A Past Enemy, Alan Lawson

The mood within the Golden Hall was quite a solemn one, one that could even be called bone-chilling as odd winds blew into the compound, sweeping across the bodies of each guest and employee as if trying to freeze their souls. This eerie phenomenon was by no means normal as, despite its vagueness, those who felt it began to tremble in alarm.

“It’s freezing. Just what the heck is going on? Did someone turn up the AC?” one guest said.

“Turn that shit down! Can’t you see we are eating?” another complained to a server who ran off in a flurry.

While more people started a commotion, the staff became perplexed. They tried to assess the situation but couldn’t find the source of the issue no matter what they did.

Amidst this situation, a middle-aged man who wore a yellow suit with a hat shrouding the upper part of his face sat in silence at the corner. He had a chiseled face, sharp eyes, with neck-long hair of a dark hue.

Currently, he had a cup of tea raised to his lips, drinking it calmly, but as if he sensed something, he placed down the cup, tilting his head to look at Evan with eyes that seemed almost piercing.

“This feeling … Heh, such an interesting boy,” he muttered with a peculiar glint in his eyes before focusing onto the other party, a frown forming on his face.

“Manager, should I take action?” a voice said from nearby as an employee of the Golden Hall walked over humbly.

The man in yellow waved his hand, rising from his seat slowly as he spoke, “No, I’ll handle this one. Besides, I’ve been idling in this hall long enough since I returned. It’s about time I go and see my main guest.”

“As you wish,” the employee said with a bow as he excused himself, leaving behind the man in yellow who slowly made his way towards Evan and the others.

By now, everything had returned to normal, bringing an end to the flurry. Evan had already returned to normal, the icy glint in his eyes dying down as he looked at the newcomers in front of him calmly.

Most wouldn’t understand, but the unusual occurrence was a phenomenon called Battle Intention. It is an instinct learned over time by those who’ve fought on a battlefield for many years, acquiring a rich amount of bloodlust.

During the years following the apocalypse, few managed to grasp it, but most were formerly specialized forces and trained soldiers. Of course, Evan, the last survivor of humankind, had naturally compared it.

That wasn’t good. I subconsciously released my Battle Intent; I should be a bit more careful. There shouldn’t be anyone capable of properly resisting it without awakening. Plus, this guy isn’t worth me losing my cool, he inwardly said as he calmed his mood.

Nearby, he saw that Joe and Emily had slightly disoriented looks, unable to understand the former chill that ran through their bodies. He then looked at the group in front, noticing that even the intruders were a bit startled.

One was a handsome youth around his age. He had a side-parted hairstyle with a head full of glistening white hair, as if dyed that way. He currently wore top-class branded clothing with a mark of “K” embellished on their surface.

Naturally, this young man was Micheal Keller, an upstanding youth from the renowned Dawn Star Empire’s Keller Aristocrats. Standing at his sides were his lackeys, normally classy individuals, but at this moment, they were unable to show such decorum.

“Holy hell, did you guys feel that?”

“Yeah, that shit was crazy!”

Listening to his companions speak, Micheal, who had a bit of sweat rolling down his forehead, had a sour look on his face, even more so as he saw how Evan was looking at him with calm eyes, as if mocking him.

“You guys, shut the hell up! Can’t you see you’re embarrassing yourselves? What’s there to fear about slightly chilly wind?” he shouted at the flustered bunch.

“S…sorry, Micheal,” one of the lackeys said a bit awkwardly.

Evan looked at the bunch with a calm expression, noting Micheal’s manner. He pondered, He’s affected, but not by much. It seems he’s been through training since his beating, heh … so this was also a part of the reason he grew to such heights in my former life.

After Micheal addressed his cronies, he looked at Evan deeply as he spoke, “Evan, why are you so surprised that I’m here? Of course, someone of my standing would come here. The real question is why rapist garbage like you can show up in these halls, heh? Not only that, but you’ve left prison quite early. No wonder that fatty didn’t show up at any recent outings. He was busy trying to free your ass.”

As everyone had heard those words, they looked on in interest, forgetting the former scene. Many looked on with mocking expressions while others showed indifference.

Joe, who had finally calmed himself down, glared at Micheal. Even Emily glared at him as she stood behind her brother, vividly recalling his former attempted rape.

“Micheal, you sleazy shit, do you think that you can show up and say—” he cursed, but before he could even finish his words, Evan glanced at him and tapped his shoulder, causing him to halt.

“Joe, Emily, don’t be bothered by him. We don’t have time to waste here. Getting food is more important.”

Joe was a bit surprised, but he soon laughed with one hand scratching the back of his head as he replied, “Haha. I guess you’re right, Evan!”

“Y … yes, I’m hungry as well, and I … I don’t want to talk to him,” Emily said as she felt nervous because of Micheal’s presence.

Their group wanted to bypass Micheal’s party, ignoring him entirely, but as if the other side didn’t like this, another disturbance soon came.

“Joe Goldsmith! You’re quite outrageous. How dare you blatantly ignore an aristocrat such as Micheal?” a pointed-nosed youth said as he stepped forward, barring their path.

