YM778.TV Chapter 241: I can kill her.....
Whether one assumed the role of the offeror or the offeree, they were irrevocably linked, and.....escape from its magical constraints was an impossibility.
Their souls would be chained by the ethereal, indestructible Mana.
As Lilith had once expressed, \'Mana itself is living\' and those moulded from the essence of Mana were inherently unable to resist the will of their creator.
The Terra world and every living being within it were crafted from Mana, so....
"Here..." After signing it, Eli nonchalantly tossed the contract towards the man.
The Mysterious man deftly caught the scroll before opening it, eyes scanning Eli\'s blood mark.
"Why the hell did you mark it in the centre of the scroll? Are your eyes blind or what?" The man shouted in frustration before smugly saying, "Well, whatever, at least you signed it...hahahhaha" He laughed, a sound that echoed with unsettling confidence, before setting the contract ablaze.
"Swoosh"
\'tinkle, tinkle\'
As the scroll burned, it metamorphosed into clouds of dust, sparkling like stars before dispersing in two directions.
\'Swiissssshh\'
One part of the sparks darted towards Eli.
\'Swiissssshh\'
While the other part ascended towards the sky before veering towards the direction of....Nex Academia.
"Now, Let them--" Eli, who hadn\'t witnessed this occurrence, was about to order when,
"I am sorry, old man, but even the gods cannot aid your wife...I am nothing but a punny man, so what can I do?" The man said with an amusing smile to Wei, who stood in stunned disbelief.
\'Drip, Drip\'
Tears cascaded from Wei\'s wrinkled eyes as he gazed at his wife, shrouded in an almost ethereal darkness, her cries having ceased as if....she were already dead.
"Ha...Hah..AHHAAAWWWWWWWW!!" Wails of the old man resonated, a heartbreaking symphony echoing in the plain.
Then, with a smug smile, the mysterious man addressed Eli, "At least, I kept my word to you, Mr. Small Shot" before turning on his heel along with his subordinates to leave.
As they distanced themselves from Wei, Eli sprinted towards the old man and Mei, but,
"N-NO, D-DON\'T COME NEAR US, YOU CURSED BASTARD!!!" Wei screamed in a tumult of anger and loss as he clutched his motionless wife.
Nevertheless, Eli pressed on.
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO CO--"
Eli passed Wei and Mei, muttering under his breath,
/Domain/
The ground surrounding Wei and Mei trembled before eventually settling into an eerie calm.
"Nah, Nah, Don\'t be stupid, Mr. Small shot. This guy really wanted to kill you, you know?" The mysterious man smirked when he saw Eli rushing towards them.
"I know that" Eli muttered, effortlessly blocking a kick from the subordinate of that man using his hands. Eli had already sensed the subordinate releasing his killing intent directly at him.
\'Crack, Crack\'
Eli felt his bones crack a little. "You look like you\'re really angry...ah?" Eli remarked with a hint of amusement, even in the midst of the chaos.
"You killed my brother!!!!" The man\'s subordinate shouted as he launched towards Eli. Seizing the opportunity, the mysterious man tried to sneak away.
"Oh! I see...The last guy who begged for his life?" Eli guessed it, his senses locked onto the sneaking man.
"Terra Arts: 2nd form"
Sand gathered around Eli\'s leg.
"How dare you cal---\'PUUUFFFFFF\'" The subordinate was about to shout, but a powerful kick to the chest shattered his ribs and cut off his protest.
"And that\'s how you kick someone...." Eli said with a victorious pose.
\'Thud\'
"arrrrrhhhh"
The subordinate fell onto the mysterious man, and both of them collapsed.
Satisfied that his swift kick had worked, Eli hurriedly approached them.
"-Cough, Cough-"
The subordinate coughed blood as he tried to stand up; however,
"Don\'t worry, your brother might live for a few more days..." Eli said with a cryptic smile before extracting the subordinate\'s heart, leaving a gruesome silence in the aftermath.
His eyes slowly lost their light, and Eli then pulled out the soul crystal before kicking the lifeless body aside.
