[This chapter contains R-18(gore) scenes.]
Andrew always considered himself a predator thanks to his talent and position. He came to take the helpless beauty, get her to his bed by using force, and even devise plans to realize his wet dream.
Yet, he tasted the powerlessness, became the one who hunted. Tired, suffered, and was now dragged by the hand holding his hair.
He didn't even have an ounce of strength left in him; his wounds were worse than Mary's.
However, if he could have fought even without his legs, he may have won the fight because of the universal energy deflection Mary has been suffering for a good while.
She was akin to a ticking time bomb right now. A time bomb on the verge of exploding any moment by using her own powers, having her own universal energy threatened to attack her from within.
However, for this instance, she literally became a time bomb because of entirely different reasons.
"You—Cough!" Blood spurted out, dampening his own clothes, could barely talk in a hushed voice, "You are not normal, aren't you? Hehe—Cough! Cough!"
Mary chose to say nothing; either she had nothing to say or didn't want to answer him. Maybe the reason was completely different; it could be because she wanted to conserve her strength as much as possible for the latter part of her revenge.
She dragged him into the bathroom on the first floor and made him sit inside the toilet. Andrew, who lost his hands and legs, wetted his pants once again, this time not due to rain.
Then, without pausing for a second, she went to fetch sleeping pills from the drawer next to the fridge. The medicine was effective for almost anyone but level 4 and above.
While in her case, she had to take three pills at once. That is why she brought out every single pill in the house, all twenty of them.
"Cough! Cough! Open your mouth!"
Pow!
If he wouldn't open it, she would make him.
A punch landed on his cheek, followed by forcefully shoving the pills in batches of five until they all vanished. She knew that he may die from an overdose in that state when he was barely alive, but she was going to kill him, anyway.
Not even a minute passed, and Andrew's cheeky smile that he put on just like a shield disappeared; he fell into a slumber like a kid. His saliva came out with some whiteness, serving as a sign of foam that may drip any second.
"Leon, be quick," murmured before heading outside to clean the mess.
Minutes ticked by. Each second was a call to the embrace of sleep, yet she fought with might. Until a footstep, then the bell rang.
Let out a brief sigh, smiled just like before, "Coming."
The first one to appear on Leon's face was shock at seeing his mother's lost hand, tattered body, "W-What the f*ck!?"
Tears followed, embracing her with every ounce of his power, desperate to keep the only family member in his life alive, "W-What happened!? L-Let's go to a doctor! C-Come on!" Shaking from the bottom of his soul.
Returned his embrace with her own, "Don't worry, son," then a kiss to his forehead, "But we don't have much time, so you will listen to me, alright?"
"I-I'll carry you to the doctor!"
This time, she tightly embraced him, not letting him move even a bit, "Leon, listen to me. I taught you the way from here to Stone City, didn't I?"
The answer didn't come, only the hiccups.
"Answer me."
"Y-Y-You did."
"Do you remember the way?"
"Y-Yes, I do, but…"
Patted his head and gently looked at her son's rain-like eyes, "Your mother is strong, Leon."
"I-I know…"
"I also have read those novels of yours. And what happens when a strong person is dragged by the weak one?"
"T-They…" He knew the answer but couldn't tell it.
"They would die," gave a kiss to his forehead once again, "You are a smart kid, you know what I'm trying to say, don't you?"
"Hiiick! I-I know!"
"I'll leave the Harbinger, go somewhere else to get better. I also want to keep on living," once again, gave him an embrace, "When you are in Stone City, just stick around the alleys, alright?"
"I-I…"
"Get a hold of yourself already. Weren't you usually the calmest one?"
"B-But…"
"Follow my finger," she showed the bathroom on the first floor, "There is a b*stard tied down in there."
"W-What?" Then his eyes immediately turned into that of a ferocious beast's, "I'll go kill him!"
"That's a nice emotional burst, haha, cough! Cough!"
"M-Mother!"
"It's okay, calm down and listen to me, alright? This matter is quite severe."
He already knew that he had to do whatever she instructed. If not, her death would be unavoidable, so he took a deep breath, "Alright," sealed his emotions for later.
