Chapter 76: Overcoming Her Fear (Part 2)

---) Thunder Field: Upon activation, an area within twenty meters around the user becomes the Land of Thunder. Within the affected area, anyone the user considers an enemy will be attacked by arcs of lightning.

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The instant Evan used the Thunder Field ability of the Thunder Ring, the area within twenty meters around him changed, filling with raging lightning arcs.

Evan controlled the skill so that it wouldn’t hurt anyone, but under the effect of Thunder Field, no one was able to get closer to him to help Henry.

Henry wasn’t attacked by the lightning arcs either, just like the other guards, because Evan didn’t want him to faint just yet.

Of course, there were still many powerful guards out there who could bypass Thunder Field using their skills.

But before they could act, Elena took out the token she had used earlier and waved it at them.

"Don’t get involved. This guy is someone who works with slave traders to kidnap kids from the city. If you try to help him, you will be considered his accomplice and will be judged accordingly."

Hearing Elena’s words and seeing the token in her hand, the expressions of the guards who were planning to stop Evan changed, and they didn’t dare to act.

When Henry heard Elena’s words, his face changed, and despite the pain in his broken hand, he still shouted.

"Everyone, don’t listen to these people. They are the ones who kidnap children from the city. This little girl went missing a few days ago, and I just caught them red-handed. They are now just trying to shift the blame onto me to escape from here."

The guards looked at each other with conflicted expressions and didn’t know what to do.

Just then, they saw Glen coming over after hearing the commotion.

Seeing the entire guard office hall filled with arcs of lightning, his mouth twitched slightly, and he looked at Evan.

"You said you wouldn’t break any laws and would handle everything calmly..." He rubbed his eyebrow. "Do you think using such a skill inside the guard office isn’t breaking the law?"

When Henry saw Glen, his eyes immediately lit up as he shouted.

"Commander, please help me! This guy is a kidnapper who sells kids to slave traders. I caught him red-handed, and now he is trying to silence me."

Glen looked at Evan and waited for his response, as he was also angry that Evan had used such a skill inside the guard office.

Evan didn’t say anything and simply took out a letter and threw it toward Glen.

Glen caught the letter, and after reading what was written in it, he fell silent before putting it away.

"Just don’t kill him."

Evan nodded and looked back at Henry, who had a shocked expression after hearing Glen’s words.

Even the guards watching from the side were stunned, as they couldn’t understand why their commander wasn’t stopping this guy.

One of the high-ranking guards approached Glen and asked.

"Commander, why aren’t you stopping him?"

Glen remained silent for a moment before speaking in a low voice.

"The letter he gave earlier was written by General Max of Rivo City. He told us to fully support this kid in his investigation. If we hinder him, it’s tantamount to disobeying his orders."

The guards who heard Glen’s words sucked in a breath of cold air.

As guards of Sky Pearl City, they knew about Max—a Rank Three Evolver who had a very high prestige in the nearby cities because he was one of the strongest people around here.

Hearing that Max himself had written a letter for Evan, they finally understood why Glen wasn’t stopping Evan.

Seeing the shocked expressions of the guards, Glen shook his head.

"Alright, stop making a fuss over it. Besides, if the things he told me earlier are true, I will personally kill Henry with my own hands."

Glen’s voice turned cold as he remembered what Evan had told him.

The other guards looked at each other, and remembering what Elena had said earlier about Henry helping slave traders, their expressions also turned serious, as they knew that if it was true, then it was very likely that it wasn’t just Henry who was involved in this matter.

Evan didn’t pay any attention to Glen and the others and stared at Henry on the ground.

"You want to ask some questions to her, right?" He pointed at Lia beside him. "Go ahead. Everyone is here. Why don’t you ask her your questions?"

There was a reason why Evan was going through all this trouble. If he wanted, he could have simply used the letter he had gotten from Max before leaving Rivo City to ask Glen to arrest Henry and make him spill everything under torture.

But he didn’t do so because he knew it wouldn’t help Lia.

After seeing her trembling just by looking at Henry, he knew she already had a shadow of fear in her heart because of him.

