Grandpa Jin was shaking very hard, holding on to the magic with his hands, and kept on feeding the green light onto the plants.

Then abruptly the plants grew out countless large purple anesthetic fruits. I had never seen an anesthetic fruit so large before, they were like purple soccer balls dangling from the air.

The pearl hunter’s eyebrows were lightly squeezed together, trying to shake off the veins wrapped around the body, but the fruits released a purple powder that seemed to affect his movements.

“LiNa, now it’s time! Go!” Grandpa Jin shouted, squeezing those words through his teeth.

Seeing his determination and remembering the promise, I held my hands into a fist and somehow broke the strong wind and sand.

I started to run away from the center of all these magic powers.

I ran like never before, with blurred vision and an aching heart!

There were wings above my head from time to time. Blood was splashed everywhere, and the black smoke in the air choked my lungs. It was a peaceful little village, and now it was all ashes, fire, smoke, and screams.

And death………..

Death was everything.

I forgot to be scared because I remembered Grandpa Jin’s promise, therefore I must not disappoint him. I must live, so he could come find me one day!

So many villagers got slaughtered and their pearls taken by these cold blooded hunters. They killed countless lives just for the pearls. It didn’t matter what the pearls were used for, this was not right! It was just not fair for the dead!

I ran and dodged from falling objects from the huts, fire, and all the sparkles overhead. I didn’t know how I managed to escape all the obstacles, and made my way to a safe corner next to a couple large ceramic pots.

I tried to catch my breath a little, while panting super hard.

This human body was not made for long distance running, at least not for me. Although I did gain some muscles, it was just not enough in this world.

Through the tiny hole between the pots, I witnessed the cruelty of those monstrous pearl hunters. We were nothing but prey. They killed like machines, without even the slightest hesitation or even blinking their eyes, as if what they were slaughtering were not lives, but worthless trash.

The villagers were all killed by piercing through the heart one way or the other because the hunters wanted the pearls.

Yes, demons might not die easily if the heart was unharmed, but if the heart was damaged severely, there was nothing that could be done.

I thought of Grandpa Jin and remembered his words, and suddenly had a bad feeling about this.

Oh, how in the world did I just believe him!?

LiNa, did you really think he could make it out alive when he didn’t even have one pair of wings!?

I had never hated myself so much for being stupid. When I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to Grandma Sha, that was painful enough. What if something happened to Grandpa Jin and I didn’t even get that chance either?

I owed the old couple my life. I couldn’t possibly run away in such a situation just to save my own life. They had been my family ever since coming to this new land. Nothing was more important than my family!

Yes, I would rather die with them than to live with guilt for the rest of my life!

Grandpa Jin, please wait for me……..I will be there…………..

******************

The wind swirled around the center of the battleground, so strong that the long grass completely bent over. The purple gigantic plants grabbed tightly onto the pearl hunter’s body, and a purple fog quickly gathered. The atmosphere was nervous, soon a disdainful laughter broke the silence.

“Do you really think you can control a winged Aniesian with these useless plants?”

The brown hair hunter smirked and lightly moved his hands. His body started to glow in blue, with a gentle shake of his shoulders, he broke all the constraints like shattered glass. At the same time a huge blue blade spun out, splitting into hundreds of small blades!

Grandpa Jin immediately drew out another pattern, green sparkles appeared stronger than ever.

An enormous purple anesthetic plant sprouted right in front of Grandpa Jin, countless veins wrapped around his body and face, blocking those piercing blades.

Endless clanking sounds drifted into the air………..

“Old trash, is that all you have got?” The hunter’s mouth corner went up coldly.

With only a simple move of his forefinger, the blades spin so fast that the purple plants start to shred into pieces. Plant fragments started to fall off and flew into the wind.

There was heavy sweat running down Grandpa Jin’s face, purple veins were showing in his skin as if he was becoming one with the anesthetic plants. He pushed hard against the piercing blades with his energy.

Grandpa Jin bit through his teeth, “What you are doing is against Goddess Aniela’s will, against heaven! I may die today with grace, but soon will return to the embrace of her highness, but you and subordinates had chosen hell. This is a path of no turning around!”

“Old man, you know nothing. Heaven is sided with us, not with lowlives like you all! Die now!”

The blades spun super fast, almost like piercing wind, and shredded the plant completely and then into his flesh………

The purple fog went away, and the wind quieted down as if nothing had happened, except the fire and smoke were still here.

The huts were still burning to ashes, and the smoke had grayed out the sky.

------------------COLLAPSED-----------------

It was the sound of someone collapsing hard onto the ground.

The pearl hunter flew down and stood there staring at the old man with cold eyes.

“Never hit a stone with an egg, the harsh life of the Land of Ruins should already teach you this! ” He lightly shook his head, “You guys are too slow to learn.”

Grandpa Jin was choking in blood, “Look up, the heaven is seeing all this, Goddess Aniela is seeing all this…….no one can escape from her fair judgment………….”

The hunter pointed and a stream of water shot out and wrapped around Grandpa Jin’s throat like a rope, and dragged him up from the ground into midair.

“Old fool, if her highness sees this, why doesn’t she come save you? What we are doing today is justified, lowlives like you would never understand. I have no responsibility to explain to anyone, so don’t challenge my patience, for I have no time to play around!”

That water rope dragged Grandpa Jin up so high and swung hard, but suddenly let go of the body entirely!

“GRANDPA JIN---------------------!!”

I screamed to the top of my lungs. I had never screamed like this before, as if that was not my voice but someone else’s, nor did I even hear myself.

He was struck down so violently that the ground split up and formed a hole. The dust and soil flew into the air, and fell back down.

I ran toward him.

Oh, please……….please…………….

My heart was shattered to pieces as I made my way toward the hole. I had never wished for something so badly, that my whole being was praying and begging. I didn’t know which god I was praying to, but still prayed that Grandpa Jin was still alive.

I couldn’t lose him anymore, for I had already lost Grandma Sha.

Please………Grandpa Jin……….please don’t go…………

The way to the hole was short, but it felt as if I could never reach it. When I finally got there, I was shocked to my soul, so stunned that I was frozen all together.

Oh, Grandpa Jin……..how could someone harm you like this………?

He was so shattered and bloody that it was hard to look at, but I forced myself to see all this. I must remember all this, I must!

I jumped down the hole and held him in my arms. He might seem like an old man, but he was always the fastest and strongest person I had known. Now he was so fragile that it would not take much for the last breath to come.

He held that one last breath just for me………..

He wanted to see me before he went, I knew it……...I knew it all along…………

“Grandpa Jin, please don’t go, you promised me remember, that you would come find me one day…..why…..why you lie to me…..I won’t go anywhere now…...I will stay here with you and Grandma Sha forever…….”

“Child, don’t cry….live….remember….no matter what….live on…….” His voice was softer than air.

“Please, don’t go….Grandpa Jin…….”

His eyes seemed to open widely, held onto my hand real tight, and uttered that one last word.

“Run……..”