Sacred Brother

A heavy silence fell on the clearing after my declaration.

Amanda didn't seem to believe her ears while Arthur Waldemar was struggling to speak only to cough out more blood. The words coming out of the mouth of a nine-year-old boy filled everyone's heart with dread.

"What are you saying, Sillath? Stop this madness right now. I know you. You're a kind, bright and gentle boy who tries his best to fulfill his promises. You're not a murderer!"

In response to Amanda's shaky voice, dozens of birds on nearby trees flew away in haste.

I simply ignored her plea with an indifferent face and raised my hand.

"Not yet."

I fired another ball of water toward his head at full speed.

"NOOOO!"

I wanted to end his life with this attack, but a small wall of earth suddenly erected from the ground. The unexpected magic was enough to stop my attack and to protect him from the fatal blow.

"I will not allow you to kill him."

After releasing her magic, Amanda took a few steps forward to stand in front of her wall.

She stayed still in front of me to protect the man she loved.

I could see the incredulous look on her beautiful pale face while she was looking at me.

"You're not yourself Sillath. Stop this!"

"It's too late, Amanda. This man will definitely die today."

Amanda's body suddenly shivered in fright as she heard my deadly promise.

I could see in her beautiful dark eyes that she couldn't believe what I was doing, that she couldn't recognize me anymore.

As if I wasn't the same.

I remembered all the happy and harsh moments we spent together.

Her eyes filled with pride as she looked at my training.

Her concern when I was sick.

Her beautiful laughter and her mischievous smile.

Her slim figure always beside me for four years.

I realized that I spent too much time under her care. Without realizing it, she became the center of my life.

However, none of that mattered in this instant.

She was right.

I wasn't the same.

Because I had a different goal from hers.

She couldn't stop me with her words.

Not anymore.

"Step aside, I don't want to hurt you."

Her eyes became cold as she readied herself for battle.

"I will not let you hurt him. I will stop you, Sillath. I will make you open your eyes even if it means beating you half to death."

"You know Amanda… I don't know how it started, but after all the time we spent together, I learned to fear you and to appreciate the care you had for me. I clung desperately to this affection for years. In the past, I would have done anything for you, but..."

I slowly raised my right hand before ending my sentence.

"...I will not abandon my sisters to this man."

I quickly fired a barrage of water balls in her directions.

However, she blocked them easily with another earth wall.

While she was busy maintaining her wall, I began condensing a fire spell into my other hand.

It wasn't the heat I wanted.

It was light.

I threw a brilliant ball of light above the small wall she made to protect him.

While she was blinded, I stopped shooting and quickly ran to the side, getting a clear view of both of them and instantly activated an earth spell under her feet.

I changed the hard soil underneath her, making it softer until she began to sink into it.

The water from my previous attacks changed the soft soil around her into mud, making it easier to manipulate. She was unable to move as her feet were trapped within the earth.

Without a proper footing, she couldn't move as she wished. I was sure this would give me enough time to kill him. I immediately rushed toward my real target.

Amanda, seeing where I was going, suddenly fired earthballs aiming for my legs.

Dozens of little pieces of hard rock flew quickly in my direction.

I evaded all of them without any trouble, just like my old hyena master taught me.

"How?...."

I was sure that she couldn't understand how a child, she had always watched over and who was supposed to only know magic was able to move like that.

She tried to catch her breath and gather her strength to break free.

I didn't slow down and jumped above the wall with the propulsion from using my wind magic under my feet to the ground.

I easily jumped over the small wall and saw the old man lying down in the same place. I readied my heart and prepared to cast another spell until I noticed that Amanda was no longer trapped.

*Bam*

I received a powerful kick to the side of my head that made me growl in pain. The strength of her blow directly sent me flying toward the ground.

I couldn't resist the unexpected impact in midair and violently crashed on the ground.

When I fixed my posture and raised my head, Amanda was already in front of her wall.

The impact was rough and I was having troubles catching my breath.

A shiver ran down my spine as I looked at her murderous glare.

"You really intended to kill him Sillath?" She said in a cold voice.

"This is the only way." I replied, glaring back at her.

"He can't defend himself. You're ready to kill a man who can't even stand up?"

"My sisters can't defend themselves either. That's why I defend them. If he can't defend himself, then you just have to do the same." I retorted angrily.

"That's my intention."

I stood up.

