm the girl next to him. She was not his target, and won't be his target. But he only looked at her without saying any other word, because he knew that if he keeps thinking about her, then he may be losing the will to fight against them. They were enemies right now, not siblings. And she was not Nox.

He looked again at Bam.

"... why won't you kill me?"

"... what?"

"A sworn enemy is someone dread in your heart. And you summoned yourself," he spoke. "Why won't you kill me? It would be better to fight and kill me. Because that's the reason you summoned me as your sworn enemy."

"........I........"

Before Bam could answer the question, someone else had answered the question.

"Isn't it natural for Bam to want to kill you?"

"Khun!"

There was a clear hint of happiness when Charlotte called his name.

Khun Aguero Agnes and Rak Wraithraiser came to finish their unfinished fight against Jue Viole Grace.

Jue Viole Grace dodged his ice spear again. And the ice spear that Khun thrown had summoned ices on the ground before returning to his hand once more.

After looking at Khun, Viole glanced at Charlotte for a moment.

'She sounded really happy... calling someone who wants to kill me.'

"Neither Bam or us like seeing Bam looking like that," Khun spoke calmly as if his words were not painful, as if facts were always comforting. "Not even Charlotte wants to see him dressing like that."

Hearing him mentioning the name "Charlotte", Viole's attention was on Khun now.

"You're fake. You're just a slayer candidate created by FUG at their will... who's different from Bam's real appearance, power and behavior," Khun continued his explanation. And the more he thought about this matter, the more he was annoyed about FUG.

Viole snapped.

His words succeeded in provoking him, because right now, Viole really wanted to injure someone who was supposed to be his best friend.

"Khun! Rak!" Charlotte ran towards them.

He ran towards them and swung his fists towards Rak.

If this was before, then Rak would be send flying away. But after eating so many rocks and his arms had been covered by rocks, his defense had increased and by crossing his arms, he could block Viole's merciless attacks that were filled with rage.

He could not accept Khun's words. Not even the slightest. He could not endure it.

"NOX AND I... WE FOUGHT ALONE IN ORDER TO PROTECT YOU ALL! YOU DON'T KNOW! HOW LONELY AND HARD IT WAS FOR US TO BE IN FUG!"

Their communication was limited. In order to produce two powerful slayer candidates, they could only meet each other once a month for only an hour. It was never enough for them to express their sadness, yearning and desire to be free. All the FUG cared was the two of them to behave like puppets, living according to their will, and practice, practice, and practice. They needed powerful slayer candidates who could be manipulated, not two happy irregulars.

When Hansung once took him to watch his sister, he had seen it with his own eyes. After the intense training that she went through, she was badly wounded and injured. And in the secluded place, she could only rely on her self- recovery and herself to recover.

"You don't want her to get hurt, don't you? Then prove yourself to be worth. Only in that way, she could survive."

Khun and the others were not only the hostages that FUG had to control the two of them. Bam was also Charlotte's weakness, just like Charlotte was also Bam's weakness. Whenever they started to lose the will to obey them, the will to train themselves harder, then they would be taken to see each other's condition. It was because FUG knew that the two of them were too selfless, were too caring for each other. They won't abandon each other.

"We'll always be together."

"BROTHER!"

Charlotte leapt forward, dropping her fan on the ground.

She opened both of her arms. But she never intended to hurt him.

She had to open both of her arms in order to hug him, pulling him to her embrace from behind.

Jue Viole Grace was shocked.

"LOTUS TURTLE!"

"CHARLOTTE!"

Khun couldn't believe this girl! She straightforwardly jumped towards her enemy and hugged him tightly.

'What for?'

"Ah....."

Khun should have realized it sooner. After all, Jue Viole Grace used to be someone who accompanied her surviving through hell in FUG, not him.

"Charlotte......?"

Charlotte hugged him tightly. When he looked at her expression, her eyes were closed and her eyebrows frowned. She bit the bottom of her lips.

She looked sad, tormented. And it saddened him as well.

He should have stayed away from her. If he wanted to fight, then he should have really thought her as his enemy. But he could not lay a finger on her.

Because this girl was so important for him.

"Don't fight again...."

Viole's hostility was starting to disappear. The rage inside him was replaced with sadness as he stopped.

She stopped him not only to protect Khun and Rak. But because she knew that they were the reason for them to fight through hell and darkness. She knew that Jue Viole Grace and Bam would never want to fight against Khun and Rak. Let alone killing them.

But after his words saying that he didn't want to see Jue Viole Grace and Nox around, how could he endure it? He disregarded their efforts and forgotten that they were both Bam and Charlotte.

Their personalities, power and behavior may be different, but their hearts and reasons to fight were always the same. If it wasn't for their friends, why would they be there?

He pulled her hands away from his waist. She was startled and looked at him right on the eyes.

The Jue Viole Grace who had attacked Khun and Rak mercilessly, the Jue Viole Grace who showed no emotions during the fight until Khun provoked him, smiled gently and bitterly towards his younger sister.

