I Shall Devour Everything

As Arion walked towards Marcos, he also recognized the other youngsters gathered around him as the ones who bullied him as well in the past.

Marcos was having a good time boasting about himself to his lackeys when he saw a handsome boy coming over his way.

He thought that maybe the boy was just going to pass by him, but seeing how he was looking at him, he felt that the boy was looking for him.

But seeing how tall and well-built he was, Marcos felt that he should be older than him and wondered what this guy wanted.

"Marcos, right?" Arion asked with a smile.

Marco crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall and said, "That depends who's asking."

Arion scoffed inwardly, although on the outside, he maintained his smile as he took out his pouch filled with some pranar and said, "Oh, I am Rion. I was looking for Marcos to give him some pranars as thanks for indirectly helping me. I was in a pinch recently, and one of his friends said that I should thank Marcos for helping me out."

Marcos had a baffled expression, but he quickly hid it upon seeing the jiggling of the pranars in Rion's pouch and also seeing how friendly and nice he seemed despite looking bigger than him.

Arion also noticed that Marcos had the badge attached to his sleeve, which he also had got as a participant in the Ironheart test.

'Good. It seems like you are destined to get your ass whooped in the future as well,' Arion inwardly smirked.

"Oh, of course, of course. I am Marcos, indeed," Marcos replied with a beaming smile as his eyes glinted with fervid greed upon seeing the pouch of pranars.

He had no idea who this Rion guy was and why one of his 'friends' would even help this guy out. But all his questions went out the drain because of the pouch of pranars dangling in front of him.

Even his lackeys felt their vision going green with jealousy upon seeing Rion happily offering Marcos a few pranars.

They could imagine how precious a single pranar was when it was to earn some money on their own at their age unless, and of course, they resorted to extorting from other kids, which was what they often did.

And if they couldn't find any, they would thrash them up to vent their frustration which was what Arion used to suffer since he never carried any pranars with him.

Marcos continued with a foolish smile, "I won't be rude and accept this happily," Marcos happily reached for the pouch.

Arion gave him the pouch and saw Marcos greedily pocketing it and laughed inwardly.

"Actually, my friend also wants to thank you with some pranars as well since it seems like you also helped him out in some way. But he is waiting just around the back since he is uncomfortable with giving you something in public. Hope you don't mind?" Arion asked in a low voice.

Marcos wondered if he won the goodwill of any gods to think that things were looking really good today for him. Out of nowhere, he was suddenly rich by a few pranars and might even get more, according to what this nice boy said.

Marcos felt like he had to befriend this guy and put his hand over him, and said happily, "Of course, not. Please lead us, brother. It's only right that I should be before him in case your friend wants to thank me."

Arion glanced at Marcos' hand over his shoulder and said as his lips curved, "Sure. You all can follow me."

Arion had a pleasant smile on his face as he led Marcos and his three friends to one of the old broken-down toilets.

"A toilet? Why would your friend be here?" Marcos asked with a disgusted expression.

Arion chuckled with a glint in his eyes, "Actually, my friend is quite shy and someone who worries about everything. I believe he has something more precious to give to you which he didn't want anyone else to see."

Hearing that, Marcos took a look at his lackeys but then felt that they were alright since they wouldn't dare to go against him to fight over something valuable.

Arion had been in this building many times, so he knew that there was an unused toilet here that had yet to be repaired.

And just as he got inside, Arion locked the door as his expression became dark when he looked at the four puzzled boys in front of him.

"Rion...why the hell did you lock the door, and where is your friend?" Marcos asked with a dry smile though he felt that something was definitely wrong.

Arion gave a shifty smile, "Oh, don't bother. I am your friend here. And now I am going to discipline you all as your friend."

"Shit, you tricked us!" Marcos immediately realized what was going on upon seeing Arion's evil smile.

He could feel Arion's hostility towards him, but that made him even more confused, wondering when he offended this guy.

"From today on, you won't be laying a finger on anyone else. Now, which leg and arm do you want me to break? I will make sure that even if you have the money to hire a Healifier, they would have a hard time putting you back together, hehe," Arion knew that Marcos and his friends were coming from ordinary backgrounds but were greedy enough to extort money from other poor kids.

"Ha, you don't scare me! We are four, and you are just one," Marcos confidently said since he knew his Defity was superior to others of his age and background.

And seeing Arion's clothes, he felt that he was coming from an average household since he was sure he would never dare to offend someone stronger than him physically or background-wise.

So even if he couldn't remember who this Rion guy was, he was sure he was a weakling who got bullied by him some time ago.

Although Rion looked strong on the outside, it didn't mean his Defity was superior to his.

Marcos took out a knife from his belt and said in a tone of ridicule, "You sure have guts to provoke me. Now you will be leaving your eye behind." He then looked at his lackeys and said, "Go pin him down."

The three of them were not only a year younger than Marcos but also weaker than him, obviously, and Rion's figure had intimidated them. The only reason they didn't run was that Marcos was among them.

Still, they couldn't refuse his words and rushed at Rion with apprehensive expressions.

Arion only snorted and felt like three babies were trying to fight him. He casually moved his hand to grab the arm of a boy and then effortlessly lifted him up like a doormat and then slammed him onto the two other boys.

"What the hell…" Marcos had his eyes almost pop out upon seeing an unbelievable sight. And even Arion was surprised that his strength had increased so much. Then he realized that he never really had the chance to test his newfound strength.

'The 10th Cycle surely is awesome....'Arion inwardly thought and couldn't help but wonder how much stronger he could become if he got into the 11th Cycle of the Prana Binding Stage.

He already knew that each cycle would give more benefits compared to the previous cycle. So obviously, the potential benefits of the 11th Cycle would surely outweigh the 10th.

However, right now, his focus landed on Marcos again and then approached him slowly, feeling that he still had to vent this intense rage he was feeling inside him.

"Who are you?" Marcos asked as beads of sweat slid down his temples.

Arion laughed, "Haha, you don't remember me? Don't you remember beating up a helpless boy who never even tried to bother you in any way but, in fact, tried to avoid you the best you could?"

Marcos stumbled back as his burrows furrowed since there were many kids he bullied.

"Don't you remember breaking that boy's legs and fracturing his frail arms every time he visited this place?" Arion continued as his tone became incessantly darker.

"Don't you remember you and your friends pissing on him and then cleaning him up with a water hose to not make anything look suspicious while feeling confident of his timid nature to not tell anyone anything?"

Marcos gulped again as he slowly stepped back, but then he couldn't narrow down who this guy was since he still did these things to multiple boys.

Arion maintained his intense, unblinking stare as his expression continued to become icier, "Do you feel good bullying others? Does that make you feel big? Then guess what...today I am going to make you feel so small that you will feel that your existence is no more significant than a worm."