Chapter 278: Her Only Choice...
{Warning: there is Brutal and Gory content in this Chapter....}
***
Samir’s breathing stopped entirely; all the hair on his body stood on end, his pupils dilated to the maximum, and his brain also stopped functioning. He blinked his eyes multiple times, as if doubting the very reality presented in front of him. His beautiful wife, the kindest and prettiest woman within the entire village, and his son, both lay dead, both were cut in half.
The very concept itself seemed so foreign to him. How could a human be cut in half so cleanly like that? Their blood had painted the whole floor and the walls in bright red. The metallic taste of the blood could be tasted at the tip of his tongue, just moments before he was so happy to finally have his little sister back, yet in just an instant, his life felt like it was turned upside down multiple times. A few trickles of tears fell out of his eyes, and a twisted expression appeared on his face.
A mirthless laughter escaped his lips as he said to himself, "I must be dreaming? It must be a nightmare? Am I not too old to have these kinds of stupid nightmares??"
"That’s right, a nightmare, this whole thing from the very beginning, after all, how could my sister suddenly come back, and after so many years at that, her entire demeanor was so different, that strange mask and everything. It was all a fucking nightmare. I guess I was missing her a bit too much these days."
He kept muttering to himself more and more, his subconscious trying its absolute best to deny the reality flashing right in front of his eyes. The flow of the red liquid reached underneath his foot and soaked the bottom of his shoe. He slapped his own face, but nothing happened, unlike what he had expected, so he slapped himself again and again and again, but alas! Reality was always disappointing.
When his subconscious finally could not help but accept the grim reality, the truth hit Samir harder than anything else in the world. He walked forward into the bloody bodies of both his wife and little child. Boundless grief overtook him; he cried, he cried like a man who had lost everything. The blood of his now dead family tainted his whole body and face, but he didn’t care. Suddenly, another thought popped into his head, "Where is Sophia?"
"Is she killed as well? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, it can’t be. Not my little sister as well."
He rushed out of that room, his face still bloody, as he frantically continued to search through all the rooms and every nook and cranny of his house. But there was nothing, not a single clue of hers. Wiping the tears and blood on his face with a cloth. He could not help but think that his sister was perhaps abducted, forcefully taken somewhere. Were they after his sister all along, the people or the individual who killed his family? Rage started bubbling in him as he hurriedly went outside the house, fearing that the other villagers were in danger as well. And to find out if the others saw anything.
As the village chief, his house had a much wider area compared to many others. So, even the nearest house to his own was at least 4-5 minutes away, as the entire living area of the village was quite large. And most of the houses were actually on the opposite side of his own. Close to the stream of water. The stream of fresh water came down from above from an ice mountain. But as he reached the first house nearest to him, an old couple’s home, whose only daughter had been recently married off.
Just in front of their house, in the same manner as his wife and son, the old couple’s body was cut in half, that same sharp, clean cut. Horror was plastered over the faces of both of them. Samir’s heart tightened in terror, his hands shook in fear, but with a force of will and determination, he started running forward to the next house. More and more dead bodies began to appear in his vision; none were spared by the vicious monster that committed this merciless slaughter, just like his own son, who was also killed.
Every single house he passed by, not a single one of his fellow villagers was alive. He huffed loudly, his mind and body all feeling heavy, too heavy, the weight of the sudden brutal reality crushing down on his chest too heavily. As he finally reached the other corner of the village, he made it in one single run, despite his old body. He saw the same scenario, perhaps even more brutal; this was the place where the most significant number of villagers built their houses, even if they had quite a small space between them.
As he watched on with terror how all the bodies cut in half were piled up, the internal organs of every one of them had come out, and sprawled on the ground, painting the most hideous sight possible. Unable to hold it in, he threw up and emptied the contents on his stomach. As he looked forward again, his eyes flickered, and he saw the back of his sister standing there in the middle of those mangled bodies, looking towards the flowing stream of the river.
His eyes were blurry as he wiped them and went closer. The masked figure of Sophia, her dress covered in blood, was holding a sharp sword in her hand. Samir gritted his teeth and roared in fury," WHO ARE YOU?"
The bloody figure of Sophia turned around, red droplets sticking to the white mask as well. She gently removed the mask, revealing her divinely beautiful face. She replied in a sad smile," Sorry, Brother."
But Samir couldn’t care less about how beautiful her face was, his voice beamed again, "DON’T BULLSHIT ME, TELL ME WHO YOU ARE?"
Sophia pursed her lips and stated with a sigh, "You know very well that it is me, brother, you knew from the very start. Who or what I am..."
Samir’s eyes widened, he said in a broken voice, a sudden realization dawning on his mind, "The rumor, the rumors about the masked women, the one named Bloody Ballerina? It was always you? It has always been you."
Sophia smiled, but tears fell from her face, "You knew very well, brother, from that day on, I was not just the sister you loved, I was a monster, but you selfishly believed in your own thoughts. You should have killed me on that very day. You should have listened to that old woman. Because if you did..."
"Your wife and child would not have died today. You should have killed me."
Samir gritted his teeth, blood coming out of his gums, boundless hatred oozing out of every fiber of his being, "Why? SISTER, WHYYYYYYY?????????"
He screamed at the top of his lungs, "All I ever did was love you and protect you as your older brother, but now you took everything away from me? Why why? Why? Sophia? WHY?"
Sophia’s expression turned ugly, her face contorting into a grimace as sadness deepened in her heart. Her brother loved her dearly, unlike most of the academy students, who believed the trial’s events were merely a fabrication. She, however, knew that everything within the trial was as real as the continent of Eldarion itself. She never wanted to do this, not in any of her reincarnations; she never wanted to hurt her loved ones. But she had to, because that was the shortest method to unlock the most significant amount of her pre-accumulated powers.
With a gentle push of her foot, she appeared right in front of Samir, and with no warning whatsoever, she shoved the sword right through the chest of her brother. Her brother let out a gut-wrenching scream. Blood came out of his mouth; sadness and anger danced in his eyes. He stated again, "Why?????"
Sophia said in a trembling voice, "Because that is the only way."
"The only choice I have, brother."