Chapter 86
'Damn it, does this bitch actually have greater power than me now? But what really confuses me, who is that woman, really?'
Zavi's head spun as he tried to figure out her true identity.
'But looking at her more closely… that bitch is actually quite beautiful.' Zavi nodded in admiration as he thought about the mysterious woman's beauty, she was completely his type, especially with those glasses, as if she understood his personality perfectly.
"Stop talking nonsense," Zavi said with a flat expression. "What do you actually want from me?" he asked, just to be sure, thinking it was unlikely she would kill him since this was already the third time they had met, and she always teased him.
"What do I want, you say?" the woman repeated as she snapped her fingers.
Snap...
The sky where they stood trembled instantly. Then the mountains below, the dense forest surrounding them, including the animals going about their activities, and the river flowing like white milk all seemed to freeze the moment she snapped her fingers.
Zavi was stunned as he realized all of this from atop the soft, jelly-like clouds he stood on; he was truly defying gravity, because such a law no longer applied in this place.
The mysterious woman continued walking; with every step she took, the forest below shimmered like gold, while the mountains seemed to bow in both elegance and fear toward her.
Zavi quickly swallowed as he kept stepping back, his eyes unblinking as he watched her approach with that melancholic expression.
"You... what are you trying to do?" he asked, his face filled with fear, his jaw tightening.
The woman remained silent for a few seconds, observing Zavi's movements as he tried to intimidate her. Then she let out a soft laugh before speaking in a flat tone, "So confident... I don't want anything from you at all."
"What?" Zavi stared at her as she hovered several meters away.
'I should've asked something else. I need to stay calm so she doesn't act however she pleases while I'm still in a place she completely controls. And what is this feeling that's been flowing through my mind ever since I first saw and spoke to her?'
"This isn't the feeling of a man attracted to the woman standing before him," Zavi muttered quietly, tightening his grip on the knife.
The woman's brows arched slightly as she faintly heard him.
"Is there something you want to talk about?" she asked hesitantly.
"Of course," Zavi replied without the slightest hesitation. He paused for a moment to take a breath and recall the events that had been disturbing his thoughts.
A few seconds later, he nodded after settling on several questions that had crossed his mind.
"About that shadow," he said firmly. "Was that your doing as well?"
"The shadow, you say? I'm not entirely sure, but most likely, it was the Phantom I sent to you before." The woman seemed uncertain as she answered.
Zavi fell silent, holding his breath as he thought.
'That's the one thing that's been bothering me all this time.'
"And... where is that Phantom now?" Zavi asked seriously.
'Yes, I'm curious about where that Phantom is, and I still have other questions that might help resolve this situation,' he thought, his cold gaze fixed on the woman.
The woman merely thought about it, and the Phantom that had previously vanished suddenly reappeared, floating right above Zavi's left shoulder.
The moment he realized it, Zavi's body jolted slightly, his mouth parting. But he didn't react further, so the woman wouldn't press into his mind any more, and he spoke indifferently to mask the piercing sensation that struck him whenever she uttered even a single word.
He endured it completely, and if he hadn't been outside the influence of her power, then Zavi would have surely died from just a single word she spoke.
"It has appeared." The woman raised her index finger, pointing at Zavi's shoulder, her expression melancholic yet still elegant.
Zavi remained indifferent as he said, "I can see that too."
As his gaze swept the surroundings, as if unwilling to lose any important detail in his mind, he quickly added:
"You mean about me being captured?"
The woman placed her index finger against her closed lips before speaking with one eye shut, followed by a faint smirk:
"That's a secret."
Not long after, she let out a quiet giggle.
Without hesitation, Zavi fired off several questions at once.
"Who are you, really?"
"How do you know my real name?"
"How far have you interfered?"
"Tell me something you think would be useful to me."
"And one more, what is this familiar sensation circling in my head?"
The mysterious woman looked at Zavi with a serious expression.
'He's just as foolish as ever,' she thought, nodding.
"I can't answer that."
Zavi kept pressing her, asking questions without stopping.
"Someone who vanished without a trace, even a third-tier evil spirit couldn't find them. Do you know anything about that?"
"The demon horse attack at the beginning of November, were you behind it?"
"And the nearly two months I was unconscious, was that part of your plan too?"
"If I say yes, would you kill me right away?" the woman finally said, already fed up with Zavi's endless chatter.
"Of course," Zavi replied in a threatening tone. "Answer me quickly, you damn bitch, or I'll kill you!"
'Since when did he become this rude?' the woman thought, frowning.
