"BARRIER MAGIC: TROPIC GARDEN!"
A violent surge of magical energy exploded through the air, powerful enough that even Hanabi, despite standing from a distance, felt the pressure crash heavily against his body. Immediately, lines of bamboo shoots burst from the ground and rapidly grew around everyone including Hanabi, circling them completely before bending inward and sealing the top as well, turning the entire area into a massive cage. At the same time, the scent of flowers spread unnaturally through the air as the grasses beneath them expanded wildly across the battlefield. Even while weakened, Hanabi forced himself to observe carefully and quickly concluded that the bamboo shoots were not ordinary plants, but magical energy materialized into physical form to create a barrier aligned with the white belt man's magic skill, or like what they called earlier, a "medium."
At the same time, the woman with the red belt raised both hands upward as an enormous sphere of flames slowly began forming at the very top of the barrier. Every passing second it grew larger and more unstable as she continuously poured all of her magical energy into it without restraint.
Before the alluring woman could react, the black belt man suddenly appeared beside her and attempted to slash her diagonally with his sword, but the attack was completely futile because she had already anticipated his movement long before he even committed to it. She effortlessly dodged his swing before immediately driving her fist into his stomach hard enough to force the air out of his lungs, then followed it with a powerful kick that launched his body violently across the battlefield.
The moment an opening appeared, the blue belt man immediately leaped toward her from a distance with his gauntlet raised, attempting to crush her through sheer force, but against a whip user such a matchup was painfully one sided.
The woman calmly began her counter the moment she saw his approach. Her whip lashed forward and struck directly against his stomach, instantly stopping his momentum midair before the whip snapped downward again and smashed violently against his leg, forcing him to spin uncontrollably through the air. Before he could even hit the ground, the metallic whip wrapped tightly around his body and violently pulled him forward, and the moment his body reached her range, she drove a devastating kick straight into him, sending him flying backward toward the exact place where he originally leaped from before his body rolled lifelessly through the grass and finally collapsed unconscious.
Despite everything, the time both men bought was already enough.
The battlefield beneath them had completely transformed into a sea of flowers while the enormous sphere of flames above them had finally stabilized. The moment the red belt woman realized it, she immediately dropped the gigantic fireball downward, intending to burn the alluring woman completely.
At the same time, she cast one final spell, another barrier meant purely for protection. The black belt man managed to force himself inside just in time while the remaining two positioned themselves behind her.
As the burning sphere descended from above, their victory should have already been certain.
However, the alluring woman still had not revealed all of her cards yet.
The metallic whip in her hand suddenly straightened and hardened, transforming into something resembling a long pole as she planted it firmly into the ground and pointed it directly upward toward the descending flames. Purple light erupted from the weapon before the pole suddenly expanded upward at terrifying speed, its upper portion enlarging as it extended farther and farther until it violently pierced through the falling sphere of flames itself, destroying the fireball entirely along with the upper section of the bamboo barrier. The entire structure collapsed instantly. The flowers vanished, the bamboo surrounding everyone disappeared, and everything the white and red belts created was completely destroyed in a single action.
The remaining three immediately realized they had failed.
The blue belt man was already unconscious, the black belt man could barely stand because of his injuries, and the red belt woman had almost completely exhausted her magical energy. The white belt man still possessed enough strength to continue fighting, but even he already understood it was nowhere near enough to stall her any longer.
The three stared toward the dust cloud left behind by the destruction, silently watching the remains of their desperate plan collapse before their eyes. The white belt man looked toward his companions uncertainly, not knowing what to do anymore, and that hesitation became the last mistake he would ever make.
While the three were distracted looking at one another, none of them noticed that the smoke ahead no longer moved together with the flow of wind, which meant something inside it was moving.
Something dangerous.
Suddenly, something launched out from the smoke with terrifying speed and pierced directly through the white belt man's head, killing him instantly before the remaining two even realized what happened.
Fear completely overtook the red belt woman as her body stiffened and her thoughts froze in terror, but the black belt man chose differently. Despite understanding how hopeless the situation already was, he still forced himself to continue fighting, even though his condition had already gone beyond terrible. Blood covered parts of his body, his breathing had become unstable, and he could barely even stand upright anymore.