"arrhhh"
The mysterious man who was under the subordinate groaned.
"You talk too much, Mister dick shot" Eli spat as he grabbed the collar of that man.
However,
Eli frowned when he felt the mysterious man\'s heavy and motionless body.
\'Slap,Slap\'
Eli slapped the man\'s face and checked his pulse.
"He Fucking Died!" Eli was taken aback by the situation and was about to pull out his heart when,
"Hahahahahaha....You are really an Idiot!!..ahahahaha"
Eli heard the same voice. Frowning, Eli leaned closer to the dead man\'s face and realized the sound was coming from his pocket.
Eli\'s lips twitched, and he understood what it was. Taking out the phone hidden in the pocket before tossing away the dead body, Eli answered the call.
"Hey!" Eli said as he held the phone to his ear.
"What Idiot?" Came the answer from the other side.
"Whoever are you....You won\'t die an easy death!!" Eli declared with emotionless eyes, his words cutting through the tense air.
".....hahahahahah...After signing the contract you are nothing but a---"
Eli crushed the phone, not wanting to hear any more.
"AAWWWWHHH!!!"
Eli walked towards the grief-stricken Wei.
With every step, the anguish in Wei\'s cries grew louder, "I-It\'s all because... I-I lost her... I lost my only...."
"What happened to her?" Eli asked with a calm voice, not minding Wei\'s words.
"Aaaawwwhhhh!!" Wei\'s response was a gut-wrenching wail that echoed in the desolation around them.
\'Sigh,\' Eli sighed, recognizing the depth of Wei\'s despair, crouching down and was about to touch Mei when,
"DON\'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER, YOU CURSED BASTARD!!" However, Wei\'s scream pierced the air and made Eli halt his hands.
"I-I shouldn\'t have l-let you in... S-she sh-shouldn\'t suffer for y-your...." Wei\'s voice quivered with self-blame and grief.
Eli stared in Wei\'s direction and was about to knock him out when,
"KKIIIIKKKKIIIII!!!!"
A spine-chilling screech tore through the stillness.
Eli swiftly turned his head, entering high alert mode as he expanded his sensing range.
The night once shrouded in darkness, suddenly brightened.
Then, a luminous object hurtled toward them at breakneck speed.
"N-No, No, No..." Wei\'s despairing cries ceased momentarily as he clutched his motionless wife even tighter.
"What is it? Wei!!" Eli urgently demanded when he heard Wei\'s feared shout.
However, Wei remained silent, his tight embrace around Mei.
As the unidentified object entered Eli\'s heightened sensing range, he prepared for imminent action.
"Plasma Arts: 1st Form"
\'Spark, Spark\'
Eli\'s body shimmered with energy as he geared up to confront the approaching threat.
"ELI!!"
An ethereal voice, one Eli knew too well, echoed in the night....His name was carried on a breeze, halting his movements.
\'Swissh, Swoosh\'
Wei, too, opened his eyes, drawn by the familiar voice. A reddish-yellow Phoenix materialized, transforming into a breathtaking woman....Mariel.
"ELI!!"
Her voice held relief and concern as Mariel descended gracefully, her radiant presence calming the charged atmosphere. Eli smiled a little before lowering his guard.
Mariel when she saw him battered and drenched in blood, her heart stirred with pain.
Awakening her slumbered body surely took a lot of time and the moment she woke her body, Mariel shot up towards the dark sky, attempting to use her bloodline ability to locate another Phoenix.
However, it only worked on Inferno Phoenix, her species.
Instead, She illuminated her whole territory with her powerful and bright flames and, with her keen eyes, glimpsed a battered figure. Without hesitation, she soared towards them, praying it was Eli.
"Mar-Huh?" Eli began to greet her when Mariel enveloped him in a tight hug.
Looking down, Eli saw her body trembling in fear, patting her back, Eli tried to reassure her, "Don\'t worry; it\'s just others\' bloo--"
However,
"If you had come a little faster, m-my wife wouldn\'t have d-died worthlessly" a voice filled with pain and sorrow cut through.
