Epiphany Of The Weak 87 Before The Pillar's Descent - Part 4

"Freya!" Hope yelled.

That purple-haired girl ducked just in time to avoid being grabbed by Lily. She swung her gray Aegis blade upward but it bounced off Lily's arm.

"What is she?!" said Freya.

Lily halted abruptly and then twisted her body, sending a roundhouse kick at Freya's head.

"Arrgh!" She dropped to the ground with her hands covering the huge gash on her face.

Hope was about to rush at her side when I grabbed his hand.

"Hope! What are you doing?" I said.

He turned to me. "She--"

"Hope . . ." I paused. "So you're with The People's Light after all . . . Why . . . Do you leave me, just like that? It hurts, Hope. It hurts not having you around." I held my tears in, not wanting to cry.

"Ava . . ."

Vladimir stood up and glared at Hope. "What are you doing?! This is betrayal, Hope Domitius. I didn't give you that Aegis for you to do this!"

Hope looked at him. "I agreed in the first place because of Ava . . . I'm pretty sure I've told you the reason why I joined The People's Light. I want to help shape a better life for her. That was the only reason, Vladimir."

My eyes were glued onto Hope. For some reason, he behaved differently, unlike the person I was fond of.

But in a good way.

"HOPE!" yelled the purple-haired girl, Freya, as she struggled to stand up. "What do you think you're doing?!"

Hope raised his chin. "I'm merely acting on what I'd promised you . . . And the group. Freya, this little girl is my reason all along."

'Little girl?' I thought.

Freya gritted her teeth, her eyebrows drew together. "You'll regret it. The People's Light wishes for freedom from the clutches of C.U. We have to invade Mongolia as it is."

"I quit," said Hope simply. "I'm not going back to The People's Light."

"HOPE!" yelled Freya.

"You didn't forget about me, do you?" Lily willed pink spikes to burst from under Freya's feet, and it skewered her torso.

"Aaargh!" She pulled herself away from it when Lily kicked at her head in a downward arc. Freya's body then fell hard onto the ground, causing her to fall unconscious.

Hope yanked his arm away from my grasp and rushed to her.

"Ava," said Aegis in my head. "The rebels inside might need your help."

A sudden realization hit me.

'Tuya,' I thought.

Taking my eyes away from Hope, I rushed to the entrance of the building. Nonetheless, Vladimir stepped in my way.

"You!" Vladimir said. "That face . . . As I thought, there's no mistaking it. You're--"

Pink spikes darted at him from below and he leaped to the side.

"Ava!" yelled Lily.

I looked over my shoulder.

"The others need you. I'll handle that guy."

I nodded and ran past Vladimir.

"Wait! I'm not sure if you remember this but . . ." He tried to reach out for me when Lily clawed at him. "How dare you disturb--"

Shards of pink crystals manifested from the cemented ground around him. "Caesar is holding back the others. I'll not waste my time on you when he needs me right now!" Lily kicked at him but he avoided it swiftly.

"Lily . . ." I clenched my fists and stepped inside the building.

Inside, my eyes caught sight of Helena and Segma, escorting the remaining civilians. Those people walked along a cemented staircase that led to the underground parking lot. Tuya, however, was holding onto her bulging stomach, with her son at her side.

Helena crouched near Tuya. "Is the baby about to--"

Tuya dismissed her a.s.sumption. "No. I-It's not that . . . The wound on my leg re-opened."

"Tuya!" I rushed to the three of them. Segma turned to me after she had confirmed there were no more civilians left.

An explosion shook the building and I stumbled.

Helena held Tuya's arm to stop her from falling. "T-Thank you, Helena."

She nodded. "Let's get you to the underground parking lot."

I cut the sleeve of my jacket and handed it to Helena. "Use this."

"Thank you, lady Ava." Carefully, she bandaged Tuya's wound. "Does the cloth feels okay to you?"

"It's fine now." Tuya turned her head in my direction. "Thank you, Ava."

I smiled at her. "Don't mention it."

Segma helped Helena to escort Tuya downwards along the staircase and I turned away from them.

"The back of the building," I mumbled.

Certain that the other members of The People's Light were there, I dashed towards the back door. My hand twisted it open when a hooded figure dropped at my feet.

Instinctively, I cut him apart using my dark blue tendrils. When I s.h.i.+fted my attention to the scenery in front of me, the rebels were firing at two Users.

"Keep at it!" yelled Qara.

A few other rebels maintained their aim at those moving targets. However, their rifles stopped firing and they froze on the spot. Seeing an opening, one of those two Aegis Users charged at them and slashed at their bodies.

Qara avoided a gray blade from splitting him in half. "Khenbis.h.!.+"

He went at that User's rear as he was distracted by Qara, and opened fire.

Qara focused the aim of his rifle and fired at that male User. Even so, he got up on one knee after that and manifested a gray pike at his palm.

He thrust it forward to stab at Qara when a crystallized green cane crashed into his side.

"Ulii!" said Khenbish.

She swiftly went to grab her cane and struck at that User's head. Before Ulii dealt the final blow onto him, my elongated crimson scythe cut his body into three parts. He didn't move after a few moments, signifying his death.

The other one had fallen to Qara's rifle and fell onto the ground.

"Take this! Die, you sc.u.m!" He closed the distance between them and kept firing at his body. Even when his rifle ran out of bullets, he replaced its magazine and continued firing.

"Q-Qara." Khenbish approached him but halted a few feet away. He could've noticed Qara's rage in that eyes of his and decided to stop.

Ulii hit Qara in the back with her cane and he stopped. With wide eyes, he looked at her.

"Calm yourself, khüükhed," said Ulii. Her slanted eyes glared at Qara and he gulped.

He looked away from her. "S-Sorry."

Ulii then s.h.i.+fted her attention toward me."Ava, we need your help in protecting the civilians. There's no time to waste."