“I want to kill Wesley!”, Normans suddenly added.
This caught Rex off guard as he didn’t expect Norman to say something like this, ‘Wesley? Does Wesley have something to do with this? Not Hans?’, he thought.
At first, Rex thought that Hans is the one that did this to Norman.
Because of that, Rex cursed Hans a couple of times for doing this to his own child and even put a defensive mechanism to protect the blocked memory that will kill Norman.
But it seems that is not the case,
The hateful tone when Norman said the name Wesley shows that it was Wesley that did this, but there’s one question that Rex doesn’t get, ‘Why would he do this?’, he thought.
After looking at Norman with a stoic expression, Rex then asks, “Care to share with us?”
“My mother…”, Norman mutters as he clenched his hands.
The wooden floor makes a scratching sound as Norman’s nails scratch the floor, he clenched his hands so hard with bloodthirsty eyes.
Just from this look alone, Rex knows that Wesley did something terrible,
But Norman wouldn’t be able to explain to him clearly if he’s in this state, Rex then saw Norman’s anger was about to burst by inspecting his expression.
So with a decisive movement, Rex hit the back of Norman’s head.
This makes Norman instantly go unconscious again as Rex catches his falling body,
“What did Wesley do? How could he do this to a mere child?”, Adhara mutters from the back, she looks at Norman with pity knowing that something happened to his mother.
It’s easier for Adhara since she lost her mother to a Supernatural,
But Norman, on the other hand, Wesley must do something to his mother which is way worst.
After knocking Norman unconscious, ‘System, buy the Mid Memory Visual Manifestation’, Rex instantly said before he takes out the item from the inventory.
Thanks to the 500 grand Evelyn gave, Rex can buy this item to see the blocked memory.
Contrary to Rex’s expectation, the Mid Memory Visual Manifestation is a jar.
The jar is colored grey with somekind of a face carved on it,
Rex thought that it will be a crystal of some sort to put on Norman’s head, but it seems that is not the case as the jar appeared in his hand emitting energy that strains the mind.
“I’ve seen that before…”, Adhara suddenly said from the side.
Hearing this, Rex glance at Adhara in surprise as this is the first time an item from the system is recognized, “You do? Where did you see this jar?”
“I’ve seen it somewhere, but I don’t remember from where”, Adhara replied.
After saying that, Adhara then added, “But I believe it’s a web about legendary items, If it’s really like what I read then all you need to do is open the jar, there will be a cloud of mist coming out that can be directed to Norman”
“Only the one that opens it can control the mist”
Rex frowned upon hearing what Adhara said, ‘Every story and legends become real’
With that, Rex looks back at the jar and opens the lid.
Just like what Adhara said, the cloud of mist came out of the jar as Rex directed it to Norman.
The cloud of mist then surrounded Norman’s head before they started to emit faint grey energy, it didn’t take long before the top of the mist started rising up slowly.
It creates another lump of mist that slowly manifests a picture of a marketplace,
But then the picture started moving which makes Rex realize that it is the blocked memory, the blocked memory inside Norman’s head.
This brings magic to another level, manifesting the mind, Rex had never seen something like this.
Adhara and Rex are looking at the lump of mist and find that it acts just like a television, it’s showing from Norman’s point of view.
With that, both of them watch Norman’s memory.
The memory started to become clearer showing a place that looks to be a regular outdoor marketplace, it seems this marketplace is inside a low-level city.
But this is just the start of the memory,
‘I don’t recognize where this is’, Rex thought as he watch the memory.
Norman in the memory is holding the hand of a woman as he walks around the marketplace, it seems the woman is his mother.
The tiny arm holding the woman’s hand shows that this is when Norman is way younger.
With a bright gentle smile, the woman looks at Norman and said, “Normy, Are you tired?”
“Do you want mommy to carry you?”, the woman added.
From this exchange alone the woman that Norman is holding really is his mother, she has the brightest and most gentle smile on her face.
The woman seems to be in her thirties but her face looks lovely and kind,
It’s not an exaggeration for Rex to think that she has the most gentle face, some men prefer their women to have faces like this, the kind and gentle face that is pleasing to see.
Norman nodded his head before the woman carries him in her embrace,
The both of them play with each other as they buy the things they needed in the marketplace, “Mommy! Buy that mask for dad!”, Norman shouted.
Hearing this, the woman glances to the side and finds a horse mask on a stall.
