Perfect Avatar

Chapter 86: The Bark of a Dog in a Cage

The group came out of the room and found themselves facing a crowd of students, barely held back by several members of the council.

"What is happening here?" Oddegürd asked.

"It's fame," Solaria said grabbing Dora's hand. "Look at this, they love you! It's all for you!"

"Hm... No, I could add them to the afterlife census at any time and they know it."

Dora smirked, but as he looked at their happy faces, he frowned.

"Wow, do they realize who they're cheering for?"

He tried to scratch his chin, then noticed that both his hands were held by Solaria and Mercy, Zuri behind him pulling his sweater.

"And I'm supposed to be the sinner..."

"She's here!!!"

The cries of the students had increased as Elizabeth had just left.

The girl looked around and realized that she had forgotten to use her face-change spell.

She waved a hand, a little embarrassed, wondering how she was going to get out of this.

"Wait, stop!"

"You can't go now, you idiot, calm down!"

The group turned around and noticed Maxim and Lisa busy with a student.

"What are you lot doin'... Oh, shoot!" Mercy let go of Dora and rushed towards Maxim and Lisa.

The others looked on, intrigued, and eventually noticed the out-of-breath student who was causing all the trouble.

"... Oh no," Iris whispered.

"Hm? What is that?... Ah! Elizabeth, look there, it's... it's... By gar!" Candace turned to Dora, followed by everyone else.

"Why don't ya ever listen to me? Back home now!" Mercy shouted at Hope who was struggling against Maxim.

Elizabeth noticed her brother and opened her eyes wide in fear.

"Oh... Ah shit, I'm screwed."

"You... Why are you here?! Why didn't you say anything?!" He shouted to Elizabeth.

"Don't talk to her like this! Go back to your room now! It's an order!"

"Stay out of it!" I'm sick of this, I'm sick of you all!"

Mercy flinched and desperately spread her arms in a pathetic attempt to hide him from Dora.

The concerned looked at them, slightly intrigued before being questioned by Iris.

"H-hey! It's already so late, let's start training right away! Come on, Dean!"

"... Who said you would participate?" He frowned.

"Hahaha! Of course she will, unless you convince me otherwise in a heated argument, little rat! Let's fight over there." Candace grabbed Dora's other hand, helping Iris.

"... What the... Oh... Oh yeah, you're right..."

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"Haha, right? Come on, let's decide if Iris joins us!"

"Haha... Yeah, I forgot, I'm an Avatar!"

Dora's hands suddenly became intangible, like a hologram, and passed through Candace and Iris.

"Hick! No! Dora please!!" Mercy tried to run towards him.

"Oh don't worry, I won't do anything..." He stopped right next to Elizabeth.

"You, Elizabeth, by the authority given to me by Her Glorious Majesty the Queen, and by the authority of what I am, I order you to beat this guy until blood flows from every orifice of his head!"

Everyone stood still for a moment, even the students looked at each other.

"Freak... You're a real freak." Moonra murmured.

Elizabeth looked confused at Dora, thinking it was probably a joke, but the faces of her comrades warned her that it was pretty serious.

"Uh... What's going on here?"

"Do it!" Hope shouted, drawing all eyes towards him. "You really like him don't you?"

"Hope, what are you..."

"You never visited me once, you weren't there for my first day, my first Rift... I almost died there!"

Tears started to flow through his eyes.

"You told me that you wouldn't come because I needed to... to create my own name, to work by myself... But apparently, it didn't prevent you from coming to see him, and to show everyone that you know him!... people doubt that you're even my sister!"

He lowered his head, trembling with rage, and looked at Dora.

"You're really enjoying this, right? Yes, you are... Don't tell me you're not, because you're wasting my life!"

Dora raised his eyelids and looked at him intrigued.

"I don't even calculate you."

"This is why I hate you even more!"

A sharp sound frightened everyone, as Mercy slapped Hope.

The young man placed a hand on his cheek and glared at the girl.

"Enough... Enough... Why are you always like this? You always put me in situations like this... You nev... Ah, no, we're not doing that here, come with me now!"

She grabbed his hand and pulled him further, but the young man turned around one last time and looked at Dora.

"I'll kill you later! Wait for it, I won't let it slip anymore! "

"B-But shut up! What the heck?!"

"Mercy." Dora's voice rang out and made the young girl flinch.

She slowly looked at him.

"Dora..."

"Everyone has a limit that we should make sure to not cross, mine has been three times already."

He walked toward them, Mercy lowered her head and moved away while everyone else's eyes filled with fear.

"It's the third time that a human said that he will kill me, and all of them had the same common point: they insult me, they attack me, and I erase their purpose in life."

He stopped right in front of Hope who seemed infinitely smaller than him.

"Well, except for the last part, I usually prefer when they attack me first, so I can say that they brought this upon themselves, and this is exactly why you can open your mouth now."

"Then... Why are you waiting? Go ahead, come at me!"

He clenched his fists and got into a fighting stance. Frightened looks were focused on him.

Dora stood still for a few seconds then took a step forward, releasing a shockwave.

"I will, but it's hard to take you seriously when unlike everyone else, there's this smell of fear all over you."

Hope clenched his fists, but his face began to twist in terror.

Dora took another step forward and Hope unconsciously stepped back.

"Stop!" Candace shouted. "He's Elizabeth's brother, and she's my acquaintance, so technically the Code forbids you from touching him!"

She rushed towards them and stepped between them. The tension was palpable and Elizabeth, completely oblivious to the situation, looked at them both with incomprehension.