Startled by the familiar voice, Mariel disengaged from Eli and tilted her head to look....only to freeze.
"M-Mei!" Mariel\'s cry filled with anguish echoed as she rushed towards Wei.
"Wei, what happened to her?" Flames erupted around Mariel as disbelief and anger flashed in her eyes upon seeing Mei in a dark, lifeless state.
"I-It\'s all because of your son!!" Wei\'s accusation hung in the air, directing Mariel\'s gaze back to Eli.
"...Someone kidnapped them to sign a...." Eli truthfully told her, not wanting to create a misunderstanding.
"..." Mariel slowly digested the information. \'So, it\'s all because of me....ah\' she thought. If not for her bringing Eli to the restaurant, nothing would have transpired, and Mei might not have died.
Mariel, feeling overwhelmed by the mixture of emotions, clenched her fists, her fingers trembling. She wanted to bring comfort to Wei, but she couldn\'t find the right words.
"I-If n-not for that cursed bastard!!, My wife...My..wife..." Wei\'s voice cracked with agony.
Mariel turned her gaze to Mei, the old woman who had offered her warmth and encouragement now lying motionlessly. Biting her trembling lips, Mariel, her eyes brimming with tears, could only mutter, "I-I am sorry....L-Let\'s give her painless D-Death before she becomes a fiend"
"F-F-f..." Wei stammered, unable to form coherent words as the weight of the situation threatened to crush him. His desperate grip on Mei intensified.
"Fiend...ah" Eli muttered as he realized, Mei was corrupted.
The second and less prevalent cause of corruption,
Unlike the majority of fiends born from exposure to dark mana, this method involved the malicious injection of another person\'s mana directly into the soul crystal, which served as the data centre and CPU of the body, breaking its functions.
This act of forcibly infusing foreign mana corrupted the individual, subjecting them to the same malevolent effects as those affected by dark mana and at last changing them into fiends.
"Mariel, are you sad for her?" Eli asked as his face looked at Mariel who holding Mei\'s blackened body with trembling hands.
Even though he knew Mariel was sad but....he wanted to hear from her.
"What are you asking, Bastard? Open your fucking eyes!!" Wei shouted in anger, frustration building upon Eli\'s words and actions.
"Yes" Mariel answered truthfully, her voice carrying the weight of the tragic events, choosing to ignore the rumbling of the broken man\'s heart.
"She is the one who provided me with heartfelt food and encouraged me whenever I lost" Mariel said with trembling lips, her eyes turning teary as she reminisced about the kindness Mei had shown her.
"..."
"S-She is like my mother...." As tears dripped from her eyes, Mariel reflected on her own emotions, thinking, \'Ah, I haven\'t cried for a long time.....\'
Eli knelt down beside her, his hands softly landing on her cheeks, where he felt her warm tears.
\'Ba-Dump, Ba-Dump\'
Eli\'s heart suddenly skipped a beat, "D-Don\'t cry, My Mariel" Eli said with a pained voice.
Hearing his words, Mariel smiled hollowly when she saw he had a gloomy face for her. It was her first time witnessing him gloomy and sad...for her.
Eli slowly opened his crystalline eyes, unable to see her face, yet he surely felt Mariel\'s sadness.
Even though he had accepted her in a day, unlike others who fell in love and time gradually nurtured emotions, for Eli time didn\'t matter.....The moment he accepted a woman, He loved them from his heart....
That\'s what he was, it didn\'t matter who are they or how much he knew about them as long as they made their way into his heart, He loved them without partiality.
For him, Love was the only thing that kept him sane...if not for Lilith\'s sudden burst of love...Eli might left this world long ago....and That\'s how he was from birth....He wanted only one thing called \'Love\'.
He felt really sad when he saw her crying because of his mistake.
He didn\'t want her to be sad, "I can kill her" Eli said with a determined face, shifting his attention to Mei\'s blackened body.
"???" Mariel, who was expecting some solace words from Eli, suddenly felt lost.
"NNNOOOOOO!!!" Wei\'s shout echoed in the air.