As he continued to run, despite his breathless state, a strange question suddenly popped into his head. Zavi instinctively slowed his pace, speaking to himself.
Who was he really? How did he know that a group of robed men were in the Forgenate district?
He turned his head, looking at 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 path.
Zavi realised this after walking down the path.
It was strange, frightening, and there were indistinct whispers. It made his mind think strange thoughts.
The streetlights flickered on his left, while on his right, the shadows of buildings and his own shadow ran alongside him.
He slipped his right hand into his coat pocket, ready to draw his revolver if anyone intended to harm him.
Shortly after that, the two stopped and took a breath before continuing their journey, entering Forgenate district.
Meanwhile, Zavi took out his watch, opened the cover and saw that it was 6:45 p.m. His eyes widened. He realised that it had been forty minutes since he left home.
He closed the 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're suspicious of me, just say it." His blue eyes stared unblinkingly.
"What do you mean...?" Zavi asked haltingly.
"Hmph, forget what I said earlier." Ren turned around 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 annoyed with him.
"Damn him," he muttered with a wry smile, remembering Ren's expression, which seemed to be mocking him.
Unexpectedly, in front of them, a group of evil spirits suddenly appeared, flying quickly towards them like bullets.
The spirits pierced through Zavi quickly and afterwards 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 in anger, staring at the group of evil spirits who quickly turned around, wanting to attack their next target, which was 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, the three bullets flew quickly, breaking the smile-shaped mist and hitting the wall of the building.
Several evil spirits floated silently in the air, merging into one with a human-like form but with a fish-like tail at the bottom.
The spirit laughed heartily, the strange sound piercing Ren's ears, making him even more irritated. But shortly after that, a purple-black grain the size of a corn kernel appeared right above the spirit.
Unbeknownst to the evil spirit, the purple-black grains dripped like raindrops. And in an instant, the spirit's form shattered into several pieces, becoming smaller and smaller until its existence in this world disappeared completely.
"Damn you, human," it shouted in its final moments before completely vanishing.
The three bullets stuck in the wall came out on their own, flying backwards and re-entering Ren's pistol.
"Ugh, what a pain," Ren said irritably as he put the pistol in his coat pocket.
He walked over to Zavi's unconscious body, trying to wake him up and continue 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 a word. He bent down slightly, straightened his arm, trying to help his younger brother stand up.
"Hold my hand."
Zavi was transfixed by Ren's words. His blue eyes sparkled as he looked 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 been feeling since earlier still lingered. He wanted to voice what was swirling in 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.
"Thank you for helping me," he said briefly, though he himself did not fully understand what Ren had done earlier.
Regarding the small purple-black ball, Ren didn't tell Zavi that it was connected to his supernatural powers.
He didn't 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.
"Let's hurry, it's getting dark and if we're late, the group in robes might leave Moran City."
"So can you move your legs?" Ren asked coldly, but inside he was worried about his sister's condition.
Since childhood, Zavi's body had been very weak. He could only lift weights under fifty kilos, and if it was more, his body would not 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 was twenty.
Ren and Isabelle knew about it, but Zavi had not been told by his family.
"Huh, it's okay even though my head is still throbbing," he replied briefly.
Ren was silent, thinking about something before saying, "Don't push yourself, you'd better go home."
Zavi seemed not to hear those words, assuring his brother that he was fine and insisting on looking for his mother until he found her.
Of course, after hearing that, Ren was confused. He paused for a moment, thinking two steps ahead before deciding.
"The risk is yours to bear!" he said briefly.
Zavi replied with a nod. After that, the two of them decided to walk towards the corner of the Forgenate district, on the border with the city of Priece.
Even though 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 their 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 are we going to get inside?" 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 know that talismans in this world have terrible powers, unlike on Earth.
After that, from behind on the roof of the house, a cold and piercing female voice was heard.
"So you're here, sir," said the woman as she jumped down.
Ren immediately turned around, walking steadily towards the woman with long black hair, her brown eyes staring intently at him, wearing a black lace dress.
"I was right to put you here," Ren whispered softly, continuing, "In the building over there, there are several hostages, including my mother. So your task is to distract them, while my sister and I go inside to rescue the hostages."
"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 rescue them," he whispered, staring at the large building covered in vines.