Chapter 134

Chapter 134


I don’t want them to end up like this. I may not agree with them, but somehow, I understand them. I understand where their hatred is coming from.

“I don’t care anymore.” Lady Majika smiled. “I’d rather die fighting than live like a coward. I’m done keeping quiet. I’m done…”

“Well, here is my answer…” Brix stopped. He looked at the ball of light and bent his knees, preparing to jump. “I would never do such a thing. I am a monster to those who treated me like one, but I would never hurt those who did nothing to me.”

“You did it!” Lady Majika insisted. “That’s how you achieved your fog ability! Stop denying it!”

“Who even said I wanted this ability?” Brix smirked.

I was stunned when Brix suddenly jumped. He was quickly swallowed by the massive light. Several seconds passed and nothing happened. I started to panic.

“W-what happened?” Celeste asked.

“The light swallowed him whole,” said Nigel. “H-he’s okay, right?”

“Everyone down!” warned Lady Majika.

Just like she said, we all dropped to the ground. The enormous blinding light engulfed us. After the light came a powerful gust of wind, sweeping away everything in its path. I lost my grip on Celeste, and she vanished from my sight.

No matter how hard I tried to hold on, the wind pushed me back. I hadn’t fully recovered yet, so the wind easily knocked me over—until someone grabbed me.

“Hold on!” Erikson shouted as he tightened his grip on me.

“C-Celeste—”

“Randolf got her!”

I shut my eyes when the explosion erupted. Erikson couldn’t take it either, so he wrapped me in his arms as we were thrown backward. We rolled across the ground, but he never let go of me.

I felt temporarily deafened by the blast.

What happened?

“Are you okay?” Erikson asked.

I looked up at him. He took the brunt of the blast, yet he was the first one to check on me.

He smiled. “That was intense. I couldn’t take it either.”

I knew that wasn’t the only reason. I knew he was just as tired as the others.

“T-thank you…”

He let go of me and we stood up together. That’s when I realized most of my comrades had already gotten back on their feet. They were all looking in the same direction.

My heart sank when I saw the destruction from the explosion. The fire had consumed even the surrounding trees. A massive crater had formed in the ground.

“W-where’s Brix?” I looked around frantically. “Brixton!”

Erikson held my chin and turned my face toward something.

I saw a silhouette emerging from behind the tower-sized fire. Slowly, Brix came out, carrying the unconscious healers. Flames still clung to his torn pants.

A cold wind blew. Everyone fell silent.

“H-how?” Lord Morales asked, clearly shocked. “How could he endure that massive energy?”

“Because he’s Brixton Wenz Cardinal,” said Lord Oscar.

“Idol…” Nigel whispered.

Tears welled up in my eyes. He was safe—and he even managed to save the witches, including Lady Majika. He could have let them burn, but he still chose to save them.

I couldn’t help myself. I ran to him.

“They lost consciousness, Astra,” worry etched on his face. “They’re safe, though. The explosion affected them, but they’re okay. I’m sorry.”

My brows furrowed. “What?”

He looked even more anxious. “Are you mad? I didn’t hurt them, I swear. They’re just exhausted.”

Erikson and Randolf came to assist him with the unconscious healers. But his eyes remained fixed on me. He still looked nervous.

His face was covered in dirt, just like the rest of him. “Uhmm. Your silence is frightening me.”

Slowly, I hugged him.

“Oh…” he chuckled. “No worries, Milady.”

“Y-you scared me again,” I murmured.

He hugged me back. “I had to explode the light while it was still in the air to minimize the damage. I honestly thought my hair would catch fire.”

I smiled and faced him. “You did it again.”

“For you…”

My heart pounded so hard that I grabbed his arm.

“A-Astra? What’s wrong?”

My vision blurred. It felt like my soul was being pulled out of my body. Everything became hazy… until darkness swallowed me.

\---

The next thing I knew… I was standing in a different world. The place looked familiar—even the feeling. I had been here before. And before I could even process where I was, I heard voices.

Fog surrounded me.

“Brixton…” one of the voices said.

I saw two silhouettes in the distance. I was in the same time and place as the last time I witnessed this scene. It was like a continuation of a movie interrupted—an important scene.

No. Not again.

“Give me the power I need!” Brixton insisted. “Or else…”

“What?” My father was wheezing. He had wounds all over his body.

“You know what will happen.” Brix still looked completely fine.

Errold, my dad, shook his head. “Our power comes from our ancestors. We will never give it to you—not to be used for evil.”

“Then you leave me no choice.”

I staggered back when Brix attacked. He was fast, and so was my father. He fought back hard, but Brix was a vampire. The difference in their strength was massive.

“No—” I gasped as Brix throttled my father, lifting him off the ground. My father struggled to breathe. “B-Brix… stop. Please? Stop!”

