Chapter 402: Nero Severus Noctem [Part 1] "I don’t know if you are very brave or very stupid. Tell me, do you know who I am?" Alex didn’t dare to answer the cold voice behind him, not knowing what reaction to expect if he responded truthfully. But even if he had wanted to, he had been seized by an uncontrollable shuddering that made speech impossible. He gritted his teeth together. If he relaxed, he feared they would start chattering too. "You’ve grown quite popular among our circle, Alex Stratos," the mysterious man continued calmly. "My colleagues have gone out of their way to dig up any information about you, yet they have all come up empty-handed." Alex’s jaw was practically locked shut, but the uninvited visitor seemed unbothered by this one-sided conversation. "Such a feat is nearly impossible to do unless you’re born in a remote village such as this. But now that I’ve seen you with my own eyes, I finally understand why they have all failed." The man moved closer, not bothering to hide his movement. He had nothing to fear, confident no one in the village could stop him. Even if all the villagers and their saviors worked together to oppose him, there would only be one outcome. Total annihilation. "Turn around so I can have a closer look at you," the man ordered. Alex found himself unable to resist. It was as if the man was a puppeteer who had tied invisible strings to his limbs. The moment Alex’s eyes met the man’s amused crimson eyes, all thoughts fled his head but one. ’I hope I survive this.’ The man lowered his head a bit to get a closer look at Alex’s face. "I knew it... Still, this is a very interesting development. Shouldn’t you be dead already?" Alex had no idea what the man was talking about, but there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. He couldn’t even avert his gaze even as the visitor’s crimson eyes seemed to pin him in place and looked straight at his very soul. "Still, it’s best to double-check," the man commented. "But before that, let’s take care of our uninvited guest first." The man then raised his hand. Out of nowhere, Lumi was sucked into his grasp, unable to scream or free herself. "An Astral Body that actually has a physical manifestation?" The man raised his eyebrows. "It seems you have some very interesting friends, Alex Stratos." Seeing Lumi struggling to break free from the man’s grasp, Alex acted on pure instinct. He lunged forward and seized the man’s wrist with both hands. "Let her go!" Alex hissed. "Leave her out of this!" "Are you ordering me, child?" the man asked with a tranquil arrogance. To Alex’s surprise, the man actually let Lumi go. The young man hurriedly pulled her behind him, placing himself between her and the enemy, who only smirked a little in amusement at the sight. "Lumi, don’t tell anyone what is happening here," Alex said as he turned around to look in her eyes. "He’s a Rank 8. If he really wished to kill us, we’d be long dead." Alex was not only talking to Lumi but also to Latifa. He was certain that Lumi had already asked Latifa for help. With that in mind, he warned both ladies not to do anything reckless, for they were dealing with an opponent far out of their league. "Oh? How did you know about my Rank?" the man asked with genuine curiosity. "Did you regain your memory? I think not. The seal is still there..." Once again, Alex had no idea what the man was talking about. He didn’t think much about it either. All he cared for was to prevent any deaths from happening. Alex had yet to make any move when a hand grabbed his head from behind, holding him in a vice-grip. "Don’t move," the man said. "If you disturb me, I might just snap your neck." Alex remained as still as possible, while Lumi anxiously stared at him. She wasn’t the only one who had been reduced to a bundle of nerves. Latifa shared her senses, so she had also grown aware of the situation. "The seal is indeed present. It’s still strong," the man noted with a tinge of surprise. "But you seem to know who I am. Tell me, bastard, do you really know who I am? Ah, let me just remind you—if you lie to me, I’ll kill one of your friends. "The more you lie, the more I will kill. If you really care for them, make sure to tell me the truth and nothing but the truth. Do you understand?" "Yes," Alex answered. "Good. I like smart, obedient children." The man nodded in satisfaction. "Now, tell me, who am I?" Alex forced himself to answer, refusing to risk his friends’ lives. "You are His Excellency, Nero Severus Noctem," Alex answered. "And how do you know my name?" Nero asked. "Technically, this is the first time we’ve met each other. So how are you so confident that you have the right person?" "It is one of my abilities," Alex went on. "I can know the names of people within a certain range around me." Advancing to a Rank 3 Oathkeeper had upgraded his map, granting it the power to display the names of those it tracked. Of course, Alex had to manually click the dots on the map to know the names. The only exception was his friends and other important people, whose names automatically showed up on the map even without clicking. "What a troublesome ability," Nero commented. "Next question, do you know what kind of organization I belong to? "The Demon Worshipers," Alex replied. "That’s right. The same organization that you’ve been messing with." Nero smiled evilly. "I don’t know if you’re courting death or not, but you should not poke the hornet’s nest if you don’t want to get stung." Lumi shuddered after knowing the man’s affiliation. She still had no idea why Alex knew the man’s name. But after hearing the other party was a Rank 8, she understood that if Nero wanted, no one in this village would be able to leave alive. "Okay, next question," Nero continued. "You should be dead already. Even if I haven’t seen it myself, I have a special artifact that will let me know if you’ve breathed your last. "Your Guardian even fell into depression because he failed to protect you after the Paragon of Ice attacked you. Well, I’m still happy though. At least that old fool managed to kill a Paragon. "He may be as strong as I, yet he’s the only one in the world who has killed a paragon and lived to tell the tale. Did that old man do something after you died? I can tell with utmost certainty that you haven’t turned into a high-ranking Undead. So how come you’re still alive?" Perhaps sensing that the man had no intention to kill him, at least for now, Alex paid close attention to his words. Clearly, Nero seemed to know him. And drawing on his memories of Evangeline, he could guess exactly what Nero was trying to say. But Alex was most confused about Nero’s confidence that he should be dead. He had no recollection of dying. Maybe this body had indeed died before, but he had no access to those memories. ’Did I die after I was shot from that cannon?’ Alex wondered, but immediately tossed this idea to the back of his mind. He was certain that Nero wasn’t talking about that kind of death. He was confused and that confusion quickly morphed into fear because he truly didn’t know the answer to the Vampire Lord’s question.