Opening his eyes slowly, Aril found himself lying on a soft mattress in a room that looked a little more luxurious than his bedroom.
It was quite large. There was a TV and a bathroom in the room. He was most likely in a hotel room, but he couldn't be completely sure because he couldn't move his whole body to check the room.
The young man could only move his neck slightly and that was the only movement he could make at the moment.
Aril tried to speak but his throat still hurt. His body was too lethargic to move. He could only lie down while staring at the ceiling.
*Clack
The sound of the doorknob and the door opened, a wavy-haired man with sunglasses stepped into Aril's room.
"You're awake apparently. You've been asleep for almost 24 hours, how are you feeling?" asked Reizel who approached Aril.
Reizel sat on a chair near the bed and looked at Aril. "You really managed to defeat Johan."
Aril didn't answer and made Reizel curious.
"You used the power of the wind when you defeated Galih and Adit, did you get new demonic powers?" asked Reizel.
Aril gave no response other than nodding his head slowly.
"Is that also the reason why you can't talk right now?"
Once again Aril only gave the same response.
Both of them were silent after that and the room became quiet.
There was nothing to talk about and Reizel wasn't sure what to say after everything that happened.
Aril's only goal was to kill Gilbert as a form of revenge. That was it. There was no noble purpose like the protagonists in movies, just an emotional outlet.
"Master Aril is awake!" shouted Ignoir who was at the door.
Ignoir ran and jumped towards Aril.
Aril's eyes widened but he couldn't dodge.
*Bhak!
Ignoir crushed Aril and hugged the dying-looking young man.
Aril couldn't scream but his mouth was wide open as if he wanted to make a sound.
Reizel lifted Ignoir up like a cat.
"Let go of me! Let me go!" shouted Ignoir who was struggling like a wild cat.
Reizel sighed and looked at Aril whose eyes were wide open. It was obvious that Ignoir's surprise hug had managed to give Aril a great deal of additional pain.
"Are you awake?" asked Putri who was standing at the door.
The girl smiled with relief and tears slowly flowed out. Putri rushed towards Aril.
She stood by the bed for a few moments. Still couldn't believe that Aril had opened his eyes after a long sleep.
Putri immediately hugged Aril while crying.
Aril still felt the pain when his body was touched, but it was a pain that he could happily accept.
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The pain woke Johan up. When he opened his eyes, he realized he was in the regent's office that had been converted into a bedroom.
Photos of Donggala's regent, president of Indonesia and also the vice president. Office inventory and even a big drawer filled with files and paper.
It looked like a normal government office, except for a large bed that Johan was using.
Johan realized that his whole body was wrapped in bandages and Jessica was lying next to him.
Johan looked down at his niece and tried to stroke her head with his handless arm.
Light came in through the window and a few birds chirped.
The bandaged man sighed heavily.
He stared at a photo on the table, but this time, it wasn't of people from the government.
A photo of a woman that made Johan smile a little despite his poor condition.
A woman with long black hair in a ponytail. Wearing glasses that made her black eyes even more elegant and a white lab jacket over her neat shirt. Her skin was slightly tanned, features that bore no resemblance to the baby girl she was carrying. A baby with fair skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair.
Looking at the woman in the photo, Johan felt that he could go on with his life.
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In the hotel room, Aril sat leaning on his bed.
There was no one else in the room except Aril who was leaning back and Putri who was sitting on the edge of the bed holding a bowl of cold vegetable soup.
"Sorry that the soup is cold," said Putri who tried to feed Aril.
Aril didn't mind at all and immediately opened his mouth.
A spoonful of soup was entering Aril's mouth and Putri looked relieved.
After a few spoonfuls, Aril's energy slowly recovered.
'Phenex!' said Aril who was monologuing in his own mind.
The Phenex sigil suddenly appeared on Aril's tongue and the young man immediately used his regeneration ability to recover his throat.
Aril's stamina was suddenly sucked out instantly and he immediately lay lethargic.
Putri panicked and put the soup bowl on the table and immediately checked on Aril's condition.
"Aril, are you okay? What happened?" asked the panicked Putri with teary eyes as if she was about to cry.
Aril just chuckled softly. "It's okay... I'm just using demon power to restore my throat."
"You can talk already?!" Putri was surprised and began to relieve herself.
The panic had disappeared after hearing Aril's explanation. A relieved smile was created on her face for a few moments before her face became sullen.
*Plak!
Putri hit Aril's head with such emotion, "Don't scare me like that!"
"Huh?!" One of Aril's eyebrows shot up as his brain tried to process what had just happened.
"Don't make me worry like that. Hmpfh!" Putri averted her eyes from Aril.
Now the young man was even more clueless about what happened. It was her who hit his head but why was Putri who seemed to be the victim?
Aril sighed. "I'm not going to die. If I die now, who will protect you from your own recklessness?"
"Eh?! Who are you calling reckless?!" shouted Putri who hit Aril's shoulder several times and caused the young man scream in pain.
"Woi! Stop it! It hurts!" shouted Aril who managed to stop Putri's consecutive punches.
Putri rested her face on Aril's shoulder while tightly grasping the young man's shirt.
Silence was created for a few moments. There was no more shouting and Putri's grip tightened.
"Don't leave me alone," said Putri in a low tone of voice.
Aril could only remain silent as he heard the faint sound of sobbing, but he could hear it...
The sadness of Putri who had lost the only family she had, her own mother.
Aril rubbed Putri's head slowly. "I promised Aunt Salma that I would protect you. Of course I can't protect you if I die."
Putri did not respond. The girl pressed her face further into Aril's shoulder and let her tears flow.
Aril gently rubbed Putri's head. "Don't worry. Everything will be okay."
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