No matter how loud I screamed, they couldn’t hear me. Of course not. This scene already happened—I was just a witness… here to be hurt by the truth.

I felt something strange with my necklace—the one my aunt gave me. A faint light was coming from it. I didn’t know what it meant or what it would do.

“You’ll pay for everything you’ve done!” my father shouted. “You might win today, but it will come back to you!”

“I will still prevail in the end, Errold.”

I looked up again. The fog began to fade. The events became clearer. Probably because of the necklace’s light—it was letting me see the full truth.

“H-how do you know me?” my father asked.

“W-what?”

“How do you know me?!” my father’s voice rose. “You’re not a healer. It’s impossible for a vampire like you to recognize me. How?”

Brix… smiled.

Shit.

I had seen Brix smile so many times that I could tell… I didn’t recognize that smile. That smile wasn’t his.

“You’re really something, Errold. Fine.”

My eyes widened as he began to change form. His short hair grew longer. He was now the same height as me.

What? All this time… it was her?

“G-Grenda…” my father gasped, his face filled with shock and betrayal. The realization that he had been fighting someone he once considered an ally hurt more than his wounds. “W-why? Why are you doing this?”

“Brix slaughtered half your kind—mercilessly. From elder witches to young ones. Those who fought back, and even those who knelt down and begged for mercy. That’s the story everyone will believe. How Brixton Wenz Cardinal killed them all.”

I trembled with emotion. All this time, they thought it was Brix. They believed he was the villain. They even tried to kill him. But in truth… it was Lady Grenda.

It was always Lady Grenda. She put Brix in that situation and blamed him for a crime he never committed. Just like she tried to do with me.

The fact that she was the reason Brixton’s life was hell only fueled the rage inside me. What made it worse was knowing that Brix still longed for her affection—the woman he considered a mother.

“N-no. The truth always prevails, Grenda!”

“Who will speak the truth?” She tightened her grip on my father’s throat. “There’s no one else. It’s just you and me. Who? You?”

I collapsed, weakened, when I saw Lady Grenda plunge her hand into my father’s chest. My father screamed in pain but managed to escape. He was quickly swallowed by fog and disappeared.

Lady Grenda laughed maniacally. It echoed… it enraged me.

Another transition happened. It felt like falling through a spinning void. I was no longer in that place, but her laughter and wicked smile were burned into my mind.

I wanted so badly to erase that smile.

\---

When I landed, I was in a new place. I looked around. All the soldiers were on the ground—clearly a battle had just taken place.

I heard someone crying.

I turned to see a man sitting on the ground, holding another man in his arms. He was drenched in blood and shaking.

Tears welled up in my eyes. The scene shattered my already aching heart.

“K-Kelly…” Brix mumbled. “You liar. I thought you said you’d live to be seventy? You left me too soon. That’s not fair!”

I smiled bitterly.

“B-Brix…” I called his name, but he couldn’t hear me.

I wanted to hug him—but someone appeared. My father collapsed to the ground, holding his bleeding chest. He gasped, struggling to breathe.

Brix quickly stood and approached him.

“W-who are you? Where did you come from?” Brix asked.

My father held Brix’s hand and said something he didn’t understand. A white mist crept up Brix’s arm and enveloped him.

That’s how my father transferred his fog ability to Brix.

Just like Brix told me—it was a gift.

He didn’t steal it. My father gave it to him freely.

“W-why?” Brix asked, confused.

My father’s grip loosened. When the fog disappeared, his hand dropped.

“S-sir?” Brix nudged him.

When he realized he’d never respond again, he let go. He sighed and lay on the ground, looking up at the sky.

“I hate this world,” Brix whispered with a bitter smile.

I sat beside him. I brushed back his hair, but my hand passed through him. A single tear rolled down his cheek.

That was the first time I ever saw Brixton Wenz Cardinal cry.

“Where do I really belong?” he asked himself.

Before reality pulled me back, I remembered what my father tried to say to Brix:

“I’m sorry…”

\---

When I opened my eyes, I gasped deeply. I felt like I had drowned… soaked and weak but not unconscious, because I remembered everything. Every detail.

In my blurry vision, I saw Brix shaking my shoulders. His eyes were full of concern, and he was saying something.

I'm sorry, Brix. I’m sorry for what you’ve been through.

But this ends now.

From now on, I’ll make sure you receive nothing but the genuine love you deserve.

“What happened?” he asked. “You passed out.”

What happened?

What happened made me clench my fists.

What happened made my blood boil hotter than I knew it could.

What happened to Brix demands justice.

Slowly, I pulled myself up.

“Astra?” Brix called, surprised.

I exhaled sharply. I had been such a fool not to see it. How the witches got in unnoticed. They got in because… we let them.

“I’m done playing,” I said, turning to Lord Morales. “How about you? Lady Grenda…”