“I figured that if you guys could get along well, I wouldn’t interfere. Now, it looks like things aren’t as straightforward as I thought.” Darius’ eyes were frosty as he looked Yarlyn in the eye.

A few seconds later, he suddenly exhaled and started gasping for breath. Darius’ face softened. “Welcome back, Shelvin.”

Shelvin coughed violently, putting a hand on the wall to keep himself upright as he nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Reid. I wouldn’t have made it back alive if not for you.” His eyes were red from his coughing fit.

“The bastard used his black life force to suffocate me. I’m nothing but a ball of consciousness, but I almost died of asphyxiation! Do you know how humiliating that is? It looks like I was being too merciful toward his son.” As he spoke, he turned to walk back into the room.

Darius didn’t budge. He frowned and watched Shelvin storm off. Shelvin was injured—at least, his supply of life force had been cut off earlier—and should’ve been extremely weak at the moment.

Besi