He put his hand on her head.

He wanted to comfort her at this moment. He wanted to assure her that everything would go fine. But it would be a lie to say that everything would go fine if he was already broken from inside.

"You're not... simply a copy of me."

Viole raised his head and looked at Bam. Charlotte turned her head around and looked at him as he spoke in earnest.

"You're not the ordinary me. You're the me from back then I was alone at FUG... lonely... the sworn enemy that I really feared... was becoming the 'lonely me'."

Why did he try hard to pursue Rachel? It was because he never wanted to be alone.

Why did he try hard to escape from the cave? It was because he wanted to be free.

He didn't want to be alone, and it was his fear to live in a trapped place with nobody else to accompany him.

And Jue Viole Grace was the embodiment of his loneliness.

Therefore, he was his sworn enemy. It was not because he hated Jue Viole Grace, but he feared the loneliness that he experienced as Jue Viole Grace.

But right now, he was standing in front of his fear.

"You're... the lonely version of myself that I've always been afraid of. You're the substantiation of that. Isn't that right?"

Jue Viole Grace was startled. It was the truth indeed. All he remembered when being Jue Viole Grace was the loneliness and the pain that FUG gave to him.

He was never happy when he was living as Jue Viole Grace. Within the 7 years in FUG, there was only one person who saw him as who he was, and that person was Charlotte.

Jue Viole Grace looked at the young girl in bitterness. FUG was too greedy. After all, they just needed one person to be the slayer candidate. And that person was supposed to be the one in prophecy, the one who was born with the destiny to slay the king of this tower, not an innocent child whose soul ended up in the tower and merged with the body of a puppet, becoming a whole new person.

FUG was too greedy. So, they kidnapped the two of them.

FUG was too cunning. So, they used one to torment the others.

FUG was blind, for they knew how painful it was for them, yet they showed no care for him. Among thousands of people with FUG, only one or two people fought for their freedom.

And they also have to rely themselves and each other to survive.

'Charlotte.... whenever you are in that state.....'

The state where he thought that she wouldn't be able to wake up, the state where her body was filled with bruises, the state where her blood was flowing and dripping on the ground, the state where her eyes were wet and red by tears, and her golden eyes dimmed in desperation and depression, it seriously saddened him. Until now, it had became one of his nightmares.

But it was nice. It was nice to know that now, she was no longer alone. She was no longer tormented. Those eyes had found their light once again and her heart never changed. Her heart was still the same. She was still the same Charlotte who fought and argued against everyone just for him.

'I'm relieved....'

Bam extended his hand towards the sworn enemy. Honestly, the two of them were different and similar in many ways, just like how they cared and worried for the reckless brown- haired girl. Therefore, he didn't want to fight him. He was not only his past or fear, but the part of him.

"Now... go back... to the place where you should be."

'That's right... maybe--'

"To be honest... I've always been afraid of you...."

'The one who has always been by my side when I was lonely---'

"But never once have I thought that you should be left alone."

'Was myself--'

"Let's stay together. Again."

There was nothing more touching than sincere and honest words.

Again, he glanced at Charlotte. His expression, with that gentle smile, he knew that he was asking for her opinion. He was asking if he could be trusted and if she really wanted him to stop right here and now. If she agrees, then he would disappear without hesitation.

Her answer would determine it all. After all, she was both Charlotte and.......Nox.

Nox, she was the night and shadow that would always follow him. Therefore, she understood his pain the best and understood him very well. And for that reason, he trusted her. Therefore, he asked this question with a warm smile on his face. And she was lost in words due to the changes that she had not expected.

'Is it because I entered the tower? Is it because of my presence....... that everyone... doesn't seem to behave in the way they're supposed to be.'

Jue Viole Grace should not be this warm and gentle towards her. He was supposed to be the emo kind of guy who didn't speak a lot unless it was necessary.

She frowned and felt that this was a little troublesome. It was the sincerity given towards someone who had foreseen his pain yet did nothing to prevent it that made her felt troublesome and disturbed.

'But... after all, this question is asked with pure sincerity and faith... how could I possibly ignore it? Or take advantage of it?'

"I......" she clenched her right fist. As she spoke, she put her right fist on her chest and looked at Jue Viole Grace in truthfulness, "... I just wished for you to be able to be free... and for you not to be lonely again."

'You have lived according others' wishes and orders for so long... that you were always in a solemn and pained expression back then. You desired to be free and to not be lonely again after being betrayed all over again.'

'I do not wish to take advantage of his sincerity. I wish that he could make the decisions of his own. Because both Jue Viole Grace and the 25th Bam... have the right to claim their freedom and make their own decisions. It is something that FUG should have realized sooner and how FUG should have acted when they know they need something from brother. He deserves his rights and respect from those who wants to use him.'

"So this question... you should answer it by yourself."