This makes the woman chuckle as she pinches Norman’s cheek, “You want to ride your dad’s back again? You’re already big now, but you’re still acting like a baby”
Norman pouted upon hearing this as the woman laughs happily,
But everything is flipped when they walk past a big building, the building looks to be somekind of the store but there are many guards in front of it.
Rex squint his eyes as he saw the sign in front of the building, ‘That’s a branch of the ATC…’
Turns out the building guarded by many is a branch of the ATC that is owned by Daniel, it seems there is an auction going on in the building from the sign on the side and the crowd.
In just a bit, a commotion happened that startled everyone around.
This includes the woman and Norman,
Two groups of people came out of the building led by two middle-aged men with violent auras.
The man on the right has a smile on his face while the man on the left has a dark expression, it’s clear that they have some tension going on between them.
“Wesley… Wesley… I told you to not interfere with our bid”, the man on the right said.
He then added, “Your pathetic family doesn’t even hold a candle to our family’s wealth, and you dare to bid against us? What a foolish move for a so-called leader”
“Shut up Stevanus! You may win this time but I will come back!”, Welsey replied.
Rex frown upon seeing the two middle-aged men in the memory manifestation, they both are Wesley Atkins and Stevanus Reed which he personally knows.
The two of them quarrel over an item as they taunt each other,
Because of that, the tension started building up until finally, Stevanus decided to leave not forgetting to taunt Wesley one last time, “Bethroth your daughter to my son, it may be the only way to stop your feeble family from crumbling”
“Never!! I will never do that!”, Wesley shouted as his men hold him back lest he starts a fight.
After saying that, Stevanus left the angered Wesley.
Seeing this, the woman then turns her head away and mutters, “We better leave…”
Just when she was about to turn to leave, the woman tripped on her long skirt before falling to the ground spilling the grocery bags she was holding and Norman.
This makes the woman immediately gets up and check on Norman,
“Are you okay? Is there any part that hurts? Mommy is sorry”, the woman apologizes to Norman as she checks Norman’s entire body.
But after finishing checking Norman’s body, she looks up and saw Norman is not looking at her.
Normans’ eyes direction is heading at the woman’s back, and then suddenly the woman’s body tensed when she saw a shadow covering her.
With a stiff glance, the woman turns around and saw Wesley is already standing on her back.
Many onlookers started dispersing after a glare from Wesley’s men,
It’s clear that even back then Wesley is still a powerful man, not many want to stand against him.
Upon seeing Wesley looking at her, the woman immediately tidied the thing that spilled from her grocery bag before standing up and grabbing Norman’s hand, “I’m sorry for blocking your way”
“Excuse me…”, the woman said hurriedly while avoiding Wesley’s eyes.
She did this so that her face can’t be seen as she immediately strides away, some people in the marketplace are also looking at her in pity knowing what will happen.
When she was a couple of steps away, “Stop!”
The sudden word makes the woman’s heart sink to her stomach, her heart then started to thump faster as she stayed at her spot without looking back.
Norman can feel his mother clench his hand tightly as a sign of nervousness,
After stopping, Wesley then approach her and commanded with his heavy tone, “Turn around”
Hearing this, sweat started to drench the woman’s back.
Without having no other choice since the group of people around Wesley are all Awakened, the woman turns around while keeping her head down to avoid eye contact.
But Wesley caught this behavior easily,
His index finger slowly reaches toward the woman’s chin before he lifts the woman’s face up.
Upon seeing the woman’s face, a smirk appeared on Wesley’s face as he said, “With a face like this…It’s a pity and breaks my heart knowing you already have a son ma’am”
Wesley didn’t forget to glance at the innocent Norman who is also looking at him confused.
He then grabbed the woman’s hand lightly,
This act makes the woman gulp harshly as Wesley bowed slightly to kiss her hand.
The kiss makes the woman’s body shiver in terror, she then retracts back his hand while Wesley is still looking at her inappropriately.
She doesn’t have the slightest bit of clue to get out of this situation, but then suddenly,
“Why don’t you come with me for a bit, don’t be scared”, Wesley said.
When the woman was about to refuse politely, she suddenly saw a man from the group is already standing behind Norman with an evil smirk.
The woman was given no other choice as she was brought away by Wesley,
A moment later,
Rex and Adhara’s expression turns to darken as they watch the manifestation of Norman’s blocked memory, it’s a disturbing scene where Wesley did the unthinkable in front of Norman.
It makes Adhara want to throw up in disgust as the woman cries for mercy,
Having enough of the scene, Rex directed his mana to the mist and skipped forward the act as they watched the rest of the memory manifestation.
Not once have their hideous expression turned better,
In fact, the more they watch the blocked memory the angrier they get at Wesley.
