The Scepter of Marahuyo

Chapter 054

Then, there is a wail. I look up to see the old woman crying and is about to attack me when Ethan hits its head with the back of his gunong. 

The old woman falls, heaving, and says, “You murderer! You mages are murderers!”

She’s the same, though. In my previous timeline, Aicelle was rescued, but there were far too many wounds in her body. It takes months before she can finally perform as a mage again.

“What are we gonna do with her? Carry her back to Marahuyo?” Ethan asks.

I look at the old woman and at Ethan. I thought he’d kill her, but Ethan still cannot kill a human at eighteen years old. I’m not even sure if he will be able to or not in his life since he even hesitates to kill a non-thinking monster. What’s more if it is an old woman? Besides, aren’t warrior families used to killing monsters compared to the mages? Why didn’t he keep that value? 

“We can, but I’ll advise against it, since we have Al to carry,” I answer. 

I approach Al. He’s totally out cold. I check for open wounds. There is none, but he was struck on the stomach. I can carry his weight, but if we are to run, I don’t think I’ll be able to. Maybe I can use my wind consistently to carry him? 

“If we haven’t done a lot of training before. I’m not sure where we are right now,” Aicelle interrupts as she looks over the kibaan’s corpse and the defeated old woman. She’s right, though, and she will receive the brunt of it.

“Not just torture…” the old woman mutters. “I will kill all of you!”

I look at the old woman, upset at what she’s saying. In my previous, she tortured Aicelle, but she wants to do more than that? I approach her. I have never killed a human, but does this old woman really deserve to live? Especially when she poses a danger to my friend? I unsheathe my gunong. Maybe this is the end of the line for her. 

Before I can even close the distance, another set of rumbling comes, as if there is an earthquake in the surrounding area. I shift my attention to the old woman. She’s muttering a few words while the quaking continues.

I can’t be wrong. The old woman is activating her anito. I do the same, and I hope the others are also doing it. I look around me. Ethan looks tired. Aicelle and I are carrying Al. Then, the mountain behind the old woman shakes too. Landslide, I thought, but it is a small one that we don’t need to run away from.

Suddenly, a wing full of holes blocks my view. It hits me, and I find myself flying from where I stand, together with Aicelle and Al. I hit the bushes and a tree behind me, and when my body hits the ground, I feel myself losing consciousness. With my activated anito, I create a potion to make myself more durable, heal what it can, and forget about the pain so I won’t lose it. There are broken bones, for sure. 

Aicelle is unconscious, and Al is now awake but with added injuries. I look at where Ethan is. He’s being overwhelmed by the old woman whose eyes become white. It will be challenging, but I trust he can defeat her. There is a whooshing sound, and I turn at it just in time to defend myself.

I look at the attacker. It’s the same Kibaan! It still has a hole on top of its head, with its blood flowing in between its eyes--which have turned white. I can see the damage that Aicelle and I had done on its wings, yet, it can move and has become stronger than ever.

I glance at the old woman, identifying who her goddess is. Ethan is now using his waves together with his ability to hunt, but it’s become an equal match.

I turn my attention back to the Kibaan. I kick at its stomach and use my wind to strengthen the effect. It only turns back a few steps from me. Damn. It has become more robust. Then, my attention goes to its slightly open mouth, and a cloud of green smoke comes out from it. I tremble. It’s made of the same materials as the green liquid that killed Ethan during the Selection in my previous timeline. 

I enclose it in a transportation box in a split second as it continues to spew out the green smoke. We need to run, I think, but Ethan and I are both preoccupied, and Al and Aicelle are on the ground defenseless.

I look around, searching for some ways to finally end this battle. I curse. The inside of the box where the Kibaan is now so green that I cannot see the creature in it. Then, I feel my magic breaking. I look at the old woman and find it being restrained by Ethan. But he’s already tired that he didn’t notice that the old woman is trying to break my magic.

“Ethan…” Instead of a shout, it came out as a whisper. 

Ethan shifts his attention to me and at the old woman and then understands. Still, instead of killing her, he drives his weapon on both her shoulders. The old woman screams in agony, and her deteriorating magic stops. However, it’s too late. The small crack travels all around my box, and then it breaks, letting all the green smoke and the kibaan out of it. The Kibaan’s fingers enclose on my neck, and I start to gasp for air. However, the air is riddled with green smoke, and my skin shows signs of blisters appearing. As if I am on the same spot as my death in my previous timeline.

I feel anger rushing from my bile to my mouth. I hate this. I hate this weakness. I grab the Kibaan’s arms and glare at its unseeing eyes. I won’t be killed this time! I tighten my hold on it and reach out for the hidden weapon on my legs. Then I s***h at it. The blood spews out from its severed hand to mine, and I throw the detached hand to the side. 

Then, I hit the ground, but I create a potion to rid me of the paralyzing effect, then call on my anito. The kibaan approaches me until I can see its feet in front of me. No! I won’t be killed again this time. Aaron’s face flashes into my mind. His face, his smile, his caresses. Then Master Orson’s death. 

I shout. I stand up despite being wobbly and face the kibaan. I focus on my blessing. I let a small tornado form around me, and then I fix my eyes on the kibaan. It prepares to attack. But in a split second, I enclose it once again on the transportation box, but this time together with the tornado that’s going around me.

I strengthen my box and add multiple layers of it on top of one another. I don’t care if it will use me up. I need to annihilate this monster until nothing remains.

The Kibaan tries to escape the small tornado. But aside from the box getting smaller, I also inserted two of my gunongs in it. So as the tornado hits the kibaan, my weapons s***h it as well. Then I make it faster and faster until the inside has become like a blender. Finally, the kibaan starts to be sliced into pieces until it becomes indescribable, only a big glob of flesh and blood.

I vomit with blood. It's an overuse of my blessing. My transportation box weakens and starts to wobble. Until it disappears completely, letting go of the glob inside. It flows on the ground and then in between my fingers. I vomit again. But it has nothing to do with blessing overuse.

I hear the old woman scream a second time, full of rage. “You animal! I will kill you!”

Understandable. Even I want to curse myself. I don’t even want Aaron to see me like this. I don’t want him to realize that the woman he says he loves can do this to a living creature. 

To be continued…