Because They Were Weak

"Calm down, I'm not going to do anything to you." 

Immediately after Austin made his presence known, Heinz tried summoning all the energy in his body to get up, but his limbs only shook a little in response, having nothing left in his tank.

His eyes turned fierce, treating Austin as the panther who had just come out of hiding, and himself as the hare being cornered.

Austin simply walked over and stood in front of him, not making any movements to indicate hostility.

He was trying to calm Heinz down, understanding how hot-blooded he was after witnessing everything he just did to himself.

Repeatedly trying but failing to move his body, Heinz eventually gave up, helplessly eyeing Austin from the ground. With eyes fierce as ever, he howled, "what are you doing here?"

Austin replied calmly like they just stumbled upon each other on a stroll. "I couldn't sleep, so I just came out for some fresh air. He turned towards the moonlight-lit pond, "as I thought, the scenery here is beautiful at night."

"What about you? Why are you here?" Austin asked Heinz sarcastically.

 "... None of your business!" he jeered.

Seeing how Austin was acting, Heinz knew that he must have been watched this whole time. 'How did I not sense his presence...?' was the first thought that came to mind. 

Austin continued, "This is quite dangerous you know... aren't you being a bit stupid here? Maya doesn't know what you're up to and she worries about you al the time."

With how little regard he had for his own life, using Maya was the best way to teach him a lesson since he clearly treasured her.

The fire in Heinz's eyes only burned hotter from what Austin said. 

"Don't talk about Maya like you know her! What do you know about anything?! You're just a little child!" Heinz shouted. He was provoked by Austin's words because he felt a prickling truth to it.

"You're right, I don't know what happened in your past and I don't know what reason you have for doing this. But I know you are going down a route of no return. Are you planning to leave Maya by herself in the world?"

Heinz's eyes started shaking, disturbed by what Austin said. At this moment, he did not think about who was talking to him, but the gravity behind those words. 

"Without a mother and father, you are both already pitiful enough as it is, are you going to leave her too?" 

Austin could see Heinz wavering and the flame in his eyes quenching. He thought Heinz would understand with this line, but unexpectedly, he didn't get the anticipated result. 

At the mention of his mother and father, all the painful memories fuelling Heinz's hatred was aroused.

He remembered a time when life was good. Then it all spiralled downwards and the world turned to hell. 

His parents stopped smiling, his father went missing, his mother was driven to the point of taking her own life, and he was left all by himself to take care of his newborn sister. 

When the men returned and saw that his mother had died, they showed no emotions and just ransacked the house, taking everything with them.

For fear of alerting them, he had to keep his hand over Maya's mouth as they hid.

"Sorry, Maya...

Sorry...

Please forgive me, please be quiet..."

He could feel her running out of air, feel that he was slowly choking her. Unlike the previous times, the men were taking a lot longer to leave.

He had no choice - he convinced himself of that. If they were found, then they would turn out like his mother.

They hid under the floor panels as usual, but his mother's corpse had attracted rats towards the house. Sitting in the cold, dark attic, he was surrounded by countless rodents scurrying around, running over him and nibbling on his bare feet.

He didn't know what was pushing him on, but he had never felt so afraid.

He was afraid that they were going to be found, afraid that he was going to kill his own sister, and afraid of the chilling green eyes.

Countless days passed after the men left, and his mother's corpse remained in the same position, the stench turned more intense and her once warming face decayed into rotten flesh.

There was nothing left for them, all the food was taken and they had not eaten for days.

With a wailing Maya by his side, he sat in the empty dark house, remembering how it used to be so bright with light and flooded with warmth.

It was only when Maya became silent, having no more tears to cry, did he wake up from his dream. 

He could not bear to touch her, unable to forgive himself for what he did to her in that attic. But seeing her sickly face that was getting worse and worse, he found some life enter him and stood up with some conviction. 

As he was burying his mother, shovelling dirt onto her skeleton face one pile after another, he kept questioning where everything went wrong.

"Mommy! Daddy! Look what I found!"

"Oh dear, why are your clothes all dirty again..." 

"Hahaha! Let papa see what's in your hands."

Why did all of this happen? Why did father and mother become like this?

"Sorry, Maya...

Sorry...

Please forgive me, please be quiet..."

 Why did I have to go through all that?

"You're going to be having a sister, are you happy?"

"Yes!"

Why did all our happiness and warmth go away?

"Dale, I'm worried about our children. The bandits in this area are increasing..."

"Sigh, I know... but it is hard for us to move to the Nations. They are accepting fewer non-Magicians these days. I will try my best to do something about it..."

Eventually, he came to an answer.

It was because they were weak.

...

"What are you doing?" Austin was looking at Heinz with outspread eyes. Despite the condition of his body, he was actually getting up! 

'What happened all of a sudden? He couldn't move a muscle just a second ago... Crap, I must have said something wrong... his parents?' Austin hit himself for being so careless before running over stop Heinz from hurting himself.

But Heinz seemed like he was possessed by a devil, the original brown of his eyes now looked completely black and empty, his reasoning was completely lost. 

Before Austin could get close, Heinz suddenly picked up his sword and -

Slash!

A white arc stopped him in his tracks. It was impeccably fast, if Austin did not stop in time, he would have been hit by it. A few strands of black hair glistened in the moonlight and fell to the ground. 

Austin felt a chilling sensation. 'That was too close!' He didn't expect Heinz, who clearly wasn't in the right mind right now to suddenly attack. 

But Heinz did not stop there, he came charging at Austin and struck wildly. There was no technique to them but each attack was fast and deadly.

Inches away from his skin, the cold sharpness of Heinz's sword invaded into his body as it sliced through the air. 

In Heinz's eyes, he didn't see Austin, but only a black figure in a blurry world that represented his weakness. His entire body was trembling in fatigue and blook was leaking everywhere. He could not feel a single thing, dedicating his entire being to slaying the demon in front of him.

Met with the familiarity of a sword after all this time, Austin's body was quickly awakened.

Eyes turning sharp from his instincts kicking in, Austin stopped dodging and dashed forward with no hesitation when he saw an opportunity.

Heinz's sword came down at flying speed but was suddenly stopped in its path, palmed between Austin's hands. Not a second later, Austin deflected it away, striking Heinz's vital points before expertly manoeuvring around his body and sending a chop to his neck.

With two thumps, Heinz's sword dropped to the ground before his body followed straight after.