Evan's deadly eyes were directed to the man who had golden hair and pair of dragon wings on his back. Hostility was written on the Duke's face which made the golden-haired man smirk. The Duke bald his fist into a clinch.

"It's been 17 years, my old friend," Ayan, the late tyrant king, told to the Duke with a large smile on his face.

The Late king tried to stretch his arms out of the barrier but a great force stopped him which made a crackling sound. The disappointment was written on his face, but it suddenly disappeared when he glances at the large crack in the barrier.

It was the crack that was made by Lucius.

If Ayan wanted to escape, he needed to gain a little power to destroy the barrier that imprisons him completely.

He only had a few months to do that. Fortunately for the previous king, fixing the crack on the barrier needs a lot of time and mana. Evan will have to stay in this place for months to completely fix the barrier.

And months are enough to seize the opportunity of escaping.

Evan decided to ignore Ayan who was observing him. Instead, he immediately started with his task. A white glow appeared in his hands as he touched the invisible mana that divides the Mystical forest from their kingdom.

The Barrier started to seep Evan's mana which almost exhausted him, but despite pouring almost all of his mana to fix the barrier, the crack didn't even budge and it remained large.

Ayan's phoenix eyes observe the cold expression of the Duke.

"How is your daughter?" He suddenly asked with a smirk. "The last time I saw her, she was only 3 years old. What was her name again? Maria Eleonor? Such a beautiful and pure name for a woman. It's ironic that the person who gave her that name wasn't all pure."

Evan's eyes suddenly glowed as he glared at the prisoner inside the 'Mystical Forest', but the fallen golden dragon didn't even budge upon receiving that glare. Ayan sat on a large stone with a mocking smile on his lips.

"I was surprised when you took the responsibility for her child," Ayan told him with a meaningful gaze. "I sent her to assassinate you, but I didn't know that she'll fall for your charm and bed you."

Evan clenched his fist before placing his palm on the barrier. Behind his empty cold eyes were annoyance and irritation.

"That's quite disappointing. It seems like your bloodline will continue for more years thanks to that wh*re."

Unpleasant memories started to flash in Evan's mind which left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"I gave her that drug to assassinate you, but I didn't know that---"

"That's Enough," he told him coldly. "You've become quite talkative, You're annoying."

"Such rudeness, my ex-loyal retainer. I have no one to accompany me, of course, I'd be happy that you actually visited me," Ayan cackled. "It will be more entertaining if you brought me a beautiful woman. It's been a while since I tasted one."

Evan made a disgusted face when the previous king licked the blood in his hands in such a lewd manner. He squinted his eyes at him in annoyance and decided to just ignore what he saw.

Evan had seen something worse than this. When Ayan was still the King, there were times when he unintentionally saw Ayan's lecherous deeds toward many women.

That was when Evan realized that the previous king never had shame.

At those times, the innocent Duke didn't have a choice but to turn his head away to avoid witnessing Ayan's perverted deeds.

But despite doing his best to avoid it, Evan unintentionally learned things that he never wanted to learn from Ayan.

"Now, I have nothing here except for the beasts and monsters that I hunt," His expression suddenly changed as it suddenly became dangerous. "I'm so miserable here, and it is because of you. Why don't we discuss your betrayal, Evan?"

"It was you who betrayed me. I've been overlooking your way of ruling for years but you went overboard when you decided to attack me," Evan replied with a calm but dangerous tone. "You are the cause of your demise."

"HAHAHA, the cause of my own demise is me? I guess you're not wrong about that," Ayan cackled. "However..."

CLANG!

At the speed of light, Ayan who was inside the mystical forest tried to attack the barrier that was separating him from Evan. A corrupted golden light flashed from the barrier in front of the Duke, but it bounced back as soon as it hits the barrier.

"You should've killed me when you had the right chance!" Ayan shouted at the Duke. "You made a huge mistake in keeping me alive."

Evan who wasn't surprised by his attack remained silent while glancing at the large golden wings of Ayan. His wings spread dominatingly as if trying to intimidate the Duke.

"You know that it won't work," Evan told him with an unimpressed reaction.

Ayan suddenly dropped his dragon wings as he change his expression. A sneer appeared on his face as he crossed his arms.

"Ahh, correct, I was only testing the Duke," He said in a playful tone. "Of course, the Duke wasn't a stupid person. But you know, that attack could've made you huge damage if it hits you. Unfortunately, I am inside of this prison."

The Duke clenched his fist when he heard that.

"I don't have time for this anymore, I'm going to leave," Evan coldly turned his back without hesitation.

The Duke calmly took a step away from the barrier when Ayan suddenly spoke.

