Now we were all running while looking up at the sky. This was because the paper plane up in the sky had now turned toward a fixed direction while scattering its magical glow. It was not drifting here and there with the gusts of wind like an ordinary paper airplane; rather, it looked as if some invisible thread were pulling it.
Its speed was so fast that we had to use all our strength to run after it. And now that warehouse area where there had been some crowd was being left behind, and we were moving toward that part of the docks where silence and emptiness existed.
While running, I saw that the plane was slowly tilting downward. As it was coming closer to the ground, I began to feel that maybe this paper plane was just about to reach its target—when suddenly the paper plane started losing all its energy in a strange and frightening way. Seeing it, it felt as though it had collided at full speed with some invisible wall, and that collision had absorbed all of its magical power.
So now the glow and precision with which it had been flying until now had vanished. It began to tumble in the air like an ordinary scrap of paper and slowly started falling toward the ground. Seeing this happen to the paper plane, all of us held our breath and slowed our speed. We kept our eyes fixed on that falling paper, which was still wobbling through the air for some distance with the wind.
We kept following it, and within a few seconds we had come far away from the noisy and crowded area of the harbor.
Running at that slower speed, Historia came beside me to match my pace. I guessed she was just trying to keep up with me. Actually, I am a Thunder Nature Sequence-1 Paragon, because of which unknowingly I possess far greater speed and reflexes than Historia's Water Nature ability. That is why when I run fast, Historia and Helena cannot match my pace.
But now that my speed had slowed, Historia was right beside me. While running she said, "Master…"
"Yes, speak Historia, do you want to say something?" I replied.
Historia told me that she had given Helena the necessary information about the Beyond Paths. She had come to ask me whether she had done something wrong by doing so.
Hearing her, I was a little surprised, but I also understood her biggest problem—she cannot lie in difficult and complicated situations. But it was not a big issue. With a slight smile I said, "Don't worry, Historia, you don't need to be concerned. According to your knowledge, if a Paragon does not have the correct knowledge of pathways and sequences, then later that ignorance itself can become the cause of their end. And Helena is with us too; why would we want her to fall into dangers while we're here?"
I comforted her further, "Just keep this in mind that you don't open your mouth too much. I don't want you to violate your Royal Knight contract in any way, okay?"
Hearing this, a soft relief and happiness appeared on Historia's face. But just then our attention returned to the paper plane, which was now about to fall completely to the ground.
After losing its energy, just before touching the ground it waved once last time in the air and began descending toward a group of 18–20 workers who were carrying goods near the harbor port. Seeing this, for a moment it felt like Vyuk's Paper Divination had failed, because instead of heading toward some hidden hideout it was going toward a crowd of ordinary laborers.
Because of this disappointment, we stopped a few meters before that group of workers. The hope of catching that woman was almost about to vanish from our hearts. Before we could become disheartened, the plane fell among those workers.
But the very next moment our eyes widened. We noticed that the paper plane had fallen near the feet of a woman standing among that crowd of workers. All the workers were in dirty and torn clothes, but that woman stood completely calm among them.
That woman was standing right in the middle of that group, yet her manner was completely different and mysterious from the laborers. She had covered her face with a veil and her head was draped, so her face could not be seen clearly.
Her gown was deep black, but on it were marvelous dark-red wave-like patterns like an ocean. One thing about that gown was that it was studded with numerous artificial diamonds. Because of that, as soon as sunlight fell on them, they produced a sharp, piercing shimmer that could dazzle anyone's eyes. Because of these things she looked beautiful and royal at that moment, yet at the same time her shadow felt even more mysterious than her presence.
She stood out even within the crowd like a shining danger in the dark. The workers around her stood as if they were under her influence or acting as her shield.
It was now completely clear that the one we were searching for was standing right in front of us. That mysterious woman was our target.
Vyuk immediately understood the seriousness of this. Without wasting a moment he pulled his revolver from beside his tuxedo. He knew she was not an ordinary criminal but a dangerous Paragon. Thinking all this, he paused for a moment as if forming a strategy, and then fired a shot into the air.
The sound of the gunshot echoed across the deserted harbor like thunder. That shot was not for the woman but to scare away the innocent workers in the crowd and to signal to the woman that her game was over.
