Light possessed all of Halo's instincts, from his cold assassin intuition to his detached yet oddly principled nature. This made the clone almost as formidable as Halo himself.

However, nearly two days had passed since Light left for Inferno Moist to survey the land. The red mist land was the largest of the triad lands, giving Halo reason to shrug off concerns about Light's safety. Besides, he trusted it enough to believe it was all right.

Despite himself, Halo woke up in the morning feeling disoriented. Since his room was destroyed during his duel with Light, he had to switch to a new room, but now he was reconsidering his decision.

This room was nearly identical to his previous one, save for the open window, which was slightly larger. Yet in the window sat a crow, watching Halo in silence, utterly unconcerned with privacy.

"That bastard is spying on me…"

He sneered in annoyance and tried to shoo the creature away, but it only acted more nonchalant.

His irritation boiled over, and he turned to leave the room, but before he could, the crow flew in and perched on his shoulder.

"Wait… you can move?"

His face twitched with annoyance as he fought the urge to swat the creature away. Yet despite his irritated state, he decided to confront Liam.

He had nothing to hide, nothing Liam's crows could discover from a glance anyway. Still, he needed to set some boundaries or at least learn Liam's reasoning.

Liam was very easy to find. Even with their ongoing painting routine, the boy was either sitting on the bridge by the castle's moat or in the Grand Hall, attending his session with Seraph.

Halo knew where to find him easily enough. In no time, he was seated next to Liam by the moat, with Liam's crows circling them and Tough moving back and forth around the castle perimeter.

"What the fuck is going on?"

The words left Halo with aggression. Liam shivered for a moment before glancing in Halo's direction, his expression saddened.

"Uh… uhm. I wanted to keep an eye on you. You could've been in danger."

Halo stared at Liam with a confused expression, wondering how exactly he could have been in danger. They had a Beast Sinner, Tough, who was also a Crawler, keeping watch over the castle, and Liam's crows circled the castle even when he slept. So how exactly would he have been in danger?

"You are my only friend, you know?" Liam's head dropped, and he began playing with his hands.

"No one ever wanted to stay in my life, not even before this world. But you… you called me your friend. And with everything going on, I just needed to know you're alright."

Halo let out a sigh and began massaging his forehead.

He didn't expect this to be emotional torture, though he didn't know what to expect either. This was Liam, and his Flaw was anxiety. These constant safeguarding measures should be expected. Worse, he had to treat him with care, something his cold nature wasn't fond of.

Hero or not, he chose to become Liam's friend, and he had to live up to that expectation.

With a heavy heart, he forced a smile and tried to reassure Liam.

"Don't think too much of it. I was just curious. Now that I know, that's enough."

Liam's expression softened, and he returned Halo's smile.

But Liam's cheerful expression made him wonder: how could someone this kind and cautious not have friends? Halo had been harsh and brutal in his past life, yet many people would have died just to speak to him.

"Why is that? You seem to love everyone, so why no friends?"

Liam's expression darkened as he sat frozen for a moment before finally speaking.

"I know… but you know, too much of everything is bad. I had a friend once when I was little. Even though I was timid, I grew comfortable around him.

I started visiting his house often, checking up on him, even doing things he never asked for. It became too much for him… and he stopped being my friend."

Liam clenched his fists tightly as they trembled.

"I never blamed him, because I understood him. But now… something stirs within me. I've never known hatred before, yet whenever I think of my Nemesis, I can feel my blood boil."

Halo frowned for a moment and tapped on Liam's shoulder, asking him to calm down.

Halo didn't have a Nemesis, something he was supposed to get after awakening, but he had expected something similar.

Each person's Nemesis was their sworn enemy, and though the system decided what someone should do with theirs, it didn't take away the rage of encountering one.

Killing a Nemesis was different from killing a Sinner or an ordinary human, though. Halo didn't know much about it, but he knew the hero had gained enough power to rebel against the gods after killing his Nemesis, the Ancient Light.

Still, he had no desire to speak about Nemesis since he didn't have any. But he rather wanted to say something motivational to Liam. He knew that was the best thing for the moment.

"This world isn't your old one. We're all sinners here, none of us has the right to judge. I won't judge you either. You're curious, calculating, and caring… not everyone can be all that. So stay the way you are. I like you this way."

The moment Halo spoke, he wished he hadn't opened his damned mouth. Liam sniffled and rubbed his nose as he kept thanking him.

Halo listened to him speak, but all of this was becoming too much for him. Emotions were a burden, especially in this world where they were all branded enemies. But he forced himself to listen anyway, giving out appropriate responses with a forced, measured smile.

The conversation went on longer than Halo expected, but he still enjoyed it. Though his demeanor said otherwise, he was glad to see Liam act cheerful and confident.

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