There’s a limit to how rotten anyone’s heart can be, but Wesley went past the limit and follow his lust even until now as he cheated on his wife and birthed Igor.
‘You’re going to pay for this Wesley, your reign will end very badly’, Rex thought.
But his train of thought was stopped when the memory manifestation stopped at the scene where a house is burning, the woman is still with Norman.
“Mommy, Where’s daddy?”, Norman asks while crying.
Hearing this, the woman hugs Norman tightly while looking at the burning house, “Daddy is trying to save us, he will be fine. But we need to run okay?”, she mutters.
This is only hopeful thinking as suddenly Norman was pulled away from the woman,
“NO!! Give me back my son!!”, the woman shouted pleadingly.
Wesley is the one that took Norman as the other men from the Atkins Family held the woman in place, she kept pleading but fall on deaf ears.
It didn’t sway Wesley at all as he stroked the crying Norman’s head lightly,
His heart is stone cold as his expression didn’t have the slightest bit of empathy in it.
Every time Wesley strokes Norman’s head makes the woman’s heart clench tightly as she fears something will happen to Norman, “Please… I’ll do as you say! Don’t bring him into this!”
“I told you to get rid of that… thing inside your stomach”, Wesley said lightly.
There’s even a hint of disgust in his expression when pointing at the woman’s stomach, he then added, “But you didn’t listen and force me to do this”, Wesley said lightly.
He then added, “Since you take too long and are very stubborn, you leave me no choice but to kill you and this little boy right here. Your existence threatened my reputation”
“No! Please… I’ll do anything! I’ll abort this child but please don’t harm my son”, the woman pleaded again.
Seeing his mother in such a pitiful state with her arms grabbed by two men, Norman started crying more profusely and started hitting Wesley’s chest, “Mommy!!”
The cry and hitting make Wesley annoyed as he gives Norman to one of his men,
After giving Norman away, Wesley walked toward the woman slowly before he stopped right in front of her, “Blame yourself for bearing my child, you should’ve gotten rid of it silently”
Swish!
Wesley cloaked his hand with a wind blade intending to finish the woman off,
But then suddenly, a man went to Wesley hurriedly and said, “Sir Wesley! The guy is still standing until now, he’s very tenacious as if he’s possessed by a demon!”
“What?”, Wesley asks with a frown.
With a wave of his hand, another man that is standing by the side approached Wesley, “Kill that man, and do it swiftly”, he commanded.
Hearing this, the man nodded his head before he disappears.
“No… Don’t kill my husband, please!! This is my fault, take it out on me!”, the woman shouted.
This brought a smile to Wesley’s face as the despair in the woman’s face greatly please him, but then suddenly,
CRASH!
Wesley’s attention was pulled to the side where a man just crashed near them,
The man stands up strugglingly as it seems he still doesn’t realize Wesley and the others’ are behind him, he has a fearless look in his eyes as he shouted, “You’re not going to go past me!!”
Seeing the man, tears started to fall in the woman’s eyes but she can’t call out for him.
Norman is in Wesley’s possession and he can be killed with a wave of Wesley’s hand, this refrains the woman from doing anything rash.
“Hoo… Quite tenacious and strong for someone living in this tiny place”, Wesley commented.
This sparks an idea in Wesley’s mind as he glances at the woman with a mysterious smile, “How about you do something in exchange for me sparing your son and husband’s life?”
“Anything! Just tell me anything! I’ll do it!”, the woman replied decisively.
There is no hesitation in her answer, her life is the lowest priority for her.
Hearing this, Wesley smile as he looks at a man covered with wounds about 150 feet away that is still fighting with the man Wesley sent.
Even with the wounds, the man kept going without backing down.
Just from a glance, Rex realized that this person is none other than Hans, it seems he’s defending the burning house trying to buy time for his family to escape.
But Hans doesn’t know that his wife and son are already at the mercy of Wesley,
Following Wesley’s gaze, the woman saw Hans, her husband fighting before she looks back at Wesley in determination showing her will to do anything.
Wesley’s smile becomes wider as he said, “I’ll spare their lives….”
“In exchange, you will exactly tell this to your husband. Listen carefully….”
Rex and Adhara who are watching this widen their eyes as Wesley never fails to disappoint them in terms of rotten personality, they both instinctively glance at the unconscious Norman.
Both of them have a hint of shock and pity in their eyes, ‘This poor kid…’
“We need to find Hans, we’ll tell him the truth”, Rex said as he stands up with a brutal look.