Raiden barely had time to process the unusual situation he found himself in before Mr. Black, alongside the other members of the Smiling Sanctum crew, approached in fury.

They held weapons, moving with guarded, measured steps as they closed in on Raiden. Raiden, however, lay on the ground clutching his gut, his teeth clenched tightly as he began to understand why they were approaching him.

"You are the Black Raven…" Mr. Black said with a trembling tone, his fear undeniable.

"I knew it… he was too strong."

Raiden turned to them, understanding the rage. Despite the wholesome time they had spent together in the past two months, it meant nothing at that moment. Their fears had clouded their judgment.

"You need to leave!" One of the men yelled.

Raiden's eyes slowly turned to Mr. Black's face, but the smiles, even the forced ones, that he had always seen on their faces were gone, and worse, Mr. Black couldn't even look at him.

"What do you mean?" Nico's voice echoed from behind, his smaller frame maneuvering through the cloud to Raiden.

The moment he neared Raiden, he began to help him up. And even the slightest movement made his chest crack in agony, and he couldn't help but yell out.

The moment Raiden got to his feet—waist bent, hand propped against his knee—he began deactivating his moon dragon transformation.

"Are you okay, Hero?" Nico leaned toward Raiden, patting his back as he wore an emphatic expression.

Raiden gave him a nod, his mind gradually drifting to the strange encounter that had just occurred with the Huntress.

"How could you?" Nico called out and turned in the crowd's direction. His fist was clenched as his face shook with irritation.

"He fought to save us all… can you see?" Nico added.

The crowd seemed a little hesitant for a moment as Raiden finally forced himself through the agony and stood upright.

No amount of words could restore how these men once viewed him, and Raiden accepted that truth. As the Black Raven, rumors painted his power as divine.

Such beliefs were fear-born, embedded in the very core of their beings. Words alone could never uproot what terror had planted so deeply.

"How can you stand with him, Nico? That guy had slaughtered thousands of people… entire towns and villages fell by his hand." A man's voice called out.

"If you don't stay away from him, you will be next."

Raiden's eyes dropped to the ground in disbelief. Whoever was using his identity to kill remained a mystery—that's if anyone was actually doing such a thing.

After all, he'd only appeared at the wrong place at the wrong time, making people blame him for all these deaths.

Still, even through his limited mind, he knew what was best to do.

"He has been here with us all this time. How can you say such a thing?" Nico's tone was low this time, barely audible past the first row in the crowd.

Raiden sighed, moved closer to Nico with a steady step, and patted his back, his golden eyes scanning the crowd's frightened faces. Newest update provided by nοvelfire.net

"I'm sure you know what to do, Hero." Mr. Black said through his broken teeth, but his trembling hands betrayed his calm facade.

Raiden knew what was best at that moment; in fact, that was all that he could think of: leaving them be.

This place had been his refuge for some time; the Smiling Sanctum was actually why he could smile again. And the last thing he wanted was to rob the sanctum of its smiles.

They had shown him something valuable: the ability to smile through anything, believing that was all he truly needed. A genuine smile crossed his face as he thought about this, and he gave Black a respectful nod.

"Okay, Mr. Black… I will leave."

"If you are leaving, then I am going with you." The words rushed out of Nico's mouth without a pause.

"What are you saying, Nico?" Mr. Black asked with genuine concern for Nico.

Nico's words surprised more than just Black—they caught Raiden off guard as well. He'd be happy to leave with Nico, but he had no clue where to go next. Most of his past remained a blank, and even the parts he could recall gave him no reason to go back.

"You don't mean that, right?" Raiden asked, his voice solidifying his confusion.

"I am serious… we aren't done with our training yet, and I can't leave you to go alone." Nico added, his tone leaving no room for discussion.

"But… but, he's a monster." Mr. Black blurted.

Both Nico and Raiden looked his way, and somehow his words hit Raiden like a sharp sting. He'd put up with their uneasiness before, so why did this hurt? Perhaps he simply hadn't expected such harsh words delivered so directly.

"I am going with him… deal with it."

Raiden stayed still in the moments that followed. Nico would inevitably face mistreatment simply for supporting him, and he was certain the Huntress wouldn't target Nico if she attacked again. But above everything else, he wanted to prove to them that he wasn't a monster.

"Okay, Nico," he said, locking eyes with Mr. Black with his expression unreadable. "Let's leave."

The instant Raiden spoke those words, he began picking his way through the rubble of the collapsed building. But before he could get very far, something struck him and he froze.

"I pay for the damage when I get money…" the moment he spoke, he turned to walk away.

"Don't ever come back…" one of the men yelled, but he could hear the others telling him to quiet down; they needed the money regardless.

Nico, however, was still before the crowd, his head dropped to the ground. "Don't you think he would have killed you all if he was what you think he was?"

As soon as he finished speaking, murmurs rippled through the crowd while Mr. Black stood with his mouth agape, stunned. But Nico didn't wait for a response—he put on a smiling mask and faced Raiden.

Hearing Nico's footsteps behind him, Raiden smiled as well. He'd had loyal servants before, but reflecting on it now, he had never appreciated them as much as he did Nico. He was grateful Nico had defended him.

The moment Nico neared him, he spoke: "they are only human, Nico. I understand them; they just want to live."

Nico nodded, "Yes, I know."

Despite being unsettled by his system's cryptic message and the Huntress's peculiar actions in their battle's final moments, Raiden's grin continued to spread across his face.