Chapter 6 : Where The Sun Goes Down

An unsettling sharp prickle arose to my chest, all the warmth on my face vanished within an instant, and the only thing I could hear was my rapidly beating heartbeat.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

For the first time in twelve years, I'm afraid of my life.

Suddenly Darcio's words rang in my thoughts fleetingly. His stories about evil men committing their lives attempting to assassinate me. All of those days since the very beginning when I woke up, months of practicing my vysu, and years questioning if I would be stuck here forever led to this exact moment.

I could tell that my life would change forever.

Because the evil guys found me.

Instead of screaming my lungs out, my body reacted instinctively by sprinting in the opposite direction. The pure terror I'm feeling at the moment is pumped into adrenaline, providing me massive strength to run faster and faster.

I knew they were chasing after me, and the moment I felt something sting on my left cheek, I realized that they were going to stop me by attacking me with vysu.

I saw thin arrows, almost transparent, shooting from behind me. They were vysu, manipulated into weapons. I dared to turn my head to see the five men chasing after me, with their bows and arrows on their hands, trying to aim while running.

I'm going to die. This is it.

I disregarded how serious my situation was for twelve years because nothing major happened. All my life, I've been surrounded by laughs and caring people who taught me many things about this world. Playing together, eating together, and we all huddled in one giant pile and fell asleep.

I forgot that the purpose of me hiding in the first place. I was supposed to hide from these people who are trying to kill me.

"Ah!"

Hot tears welled up to my eyes when I felt the arrow struck my left calf. I toppled down with force, and the pain amplified by the second. With a loud wail, I hugged my legs and tossed them to the side.

No.

I refuse to die here.

I don't want to die after living twelve whole years in a shabby cabin without seeing this world with my bare eyes.

As I watched the five men charged after me, I furrowed my eyebrows and raised one of my hands to their way. With uncontrollable sobs, I struggle to concentrate on accumulating my vysu to my palm, hoping that I could summon the weapon I created two years ago.

Since I know, I could manipulate vysu into any type of weapon. I've been training on imagining a shape, visualizing the function, and collect as much as vysu I can to create the perfect weapon.

A weapon I could only think of from my previous life.

A gun.

"!" The five men saw the whirl of white and purple substance around my body, then accumulated into one big ball before it modified into a rifle.

BANG!

"Kh—"

When I pulled the trigger, the magic that coursed inside my veins flourished vigorously, flowing to my rifle. The bullet hit one of the men's shoulders, and he fell to the pile of mud while clutching his shoulder.

I wanted to kiss my past self for watching hours of those action movies that involved gunfights.

There's no way that people in this world know what a gun is. Even Darcio and the others applauded me for being able to come up with such a brilliant idea. That's why the five men looked so stunned.

This was my chance to escape!

"Aaah!"

Never mind, the arrow that's still stuck in my calf hurts so much it sent jolting shocks of pain, paralyzed me to the ground.

Realizing that I couldn't move anymore, the four remaining men quickly ran toward me. I aimed my rifle back to one of the men, but they were getting too close. If I manage to hit one of the men, the three would be able to catch me.

And before I could pull the trigger, I saw a figure flying from behind the shrubs. Tyr slashed his sword to one of the men's necks, killing him instantly.

"!"

I widened my eyes when I felt two pairs of hands hauled me up and carried me in bridal style.

"Azriel!" It was Morfeo. His eyes were bloodshot, likely the result of holding his tears and anger. "Are you okay?!" His eyes then finally saw the arrow that was stuck in my calf. This time, I could see his face glowered with veins popped on his forehead and neck.

"Bring him out of here!" Yeomfra ordered, who just arrived with his two daggers, dodging the flying arrows.

Morfeo didn't hesitate and start running toward the cabin. The rifle I've been clutching close to my chest disappeared into a thin wave of fog. The pain on my calf prevented me from concentrating on maintaining my weapon, causing it to disappear.

"Don't close your eyes, Azriel," Morfeo said. His face was hardened, pale eyebrows furrowed. My eyes were beginning to blur, unable to withhold the excruciating burning feeling.

Eventually, I passed out after listening to Morfeo's distant voice calling my name repeatedly.