The corner of her lips curled upward into a mocking smile as she spoke confidently:
"Go ahead and kill me if you can."
Then she snapped her fingers, bringing the life beneath the clouds back to normal. Cold, powerful winds circled the cloud they stood on before swirling around Zavi for several seconds, forcing his palm open as the wind shot upward like a fountain, then fell back down like an apple, landing right in his hand.
"What is this?" Zavi muttered in confusion, watching the object in his palm change on its own; chains, a knife, a pocket watch, a silver revolver.
He felt this was the woman's trick to answer the curiosity that had been lingering in his mind for a long time.
With an indifferent expression, the woman turned around. She raised her right hand beside her head, and her form began to fade like smoke blown by the wind.
Before her figure disappeared, and as the beautiful world beneath them began to waver, the woman let out a soft giggle and spoke one last time in a low tone.
"I'm sorry I can't answer you." In the final second, she forced a smile toward Zavi before snapping her fingers, restoring the world beneath his feet back to normal.
Aaron's body, which had previously been frozen like a statue in a running position, returned to normal as his consciousness was forced back into his body within seconds. The sudden shift shocked him; his breathing turned ragged, his chest rose and fell rapidly, and his knees weakened as his head throbbed intensely.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Zavi asked as he walked toward him, slipping the knife into his pocket.
Aaron answered with heavy breaths, "Ah, Actitus. It seems I just got hit by something."
Zavi instinctively grabbed his own neck.
"Maybe you're just hallucinating from exhaustion." Zavi tried to divert the conversation and ease the tension.
'Damn that bitch… she actually dragged Aaron into that world. This is just like what happened to Moreira back then, and Celvira falls into a different category.'
'I really didn't get the information I wanted, damn it. But… what did she mean in those final moments?' Zavi racked his brain, trying to solve the riddle that was pushing his mind to work twice as hard as usual.
"So," Aaron said, his face still showing pain. "Can you attack me? But don't use poison like before." He hoped Zavi would agree.
"What are you talking about?" Zavi muttered in confusion.
"Actitus, please," his lips trembled as he spoke. "Do it quickly... it seems that's the cause of all this."
Aaron's knees began to buckle as he bent forward, both hands supporting his body, sweat starting to cover his face.
"Don't blame me if you end up dead." Zavi considered complying with Aaron's request.
"Yeah," Aaron replied tensely.
Zavi stepped back several paces to avoid the impact of the explosion.
He stood still like a statue, creating several foxes that immediately moved the moment their forms fully materialized, and Zavi truly intended to kill Aaron.
A few steps before the foxes reached him, the shadow that always moved beneath his feet began to stir, surging up to envelop his body before bursting apart, seizing his consciousness and protecting his life.
Then, a few seconds later...
Boom!!
A dust storm filled the narrow cobblestone street where they stood, and after following Aaron's instructions, Zavi began walking toward him in long strides.
He brushed away the dust obstructing his vision while covering his nose with his other hand. He was clearly in a disadvantageous position, especially if he acted recklessly that night.
"Is that enough?" he asked, squinting as he pushed the dust aside.
Aaron spoke, his eyes not yet fully recovered. "Thank you for helping me."
Zavi immediately turned his head as the dust gradually cleared on its own, carried away by strong winds that swept the remaining particles off their clothes.
"Don't act so stiff." Zavi felt slightly relieved as he noticed Aaron's condition was different from before.
Several minutes passed, and the two of them walked on, discussing what had happened to Aaron.
Fear, and the sensation of his soul being forcibly pulled away.
Realizing that, he had ordered Zavi without hesitation to launch a lethal attack, not to truly kill him, but so that the veil controlling his body could save him from actual death.
Understanding that, Zavi felt a bit impressed by Aaron's way of thinking in solving problems.
With no suitable topic left to discuss, Aaron shifted to asking why Zavi had suddenly run toward the house that now seemed destroyed by an explosion.
Zavi answered without altering the actual events, and for the rest, he crafted a believable story so Aaron would trust him, claiming he had been controlled by someone.
Hearing that, Aaron concluded that the group they were searching for would soon emerge from hiding and terrorize the city, especially now that many of its residents had already fled with unexpected attacks.
A few minutes passed quickly as the sun felt noticeably hotter than before. The two arrived at a street, still on Syrp Street No. 2, located a few hundred meters from the bar they had visited earlier.
And there, Zuhen and Felina explained the information they had gathered from the residents heading toward Pamlinov Station, while the rest they had investigated themselves after waiting too long for any signal to appear.