A short silence befell us as we continued to glare at each other.

She was used to fights.

It was easy to tell just by looking at her.

She was also more experienced in fights involving magic, not to mention the fact that my body lacked strength. Even if our mana pool wasn't comparable, it didn't mean a thing if I exhausted myself physically. Moreover, I knew that my consumption of mana skyrocket when I was moving which wasn't the case for Amanda.

"If you ever had any affection for me as you've said, then you will not kill the man I love."

I remained silent and continued to watch her every movement.

"I know you Sillath, you're not like this! I have known you since the day you were born and watched over you every single day."

She took a deep breath before screaming with tears in her eyes.

"You're not a murderer!"

I smiled wryly at her while remembering what happened in my previous life.

You couldn't be more wrong...

I didn't answer and fired with both hands as many waterball as I could.

She didn't have the time to make a wall and protect herself.

She simply rolled on the ground to evade and hastily grabbed a small twig before running to avoid the murderous rain coming toward her.

The twig grew longer the next instant. It became bigger and larger until reaching half a meter in length.

I didn't slow down, but her movements were agile as she easily evaded every attack.

With each step, she was getting closer even with my efforts to step back.

She evaded a few water balls with brutal movement.

I was now within her reach.

Too close!

She attacked me with her long stick, aiming directly at my side.

I ducked to the ground and felt my hair moving from the wind caused by the blow that passed right above my head.

She used the force to rotate on her feet and gave me a powerful kick to the left side of my face. I saw her kick, but I wasn't able to react in time.

I rolled on the ground, shaken by the impact.

Without giving me the time to recover, she chained by aiming her stick downward.

She wanted to knock me out.

"Earth spear!"

I shouted in reflex as a long piece of earth formed before me.

I was aiming for her stomach and was sure she would impale herself. It wasn't a real spear as the tip wasn't sharp, but with her speed, it would be sufficient to knock her out.

However, with only advance rank earth magic, the earth was slow to form and gave her enough time to make a spin like a dancer and evade to the side.

It gave me enough time to stand up.

I covered my hands with the hardest earth I could produce and prepared myself for the impact.

Her weapon was much harder and her speed made me unable to guard properly. I quickly jumped back to soften the impact, but my small stature didn't allow me to withstand the shock.

I was blown away once again.

As I was rolling on the ground, I felt my arms and legs being pulled and spread.

She used water magic and made long tentacles from her right hand.

Those water tentacles enveloped my limbs and maintained me above the ground.

I tried to use earth magic to create another dull spear to break the bonds, but the spike of earth simply passed through.

I used every type of magic I could think, but I was not able to free myself from her magic.

It was as if those tentacles were alive.

It was the first time I saw her use water magic.

I knew she was good at earth magic as she punched me with her earth gloves, but I never expected her to be capable of using water magic too.

Moreover, if she was able to control the shape to this extent, then she clearly reached the second barrier magic.

This magic alone was enough to tell me that she was at least a Wise water mage.

It was my loss.

She was stronger physically and had more experience with magic.

I couldn't compare with her.

Another water tentacle surrounded my neck and began to choke me.

"It's over Sillath, you lost. Once you wake up, you will be at the mansion. Your sisters will join you in a few weeks, just like master wanted."

I couldn't breathe.

"You disappointed me. I trusted you and I would've done anything to protect you. Was your jealousy so strong to the point you wanted to kill the man I love?"

I wasn't able to answer her accusation even if I strongly denied them in my head.

It wasn't jealousy.

Not this time.

This time, it wasn't about me. If I don't kill him here, I would never have another chance. I failed as a brother in my previous life.

That's why I had to make things right in this life.

I had to protect my family.

This was my only wish.

I had to protect them.

"I…protect…"

My voice failed to come out of my mouth like I wanted it to. My vision was also beginning to grow blurry as I was slowly losing consciousness.

I struggled as much as I could because I knew that I couldn't lose consciousness this time. I knew what would happen if I failed.

I couldn't understand why I couldn't free myself from these shackles made of water.

With my eyes closed, it was possible to discern the movement of each particle of her mana surrounding my arms and legs.

These particles were moving too fast making this magic indestructible with brute strength.

That's why I couldn't destroy them

I concentrated as hard as I could with the last bit of my strength to slow these particles.

However, I quickly felt the air becoming colder as everything began to turn black.

My entire body also grew cold.

This time it was over.