As soon as the shot rang out, the workers who had been loading some of the woman's goods into a trolley toward the ship panicked and began running in all directions, clearing the path between us and the masked woman. But despite all this, the woman did not move an inch; she simply looked at us while crushing the paper plane in her fingers.
But the next moment we were completely shocked. The sight was like a nightmare. The workers who were trying to flee after hearing Vyuk's gunshot could not escape. As soon as they reached a fixed distance of about 8 meters from the woman, it seemed as if they collided with some invisible wall.
We were stunned seeing this, wondering why this was happening. But there was no time to be shocked, because it didn't stop there. Those workers could not cross that 8-meter boundary; instead, due to an unnatural pull, they turned back and started running again at the same speed.
Within moments all the workers began running rapidly around that mysterious woman, forming a "human wall." Their running was no longer under their control—they had become like puppets, forming a protective circle around her.
Seeing such a horrifying situation, we tried to understand why they were running like mad in circles. Then my gaze fell on their eyes, and what I saw made my hair stand on end.
Looking at their eyes, it seemed as though all the black color had vanished from their pupils. Their eyes looked completely lifeless and dead, as if not even a last spark of life remained in them. Instead of emotions, an unnatural control was visible in those eyes, making them look exactly like real zombies.
We realized they were no longer humans, but puppets in that woman's hands.
Now the situation did not look good for us at all. Those workers were none other than the same kidnapped people whom the entire capital had been searching for. They were now under that masked woman's control in a strange and terrifying way. One relief, however, was that we had stopped them from boarding the ship at the port, through which she was probably planning to take them far away.
While we were still thinking about our next move with that small relief, Helena suddenly did something we did not expect. She neither cared about the lives of those innocent people nor about the worsening situation. The next moment an evil smile appeared on her face—a smile like that of a predator seeing its prey.
She dashed madly toward the woman and the human circle to attack. Seeing her do that, Historia, Vyuk, and I were shocked and alarmed. We feared she might harm those innocent people.
But then I noticed something. While running, the hands that had been empty now suddenly held an axe. The axe was neither very big nor very small, but its design was extremely lethal. Its grip was not wooden, yet it looked like wood. The most frightening thing was that it had sharp double-sided blades. The front blade was twice as large as the one on the other side, and their golden color shone in the sunlight. The fine engravings on them gave the feeling of an ancient royal weapon. Helena had now reached extremely close to that mysterious woman and, without fear, entered the crowd of uncontrollable workers.
The masked woman's facial expressions were hidden behind the veil, but her movements showed she was fully ready to attack. With great cunning and cruelty she began using those zombie-like workers as shields. With gestures of her hands she sent those innocents lunging straight toward Helena.
That sight was spine-chilling.
Those twenty workers, whose eyes held no life, advanced together to seize Helena.
And Helena too held her axe firmly. Sometimes she leapt high into the air, sometimes she retreated with lightning speed.
About Helena we knew this much—that she would not harm those ordinary zombie-like people—but one question remained in our minds: how long would she be able to avoid those living corpses? Would she even be able to attack that woman or not?
But while we were trapped in such anxious thoughts, on the other side Helena was simply preparing for an opening. She was slipping through the workers like lightning, because she knew exactly what she was doing. After avoiding their grasp for some time, she finally got the chance she had been waiting for.
She actually wanted to enter that woman's deadly range of five meters. And at just such a moment, when none of the zombie-like people were close enough to grab her, Helena flashed a smile toward the woman.
At that very instant, a scorching light burst from the golden blades of her axe. Keeping her axe at that distance from the woman, Helena swung it powerfully through the air. With that strike, a blazing flaming slash burst out from the axe, and that wave of fire flew toward the woman.
Seeing such a sudden and violent attack, the woman—who until now had been standing firmly in one place with calm, dignified arrogance—reacted instantly. She jumped backward to save herself. But Helena's flaming slash evaporated in the air exactly at the spot where the woman had been standing a moment before.
Iska har ek word Hindi mein translate karo aur yah bhi batana ismein Koi English ki jagah Koi word Hindi mein nahin likha hai