WebNovels

Chapter 9 - Unknown past.

A beautiful river flowed peacefully among a few trees. Birds flew happily in the sky, and the fish swimming in the clear water were as lovely as the river itself. Suddenly, a sound broke the peace.

"Waaah, waaah!" The lonely cry of a baby came from near a large tree by the river. The baby cried for hours until, exhausted, it finally fell asleep.

For several days, the baby remained near the tree, repeating the cycle of crying and sleeping from hunger and cold. Then, one day, a group of women came to the river to fetch water. By chance, one of them heard the faint sound of crying. She quietly went to search for the source and found the baby under the big tree.

She picked the baby up, trying to calm it. Moved by a natural human kindness, she decided to take the child into her care. She waited for the other women to leave, then came out from behind the tree. She carried the baby in her left arm and her bucket of water in her right hand.

But when she got home, her husband was angry. He said they already had their own children to feed and could not afford to take in another baby. After a long argument, the woman knew her husband was being reasonable. Sadly, she decided she had to give the child to an orphanage.

---

What was that? A memory? I've heard that people see their past right before they die, before going to a place called heaven or hell. I don't know if I believe in that. I have mixed feelings about it.

I don't really love or hate the idea of heaven or hell. If heaven is a place for good people, why does it let so many good people die for no reason? Lots of kind people die because of others' actions.

Well, I might be talking too much for a dead person. But wasn't this taking too long? How could I still be thinking if I was killed by that monster's attack? Am I still alive?

No! If I'm alive, what happened to Cherry? I had to open my eyes! Wake up, body! You stupid body, wake up! If I didn't, Cherry would still be lying there, weak and defenseless after using all her mana. I had to protect her in case the monster attacked again! Hurry up!!

After what felt like an eternity, I started to regain consciousness. It felt like I was still standing. Had my body been stunned by the attack? It was a strange feeling, but I never wanted to experience it again.

Slowly, I began to open my eyes, like a newborn baby seeing the world for the first time. Everything was blurry at first, but then my sight cleared. My skin began to feel again, and I noticed the wind around me was very cold. Shouldn't it have been hot from the attack?

I finally opened my eyes completely. The colossal monster was still in front of me, firing its powerful beam attack non-stop. How much time had passed since I blacked out?

I looked at the giant entity. It kept firing its laser, but the moment the attack reached me, something incredible happened. The blazing hot beam reversed its effect, turning into a soothing, chilly breeze.

Cherry was on the ground behind me, her eyes wide with shock and exhaustion. She was staring at me, then at the snowflakes that were now falling around us because of the cold air I was creating.

"Are you okay?" I asked, my voice rough. I held out a hand to her.

She hesitated for a second, then took it. Her hand was warm in mine. I pulled her up, and she leaned on me for support, her body trembling.

"What... what did you do?" she whispered, her voice full of awe and confusion.

"I... I don't know," I admitted, feeling just as confused as she looked. The power wasn't something I controlled. It felt like a wall inside me had automatically come up to protect us. The cold feeling in my chest grew a little heavier.

Cherry simply nodded, her eyes fixed on the ruthless monster, her grip on my arm tightening.

"What should we do?" Cherry asked, holding onto my arm for support. We were safe, encased in this miraculous bubble, but we were trapped. I was a shield with no sword, and Cherry was drained of all her power. We could only stand and watch.

"We can wait. There must be other heroes coming. After all, this is one of the walls of Valoria," I said.

She nodded. I looked around at the destroyed buildings and among the ruins, I could see them—the still forms of those who hadn't been saved. A wave of grief and guilt, so potent it was a physical pain, washed over me. My power had saved us, but it had activated too late for them. I had been too weak, too slow. I had failed them. The negative emotions from the few survivors—their terror, their loss—began to press in on my mind from a distance, a dull, throbbing headache building behind my eyes.

I looked down at my hands. They looked normal, but I felt a deep, strange coldness inside my chest, like I had swallowed a piece of ice. It was an uncomfortable, empty feeling.