And if she didn’t overcome it, it would greatly affect her in the future. If she encountered a situation similar to this in the future, she would immediately feel fear because of this incident.

Evan remembered when he was captured by the slave traders when he was young and took a deep breath.

At that time, his situation was similar to Lia’s. Although Alfred had found him very quickly, he was still terrified by that accident.

At that time, in order to make him overcome his fear, Alfred showed him just how pathetic those slave traders were.

It was also when Alfred started training him in different ways.

Although he couldn’t train Lia in that way, he could still make sure she didn’t feel any fear toward these losers.

Hearing Evan’s words, Henry’s face turned pale, and he didn’t know what to say.

He looked at Glen and the other guards and tried to remain calm.

"Wh-what are you talking about? I think there is some kind of misunderstanding..."

"Misunderstanding..." Evan sneered and—

Bang!

He slammed Henry’s face directly onto the hard floor, making him groan in pain.

Some of his teeth broke from the impact, and blood flowed out of his mouth.

Henry was just a Level 23 unranked Evolver, and even though Evan was holding back, his strength was simply too high for Henry to do anything against him.

Evan grabbed him by the hair and lifted his bloodied face slightly.

"Look at him, Lia." Lia’s body trembled when she heard her name, and she instinctively wanted to look away.

"Don’t look away." Evan spoke in a soft voice. "Look at him properly."

Lia pursed her lips and slowly raised her head, her eyes meeting Henry’s.

The man who had terrified her before was now lying helplessly on the ground, his face covered in blood, his body trembling in pain.

He didn’t look like a terrifying kidnapper anymore. He just looked... pathetic.

"What do you see, Lia?"

Lia didn’t say anything and continued to look at Henry.

Evan didn’t mind and spoke again.

"Do you know what I see?... I see a coward who only knows how to bully people weaker than himself."

Crack!

He stomped down on Henry’s arm, and the sharp sound of bone breaking echoed across the guard office.

"Arghhhhh!" Henry screamed and rolled across the floor, clutching his broken arm.

Lia flinched at the sound, but this time, she didn’t look away.

Evan pointed at Henry. "He can scream."

Bang!

Henry’s body slammed against the floor again.

"He can bleed."

Evan kicked him onto his back.

"He can break."

He grabbed Henry by the collar and lifted him slightly.

"And most importantly..." Evan looked directly at Lia. "He can be stopped."

Lia’s trembling gradually weakened, and she looked at Evan.

"You were afraid of him because you thought he was some kind of monster, right?"

Lia hesitated before slowly nodding.

"Then remember this." Evan pointed toward Henry.

"Monsters don’t exist just because someone makes you afraid of them." His expression softened slightly. "People like him become frightening only when you believe they are stronger than you."

Lia stared at Henry for several seconds before she spoke in a low voice.

"I was really scared when he sold me."

Evan’s eyes softened when he heard her. He didn’t tell her that she shouldn’t have been afraid, nor did he tell her that what happened wasn’t a big deal.

Instead, he placed his hand gently on her head.

"You were scared because you were helpless, but now..." He made her look at him. "You are not helpless anymore."

"Why?" Lia asked in confusion.

"Because you survived." Evan smiled faintly. "You were terrified, but you still survived. And now you’re standing here, looking at the person who scared you."

He pointed at Henry.

"Look at him one more time."

Lia slowly turned her head to look at the person who had become her nightmare, only to see him struggling on the floor.

"Is he still scary?" Evan’s voice reached her ears.

Lia stared at him for a long time before shaking her head.

"...No."

Evan smiled and patted her head. "Good."

He stood up and looked down at Henry.

"Remember this feeling, Lia. When you encounter someone like him in the future, don’t remember how afraid you were."

"Remember what happened after."

He pointed at Henry.

"Remember that the person who made you tremble was nothing more than a weak man who could be brought to his knees."

Lia clenched her tiny fists. Her eyes were still wet, but the fear in them had changed.

It wasn’t gone completely. But for the first time, there was something else mixed with it.

Courage.

Evan noticed it and nodded.

’Let’s end this...’

He looked at Henry, and his eyes narrowed.