Dora, ignoring the dean, continued to look at Hope, who suddenly seemed more determined, and looked at Eryl.

"He hit me in the face, if he's under her, doesn't that mean she broke the Code?"

Candace flinched and looked at Eryl anxiously. The servant took a thoughtful pose and nodded.

"Technically, he hit you before Candace listed him as a follower, so we can't say she's responsible."

"Ha!" She exhaled, relieved.

"It also means that if she intervenes now, she will be breaking the Code."

"Hwa?..."

"Thank you."

Dora stepped forward, forcing Candace to step aside. Hope took another step back, showing growing fear.

Elizabeth stepped forward, but Eryl stopped her by raising her hand in front of her.

She didn't know what was going on between Dora and Hope, but she knew she had no power to stop Dora after that meeting.

The latter were now walking normally, while Hope constantly tried to further the distance between them.

"Leon insulted me, lied about me, threatened me, and challenged me, I only destroyed his dreams, Thomas insulted me, challenged me, and I only stripped him of his future... Now you, you called me a coward, weak, a monster, and probably many other things behind my back, that's a lot of insults."

Hope slipped and fell on his behind. Dora's foot landed right next to him.

"Do you know how many times you have challenged me? 367 times in two years, that's more than any living thing I've deleted before."

Hope began to shake frantically and his gaze focused on the people around him, but everyone looked at him helplessly.

He understood that no one would intervene to save him.

Dora's hand slowly moved to his forehead.

"Aah... W-wait... I... I was talking to Elizabeth first!... S-s-stay out of this!"

"I'm talking to you, so focus your eyes on me, no one will save you."

Dora's hands moved closer to Hope's forehead.

He lowered himself to the ground, terrified more than ever.

"But there are two things that you did that really settled me off... No one before you punched me and lived the following days without paying this debt, in blood. And this idiot with glasses said something that I can't let slip... Hope, how did he know about Wendy's name?"

Hope's view blurred.

He couldn't handle his body's frenetic dance as he remembered that conversation with Thomas months ago.

Normally, Hope wouldn't be that scared and could at least respond to Dora, even without realizing the anger of the latter, but since the day Dora exposed him to his pressure for the first time, and all the events with Eric, Leon, and Thomas, he started associating him with a sickening fear of death.

"Did you talk about my family, Hope?"

Dora's fingers seemed to get closer indefinitely and finally touched his forehead.

"Sorry!..." He muttered under his breath.

He trembled, his eyes closed, waiting for his end, but the blow never fell.

He slowly opened his eyes and regained his sight, and the first thing he saw was Dora walking away.

"And this is exactly why I still haven't taken care of your case, the others could at least motivate me with their determination or their hatred for me, but this stench of fear on you is a big turn-off... I don't feel the will to finish you as I would like."

Hope opened his eyes widely, looking at Dora's back. Around him, many people sighed in relief, adding weight to his shattered spirit.

Dora passed next to Mercy and froze a moment then turned to Hope again.

"As long as she is defending you, I may rethink of my payback, she's my friend and apparently turning you into Leon would be a bad advertisement for her."

Mercy raised her head and stared at Dora in surprise.

"... What?"

"You look like it would be the end of the world, so, in memory of your loyalty I will ignore him."

"You will... forgive him?"

"Ignore, ignore for today, vengeance will be made, but not right now."

He walked past her, Mercy looked at him for a few seconds, her face showing a full display of her stupefaction.

"Lo...yalty?"

She opened her eyes wide and placed a hand on her cheek, a small smile on her lips.

"Thank you."

Dora waved at her, without looking behind, and walked toward the stairs, followed by Midgard, Eryl, and the two heirs.

Elizabeth looked at her brother, sitting pathetically on the floor. Iris glanced at him for a moment and met his gaze.

The young man looked away, he would have liked to disappear at that moment.

"Hope... Please, stop provoking Dora."

She turned her back, ready to join them.

"Miss... You too?" He whispered.

Iris lowered her head, then frowned.

"Hope, we can't have more loss, if something happens to you, by Dora's hand, we might lose Lady Elizabeth's support. Don't make it harder for us... Don't follow Thoma's mistakes."

She started walking, joined by the other council members. Hope was left behind, Candace, Oddegürd, Mercy, and Elizabeth close to him.

The students gathered around Elizabeth, trying desperately to get her autograph, a photo, or just a word from her, Candace and the teacher tried to keep them away.

"Ev-everyone, please! Calm down!... Hope..."

She tried to reach her brother, but the wave of students kept increasing. Candace had already disappeared under the many centimeters that the students had above her.

Elizabeth tried one last time to see her brother then noticed Mercy, taking him away and waving at her.

She said something that she couldn't hear, but the girl's illuminated face told her enough.

"Okay... I'll see you later... Miss Cand... Miss Candace?" She looked around her, realizing the disappearance of her mentor.

In Dora's group, the students' attention being focused on the heroine allowed them to move freely.

"Why are they taking so long? We need to start right now." Solaria groaned.

The others shrugged in agreement, but this conclusion suited them more than Hope's execution.

Midgard, next to Dora seemed amused and leaned toward him.

"Really? Ignore? After everything he did, you're just gonna ignore it? I remember that you cut someone's fingers just for touching you."

Dora thought a little bit and nodded.

"I just thought that it was pointless, it's not interesting anymore."

Midgard looked at him for a moment, her smile disappearing.

"I see... It's also true that they became very silent... Since that day."