Joe and Emily felt a bit tense as this youth had a firm build, from his manner .He even had a bit of history with them, mostly Joe based on how his eyes were glaring down on him specifically.

Despite his mature nature, Evan frowned at this. He really couldn’t be bothered with small fries, especially now that he came back to the past. His attention was on much bigger issues to come soon.

Just as he thought to use a bit of force to teach them a lesson, Joe, who was a bit tense, bit his lips as he felt Emily’s trembling palm grasp his shirt corner. With a fire in his eyes, he jumped forward, shouting in a rage, “Micheal, get your little pet Jake away from me right now. Otherwise, I’ll be speaking to the Public Security Department.”

“Joe, you,” Jake said in an angered tone as if preparing to act, but Micheal soon waved his hand, stopping him in his tracks with a glare as he spoke, “Jake, you better get that manner of yours in check, don’t go making me look bad.”

“I … I’m sorry, please excuse my manner,” Jake said in a humble tone, bowing slightly.

Micheal didn’t continue to pay him any attention. He turned his sights onto Joe, Evan, and Emily, his eyes running over each of them, staying on Emily for a short while as he made a refined smile and spoke, “Oh, so touching, I guess the saying holds true. birds of a feather do indeed flock together. The fallen honor student fresh out of jail and the young lord of the prestigious yet now deprived Goldsmith family. I know you’re both looking for a place to celebrate, but it’s a pity that you won’t find any. Don’t think about entering any top-tier restaurants in the future, for they’ll be no different from the treatment here.”

Joe looked at Micheal with a scornful expression as he scoffed, “Micheal, only a bastard like you would have so much time to waste. Tell me, what were you expecting? Did you think that we’d come crawling to you? A piece of garbage that can’t even own up to his own dirty inner desires against my adorable sister!”

“Joe Goldsmith!” Jake said with rage as if feeling even more anger than his master; even the other cronies had an outburst.

A heavy tension formed as the audience watched the following scenes with curiosity. Micheal merely waved his arm, calming them down. He then looked at Joe and Evan before fixing his eyes on Emily with his lips curving upwards.

“Joe, save your breath. You can’t offend me. I’ll say, though, that despite having a tub of lard for your family’s heir, it indeed knows how to breed fine women. Tell you what, I’m still a reasonable fellow. If you can convince Emily to keep my company, I shall let bygones be bygones. What do you think, huh?”

The crowd looked on with interest as Emily’s face shrunk upon hearing his words. She took a few steps back, hiding behind Joe’s and Evan’s backs.

Joe’s face turned ugly. His eyes gleamed with sharpness as if he were ready to kill on sight. Evan, on the other hand, remained cool-headed. He was getting tired of this nonsense. He muttered, “So this was what he was aiming for. Tsk, as sleazy as always.”

Following his words, he tapped his shoulder and spoke, “Joe, no need to get angry. No matter how refined, the filth will always be filth. There’s no need to waste words or lose your cool over it.”

Joe felt a lot better hearing this. He turned to Emily and comforted, “Emmy, even if he and you were the last humans on Earth, I’d find my way back from hell to prevent any encounters between you two. Hmph! That bastard is even worse than a toad lusting for swan meat. If he had his way, it would be no different from a pig shitting on gold.”

Emily nodded at this as their group moved again. Micheal, on the other hand, no matter how refined he was on the surface, was unable to take both Evan’s and Joe’s retort in silence. His face twitched as veins appeared on his forehead, his manner akin to a gloomy devil as he glared at Evan and Joe.

“You two … do you really think that I can’t do anything to you? You’d best believe that if I wanted, I could easily make you both suffer a thousand times harder than now, especially you, Evan, you orphaned piece of shit. You worked your mouth in prison, so now you feel that you can mouth off to me. I can easily send trash like you back to jail, just as easy as I can suppress Joe Goldsmith … all at the turn of my hand.”

Evan, the primary target of Micheal’s retort, didn’t even squint at his words. The look he gave Micheal made him feel uncomfortable. It was a look not from someone of their age group, but an experienced man who’s seen the world, a pitiful look as if he were staring at a teenage child.

Joe, having found his ground, no longer seemed to mind these words. He merely looked at Micheal as he mocked, “Haha, you want to send Evan back to jail. What’s his crime? I’ll have you know that after extensive efforts on my part, you won’t be able to pull off another such feat, or at the very least, not without your father’s help. As for my family, I do not believe that your Keller influences won’t suffer setbacks. Everything in business stays in business. It isn’t so easy to get what you want. Evan, Emmy, let’s leave.”

He grabbed Emily’s hand and pulled her towards the outside with those words said. Evan chuckled at this as he followed behind, the entire scene looking strange as if a bunch of adults was passing trouble-making children.

A few people couldn’t help but laugh at the result, even more so at how Micheal’s cronies stood with their arms hung down and faces bedazzled.

“Indeed, we’ve wasted enough time here. Let’s go,” Evan said as he promptly followed.

