3 days have passed since the event in the last chapter.
Leonor has stopped pampering Luccione, so he may go wherever he wants as long as Giovanni comes with him.
While Giovanni strolled behind him, Luccione wandered out on an excursion.
"Do you have to follow me?" Luccione inquired.
"I lost, didn't I? All I can do is do a favor," Giovanni explained.
They're discussing how good Luccione mom is at magic as they go. He even mentions his mother overpowering her classmates in a duel when she was 15 years old.
"you must have been very proud to manifest on Luccione's body, Jay-R," said Giovanni
Luccione then fell silent and gazed up at the sky. He was wondering if this world may be his beginning point for changing his life's purpose. "Hey, Giovanni, what did you want for Tallah while we were in the floating mansion?" he said.
Ohh...
"To be honest, my wish for that lady impacts strongly on my existence as a cockfighter."
"How I failed to comprehend those who mean a lot to me, or how I failed to tell them that it was all a deception"
Giovanni sighed...
"Being an animal without a voice is very horrible, you know?" Giovanni said he also followed by "we have spent our entire lives like cattle."
"So, I wished that I could at least understand human language; as you can see, I can chant magic just like you guys," Giovanni explains.
Luccione realizes that if Giovanni had not spoken after striking his father, he would still be locked in a cage. The worst-case scenario is butchered. Giovanni also mentions that because of that wish, he can finally understand all of the conversations he overheard when he was still back on earth.
10 minutes have passed.
"Hey, I never get to talk about your life on Earth, so I was thinking that after this, we could go talk about it," Luccione suggests.
"You just barely scratch the surface of my hell life," Giovanni smirked.
They were unaware that they had already left the village and were in the woods.
"I think we've already gone too far."
Giovanni chuckles... "No shit!" he exclaimed.
They suddenly heard a child's cries for help coming from the woods.
"Somebody help me!"
"Please, leave me alone!!"
"I'm not interested in ice cream!"
They both went into the woods to investigate what was going on. they quickly hide under the bush and sneak up. they saw two people bullying this poor boy.
"wait a minute, that's the same duo who always bully me as a kid" Luccione recognize the two.
"What the hell, even after death bullying is inevitable," Giovanni said.
But there is something different, the two bullies are pinning this poor child so that it won't escape. and one of them seems to be whispering something to him.
Luccione stands up and said "I can't let this continue even further" Giovanni doubts Luccione skills to handle the two bullies.
"Isn't there a reason you were here with me?" Luccione reminds him.
.....
"Don't worry, I won't bite" said the bully.
"No!" the victim shouted but inside his mind "Someone please help me!"
Out of nowhere, someone shouted "HEEEEEE! HAAAA!" like a cowboy. the two were confused.
"Someone tailed on us," the bully said
"Impossible, I made sure no one else follow us" The other bully claimed
They look around the woods but they couldn't find the one making the notice.
"It's high noon, Mother****er!" Giovanni said as he glided down to the other bully's face.
They noticed the direction of the sound and look up. but it is too late Giovanni has already latched on to the other bully's face and repeatedly strikes it.
"Brother!" the other bully shouted, as he was about to help his brother.
Luccione throws a small rock at the other bully's head and says, "Hey! why don't you pick someone your own size?" When the bully looks behind him and sees Luccione throwing rocks at him, he exclaims, "You!" with a scowl on his face.
"How dare you bastard, after you've finished bullying me, you're going with someone else!" screamed Luccione.
"I see, I recall you."
"You got your blessings, huh, despite making fun of you, I couldn't ask your name," the bully said.
"My name is Marco, and that guy over there is called "John," how about you, Mr. weirdo?" Marco introduced himself and his brother.
"My name is Luccione, and I am not the same boy I once was," Luccione explained.
"Ahhh, you're feeling mighty and strong, but we're not like we were before," Marco clarified.
"Then stop hurting other children," Luccione advises.
"Who says I'm hurting them? I'm just using them how I want."
Luccione became agitated and picked up the stones on the ground, throwing them at him. The bully, on the other hand, simply dodges and picks up the stone thrown at him.
"What's the deal with that throw? This isn't Earth, you know."
He then gestures to Luccione with his hand, holding the stone, and says, "I'll show you how throwing works."
"Spirits of soil, grant my wishes, control what's inside, and launch it to my target-"
Luccione charges at him in a zigzag pattern to avoid being hit before he can cast the spell.
"Make it possible for violence"
The stone floats in his hand as he points it at Luccione. To avoid getting predicted, Luccione avoids standing in a line and keeps moving left and right.
"shit, I can't close our distance at all," Luccione thinks because getting closer has a high probability of getting hit with the magic.
.....
"Brother! get this f***ing bird out of me" John shouted as he swing his hand to get rid of Giovanni while he is scratching John's face and pecking his head.
"you're lucky Luccione doesn't want me to decapitate you two" is what Giovanni thinking. Before they execute their plan, Luccione orders Giovanni to not kill the two.
.....
Plan B is required because Luccione cannot approach Marco. That is why instead of growing the distance, he just went straight to the victim.
Marco became frustrated because he couldn't properly aim his magic, so he decided to use the rocks in the area with a revised incantation.
