They both saw that all the houses in the village were destroyed. It seemed as if a huge monster had attacked. Large claw marks were visible on the ground nearby.
Some people were dead under the rubble of houses, while others lay in the nearby fields.
Raazi encouraged Sen and said, "First, stop crying.
Your grandmother must be fine, so we should look for her."
Sen held back his tears and walked toward his house. When he reached it, he saw that a large tree had fallen on the house and everything underneath had been crushed. Still, Sen tried to go inside from beneath the tree, tears in his eyes, calling out, "Grandma…"
Raazi checked the surrounding area, but there were bodies everywhere. Near one body, he saw a green locket shining. He picked it up and examined it. It seemed to belong to a human. He put the locket in his pocket and went back to Sen.
On the other side
Near the forest close to the village, two men were fighting. One of them was the same man who had earlier been watching Raazi and Sen from behind a tree. He was wearing dark white clothes.
The man standing before him had dark blue hair gently moving in the breeze. His golden eyes shone like a forgotten flame. A dark coat hung from his shoulders, giving him the aura of a powerful person.
The man in white said, "Zers, you should stay out of this matter."
Zers smiled and said, "Alright," then rushed forward and punched him.
The man fell to the ground.
Zers said, "It seems we are old friends, but I don't remember. So tell me your name first."
The man stood up with a smile and said, "It seems you've increased your rank, so I'll let you go today."
He thought to himself, His friends are here, otherwise I would have killed him.
He said, "By the way, my name is Etep. Remember it," and began running away.
Zers smiled softly and said, "Alright, now it's your turn."
Three people appeared behind Zers—one boy and two girls—and all three went after Etep.
Etep was running through the trees when a red-haired girl stood in front of him. Like Zers, she was wearing dark clothes. Moonlight reflected in her eyes.
Etep stopped. The girl said, "Caught you." She attacked him with a sword, but Etep dodged and stepped back, taking a martial arts stance.
The girl said, "I'll grant your last wish," then dropped her sword and began fighting him hand-to-hand. They fought so fast that dust filled the air, making it hard to see. A fierce battle continued between them.
Etep thought, I didn't expect her to be my level, and kicked. But the girl caught his leg and struck him, sending him back. She picked up her sword again and rushed forward, saying, "Now you'll die," and attacked, but Etep activated a shield to protect himself.
The shield blocked the attack.
The girl smiled and attacked again. This time, red magic flowed around her sword.
Etep activated his shield again, but this time it broke. Because of that, the girl managed to cut one of his fingers.
She said, "Damn, missed again."
Etep's hand began bleeding. He stood silently, his eyes filled with anger. He took a deep breath and thought, I have to do something.
He took out a small bottle from his pocket, looked at it sadly, and said, "Forgive me," before drinking the liquid. After drinking it, he looked at the girl with a dangerous smile.
His eyes turned red, his hair began falling out, and it looked like he was transforming into a monster. He rushed toward the girl so fast that she didn't even notice. He struck her with great force.
She fell back. Etep jumped over her and began attacking repeatedly. The girl tried to defend herself.
Etep grabbed her by the neck and lifted her. She tried to fight back but couldn't.
It seemed like she was about to die.
Suddenly, a blue sword flashed and cut off Etep's arm. The girl fell to the ground. A boy appeared beside her. He was also wearing dark clothes and had curly hair.
He said, "Looks like I'm late."
Etep began to run away.
The boy went to the girl and asked, "Are you okay, Ami?"
Then he chased after Etep.
Etep had reached very close to the village. Blood was dripping from his hand. Because of the darkness, he couldn't see clearly.
He was slowly transforming into a monster. Red marks spread across his body. By the time he entered the village, he had fully transformed.
Raazi told Sen, "It seems someone saved your grandmother," and showed him the locket.
Suddenly, they saw a loud explosion from a nearby house and rushed there.
They saw that the monster had many terrifying arms emerging from its body.
Seeing this, Sen picked up a stone and threw it at the monster.
The monster's arms grabbed Sen tightly and slammed him against a wall. The wall crumbled.
Blood began to flow from Sen's head. His body was badly injured, and he started feeling dizzy.
Razi ran to him, lifted him, and tried to run away. But Etep's arms held them in place, not letting them move. Razi used all his strength but still couldn't move.
Suddenly, someone came close to Raazi's ear and began speaking in a strange voice. Raazi couldn't understand the words. Then a sharp stone struck his stomach, and he fell to his knees.
Just then, the curly-haired boy arrived and cut off all the arms holding Raazi.
This time, there was a smile on Raazi's face.
A girl appeared before him. She was dressed like Ami, her face covered, only her deep blue beautiful eyes visible. Raazi looked into her eyes, and she looked into his. She approached him holding a green staff with silver markings.
Placing the staff on Raazi's shoulder, she said,
"You care a lot about others."