The Strongest Businessman

Everyone felt true and utter despair. They were facing an enemy that was able to behead the three giants in a mere minute. He also possessed these puppets that were already at the peak of the Spirit Gathering Realm. The most frightening factor is that it was unknown to Dylan and company the definite number of puppets that Byron possessed.

"Don't worry these five are only the weakest of my collection. There are still more puppets that are superior in strength, speed and dexterity in my collection." Byron smiled as he let his clouds consume the bodies of the three giants and several moments later, only the clothes were left, the bodies of the three giants were gone.

Strangely, after Byron's statement the puppets stopped attacking and became static. They did not attack nor defend against the army. The army tried attacking the puppets but they were still unable to put a scratch on them, lest, damage them at all.

These puppets were already so tough yet Byron still claimed these are only the weakest? He also said that there are still puppets far stronger than these 5? How about Byron himself? How strong was he to be able to control so many powerful puppets.

At the sight of there masters' corpses being devoured and at the thought of the vast strength Byron possessed, some​ knelt and was staring blankly at the corpses of the three giants. Some cried because of the death of their masters. Some fled from fright. Some became pale-faced and trembled as they could not accept their fates. Some became hysterical and frantic and started blaming Dylan.

Being unable to do anything to an insurmountable behemoth like Byron, they focused their anger and hate to Dylan. A warrior could not contain his loathe towards Dylan as he charged at Dylan alone.

"It's all your fault!!" A warrior held Dylan's collar which started to rip because it was already worn out and burned from his fight with Andrew.

"Hey, stop that!" Jack tried to make the warrior release his grip on Dylan's color.

But since the warrior was an 11th level Awakened Spirit Realm practitioner, he easily released himself from the interference of Jack by hitting him with an elbow strike. Jack was blown away because of the tremendous strength of that elbow strike which did not know how to hold back.

"What​ are you doing?" Dylan held the hands of this warrior and swung it downwards to escape from his grasp which lead to the ripping of the collar of his shirt. He kicked the warrior by the chest to distance himself by a little bit. After escaping from that warriors grasp, he aided Jack to stand up.

"It's all because of you! If it weren't for you, master Galagher would not die an unjustified and untimely death!" The warrior blamed him so loudly.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Dylan felt that this man was being irrational.

"That's right, if it weren't because of your sudden appearance, then Master Blood Wolf would have been still alive!!" Another warrior blamed Dylan for the death of their masters.

"It's not like that. You don't understand~." Dylan tried to rebut.

"What do we not understand, huh? It's you who don't​ understand us! Our masters are like our parents. They kept and nurtured as to who we are today! You won't understand what it's like to lose your parent who died right in front of you!!" Another warrior from the Mystical Herb Garden argued.

These cries of agony woke up the other warriors and invited them to put the blame on Dylan. Soon, all the warriors that were affiliated with the three giants rebelled against Dylan and blamed him for everything.

"Wait, everyone​, please calm down. It doesn't have to be this way!" Frank said.

"Calm down, everyone! This is just what our opponent wants to happen! He wants us to be consumed by hate so that he will be able to use us as his puppets!" Larry shouted with the intent of bringing light to the people and preventing them from falling to the enemies scheme.

"Do you really think we'd be so dumb as to believe you?! Aren't you just using us as well?!" Another warrior cried out.

"That's right! For the sake of the survival of your restaurant, you are using us!" A scholarly young man that came from the Thousand Treasures Pavilion agreed.

"You, guys! Can't you just listen to us?!" Roland shouted.

"Stop it, everyone. It's of no use. I can faintly sense ominous Magnate Strength wrapped around them. The warriors couldn't notice it but they are already being manipulated." Dylan sensed his surroundings and he was able to sense faint threads of ominous and powerful Magnate Strength connected from the bodies of the warriors andByron. So he gestured his employees to retreat a few steps back.

"What? When?" The employees were shocked to hear that news.

"I'm not sure but from what I've deduced. It seems like Byron could easily invade our minds if we let our hate consume us, so you must all keep your mind calm and collected. Do not be hysterical and be overemotional or else, we are all doomed." Dylan enlightened his employees what to do.

"Yes, sir." The employees nodded in response.

"Good." Dylan replied. But, Dylan suddenly had this ominous feeling. He felt this feeling before, before he arrived into this world. The feeling of death approaching!

"Sir Dylan, watch out!" Leila was the nearest to Dylan and she saw a 13th level Awakened Spirit Realm warrior who suddenly appeared out of nowhere and held a half-meter dagger that he was about​ to thrust into Dylan's back. She pushed back Dylan and took the strike for him. The dagger pierced through the center of her chest and was withdrawn quickly.

"LEILA!!!" Dylan held the fragile body of this woman which was bleeding profusely. Leila's face was as white as paper and his body was getting increasingly colder. Dylan was trembling when he saw that this woman was still smiling as she said.

"I'm glad... that you're... unhurt... sir Dylan." Leila smiled as she coughed some blood that made her already pale-face paler. This made Dylan's heart hurt when he heard that this beauty was still worried about him despite her current condition.

Seeing that his assassination failed, the warrior tried to leave as fast as possible.

"Tsk, that meddling woman! I would have killed Dylan Ford if the weren't for her!" The warrior said as he retreated.

"Where do you think you're going?! You think you could get away with what you've done!! Die, you bastard!!!!" Dylan bellowed. He stretched his hands and the Waning Moon Sword suddenly appeared! Dylan injected every ounce of energy left within him and executed another "Crescent Moon Slash"!