"Spirit of soil, gather all the rocks beside me, and perform the same magic again."
Suddenly, the rocks near Marco began floating alongside him and shooting Luccione one by one. After a while, Marco realized he wasn't going to him and instead wanted to go after the boy.
Marco chuckles...
"Very heroic, I say, because of your action, I can finally see what you're doing," Marco said, realizing Luccione only wanted to protect the victim, but now Marco knows Luccione will be vulnerable if he tries to save the victim from the range attack.
"This is your end," Marco exclaimed.
Luccione then covered the boy's body by lying on top of him while he grasped whatever grass he could reach.
"Giovanni! now!" yelled Luccione.
"what exactly are they planning?" is what inside Marco's mind
...
Giovanni is grabbed by John and thrown against the tree. Giovanni, fortunately, uses his wings to glide away from danger.
He then flees the scene without saying anything.
Inside John's head, he wonders, "What was that all about?"
John saw a significant temperature change and witnessed tree leaves flying straight up into the sky.
...
When John cried "BROTHER, LOOK UP!!!" Marco was going to launch all of the flying rocks in his magic onto Luccione.
The gigantic sphere of extremely focused wind pressure exploded above the trees where Luccione stood just as he looked up.
The explosion bent the trees in the area and removed all of their leaves, Luccione lay down and faced the ground while feeling as if gravity was even denser, and those unlucky enough to be standing near the blast spot had a severe knockback.
Effectively, John and Marco flew in opposite directions and collided with the nearest tree. However, Marco had a hard time because the tree he was knocked back to broke and he now flew to the second tree behind it.
The wind even blows across some of Lamborn Village, where Luccione lives. The wind causes the hung-up clothing to fall. Dead leaves have started falling on some homes that are not near any trees.
.....
"Are you all right?" Luccione asks questions of the boy.
The boy who had been evading eye contact soon looked up at Luccione, and he discovered that the boy wasn't actually a he, but rather a girl.
"You're a girl?" realizes Luccione.
"Thank you very much!" she exclaimed, grateful that he saved her from the bully.
tears slowly drop on her face as she wipes it out.
He then demanded her name, to which she replied "Marga-" before stopping, as if she didn't want him to know her complete name.
"It's okay, Marga is a great name," Luccione says, making her feel better.
Luccione then asked Marga her age once she stopped crying, and she immediately replied that she is 8 years old, and she seemed to have not yet gotten a blessing because she answers like a child.
"You want to go to your mama?" Luccione said, and Marga enthusiastically agreed.
"Are we buddies, Brother Lucc?" Marga inquired.
The way she asked if they were buddies inside Luccione's head is simply too sweet. He can't say no to her.
"Cross my heart"
...
"Hey pedophile, this isn't finished yet," Giovanni remarked as he glided back down to Luccione.
Luccione yelled at him, "Why did you have to ruin the wholesomeness, jerk?" Marga, on the other hand, was taken aback to see a speaking bird up close and wanted to hug Giovanni.
Giovanni, on the other hand, kept his distance since he is simply too old for hugging.
...
Meanwhile, Marco is awake and attempting to rise, but he is weary and off of balance. He sat down under the tree and leaned against a log.
He looks at Luccione and the two as they exit the woodland.
HAHAHA.
Where do you intend to go?
Luccione had no idea a stone would suddenly fly across the field and harm Giovanni on the wings.
"Dude, he got me," Giovanni whimpers as he falls from pain.
Luccione spotted his injured companion and tried to assess the seriousness of the wounds; it is bloated, and red spots appear to become more obvious. In the worst-case scenario, Giovanni's wings will be removed to prevent infection.
Luccione was furious and turned back to see Marco aiming his hand at them as a rock floated in it.
I'm tired of being a good boy.
I'm sick of trying to be someone else's hero.
Luccione recalls Giovanni telling him, "What if he has no choice but to kill someone in order to escape, and if Luccione would truly do it?"
Criminals must sometimes be injured in order to turn over a new leaf.
Luccione recalled being bullied as a child by two boys because of his timid attitude and lonesome demeanor. When Leonor, his mom, looked outside to see him. They did an awful job pretending that everyone was happy. But when she's not looking, their true colors emerge and they say things that frighten him.
Even after obtaining his blessings, Luccione was still shivering. The trauma is simply too much to take. Blessings are not just past memories coming back, but also trauma enhanced by another trauma.
This time is different; remember, Luccione, you have to protect those you care about. Ending the line between victim and bully is crucial to achieving that goal, whatever it takes.
Luccione inhale... exhale... inhale... and exhale...
Die...
Marco accelerates the release of his last stone.
"SPIRITS! HELP ME PLEASE!"
Luccione closes his eyes and blocks the strike with his palm. When he unintentionally opens a magical circle on his hand, his iPhone emerges in it and immediately unlocks its front camera.
The stone then strikes the phone's front glass, causing both Luccione and Marco to collapse at the same time.
"What just happened, I felt weak all of a sudden," Luccione thinks as his vision begins to fade.
The iPhone hovering on his magic circle-imbued hand vanishes, as does the magic circle.
despite the fact that he couldn't see it.
- End Chapter