"Admirable," the woman calmly complimented his resolve, though somehow the praise only made him appear even more foolish.
Knowing disaster would strike the moment he hesitated, the black belt man forced his injured body forward and attempted to attack first, but the instant he moved, Water Lily had already finished killing him. His body collapsed lifelessly onto the ground before his attack could even fully begin.
Water Lily slowly pointed the opposite end of her whip toward the red belt woman, whose mind had already fallen into complete misery. Magical energy gathered at the tip before releasing instantly, causing the woman to immediately lose consciousness.
Hanabi watched everything unfold from a distance, but before long, his own consciousness also began fading. Earlier, Water Lily had already given him an antidote immediately after teleporting him away before the bandits discovered her presence. The potion had been fighting against the paralysis toxin inside his body the entire time, but it carried side effects that slowly induced drowsiness. While the white belt man remained alive, the toxin persisted through the medium connected to his magic, but now the white belt man was dead, and with his death, the toxin completely disappeared as well. Without resistance remaining inside Hanabi's body, the potion's side effects accelerated all at once until exhaustion finally overtook him completely.
o0o
"Wake up, ****. We're getting late."
A soft spoken voice gently pulled the child out from deep sleep as morning had already arrived. Still half asleep, he could not understand why he needed to wake up early because it was the weekend and there should not have been school today.
Too lazy to respond, he buried himself deeper beneath the blanket until the father entered the bedroom, removed the blanket completely, and effortlessly lifted the child into the air. The sudden movement quickly chased away his drowsiness, and only then did he remember.
He was a child.
And the two beside him were his parents.
The three laughed and played around for a while as the sleepy child slowly woke up while being showered with warmth and affection, and the feeling inside him felt strangely unfamiliar. Gentle. Comfortable. Safe. A kind of happiness he could not fully understand.
"We are gonna get late, you know."
Another voice came from the doorway as a slightly older boy stood there watching the scene with amusement, and it took him a moment to remember that the boy was his older brother.
Everyone eventually stopped playing around and prepared everything while the mother handled things for her youngest son, though the child himself still remained absentminded, unable to fully understand what was happening.
Soon, they were traveling together inside the family van.
The atmosphere felt peaceful, too peaceful. Everyone seemed happy, as though nothing bad could possibly happen that day.
Confused and still lost, **** quietly asked, "Where are we going?"
The father briefly glanced at him through the mirror while the mother remained focused on her phone, and only the older brother answered while distracted by the game he was playing.
"We are going to…"
His voice suddenly distorted.
"We… we are…"
"Where are we going?"
The question echoed once again, but this time everything had changed.
His body screamed in pain and felt too weak to even lift his hand as blood covered his vision while he stared blankly ahead. The man beside him, his father, was no longer moving. His mother was not moving either. Blood stained everything around them while the vehicle itself had become a wreck. Rain poured outside while water dripped from the broken ceiling of the car, and the warmth from before had completely disappeared, leaving behind only coldness.
His entire body hurt unbearably and his head pounded so violently that his vision itself felt drowned in blood, yet no matter how hard he tried, he still could not remember what happened. He tried moving his arm but failed completely, then attempted to speak only for nothing to come out at all. Slowly, despair swallowed what little hope he still had left as his vision darkened further and further until he finally closed his eyes, believing everything had already ended, but only after that did he feel a touch reach him, a faint trace of hope pulling him away from forgotten misery.
o0o
"Wake up. Wake up, Hanabi."
Another voice called out to him, but this time it sounded familiar.
Hanabi abruptly opened his eyes and immediately saw Gluy standing before him.
"What happened?!" Hanabi asked in confusion, his thoughts still disoriented.
"I don't know," Gluy replied honestly. "I only saw you lying here."
Hanabi quickly looked around and realized he was outside the orphanage, lying directly in front of its entrance.
"Why are you lying here?" she asked curiously.
But Hanabi did not answer. Instead, he immediately asked his own question.
"How long was I lying here?"
"I don't know. I just got here," she answered.
Hanabi slowly stood up, his body still heavy from exhaustion, then quietly walked past her and returned to his room without saying another word.