"Oh, shit! Argh!!" Although the assassin was fast, but Dylan's "Crescent Moon Slash" was faster! Despite the distance he covered, the assassin was still unable to evade the strike and was killed from the strike. The strike was even able to kill Andrew at the state where he was comparable to a Pinnacle stage 15th level Awakened Spirit Realm Expert! Thus, it was able to easily kill the assassin who was only at the 13th level of Awakened Spirit Realm.

But, this extremely weakened Dylan as exchange. His normal strength was only comparable to a 13th level of Awakened Spirit Realm but with the help of his weapons he would be able to hold his ground against a 14th level Awakened Spirit Realm practitioner or even an Initial 15th level practitioner.

The only reason Dylan was able to deliver an attack like the "Crescent Moon Slash" was because he forcefully stacked two "Energy Slash" into one slash causing it to double in power and attack speed but in exchange it would drain a quarter of Dylan's energy reserve.

Dylan was extremely beat and exhausted after using that second "Crescent Moon Slash". He could​ no longer stand but he still held Leila in his arms.

Leila was content and happy to be held by Dylan like this. She was happy to be held in the arms of the man she loved like this. But, she knew that her time was about to come. Suddenly, she felt like she returned to the past when she was just a little girl. She watched herself grew up and learn different things.

She saw her life back at the orphanage and how she made friends there. She looked happy and content. But, everytime she asked about her mother and father to the caretaker, the caretaker​ would always smile and reply, " I'm sorry, sweetie. Your parents was forced to leave you here because they were unable support you. But, it's fine, you have nanny here to take care of you."

'So this is what they meant when they said, "your life flashing through your eyes"...' Leila thought.

Leila watched herself grow up and became a teenager but because of the rules of the orphanage once a child arrived at the age of 16, she is considered an adult and must leave the orphanage. But being an orphan, she did not have anywhere to stay. So she was forced to find a job. Sh worked at a cafe and was able to meet new friends and people. She was happy that she was able to serve people and bring them happiness.

Leila was popular in the cafe because of her beautiful and a lot of men would want her to be their waitress. Because of this, she was able to earn enough and buy her own apartment and save quite a lot of money.

But, beauty was not a blessing always because it could sometimes be a curse. One day, she worked overtime and her manager, who had always fancied her, also worked overtime. But being unable to contain himself because of being alone together with Leila, he assaulted her.

Leila was terrified when her manager pushed her down on the floor. Fortunately before anything happened, she was able to reach a leg of a chair and smash the entire chair to the head of the manager. The manager was knocked out and she ran away from the cafe. She filed a complaint against​ her manager but it was not recognized by the enforcers. She later discovered that it was rejected due to the head being a relative of the manager.

Leila felt abysmal since she was unable to gain the justice she deserved. She locked herself in her apartment for several weeks and not attending her work at all. The cafe she worked for was forced to close down because most of the customers were furious knowing that Leila quit because of maltreatment. So the manager was imprisoned as well as the head enforcer because of abuse of power.

Leila rejoiced when she got the news so she tried to get a new job because her savings were depleted due to not working for weeks. She tried to find a job opening but sadly there was none because job offering season in the Soaring Cloud City was already done.

But, Leila suddenly got wind of a new and popular restaurant so she went there ihoping to be accepted. She was nervous at first that she might not be able to get accepted but to her shock, all 30 applicants were accepted and according to the contract their base salary is already high and they could still gain a raise depending on their performance. Thus, some could not help but ask if there was a catch but the owner, Dylan Ford, clarified that there was none.

While she worked at the Gardenford Restaurant, Leila discovered how amazing and god-like Dylan's skills were. It was even more shocking when she was able to see it face to face when Dylan was able to handle the three arrogant brothers she was serving. She idolized Dylan after that incident.

Leila met many people that became her close friends layer on and her skills in management improved at a fast pace. Later on, she and her colleagues discovered that Dylan was secretly sending food and provisions to their families. Leila was an orphan so she didn't have a family but Dylan sent it to the orphanage where she used to live. This made her heart beat for Dylan because she never encountered a man as generous, kind, skilled, intelligent and most of all as handsome as Dylan.

Leila began to love him after just a week of working for him. Everyday she would work hard hoping to catch Dylan's attention. A smile from him would make Leila's day complete and just talking with him was enough for her to experience sleepless nights. Leila smiled as she was browsing through her memories. Although it might seem like a long time for Leila, only a second has passed in the real world.

Leila looked at Dylan and smilingly requested, " Sir Dylan, can you pat my head one more time?". Her voice became increasingly feeble but her smile became brighter than ever.

"Okay... Thank you, Leila.." Dylan smiled as tears were starting filter his eyes.

"Thank you, sir Dylan..." Leila smiled beautifully. She reminisced about how Dylan would pat her head everytime she had high ratings​ in the customer service evaluation sheet. That simple pat was bliss for Leila. It was the best reward she could ever receive in a day.

"But you didn't have to take that stab for me... I'm sorry, Leila. I wasn't strong enough to protect you!" Dylan's eyes turned red as a tear flowed down.

"It's okay, sir Dylan. Thank you for crying for me. But my nanny would always tell me that when you love someone, you would do anything just to keep them away from harm. You would protect them with your life and that's what I did for you, sir Dylan. I want you to be safe always and smile for every one. I protected you because.." Leila smiled beautifully as her eyes closed with tears flowing down and lips arched beautifully.

"I love you... Sir Dylan..." Leila's last words were the words of her confession to the man she loved but she would never know the reply as her soul has been lifted from her body.

Despite this being the case, she left a beautiful smile in her cold body and left a message that no matter what the answer would​ be happy regardless as long as her love would live happily.

"LEILAAA!!!"

"BIG SIS LEILAAA!!"

Dylan, Scarlet, and his employees cried for the death of the kind-hearted and hardworking lady who was always there to offer help and smile for them. The girls held Leila's hands and cried over her cold body that Dylan held.