Galaxy Fall: All My Skills Are Maxed

Chapter 399: Red Thorn: Six Months Later

​[Six Months Later.]

[Earth - Canada - Survivor’s Bar.]

​"I need more!!"

​A solitary lady enveloped in a heavy, travel-stained hood yelled from a shadowy corner of the tavern, aggressively rising her empty cup into the stale air.

​"Coming!!" The exhausted bartender yelled, rushing desperately towards the woman with a fresh, unopened bottle, utterly ignoring the thirsty patrons waiting at the crowded counter.

​"Hey! We came here first!" A handsome young guy with messy blonde hair yelled, impatiently hitting his finger against the sticky wooden table.

​"Sorry for that. She is a very important person in Canada... You should remember, that two months ago, this entire city was filled with invading monsters, but that Lady wiped them all out in just ten minutes! But, she likes drinking." He added, staring in a mix of profound awe and pity at the hooded lady, who was currently busy gulping down the entire bottle of wine as if trying to drown a deep, unspeakable sorrow.

​"Do you know her name?" The blonde man asked, watching intently as the bartender finally hurried back and poured him a glass of cheap wine.

​"Name? No one knows her true name, we just call her the Red Thorn." The bartender answered in a low, hushed voice, treating the moniker like a sacred ward that kept the darkness at bay.

​"Hmm... Where did she come from?" The guy asked again, his gaze now fully curious about the anomaly sitting in the corner of this ruined world.

​"Hmm... No one truly knows. Some said, she just suddenly appeared out of thin air; others said she came walking all the way from New York, while some desperate believers said God sent her to save us... I don’t know who to believe." The bartender answered with a tired but grateful smile, wiping the counter. "She is a complete mystery." He added.

​The guy slowly nodded his head, thoughtfully taking a sip of his bitter drink: "Indeed." He nodded his head again, and asked:

​"--Young man, why are you so curious about Red Thorn? Besides, if you’re after her, go." The bartender challenged gently, and gestured with his rag to the isolated lady in the corner:

​"She is right there."

​The guy stared silently at the Red Thorn, evaluating the dense, oppressive aura surrounding her, and finally shook his head:

​"No, I shouldn’t disturb her. Besides, I came here for a drink" He said, shifting his focus back onto his wine.

​"Hey! Who’s this beautiful sitting here alone?" A heavily muscular, scarred man suddenly collapsed onto the wooden seat directly opposite Red Thorn. A lecherous, arrogant smirk was plastered on his rough face; he was visibly and heavily drunk, oblivious to the predator he was sitting with.

​"Shit! That idiot guy will get himself killed... Although the city currently doesn’t have any monsters, but the scent of fresh blood will definitely draw the monsters back." The bartender quickly said, his face draining of color as he dropped his rag and started rushing forward to prevent a slaughter.

​WHOOSH!!

​Everyone in the tavern instantly froze in sheer terror as the heavy, muscular man violently flew backward through the air all the way to the end of the room, violently smashing right into the reinforced brick wall.

​BAM!

​He fell limply to the dirty ground, his spine completely shattered from the horrific impact with the wall. Seeing this brutal display of casual power, everyone was utterly shocked, slowly turning their trembling heads back to the hooded lady, who merely slowly lowered her one outstretched finger, and calmly continued her heavy drinking without missing a single beat.

​"Interesting." The blonde young man smirked, completely unfazed by the sudden violence. He calmly picked up his empty wine glass, stood from his stool, and confidently walked towards the dangerous hooded lady.

​’What is that crazy kid doing?! Is he completely tired of living??’ The bartender thought frantically to himself, paralyzed by fear. At that exact moment, all the terrified customers were staring at the young man in silent pity, fully expecting him to be the next corpse thrown against the wall.

​"Good day."

​He calmly sat down right on the exact spot the first disabled man had sat, staring directly at her shadow-draped form:

​"Hi, I am Lian. Sorry for bothering you, but can I have a little bit from the wine in your hand." He asked politely, pointing at the half-full wine glass in her grip, while trying his absolute best to peer through the darkness and see the hidden face concealed deep within the hood.

​SILENCE....

​The air in the tavern grew dangerously dense, thick enough to suffocate a normal person.

​"Ahem! You can simply give me a little, I am too poor to get mine... Please." Lian pleaded softly, entirely ignoring the suffocating killing intent rolling off her, and suddenly, the lady stopped moving altogether.

​Lian swallowed hard as the Red Thorn slowly raised her head from the shadows of the cloak. Her two glowing red eyes—windows to an unfathomable, bloody past—suddenly met his, a small, irritated frown forming on her devastatingly beautiful face.

​’My god! She is so breathtakingly beautiful!! Why hide such exquisite beauty behind a dirty Hood?!’ He thought, momentarily captivated.

​"Are you done staring?" Her voice was hoarse, laced with exhaustion and a dangerous, razor-sharp edge.

​"Um... Yes. Sorry about that, my eyes just moved on their own." Lian said, chuckling awkwardly and nervously rubbing the back of his neck to disarm her tension.

​Red Thorn stared at him in absolute silence for a moment, like reading his soul, and then casually pushed the expensive bottle on her table towards him.

​"Thank you!!" Lian quickly poured the rich wine into his cup. "I heard from the rumors around... Are you really Red Thorn?" He asked in a low, careful tone, being as respectfully as he could possibly be.

​Red Thorn completely ignored the question. She lowered her gaze back to the sticky table, and slowly stood up from the booth, only to immediately stumble, clearly drunk.

​"Hey!" Lian exclaimed in genuine surprise, quickly reaching out. But before he could even move a muscle to support and help her, Red Thorn violently slapped his outstretched hand away with bruising force.

​"Don’t dare touch me." She muttered darkly, her voice dripping with venom. Pulling her hood tighter, she turned and began walking towards the creaky wooden stairs in the back of the bar, heavily stumbling from time to time as she sought the dark isolation of her room.

​"What a stubborn lady." He muttered quietly to himself, staring thoughtfully at the expensive wine bottle she had left before him.

​"At least---"

​He abruptly paused mid-sentence, his sharp eyes catching movement in the dim tavern lighting. He was staring directly at the paralyzed man the Red Thorn had casually threw at the wall, he was moving again, completely healed. Walking towards the stairs, with five more heavily armed men quietly following right behind, their rugged faces completely filled with dark, unadulterated killing intent.

​"So troublesome." He muttered softly under his breath. His carefree, innocent demeanor instantly vanished into a predator’s calm, and he silently rose from the table, following closely behind them into the shadows of the stairwell.