As he kept running, even though he was out of breath, a strange question suddenly popped into his mind. Zavi instinctively slowed his pace, talking to himself.
Who was he really? How did he know that a group of men in robes were in the Forgenate district?
He turned his head, seeing Ren's serious expression, as if he was hiding something. Zavi shook his head. He chose to focus on saving his mother first and would investigate later.
Twenty minutes later, not far from where they were, there were two different roads; the one on the right led to the Tezny district, and the one on the left led to the Forgenate district.
He looked around before turning onto the left road.
Zavi realised it after walking down that road.
It was strange, frightening, and there were faint whispers. It made his mind think strange things.
The street lights flickered on his left, while on his right, the shadows of buildings and his own shadow ran alongside him.
He put his right hand in his coat pocket, ready to pull out his revolver if anyone intended to harm him.
Shortly after that, they both stopped for a moment, took a breath, then continued their journey, entering the Forgenate district.
Meanwhile, Zavi took out his watch, opened the cover, and saw that the time was 6:45 p.m. His eyes widened. He realised that it had been forty minutes since he left home.
He closed his watch and put it back in his trouser pocket. Zavi took two steps forward, approaching Ren, who was shaking out his shirt.
"Is it still far?" asked Zavi, breathing heavily.
"No," he replied casually. Then he added, "And there's no need to hide anything, Zavi. I know you suspect me, just say it." His blue eyes stared unblinkingly.
"You mean...?" Zavi stammered.
"Hmph, forget what I said earlier." Ren turned and signalled with his chin, telling him it was time to move.
Zavi ran behind him, still thinking about his brother's words. Remembering them made him even more angry at him.
"Damn him," he muttered with a cynical smile, remembering Ren's expression that seemed to mock him.
Suddenly, in front of them, a group of evil spirits appeared, flying towards them like bullets.
The spirits pierced Zavi's body quickly, and after that his body fell limply onto the rocks on the road.
Ren heard the sound, turned his head, and tried to help his brother.
But it was too late, he was already unconscious, and Zavi's soul was now being taken by the evil spirits to the world where evil spirits dwell.
Ren growled angrily, staring at the group of evil spirits who quickly turned around, wanting to attack their next target, himself.
"Damn evil spirits! Get out of this world," Ren shouted loudly.
He quickly put his hand in his coat pocket, took out a pistol, and pointed it forward.
The group of evil spirits knew that the pistol would have no effect on them. A grey mist appeared, forming a mocking smile.
Ren smiled maliciously, realising that the evil spirits had underestimated him.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Smoke came out of the barrel after the last shot, three bullets flying fast, destroying the smile-shaped mist and piercing the wall of the building.
Several evil spirits floated silently in the air, merging into a human form but with fish-like tails at the bottom.
The spirit laughed heartily, its strange voice piercing Ren's ears, making him even more annoyed. However, shortly after that, purple-black particles the size of corn kernels appeared directly above the spirit.
Unbeknownst to the evil spirit, the purple-black droplets fell like raindrops. And in an instant, the spirit's form shattered into several pieces, growing smaller and smaller until its existence in this world vanished completely.
"Damn you, human," it shouted in its final moments before disappearing completely.
The three bullets embedded in the wall flew out on their own, flew backwards, and returned to Ren's pistol.
"Ugh, damn it," Ren said irritably as he put the pistol in his coat pocket.
He walked over to Zavi's unconscious body, tried to wake him up, and continued his journey as quickly as possible.
His consciousness slowly returned, and his eyes opened slowly.
"Where am I?" Zavi tried to get up, but failed. "Damn, my head hurts so much," he said softly, touching his forehead.
Ren glanced at him briefly without saying anything. He bent down slightly, straightened his arm, trying to help his brother stand up.
"Hold my hand."
Zavi was stunned to hear Ren's words. His blue eyes sparkled as he stared intently at his brother's face, and the two exchanged glances for a few seconds.
He finally smiled slightly, then took Ren's hand before standing up. Zavi realised that he had just been saved by him.
However, the suspicion he had felt since earlier still lingered in his mind. He wanted to express what was on his mind, but his tongue felt heavy. In the end, he chose to keep the question to himself.
Zavi brushed the dust off his coat. He took a deep breath.
"Thank you for helping me," he said briefly, even though he himself did not fully understand what Ren had done earlier.
Regarding the small purple-black ball, Ren did not tell Zavi that it was related to his supernatural powers.
He did not want his two younger siblings to follow in his footsteps, and as much as possible, Ren wanted his two younger siblings to live long lives until they had families of their own.
"Come on, hurry up, it's getting dark and if we're late, the group in robes might leave Moran."
"So, can you move?" Ren asked coldly, but deep down, he was worried about his brother's condition.
Since childhood, Zavi's body had been very weak. He could only lift weights under fifty kilograms, and if it was more than that, his body wouldn't be strong enough even if he forced himself.
And worst of all, he would faint for hours. His mother had been worried about Zavi's condition since he was seven years old until he turned twenty.
Ren and Isabelle knew about it, but Zavi himself thought it was normal, that it didn't affect his body.
"Huh, it's fine even though my head is still throbbing," he replied briefly.
Ren paused for a moment, thinking about something before saying, "Don't push yourself, you'd better go home."
Zavi didn't seem to hear those words, assuring his brother that he was fine and insisting on looking for his mother until he found her.
Of course, upon hearing this, Ren was confused. He paused for a moment, thinking two steps ahead before making a decision.
"The risk is yours!" he said briefly.
Zavi replied with a nod. After that, the two decided to walk towards the corner of the Forgenate district, the largest area of the city, with several rows of trees surrounding it.
Although the distance between the Chapena district and the city square was very far, let alone the Forgenate district, the two of them did not give up on bringing his mother home.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the border between the two cities. In front of them stood a large building, but it was covered in green moss and thick bushes.
"They're here," said Ren, holding his breath as he pointed to the large, closed iron door.
"But how do we get in?" asked Zavi awkwardly.
"Ahh... In that case, let him distract them." Ren straightened his arm and opened his right palm.
Zavi was confused, not knowing what Ren was doing.
What was he actually doing? Was it a prediction, or more precisely, was he going to use a talisman? I knew that talismans in this world had terrible power, unlike on Earth.
After that, from the middle of the street, a cold and piercing female voice was heard.
"So you're here, sir," said the woman as she walked closer.
Ren immediately turned around, walking calmly towards the woman with long black hair, her brown eyes staring at him intensely, and the woman was wearing a black lace dress—wearing accessories such as a gold necklace, bracelet and shiny ring on her ring finger.
"I did put you here," Ren whispered softly, continuing, "In that building over there, there are several hostages, including my mother. So your job is to distract them, while my brother and I take down those cloaked men, perhaps."
"Yes, sir," she replied coldly, then ran towards the building to carry out the task Ren had given her.
Ren chuckled as he walked towards Zavi afterwards. "It's time to save them," he whispered, gazing at the large building covered in climbing plants.