The room was a tall building with white stones and fire torches. The floor was cobblestone, normally black. Only a few bags of coal and empty wine bottles cluttered the ground. The big oak door on the other side made the room feel more like a storage room than anything else.
The ceiling was crisscrossed with long iron beams, forming a lattice that held the heavy stones above. On those iron beams, only two ropes were hanging, like they were used to bind something.
Henry narrowed his eyes toward the big oak door, which was two meters tall. But it was blocked with those coal bags; he didn't bother to clear the way to open the door and instead waited for Éloïse to move so he could follow her.
Éloïse was standing there in the center of the room, staring at Henry. She didn't move at all, nor did she speak. Henry moves from his place, thinking that she isn't staring at him but at the door behind him. But as he moves, her eyes follow him.
He stood near one of the steam lamps, which was fitted in the wall, and stared at her blue eyes; then, after a short stare, he spoke up with a little awkwardness in his tone, "Now, what the hell are you staring at?"
She didn't answer for a short time, then she broke the statue-like tone from her body and moved her arms to close them up. She whispered with a serious and deep face, "Will you allow a beautiful young girl to lift those bags of coal and make the way clear, do you?"
Henry's jaws drop after hearing those words from her, and with a sigh, he turns around toward the door and whispers with an awkward face, "Seriously… you women are the toughest things to deal with for me."
Éloïse remained silent and started observing her; she bit the apple again, which she had grabbed from the tavern back then, before coming here.
Henry faced the big 2-meter-tall oak door and those coal bags; he moved his hand and opened his palm, and in just the blink of an eye, the half-eaten apple Éloïse was eating came into his hand. Éloïse was shocked by the moment he did it; the air didn't even flicker before he had the apple she was eating from her hand to his hand without him moving.
Henry tosses that apple in the air and moves his left leg, and in the blink of an eye, he disappears from that spot and becomes an unseen blur, and in the other blink of an eye, he is back at that spot, grabbing the apple he tossed in the air.
Éloïse looked shocked, and then Henry moved toward her and opened his palm, putting a half-eaten apple on it, and then he stepped his left foot on the ground a little louder, making a noise. He gave a simple, calm smile to her, and then in half a second, that apple got back again into Éloïse's hand.
He opened his arms, pointing them toward the door with a bow, and whispered with a calm smile, "Madame Éloïse Moreau, the way is clear; you can move on."
Éloïse trembled a little when that apple got back to her. And looked completely blank; after a short time of staring at the apple, she moved her eyes toward Henry and smiled a little awkwardly and whispered, "You are terrifying."
He didn't overreact about it but still gave her a little smile. Then Éloïse moved toward the door and put her hand on it. The big 2-meter-tall oak door glows from the part it's touched and spreads toward the whole door.
The door moved and gave a howl-type sound, then opened, revealing a beautiful tavern on the other side. The light of gas lamps and candles passed through the big oak door and hugged the floor of the room Henry and Éloïse were in.
They both kept moving in the tavern and saw many people sitting at tables drinking. They all wear the same kind of suits, and all of them carry one or two guns with them. They didn't pay attention to them for a short time, but then some of them spoke up in a drunken tone, "Oh, it's Madame Éloïse."
She didn't pay attention and went toward the tavern's bartender. Henry keeps following her while examining the place. The tavern was made of stone and wood and felt like a normal tavern; it was lit up with candles and gas lamps. It was not as big as Charme du Tombeau was; it's more like giving a vibe, as it's the base of a secret organization.
Éloïse rested her hands on the counter and bit the half-eaten apple she was holding. She put her left hand on her crimson feather hat and lowered it on her head while whispering, "So, did he speak?"
The bartender, who was in a simple bartender dress, shook his head and spoke with a charm in his tone, "Nope, we tried like every method we knew; that bastard is still not speaking up."
Éloïse smiled and nodded to him, then turned her head back to look at Henry, while Henry kept examining the tavern. She whispered, "Well, I think our recruit will do it." The bartender and some other members who sit nearby stare at Henry.
The bartender, with a deep tone, speaks up while staring at Henry with a little fear in his eyes, "It's him…" Éloïse, shocked, hurriedly turned her head toward the bartender. She spoke with a confused, hurried tone, "What the hell are you speaking… You know him?"
He nodded silently, fixing his dark eyes on Henry. Henry's eyes also went to him while examining the tavern; he was shocked after seeing him, and without a blink of an eye, he was standing at the counter, holding the bartender by his collar, staring at him with a deep killer tone, like he would kill him right away.
Éloïse is shocked, and all the members of the tavern stand up, draw their guns, and point them at Henry, ready to shoot. Éloïse whispered with a serious, deep tone and showing anger, "Did I tell any of you to draw your guns out? Put them down right now."
She didn't complete her line before they all kept the guns down. But they're still on their guard and staring at Henry. Éloïse stood up from the chair she was sitting in and looked at Henry; with anger on her face, she whispered, "Let him go…" Henry didn't listen to her and kept grabbing him from his collar, and then Éloïse added with an angry tone, "I said let him go…"
Henry stared at Éloïse with a smirk, putting his right hand in his suit's pocket. He spoke with a deep tone, "Do you even know who he is?"
