“AND THIS IS WHY YOUR MOM NEVER FUCKING LOVED YOU!” I shouted back, and the entire mansion seemingly went silent.

I could see Orion at the end of the hall, slowly lifting his head up; his eyes were seemingly lifeless- no, soulless.

There was not a single ego, personality, or thing behind those eyes… and they were so creepy that everybody present felt a chill get sent down their spine.

“Hey? Did I hear that right?”

His voice was chilling and cold, almost as soulless as the space behind his eyes.

An innate fear like prey seeing a predator for the first time filled everybody’s as Orion’s eyes glowed a dim dark red and dark purple glow.

His body was wrapped in a shadowy silhouette like the dark side of the moon, something creepy and unnerving.

“Orion! It was just a joke! She was just joking around!” Cy shouted from behind me, but it looked like he couldn’t even hear us.

VWOOM

The entire hallway was covered in a dark red light with illusions of blood dripping down the walls, and the sound of weapons clashing rung in the back of my mind.

All of a sudden, a hand was placed on my shoulder, yet I dared not to turn my head.

“Hey… Did I hear what you said correctly? That my mother never loved me?” A cold voice whispered directly into my ear.

A pale head placed their chin on my shoulder, and as they slowly turned to face me, a pair of soulless greeted me, sending another chill down my spine.

My body shook from the terror of the potential future events flashing through my mind.

BAM

And just like I thought, a fist collided with my back, sending me flying across the room, everybody else present unable to even step in.

No, the thought of stepping in and saving me was just a suicidal thought, so it never streaked across their mind.

It was never an option for them.

Suddenly, his eyes became blacked out, and his fist distorted into that of a demonic claw erupting from the restraints of its skin-like clothing.

“Shit!” I cried out before rolling to the side and then scrolling through my status.

My only runic skill appeared in front of me, the one that I used to suppress the demon king that had taken over his body before.

Leisure Supression

All of a sudden, a black goo hotter than lava rolled off my skin before latching onto the boy in front of me like it was a sentient being in itself.

The black goo entered through the boy’s mouth, nose, ears, and even eyes, completely tearing up the demonic power slowly welling up from within him.

“Huff… huff…. Huff… Is… Is that it?” I muttered to myself as everything quickly returned back to normal.

The color of the hallway, Orion’s form, and the state of my friends who all dropped to their knees with the servants beside them fainting from exhaustion.

“ARGHHHHHHHH!” I cried out as the goo soon left the boy’s body and crawled back onto my own arm, eating away at my skin and flesh.

If this continued for even more than a few more seconds, my entire arm would disappear completely.

But suddenly, the sound of a beating heart came from in front of me, and Orion, who I thought was unconscious, reached out his hand towards me.

It was covered in a blood-red aura, and it helped to remove the goo, which dissipated into nothing upon being completely wrapped in air.

“*sigh*… Fuck,” Orion muttered before the aura retreated into his body, and he slowly walked away, nobody daring to stop him.

“H-Hey… A-Are you okay?” I asked, but there was no response from the boy who disappeared into the hall.

…

(Orion POV)

How could I lose myself to provocation…? What am I? A child?

As I lay in the large shower, a stream of blood shifted into the drain, but this blood wasn’t coming from my torn nose or scratched chin… but the back of my head, which I continuously bashed against the white tile below me.

“Kekekeke…. Hahahaha…. Seems the stress is really getting to me… I’ve fallen so far from grace. It’s almost like my mind has also reverted into that of a child… so… so… so… stupid,” I muttered, the wound on the back of my head gradually growing bigger.

There is a limit to the human mind, and stress isn’t the only factor that could make somebody have a mental breakdown.

You can plan and plan and plan inside your mind, but eventually, you’ll reach your storage capacity, and planning past that capacity will melt away at the walls of your mind.

At that time, I didn’t realize how important a break actually was.

…

“Ugh… Where am I?” I muttered as I slowly sat up from the soft, what seemed to be infirmary bed below me.

Well, I guess that answers my question.

I chuckled a bit as my guard was at its lowest, and I felt like I could actually relax for some reason.

“The amount of stress you had was impressive. Plus, being so lean sapped away most of your energy, so I recommend continuing working out but not limiting your calories. You’ve been getting the proper nutrition but just haven’t been eating enough fuel… do you intake any coffee?”

As I slowly turned my head, I saw the same professional doctor that worked on the Wony head and also helped out Aisa when she had mana sickness.

“Sometimes, but I don’t really need it,”

“Hmmm… Well, that’s decent, I guess. But the thing I was most worried about was the wound on the back of your head. I heard you slammed against the wall of the mansion, but your body is too tough for that to actually happen… unless something of equal force to your body was hitting it against something,”

Is that how it works… funny… so I can actually severely hurt myself if I try.

“So, what happened? We found you laying in the servant bathhouse with a stream of blood pouring from the back of your head,”

“I dunno,”