"How were Riella's children?"

Evan paused.

"Riella... The late marchioness of Velasquez," Evan mumbled to himself.

Evan recalled a pathetic memory.

It was a memory when Ayan threatened a beautiful BRIDE to come with him and be his Queen. That woman refused him without hesitation and married the marquis of Velasquez manor.

"Were they finally found?" Ayan suddenly asked as he glanced at the greyish sky. "Did her daughter grow into a fine woman? I could remember that child. She doesn't have Riella's appearance but she's beautiful. Fortunately, her personality is a lot like her mother's."

Ayan's ferocious eyes returned to Evan when he noticed that the Duke stopped walking. The Previous king continued to speak without minding the Duke's actions.

"If she was not a child at that moment, she'll be a great replacement for her mother," Ayan stated with a smirk. "Ahh, what was her name again? I heard that her damned father named her after my beloved Riella."

Evan's eyes became colder as he glared at the previous king. Wrinkles appeared on his forehead before clenching his fist tightly.

"Was it Gabriella? An angel's name? She must be a grown-up now," Ayan stated with a smirk. "If I am still the King, I could've taken her away."

"It makes me want to see her."

BZZZT! BZZZZT!

The previous king became alert when the barrier started to release some electricity. The smirk on his face disappeared when he saw the expression on Evan's face. Ayan raised his brows anticipating the 'punishment' from the barrier.

"Eclair." The Duke mumbled.

The Duke commanded the sky to punish him.

A series of loud thunders suddenly appeared inside of the greyish sky of the Mystical Forest. A blue lightning suddenly strikes in Ayan's direction. The previous king felt pain as soon as he felt the electricity in his body, but he didn't make a sound as he endures the pain.

Instead, Ayan's ferocious eyes were in Evan's direction. It was observing the Duke's unusual expression as if it is his prey.

He only needs to endure a little more. He will make the Duke pay after he escapes from this prison.

He'll kill them all.

The previous king gritted his teeth in pain which is making him feel weakened. As if facing the tribulation of heaven, Ayan couldn't do anything but to endure in silence.

"Ayan," Evan suddenly stated with a dangerous tone. ""

The shock was written in Ayan's expression.

"What the..."

That was the first time that he heard the Duke cursed.

"HAHAHA! Interesting!"

••••••••••••••

Evan, who had an emotionless expression on his face stared at the falling leaves from a tree. It was almost the end of Autumn and his favorite season of winter was about to start.

Five months after he left his duchy to resolve the problem in the mystical forest.

The crack from the barrier is almost healed. He could finally go home after 2 more days of fixing the barrier.

Evan glanced at the letter in his hand. His emotionless face became soft when he saw the name of the sender, it was Gabriella, daughter of Marquis Antonio Mikhail. The Duke took a deep sigh before pocketing the letter in his pocket.

Strangely, he wanted to go home as soon as possible.

"I wonder who's the sender of that letters?" Evan glanced at Ayan who was observing him inside of the Mystical Forest. "If it's a woman then I'll feel bad for her since you're not replying to her messages."

Evan glared at the late king of Ibanez. For the past few months, Ayan seemed to be acting strange which made Evan raise his guards against him. The Duke knows how cunning the late king is, and he knows that there is something up on his sleeves.

Ayan shrugs his shoulders cockily as he leaned toward the barrier. His ferocious sapphire eyes glowed as he glanced at the stern face of the Duke.

Evan calmly walked towards the barrier when he felt the mana surging inside the barrier of the Mystical Forest. It was Ayan's mana that seemed trying to challenge the barrier surrounding the mystical forest.

"You won't go anywhere," Evan told him with intimidation.

A malicious laugh came out from Ayan's mouth as if looking down at the Duke. "Try to stop me. Let's who will win," Ayan stated.

For the past five months, the late king was able to cultivate his mana by gathering the mana that he can seep outside of the Mystical forest. The Late King was smart enough to take advantage of the crack that was made by Lucius to cultivate.

Because of that crack of the barrier one-fourth of his mana was finally restored.

Ayan wasn't as strong as he is when he was still the king, but the mana that he gathered outside of the forest to cultivate is enough for him to create a larger crack in the barrier and escape.

According to the novel of 'You Shall Pay', none of it wasn't supposed to happen.

Evan's jeweled eyes glowed as he gathered mana in his hands.

He had seen this coming, and he is ready to stop Ayan from escaping. The only reason why tried to mend the barrier is to slow the cultivation of Ayan inside the forest.

His real mission was not to fix the barrier but to stop the late king from escaping.

"Let's end it here," Ayan mumbled.

•••••••••••