Micheal was wholly enraged. He didn’t choose to act as he knew from his former beating that he was no match for Evan, even after training. He glanced at his lackeys who were previously restraining themselves and nodded.

Given the go-ahead, Jake made a savage look as he took charge with the lackeys, heading towards Evan and Joe as they shouted.

“You think you can leave just like this? Get the hell down!”

The manner now shown was explosive and fierce as if they were dormant volcanos erupting. The audience watched in excitement as it’s rare to see fist action in such a classy area of modern society.

But despite this, a few couldn’t help but sip tea while muttering with mock, “Haha, so these punks are going at it. How silly to take such actions in the Golden Hall.”

“Indeed, it’s like they’ve forgotten who owned this place, oh … speak of the devil,” another person said as he hinted towards the man in yellow who calmly walked in the direction of the scene.

Joe and Emily were surprised. They didn’t think Micheal would allow his men to take such actions directly in such a setting. They shivered slightly as both had no idea of how to fight. As for Evan, he merely looked at the approaching men with a sharp glint in his eyes.

How annoying, I have yet to pay this fellow back for those times, and quite frankly, I’d rather focus on more pressing affairs, but here he is swaggering in front of my face. So troublesome.

He thought as he observed the lackeys, his manner soon changed, becoming much colder and sterner as he stood in a state of stillness, adopting what seemed like a stance-less battle posture. Evan’s aura changed as his finger creaked when flexing, looking like sharp claws about to perform a terrifying attack.

‘This brat … tsk.’ The man in yellow who saw this had wide eyes as he no longer dallied. He took a step forward, which oddly enough, created an odd scene as he blurred and appeared behind Micheal before speaking.

“All of you, cease!” his voice sounded, echoing across the main hall towards even the entrance of the Golden Hall.

Micheal had a shocked look on his face as Jake and the other lackeys hurriedly halted their actions, even more so when they saw the man behind him. They even began to tremble slightly.

However, the moment they saw who was coming, their expressions varied. The onlookers grew solemn, even Joe, and Emily had a stern manner, knowing the person who appeared full well.

Even though a bit surprised, Evan didn’t show any notable change as his lips rose upwards when he muttered, “So, he was here … that Alan Lawson.”

He couldn’t help but recall Alan from his memories, one of the strongest Transcenders to exist within the era of the Dimension Apocalypse, surviving to the Final Dimension Calamity.

“We greet Manager Lawson!” the formerly flustered employees said in unison, hurrying to make a polite gesture.

A few guests also rose from their seats and did the same, as even Joe, Emily, and Micheal reacted similarly. However, unlike the others, Micheal had a different set of thoughts in his head.

Blast it. Didn’t that fool of a supervisor say he went on a trip recently? When did he get back?

Alan waved his hand, signaling for everyone to be at ease. He then looked at Evan’s group, notably at Evan, before fixing his eyes on Micheal with disappointment.

“Micheal Keller, I didn’t think your father had raised such a spoiled son. Have you no understanding of the ethics of modern society?”

“Mr. Lawson, I …” Micheal wanted to explain, but Alan gave him no quarter. He commanded, “This conflict is over. Take your men and leave!”

“I … I understand,” Micheal replied as he bit his lips and clenched his fists. Not wasting a single moment, he motioned towards his trembling lackeys and began to leave. He couldn’t help but cast a cold look to Evan and Joe. He didn’t bother about Emily as now his eyes had an unknown fire within them. Soon, he had left the Golden Hall.

Evan and Joe didn’t even look at him. They made a polite gesture towards Alan before leaving the building and Emily.

With the disturbance ending, everything had returned to normal. Alan looked at the direction they had left with a smile on his face and unknown thoughts.

“You may all carry on. As for that supervisor, send him to the office. It’s time he packed his things,” he said to the staff as he pointed out the individual who formerly worked with Micheal.

Not even looking at the man’s pleading look, he turned around and headed upstairs. As he walked, a shadowy figure had unknowingly appeared by his side, but as if he wasn’t alarmed in the slightest, he spoke, “Well, what do you think of him?”

The figure at his side was silent for a moment before he replied, “It’s strange, that brat. I’ve looked up his background, and he had only recently left prison. He has no experience in war nor professional training … and yet, he’s able to invoke such a will.”

Alan’s face grew curious as he spoke, “Interesting, he truly is a strange one. Tell you what, for now, let us send one man to keep an eye on him. With the way things are, we’ll need all the help we can get. Our future is no longer set in stone.”

When Alan spoke, his face turned dark as if he had great concern. The figure by his side nodded as he replied, “Fine, but who do I send?”

Alan thought for a bit before replying, “Nelly is our best, but he’s far too busy, so send out Raven. He’s always been good at these things.”

“Understood,” the person replied as he vanished like the wind, leaving behind Alan, who was soon on the upper floors of the Golden Hall. He calmly made his way towards a large, decorated door, where a man in black stood.

Upon seeing Alan, the man in black nodded as he spoke while opening the door, “The prince is expecting you.”