CHAPTER 30: TAUNTING AND TORTURE

Chapter 29

Velmaria descended to the ground, and slowly, she began walking towards Kaizen. Everyone held their breath, wondering what was about to happen.

"She actually stopped." Kira mumbled, loud enough for others to hear.

"Would she kill him?" Another whispered.

"Run you fool, get up and run." Ash who had collapsed to the floor, bleeding but breathing struggled to scream, but his voice was muffled as blood blocked his words.

Velmaria kept walking towards him, once she reached where Kaizen sat, she leaned forward. Kaizen didn’t know how to explain it but, surprisingly, he couldn’t sense any murderous intent from her this time.

She reached for his white hair, lifting a few strands with her finger tips and twirling it between.

"Where you born like this?" She asked quietly.

Kaizen breathed nervously, then nodded in approval.

"Then why? Why can’t i sense anything from you? You don’t have mana."

"I....I was born without magic."

"No you weren’t." She cut in.

Right then, she stood up straight, her eyes scanning the rest. At the same moment, a portal appeared before them.

"Is that..."

"Yes, now you all get out before I change my mind." She ordered. Then she turned to Kaizen, "You’re staying here, we got a score to settle."

"What the heck are you talking about? Why him? Why can’t he come with us?" Yuno asked, his tone trembling from forced defiance.

"Ohh do you want to stay behind instead? We’re gonna have a lot of fun." Velmaria’s taunting tone reached him, spreading goosebumps all over his body.

"Everyone, let’s get out...he is none of our business, he could die here for all I care." Dael barked, and he was the first to rush out from the realm. Everyone else turned away from Kaizen and also rushed out, greatful that they were still alive but afraid that she’d change her mind any second.

They’d left the half dead Ash behind, who’d passed out at this point.

"What about him?" Kaizen asked, pointing to Ash.

"He won’t survive. Are you seriously worried about someone else when you should be afraid of what will happen to you?" Velmaria asked, raising a brown in surprise.

"I don’t know why but I feel like you won’t kill me." He said, getting up from the floor.

Velmaria let out a hearty laugh, it’s taunting sound echoing in the realm. "I won’t kill you but you’d wish you were dead." Before Kaizen could comprehend her words, she grabbed his head, her fingers digging his hair, and in an instant...they were teleported into another location.

Kaizen was thrown to the floor violently, and he landed with a loud thud onto what felt like a wooden floor. He hurriedly sat up to observe his location, and to his horror, he was in his home.

What the hell just happened?

"So this is your home." Velmaria asked, walking briefly around the front door.

"What do you think you’re doing?" Kaizen asked with a trembling voice, his heart racing for fear of what he knew she was about to do.

Velmaria didn’t reply, with a swift kick of her leg, the door flew open. Then she grabbed Kaizen by the hair once again and dragged him into the house.

Elen who’d heard the sound rushed out, but froze when she saw Kaizen and what looked like something she’d never seen before.

"Mom, no run!" Kaizen screamed desperately, but Velmaria kicked his jaw, letting him land to the floor before reaching for Elen in an instant.

She grabbed Elen’s neck and pinned her to the wall, her legs dangling as she clawed at Velmaria’s wrist, struggling to breath.

"Why are you doing this? Let her go, do you enjoy killing weaker preys? What the hell do you want?"

Since i became a hunter, i never once pictured a scene like this, me watching my loved one being killed and I’d be powerless to do anything to protect them. Why? Why am I weak? Just why?

"Don’t you want to save your mom? Get up and fight you coward." Velmaria barked at him, taunting him as she strangled Elen even harder.

Kaizen forced himself up, legs shaking beneath him. His fists clenched, his breath uneven, chest rising and falling like his lungs were burning. His body moved forward without thinking, but the moment he attacked her, Velmaria turned slightly and slammed her heel into his stomach. The air was knocked out of him instantly, and he crashed to the floor again, gasping, face buried in the cold wooden tiles.

"Was that it?" She asked, laughing a little as she turned back to Elen, still pinned to the wall, her mouth wide open, desperate for oxygen, her legs kicking helplessly in the air.

Kaizen tried to stand again, blood dripping from his nose, arms trembling. He shouted and ran at her again, this time swinging his fists. He threw one to her face, another to her side, then another, but it was like hitting a wall of air, there was no damage nor resistance, she just stood there letting him try.

A slap to his chest sent him flying back. He hit the table and rolled across it before dropping hard to the ground, groaning in pain. Everything hurt. His vision was shaking.

"You really are powerless, huh?" Velmaria muttered, almost like she was disappointed.

Elen coughed and gasped when Velmaria finally let her drop. She fell to her knees, coughing hard, her hands on the floor, struggling just to breathe.

Kaizen looked up again, trying to get up, but she kicked him again, this time across the face, sending him to the other side of the room. Blood now poured from his lip, he couldn’t feel the right side of his jaw, and everything spun.

"Why?" Kaizen spat, blood spraying across the floor, "Why the hell are you doing this!?"

Velmaria knelt down beside him, gripping his collar as she whispered into his ear, "Because I want to see what you’re hiding. You don’t fool me, Kaizen. You weren’t born powerless."