Blackie: (ꐦ ◠‿◠) “Oh? So you have the time to pity the bodyguard, do you?  Unfreezing the time in three…”

“Blackie!” Noah gasped out, then added, “It’s ok! I’m totally ready! 👍 You can skip the countdown.”

Blackie: “…” Not quite the response I expected…

And just like that, the frozen tongues of fire started flicking again, and the absolute silence turned into a chaotic mess of screeches, stomps, flames crackling, and fireballs wooshing.

Noah continued moving in the same direction Aris had been going in before Noah took over. The invisible barrier Trey kept up on Noah at all times pushed the frantic crowd out of his way, preventing them from bumping into Noah.

Noah didn’t bother to stop or face Trey as he threw out, “Trey! Are you capable of doing a reverse shield?”

An energy shield of a Shielder was a one-directional barrier that prevented passage from one side to the other. The purpose of which was creating a protective bubble to guard its target against outside threats - not to trap its target within a bubble. However, high ranked Shielders that were very proficient in the usage of their power could twist the shape of their shield from convex to concave, turning protection into trapping.

“Yes!” Trey immediately responded in his pleasant baritone.

“Good! Reverse-shield the Blazer! Max strength!”

“Yes, sir!” Trey’s face showed worry and reluctance, but he faithfully followed the commands of his superior; even if those commands were problematic, it was not his place to question them.

All power users had one very clear limit to their power – no multitasking. Soothers could only have one soothing field active at a time, Blazers could only control one connected area of fire at a time, and Shielders could only have one shield active at a time. Thus, as soon as a dome 5 meters (16 feet) in diameter surrounded the Blazer, the shield around Noah and Trey disappeared.

Just like that, the sprays of flame that were previously shooting everywhere were stopped in the confines of the dome.

However, now that Noah and Trey were no longer under the protection of the shield, the rushing crowd no longer avoided their path. They madly ran straight ahead, uncaring if they would injure someone or knock them to the ground.

Trey, who had been following Noah’s steps, quickened his pace to run in front of Noah in order to block all incoming bodies with his own.

Noah wasted no time, he had already stretched his max-output soothing field towards the Blazer, completely enveloping him within. He had received all of Aris’s 18 years of memories just now, even those memories that Aris might not have been able to recall himself. Having all of Aris’s experience in soothing freshly imprinted into his brain, Noah’s proficiency was no worse than that of Aris.

In fact, Noah was a worldborn, a creature with, as Blackie had put it, high specs; his learning ability was first class. It took mere seconds for him to fully grasp how to use this newly acquired power.

Blazer’s rampaging mental power staggered immediately, unruly currents showing signs of regaining some semblance of order.

But Noah’s eyebrow furrowed. Something… seemed not quite right. It was as if the man’s mental power was resisting his Soothing. Aris had never run into such a thing before. Soothing was like healing of the mind, it was beneficial to the person being soothed, it should never be rejected. It would be like a healer trying to heal someone’s flesh wounds but the target saying “No, thank you, I’d rather keep those”

The man was clearly in a berserk state no different from a wild beast, he had no mental capacity to resist his Soothing. Which meant that the reason for his rampage… might not be a pure emotional upheaval as he had previously thought.

Noah’s brows furrowed further. Fine beads of crystalline sweat appearing on his white forehead gave him an entrancing air of frailty.

‘Perhaps…!’ Noah’s eyes narrowed, briefly flashing with a cold gleam ‘…a reverse Soothing?’

Just like high ranked Shielders with proficient control of their powers could reverse their shields, so could Soothers reverse their soothing. A reverse soothing could directly cause everything that it was supposed to fix. In fact, that was exactly how Aris had originally knocked out the Blazer. He had turned his mental healing into a mental attack.

If the man’s chaotic mental power was a work of a Soother, it would explain why the Blazer was unable to regain his wits, devolving into a wild beast until his mental state was on the brink of a total collapse.

And if the Blazer was still under the influence of someone else’s power, that would explain why his mental power seemed to be resisting Noah’s soothing.

Noah’s eyes darted around the station left and right, searching for the presence of another Soother.

Soothers projected a natural soothing field around them just like flowers smelled nice. It wasn’t something they could control intentionally, nor could they prevent themselves from “smelling nice”. They could only spew out more of the nice scent, not less.

Noah was the highest-ranked Soother in the city, there was no way another Soother could even dream of going under his radar.

Oddly enough, his search found no signs of another Soother, but he did catch a sharp glint of light from a nearby building.

Trey caught it too, for not a moment later, he tackled Noah to the ground. Trey’s big strong arms wrapped Noah into a tight embrace, pressing him into Trey’s sturdy chest.

The two rolled on the hard ground with much force, but Noah felt no pain, fully cradled in a warm and comfortable embrace. Though Noah had no mind to appreciate the careful care of his guard right now, “Blackie!! Was that what I think it was?!”

“Indeed, see that crack in the concrete over there? That should have been your head.” Blackie responded rather gleefully, the amusement he found in Noah’s current predicament more than apparent.

“This was not in the script!! Didn’t you say that Aris’s death was a complete accident?!? Why is there a sniper after my head?!?” If he had known someone was eyeing his head, he wouldn’t have so casually gifted his lifesaving shield to a living torch dude!

“Oh, the headshot didn’t happen to Aris. He went and died all on his own.” Blackie chortled rather nonchalantly.

“Did he now?!? I am starting to doubt just how accidental this accident was!!”

“Why so agitated? It’s not like you would have died. As annoying as it might be, ensuring you don’t die does fall into the scope of my work duties.” ╮(╯∀╰)╭

“Don’t think I can’t tell what you’re thinking! Can’t hit the head? No problem! Just hit another, less crucial body part, am I right? (°ㅂ°╬)”

Blackie fell silent for a moment, but the silence was a clear answer in itself.

“…pain blocking function is free of charge.” Blackie finally reassured.

Noah: QAQ!!! You just received 1,000 middle fingers in my heart!!!