Silence was now spread in those narrow and scary corridors of the workshop. I was now chasing the drops of that woman's blood in those dark lanes, which were dripping from her injured hand and falling on the floor through the injury given by me. Those red marks were almost invisible in that pitch darkness, due to which in so much darkness it was becoming very difficult for me to see them and chase them. My eyes were making a failing attempt to pierce that blackness.
But there is a quite good specialty of Paragons that they can smell blood quite well. This was not an ordinary physical ability, and nor any ability, rather this specialty is connected with Paragons' 'Intuition', through which such a thing becomes possible. But now I was moving forward while smelling the blood itself, my body was running on an alert instinct.
After walking some distance, I reach near a deep corridor, where the darkness was so dense that it was feeling like some wall. And then from that same darkness-filled path, a sobbing-like sound comes to me. That sound was full of pain and writhing. I immediately understood that that woman is hidden in that same darkness and is trying to heal herself. She was fighting that 'corruption' within her, and this was my biggest chance.
I, without wasting time, turn toward that darkness-filled path. But as soon as I moved forward, a strange feeling occurred. My steps were feeling heavy, as if they were stopping me from going toward that side. Perhaps it was some leftover effect of that woman's power or some warning of my inner soul. But now there was no time to stop.
I moved steps forward with those same heavy steps of mine. At every inch, my struggle was with myself and with that terrifying atmosphere. I had kept my gun ready, my entire focus was in the direction of that sobbing sound, so that as soon as that woman comes in front of me, I can finish her immediately. This time no mistake was to happen.
As I was moving forward in that pitch darkness, that sound of faint screaming and sobbing was now beginning to decrease. That noise spread in the atmosphere was now slowly dying out. Seeing this I understood that perhaps this could happen because of this reason because perhaps that woman is now succeeding in controlling herself. Her mental balance was returning, which meant that time was slipping out of my hands.
In the end, moving some more distance forward, I see in front of me, in the middle of that thick darkness, in a strange way two injured and blurry shadows. Seeing them I freeze in my place and become surprised that after all why are there two shadows there? But my mind moved fast and I immediately understand this thing that perhaps the first shadow present there belongs to that kidnapper woman and that second shadow present there could be of Helena. She was perhaps lying there in an unconscious state. Now it was completely clear that of those two shadows, one is that kidnapper woman and one is Helena.
And this was the moment where I got stuck in a problem. Because if that woman were alone somewhere, I would have shot her right now with my gun without wasting a single moment and perhaps this story would have ended right here. But the trouble was just this, that right now I did not know which of those two shadows is Helena. If I fired a bullet now and by mistake I fired a bullet in the wrong place, then it could hit Helena as well. And if this happened, then that kidnapper woman could again become alert and run away from there.
Therefore, putting Helena's life in danger was not acceptable to me, therefore I intended to go further ahead so that going close I can find out for sure which of these is that kidnapper woman and who is Helena. With this thought, my steps began to move forward very silently. After walking a few more steps, I finally found out.
I saw that in the hand of one of those shadows some thing scattering a golden glow is present, which that shadow has held firmly in her hands. Seeing that glow, I immediately understood that this is nothing else but Helena's 'Hallowed Weapon'. I was stunned thinking how she had held it in her hands in such a manner until now! But due to this weapon itself, I understood that the other shadow sitting beside her, that itself is the shadow of that kidnapper woman, who is still sitting holding her head because of pain.
Piercing that silence, fire came out of my gun. And I took aim and fired two bullets continuously, the echo of which came back after colliding with the walls of the entire warehouse. It was difficult to strike with precision in the dark, after which one bullet among them went and directly hit some body part of that woman. A sharp sound like the clashing of iron occurred and as soon as that bullet hit in that pitch silence, that woman again screamed with pain. That scream of hers was like an injured animal, which was tearing the eardrums.
But still, she was not an ordinary human. Therefore despite being hit by a bullet, that woman came into action; even on being so close to death, the devilish power inside her had not given up. She stood up moving from her place with the writhing of pain, and even if stumbling, she made her balance. Then she looked toward me in that darkness, and that sight shivered my soul. Her eyes were glowing like a full bloody red color, which in that darkness was appearing like a demon. Those were two burning embers that were directly looking at my soul.
As soon as she looked toward me, it felt to me as if darkness had seized my body. My hands and legs became as if made of stone, due to which my blood began to turn cold. And I was not able to understand that after all what is this happening? Had those shadows returned again? Perhaps it was some ability of that woman which was making me completely helpless; I felt that perhaps she has woven some illusion through which I am not even able to move.
But in reality, this was not any effect of that woman's ability or the environment, rather it was something else. Actually, these were those instincts of my inner self, which were stopping me from moving forward because of the danger being felt from that woman. My body knew how dangerous that opponent standing in front is. Therefore that natural fear inside me which a human feels when he is standing in front of the most horrific form of danger. Due to which at that time my brain was shouting that moving forward is dangerous, and that same fear was seizing me at that spot.