Éloïse, shocked, feels the air in the tavern get tight while everyone gives a death stare at Henry. Her jaw clenched as anger boiled inside her; she spoke up with the same tone, "Who is he? Han…"
Henry didn't answer real quick, but instead he pushed the bartender on the counter and gripped him by his wrists while binding his hands to his back with his left hand. He put his other hand, which was in his pocket, on his neck and forced it down on the wood of the counter.
He whispered with a serious, deep tone, "So, how much info did you already give to your King Augustus? I was wondering who gave him info about Ordre du Miroir Noir until I saw you in the palace of Velgravia."
Henry turned his head toward Éloïse, who was in shock after what Henry just said, and with a creepy smile, he asked her, "Did you know he was a spy? Han… Madame Éloïse, of course, you didn't because you believe in every member of Ordre du Miroir Noir as like family." He stopped for a moment while staring at other members of Ordre du Miroir Noir in the room, who were also in shock after hearing this.
He added with the same tone, "And that's how I knew about your secrets, Madame Éloïse." Éloïse was shocked and kept staring at the bartender; after a short silence, she spoke up with a serious tone, "Is it true, James?"
He tries to look at Éloïse but can't because of the pressure Henry is putting on his head and speaks with a fear in his tone, "Madame, you… can't believe an outsider that quickly…"
Éloïse grabbed him by his hair, removing Henry's hand from his head; she lifted it in the air a little and spoke again with a creepy smile, "I ask again. What he is saying, is it true, James?"
James remained silent, fearing to cover his eyes while he looked at Éloïse's angry face; he spoke with a playful tone, "I… on the order of pride… hereby declare I'll eliminate the whole Ordre du Miroir Noir."
As he spoke those words, he freed his hand from Henry's hand and headbutted his head on the table, freeing it from Éloïse's hands. He stood up hurriedly, took out a gun from the counter, and tried to shoot at Éloïse. After some shots, he ran toward the door of the tavern, which connected underground with this tavern.
Éloïse was about to get shot when Henry moved from his place, becoming blurry and invisible in the air. In the blink of an eye, he was on that table near the big oak door they came from, while the bullet hit the wall, producing a sound, which was behind Éloïse.
He was holding Éloïse in his arms. Then he put her down on the near chair and whispered, "You all stay here; he is my prey, so I'll catch him." And again in the blink of an eye, Henry dissolved into the air in a blur and disappeared.
Éloïse and all other members were shocked; some members from the tavern tried to go behind them, but Éloïse whispered with a sigh, "Leave it; he'll handle this." And those members stayed in the tavern; some of them came near Éloïse and asked if she was hurt. She replied with a smile, "I'm fine… And where's my apple I was eating?"
Outside of the tavern, there was a black market, and in it were different stalls and shops. James ran between those stalls so he wouldn't get spotted by Henry. The noise of people and things covers the market, making it unable to hear far-off things or people.
James takes advantage of the crowd and the stall to run as far as he can from Henry. He entered the streets to be safe from Henry.
He stopped in the street, thinking, sigh, I think I leave him behind; there's no way he can… Before he could complete his thoughts, he saw Henry standing at the side of the street, with his hands in his pockets, taking a back with the street wall, staring at him.
He got shocked after seeing Henry and took out his gun from his pocket again, and this time, with a fearful smile, he whispered some words that Henry barely could hear: "In the name of pride, may my blood become my best weapon and help me remove this human for evil."
Henry laughed after he whispered these words in his mouth and spoke up with a playful tone, "Hahahaha… removing me for the sake of evil, interesting." He stopped laughing and gave a serious-toned stare at him while speaking, "Why are you saying again and again, 'In the name of pride'?" He moves forward toward him while adding, "Is this what I'm thinking? Is it?"
James smiled with a creepy look on his face. He pointed a gun at Henry and whispered, "I think so, but I promise I'll tell you about it before you die…"
Henry nodded but didn't reply with a smile. He started running, but this time he didn't blur in the air or disappear; he took out a shotgun from his pocket and kept running toward James. Meanwhile, James starts moving backward while facing Henry.
James shot two bullets at Henry, but Henry dodged them while moving in parts in the air, like he teleported from distance to distance. Henry, on the other hand, didn't do anything; he just kept moving, but instead, he put his shotgun back in his pocket. James started moving backward a little too fast and then smiled with a creep.
Henry opened his eyes when he saw that the bullets that James shot at him were now covered in blood. The bullets turned and veered toward Henry and moved to shoot him. Henry again, without wasting time, dodges them with no hesitation, but he loses his contact with James; he turns toward him and fixes his focus again on him.
But those bullets he dodged again now bind him in blood-type ropes. He is now unable to move his upper body because he is unable to get free from those ropes.
These ropes feel more like a seal than a rope. What the hell now? He narrowed his eyes toward James, who had stopped moving backward and kept smiling. Henry is stuck in those seal-type ropes, which are keeping him from being able to move his upper body. The air feels like it's in James's command.
James raised his gun toward the sky and whispered, "Oh pride, let me use my blood once more to give this human life in the sake of evil and darkness."
Then, on Henry's head, at a distance of like 1 to 2 meters, a deep blood-colored cloud formed, and it felt like it would start raining blood right away. Henry was locked, shocked, and felt a little like he was surrounded by James. On his body, it feels like the blood will soak his whole body too and burn down the skin.