Suddenly, the monster was hit by a barrage of countless arrows and bullets. Each one tore huge chunks from its body. The people attacking it had to be incredibly powerful to do that from so far away. I could feel their strength even from miles away. One was firing from a far-off building—probably a sniper—and another was attacking from the distant city. I had a feeling I knew who the archer was, and the city looked familiar, too.

The monster struggled under the relentless attack. After a long time, it finally stopped moving. But instead of falling over, a dark crack appeared in the air and swallowed the monster whole. It was gone, without a trace. If I were stronger, I would have chased it to the depths of hell, but for now, it was over.

"Let's go," I said to Cherry, who was still staring at the spot where the giant monster had been.

She nodded and held my arm for support as we walked away. I could sense the enormous power of the heroes who helped us fading away. I had a feeling we would meet them someday soon.

The journey home was a dark, silent way through a broken world. The streets were choked with dust and rubble. The air was thick with the smell of smoke and the constant, mournful cry of sirens. Other magus and rescue workers were already on the scene, using elemental magic to douse fires or telekinesis to lift chunks of concrete, searching for survivors.

Everywhere, people were crying, holding each other, their faces filled with shock and loss. Their collective fear and grief was a heavy blanket choking my mind, increasing my headache and my own guilt. Some survivors pointed at us as we passed, whispering, their eyes wide. I heard the words "boy" and "beam" and "miracle," but I was too exhausted, too numb, to care.

---

[News Channel]

The reporter on the television spoke with excitement. ""The attack is over! The Void creature has been driven back! Thanks to our hero, Silent Death, and the unknown archer! But reports are coming in of a miracle—a young man who stood against the beam and survived! Who is this unknown hero?"

---

On a street nearby, a crowd of people gathered around a large television screen mounted on a building, watching the breaking news.

"Haha, you're working yourself too much, old man," said one man to another.

The other man was wearing a thick coat and had a large sniper rifle slung over his back. "I'm not that old yet! Besides, I'm pretty sure we didn't kill that monster. It must still be alive somewhere."

The first man shrugged. "Oh well, I did my job anyway. Let's head back."

His companion nodded, and the two of them walked away, blending into the crowd without attracting any attention.

---

In a dark room, a man watched a news report on a magical screen. His face was twisted with anger, but he didn't punch the wall. Instead, his hands clenched into tight fists.

"How... amazing," he whispered, the word a murderous hiss. He had thought the boy's immunity to his magic before was a fluke, a one-time accident. But this... this was on an entirely different scale. To neutralize a Void entity's main attack? "It seems I was focusing on the wrong prize. That girl is a juicy fruit, but you... you are the entire garden." A slow, predatory smile spread across his lips. "I'll be watching you very, very closely, boy."

He reached for a glass of blood-red wine on the table beside him, draining it in one long swallow, making much bigger plans in his mind.

---

Cherry and I finally reached our home. I unlocked the door, and we went inside. The moment she reached the living room, she collapsed onto the sofa, completely drained.

"Thank you," she said, her face red. I felt happy, too. I had finally saved someone—the person right in front of me. But to save more people, I needed to understand my power.

"So, you were hiding something from me?" Cherry asked, looking at me with a pout.

Huh? Did she think I was hiding this strange power from her? Why would I hide something so important instead of using it to protect us earlier? There was no reason for me to keep it a secret.

"I didn't know about it myself," I explained. "It's something I noticed when that professor attacked me before. His magic didn't work on me for some reason, and then he disappeared."

It was confusing. I already had the power to sense others' emotions, and now this? What was happening to me?

"I see," Cherry said. A grin spread across her face. "Well, it will be very handy if you can learn to use it whenever you want, right? I'll help you train and figure it out."

I didn't see any problem with that. Training with her to explore my abilities sounded like a good plan.

"Oh, by the way," I added, "we're going somewhere tomorrow. To meet an acquaintance who helped us."

"Where?" she asked, looking puzzled.

"To meet an ally," I said, maybe sounding a little too proud. After all, they did save us. But more than that, I had a feeling we would learn many important things when we meet them.

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