That sight was nothing less than a nightmare. The bloody red eyes of that woman were staring at me like two burning embers in the dark and my entire existence had gone numb sensing that terrifying danger. But now, when I am not even able to move from my place because of that primitive fear of mine, my body as if had frozen in concrete, then that woman with her hatred-filled eyes slowly puts both her hands forward.
And black magic began to take shape between her fingers and in no time a terrifying 'Fire Ball' is created on top of her hands. That was not an ordinary ball of fire; its core was deep yellowish, and the flickering flame all around it was of deep orange color. The heat of that ball was quite fierce.
After which the madness and the frenzy of victory flashed together in that woman's eyes, and after creating it completely, without wasting even a moment's time, she threw it toward me with full strength. That fireball began coming toward me fast piercing the air with a terrifying roar and I was still stuck in that mental seizure, I was not able to move.
But now I had to escape in some way. Therefore, seeing death so close, I still made myself believe and began to try to achieve victory over that paralyzing fear of mine. I concentrated all my mental energy, all my willpower at one point so that I could break those invisible shackles.
Time as if slowed down. That fireball came quite near me, its flames were now dazzling my eyes and the heat had become unbearable. Therefore I in the end—when the distance between death and me was only a few inches—used my 'Hertzian Veil' ability to save myself. This is that same ability which can reflect a 'lethal attack'.
This technique was extremely complex, but during the training done with Historia, I have learned to a great extent to use this ability for myself. Therefore I now use it with full concentration. The density of air all around my body suddenly changed. Due to which that terrifying fireball coming toward me reflected and turned because of that fierce pressure created in the air. Instead of colliding directly with me, it makes an arc and goes and collides with the high wall made of the old pile of goods present beside me.
The collision was so terrifying. As soon as it collided, fire breaks out there with a very loud small explosion. Dry scrap came into the grip of that fire. Due to which the entire corridor lit up in a moment.
The echo of the explosion and that suddenly spread light of the flames of fire for some reason—was spreading all around me—due to which that frozen fear inside me suddenly shrinks. That light had cut my that mental darkness. Movement returns back into my body. And I, without wasting even a moment's time, while moving fast from my place, become ready again to attack that woman.
The gun tightened again in my hand, and I again look at that woman with full determination, whom I am now able to see well in the bright light of that burning fire without any blurriness.
Because those flames of fire had pierced the darkness of the workshop, and now the distance between me and that woman was appearing clear. That woman, despite her injury and 'corruption', was not one to give up. The redness of her eyes was now looking even more terrifying in the light of that burning fire.
Suddenly, she put her hand toward the ground. And in a single moment, from inside the ground, two massive Shadow Tentacles came out like black flames and lunged toward me. Those shadows were coming piercing the air like a whip. I used my agility and performed a dive toward the right. And THEN one tentacle fell at exactly that place where I was standing a second ago, from the impact of that attack the concrete floor was shattered to pieces.
After which I made the balance of my gun. And I knew this thing well that only four bullets were now left in my gun, and I knew that every single fire meant either victory or death. And this is so because for a Sequence 3 Paragon, perhaps one bullet is hardly enough; Den had told me this thing that there are very rare chances that any Sequence 3 Paragon can die from a normal bullet. For a Sequence 3 Paragon, at least if those are normal bullets, then three bullets will be needed; and that too when those bullets hit at the same place or a weak place more; therefore I knew this thing told by Den well due to which I was alert, but then I took my first aim. The first bullet hit directly in the middle of the tentacle. And it merged into it with a jerk; that shadow trembled for a moment but that woman was throwing her full strength.
"Only this much?!" she shouted like a mad person.
After which the second tentacle moved toward my chest with speed. I performed a 'backflip' toward the rear and while being in the air, fired the second bullet. That bullet passed directly from near that woman's shoulder, due to which her attention wandered and that tentacle, passing from near my leg, went and got stuck in the wall. A cloud of dust and debris was flying, but my eyes were fixed only on her.
I moved fast toward that woman. Tentacles again came out from the ground and began to surround me from all sides. Due to which I used my third bullet to push back a tentacle. I fired the bullet and the strike was so precise that the shadow scattered and I got the way to move forward. Now I was exactly near her. Seeing which...
That woman tried to make a shield by joining both tentacles together with her leftover strength. But I was not going to stop. I performed a slide and passing from near her legs, I landed my fourth and last bullet directly into the lower part of her stomach. She was weak at this time, therefore...
With a terrifying scream, that woman was thrown backward. The tentacles began to vanish in the air itself after writhing. But one tentacle came and collided directly with me and from its collision, I went and fell in the heap of debris far behind, due to which I became badly injured.