The hand fell towards Sophia, but for some reason, she couldn't move or feel her feet or dodge the hand.
She didn't understand why she couldn't move, but more than that, she couldn't understand why Ravi attacked her.
Without any choice, she decided to face it, her eyes glowing as she created a dome of ice above her head. But the ice was shattered easily, and the hand pressed down toward her. All of this happened in an instant.
Sophia's eyes were wide as her ice dome was shattered into pieces. She couldn't think of what else to do now, as she was just a few meters away from the hand.
Before she could do anything, the hand was just inches away from her, so she decided to let fate decide her way and closed her eyes. If she was meant to die here, then she was fine with that. But her only regret would be not being with her loved ones and dying without knowing why Ravi attacked her.
And just when the hand was about to bite her, she felt a hand grab her and pull her away.
Sophia opened her eyes and found Brain beside her. He knew Ravi was about to attack her, so he decided ahead of time and was barely able to save her.
Sophia wasn't someone who wouldn't appreciate kindness, so she thanked him.
"Thank you, and I am sorry for earlier."
She also didn't forget to apologize for her behavior earlier. For which, Brain just nodded.
Then they both focused on the man ahead, and Brain asked Sophia.
"Don't you know him? You were protecting him earlier."
To which Sophia meekly replied, "I know him."
"Then why did he attack you?" Brain asked.
Even Sophia wanted to know why, but she didn't know the answer, so she kept silent, staring at Ravi, who was motionless since he attacked her.
And suddenly, he collapsed to the ground with a 'thud.'
When he collapsed, an old pendant, stained with blood, fell in front of him. The pendant fell to the ground and opened automatically, revealing a picture of a girl on one side and a picture of a little boy on the other.
Ravi's eyes fell on the picture of the girl, and his lifeless eyes turned to rage. The next moment, filled with regret, he gritted his teeth so hard that both Sophia and Brain could hear it. And the next moment, a horrible shriek escaped Ravi's mouth.
"Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh...!!!"
It was so loud that Brain and Sophia shuddered in their steps.
Brain fell to the ground, his knees giving up. Even without anything physical attacking him, he felt a fear so deep, as if he were in front of an injured beast who would tear him apart the next moment.
Sophia, on the other hand, could feel the pain in his voice, the regret he felt after losing someone precious to him. She loathed herself for not being with him in his dire moment.
Even now, as he screamed his guts out, she couldn't share his burden. She felt utterly helpless and useless.
Ravi was still screaming. Some tears welled up in his eyes, and he started to hit the ground below with his hand.
He was blaming himself for his loss and his worthlessness. He wanted to harm himself as his atonement.
He kept hitting the ground, but nothing happened. Nothing could happen. What's been lost can't be taken back.
He stopped hitting the ground and looked up to the sky, but this time, his eyes were pleading with something.
"Please... just please, answer me. Why me? WHY ME?!" he begged the sky, screaming at it, but he didn't get any answers.
He again fell to the ground, as if he didn't have any energy left to stand up anymore, and his eyes closed.
Brain was kneeling, and Sophia had tears welling up in her eyes. Both didn't know what was happening in front of them.
It was even more shocking for Brain. First, a random man attacked their base, destroyed the entire landscape, and caused his colleagues to collapse. Then he attacked the girl Brain thought was his friend and started screaming to the sky, begging for something. He had never had a more shocking or, to say, troublesome day in his entire life.
On the other hand, Sophia was lost in her own thoughts, regretting not searching for him before. And now it was too late. She didn't know what had happened to him and didn't know how to help him in any way possible.
They both had different perspectives on this matter. One wanted to end it all, and the other wanted to know more in depth.
They were lost in their thoughts when five people—two girls and three boys, one of them in his mid-30s—approached them. They were the reinforcements sent by the warrior's headquarters.
"How is the situation?" The middle-aged man asked.
He scanned his surroundings: one man lying on the ground, a little girl weeping, and a man in his late 20s kneeling, looking around with little hope for anyone's survival.
No one replied for a few seconds, and then Brain got up to reply to him, "Everyone's fine, and the barrier protecting the city is still intact. We just need to heal the collapsed ones and reconstruct the barrier of the city guards' base." He reported the situation.
"Where's the monster who was attacking the city?" the middle-aged man asked.
Sophia was listening to them and clenched her hands. She was ready to attack them if they tried anything toward Ravi.
Brain stayed quiet for a moment and replied, "He was gone before we arrived here." He reported. Well, clearly, he lied. Even though he didn't know why he lied, he thought he shouldn't speak about Ravi to them and call him the monster that attacked them.
The first reason for that was when Ravi screamed, even Brain could feel that he wasn't rational and had just lost something very precious to him.
The second was Sophia. Yes, even if Brain were to report them about Ravi, she would protect him, and Brain felt Sophia was more powerful than the five in front of him.
"Alright. Go and treat the victims." The middle-aged man ordered the four people behind him, and they immediately nodded and left.
Then the man stared at Ravi, who was lying on the ground, and asked Brain, "Who's he?"
Brain didn't reply this time. Instead, Sophia replied instantly, "He's my friend, and he also collapsed after feeling the pressure from that monster."
The middle-aged man looked at Sophia suspiciously, staring at her and Ravi. The blood stains on Ravi were from an attack, so he collapsed after feeling the pressure. It was kind of fishy for him.
Brain looked at the man and noticed his suspicious look, then spoke in support of Ravi.
"She is right. He collapsed after the aura earlier. Before that, he went to a nearby place to hunt, and some blood was stained in his clothes. He is trying to enter Pis Aller, so he was just training, and I was with him during that." Brain spoke.
The middle-aged man simply nodded. It was going to be time for the entrance exam of Pis Aller Academy, and many youths trained very hard for that, so it was a plausible explanation that Brain could think of, and the middle-aged man also thought it was the truth.
Brain saw the middle-aged man nodding and sighed internally, unable to help but think,
"Why am I covering for him? But they are just children, and I can't see them being killed, at least not in front of me, not this time."
Brain remembered a horrible past of his when he was stationed at a hospital and couldn't save the people there. He was lucky enough to survive that incident.
"But I should still be vigilant. He is dangerous, and I should also warn that little girl."
"Take him and come to the medication hall." Saying that, the middle-aged man disappeared in an instant, as if he hadn't been there to begin with.
After he left, Brain looked at Sophia, and Sophia did as well. She didn't know why he helped her, but she was still grateful.
"I don't know what kind of relationship you have with him, but remember, he is dangerous. I saved him this time, but if that happens again, I won't stop the forces if they even kill him. And if he harms anyone, use that pendant and kill him. Remember, killing one person is better to save a hundred. It isn't right, but still better." Brain told Sophia.
Sophia nodded. She knew he said it in a good way, and she wasn't a fool not to understand why he thought Ravi was dangerous. If he hadn't stopped, many would have died— even Bibek, who was a dear friend to her.
"Thank you for your help, and don't worry. I will remember it." Sophia nodded and walked toward Ravi, who was still lying in the mud.
"I will find what happened to you and make you the Ravi I remembered once again. I won't leave your side. Not this time."
She hardened her resolve to find the truth behind her lover's state, and she would do anything to uncover it.
***
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