This was one of his excellent traits.
"That guy is a God's Guard, you know what this means, don't you?"
"Yes," his eyes had already lost their color from the moment he calmed himself down, but now harbored a thirst for vengeance.
"The moment he dies, the guards will swarm here, and he may die any moment now. So, go pack a few things as quickly as you can and head to the forest, then to Stone City, understood?"
"What about you?"
"I can take care of myself. You would only drag me down, alright?"
With one last glance, he nodded and hurried off to his room. Returning in less than three minutes, he had already changed into a tracksuit.
"Mom, I'm ready," went for a hug.
"Get some food while you are here. There should be some sandwiches," her gentle smile almost never changed when she was in front of him.
"Alright. You will come to find me, right?"
Giggled, "No, you will come to find me," patted his head.
"Get stronger, be careful. Stick to alleys. Don't trust others too much. Live your life and destroy that watch when I tell you."
Immediately took off his watch, "Y-Yeah, I will," his eyes were already wet.
Sometimes, sadness comes suddenly, even before the person can notice.
One more hug and one more kiss were the only things they did before going outside. Mary kept on walking with him as she had always done so far. And when they were close enough, she dragged him towards their left for a good five minutes at a quick speed.
"Leon, cough! We will crush our watches right in here, alright?"
"A-Alright…" And his kind of joyous walk ended with these words.
"It's not the time."
Explained, "Then, we will run all the way to the back, where our house is looking at the forest. It should take around two to three minutes if we run. After that, you will run as fast as you can through the forest, got it?"
"Y-Yeah…"
"Got it?"
"Yes."
Looked at him for a few more seconds, with a whisper to his ears, "Leon, everyone related to the Gods are our enemies. Never trust their people and never show mercy to them. Because if you do so, they will come back with much more powerful people. Then, you can do nothing, understood?"
She neither had any light in her eyes nor any emotion this time.
This time, it was Leon's moment to look into her ocean-blue eyes, blankly. However, it took next to no second for him to firmly nod with a fierce look on his face, "Understood."
Having learned her son was also a like-minded kid, her smile returned back to a normal, motherly, angelic one.
"Now, break it!"
And then they dashed all the way back.
"Leon, I love you," gave her last kiss, "Be careful."
"I love you, too, mother."
"Now, fly."
Gave her one last look, Leon.
"Sigh…"
Mary's teary eyes dragged her to her home to finish her job.
Pow! Pow! Pow!
A kitchen knife in her hand, "It's all because of you, f*cker! I'll cut your d*ck off!"
Crying while punching, that was the Mary now. Living both the fury and sadness at the same time. She was going insane.
She was so insane that she did the thing she said.
"Aaaahh!!"
"It feels good, huh? Now, die!"
----
Leon ran through the forest with tears in his eyes but clung onto the hope that his mother would honor their promise.
All alone in the forest, running, huffing, crying. Everything was tiring to him now; maybe his body was fine, but not his mind.
He kept on running in this state for a good fifteen minutes, the absolute limit he can; thanks to his mind being empty, couldn't even think anymore.
To accompany him in his sadness, the smiling sun turned its brightness away from the Earth. Grieved the clouds, harder and harder, constantly.
That is the reason why he was rolling on the mud now until a thud sound came.
Thud!
His weary legs yielded him to the sweet whispers of rest, rooted from his head that hit a stone.
Just under a hill, tallness can't be equal with the surrounding trees, was a stone that can't get into others' eyes, a small black stone with dotes on it, as if the universe itself manifested as a stone.
Slowly, Leon closed his weary eyes, enveloped by the fatigue of nature, the falling rain, and the weight of sorrow, Leon.
And the stone vanished as if it had never existed in the first place.
A pitch-black, white dotted energy, just the same as the stone, made its way toward Leon's head. Slipped inside of him, not through his physical body, but through his soul entirely.
In the next moment, something surreal, even more surreal than magic have appeared.
A blue text appeared in front of him.
Albeit he neither had the time to check it nor could find the right mind, even if he were to be awake.
[Sys… tem… laun…]