"As expected, she didn't expect one of the people pursuing her to show themselves like this!" Astra noticed Anna's shock In her peripherals as she didn't change her outside expression.
"Sh*t…I was too slow…" Astra then cursed inwardly after realizing she took too long to leave.
She was still a little too curious but a little too inexperienced in this world!
The hooded man began walking slowly toward the two women.
Astra didn't hesitate to get in front of Anna, who had a frozen expression, upon witnessing this scene.
"Why did you scream like that? And why do you sound so scared? You already know I'm here to guide you back to your home," The man said in a deep, hoarse voice.
"…" The young woman named Anna didn't respond.
"I don't want to make this needlessly uncomfortable for you, Anna." The man kept walking at an extremely slow pace.
Tap…tap…
His legs were moving like they were going through honey—each step sounding exaggerated. It gave off a very uncanny feeling that made chills run through Astra's spine.
It seemed as if he wanted to create the most uncomfortable situation possible.
"Who are you?" Astra suddenly interjected as she raised her voice.
Tap…
Almost as if he was ignoring her, the man kept walking slowly. His figure became even clearer. He was tall, and while he looked skinny, he seemed well built.
"I'm her guardian. She tried to run away from home, so I'm simply trying to bring her back, you see." His face started to become more and more visible as he walked closer to the two ladies, the velvet light beginning to illuminate his features.
"Who says that I can trust you? Why did you try to block us from heading out?" Astra asked as sweat began to pour down her face. Even though she could control her emotions, she unfortunately was not able to control the instinctual bodily reaction due to anxiety.
Tap…
"I can ask you that same question." As soon as the man said that, his face became visible as he fully came out of the darkness.
He had an intense, almost rugged face. His almond shaped eyes were red and he had a scar across his face. He had Caucasian skin and he looked middle aged. While it wasn't possible to see his hair, you could've told that its length was short.
He was one of the leaders appointed by the Dimensional Thieves for the lower echelon underground market in Entheris. His name was Viktor Omar.
He had a slight, extremely arrogant smile on his face.
It was a smug, terrifying smirk.
…
"No!" I couldn't help but shriek when I saw the figure outline itself. But at this moment, I realized no words had come out.
My entire figure was frozen as this caring lady stood in front of me.
But at this moment, my entire world blurred. Everything seemed so hazy to me, everything seemed so sluggish and drowned out.
I couldn't hear any of the words that were being said by the two people. It was as if someone was calling me in a crowd of thousands of people.
It was as if I was using my powers on myself, but I knew I never activated them.
Instantly, I recognized this man. I couldn't even see his face, but I knew it was him.
Instantly, I now know why we were found so quickly.
Instantly, I knew that I had fallen into a trap.
Everything seemed to be going so well. I had finally escaped, I had finally found a woman that could help me stay away from this person and this gang of bastards behind him.
But just like before, he had caught me.
Just like before, he won't just leave me alone.
"I don't want to go back, I really don't want to go back…" I tried to whisper, but no words came out.
I wanted to scream, but no words came out.
I wanted to tell him to leave me alone and go die, but no words came out.
I could only hope that she is special enough to protect me. But that's if she even wants to.
If it was a normal person, they would've left me. After all, I'm not useful for anything aside from working for others, allowing others to treat me like an object. There's nothing of use to me that would make her want to protect me.
I at least want to tell Miss Astra that this man might be someone she can't handle so that she can leave me already and not get hurt. I can't be selfish…
Suddenly, my vision began clearing up. But it was not of the surroundings, or of the woman.
It was of this man. His face had shown itself.
All I saw as an inhuman smile. A smile that showed no teeth, but it appeared to reach up to his eyes. His eyes were narrowed, almost closed. His face seemed to get bigger, and bigger. Brighter and brighter.
His narrowed, disgusting eyes were looking at me.
I can't be selfish…
…
When she saw him, Astra's intuition was screaming at her that this man was no lackey, and Anna's frozen—almost extreme—reaction proved it.
She had understood why she was feeling uneasy, and why her body was sweating the way it did.
At this point, she had begun to lose confidence in her body. And as such, she had begun to lose confidence in helping Anna. She had the extreme desire to immediately abandon everything, including Anna, and run.
After all, she was still a human. And that is a normal, extremely normal, human response after being in a situation for the first time.
Perhaps it was also the most rational response. She had already gotten the information she wanted, and saving Anna in a supernatural world she hadn't spent two weeks in could be considered illogical.
She didn't know any of the hidden dangers.
Astra, without looking back, almost moved her left foot to step backwards. It almost seemed as if she would immediately begin to run, leaving Anna. As for the invisible wall, since he'd be satisfied with getting Anna, he might let Astra go.
Yes. That seemed a lot more desirable.
Yes. It was definitely reasonable!
Yes! She's a scientist, not a fighter!
For a second, Astra had finally glanced back slightly, her peripherals catching Anna.
And suddenly, she had truly felt the fear that was exuding from this young girl who was forced into a cruel, unforgiving world.
She looked back at the man and saw him smiling, as if he enjoyed seeing that face on Anna. He seemed to want Astra to take on the same expression.
"No."
"Calm down. You're better than this, Astra. You're a scientist, not a fighter. But…you can't let this girl go back when she begged you not to." As if another person was saying this, Astra had thought to control her instincts.
She knew she couldn't let her instincts get the better of her.
"…Haha." Omar noticed the silence and laughed hoarsely.
"Why are you holding that child a hostage when you know that it isn't yours?" Omar continued as he stopped no more than 5 meters away from Astra.
He had continued to wear that slight, smug smile on his face.
Astra couldn't help but feel disgusted at how this man addressed Anna. She knew that he enjoyed taking away her humanity.
However, she tried her best to compose herself.
She needed to find a way to get out of this situation.
"Hm." Omar placed his finger to his chin and rubbed it. "I think I've seen you before, actually. Ah, right. How could I forget a beautiful doll such as yourself. I definitely forgot your name though, as your looks are more important."
"Where have you seen me?" Astra asked, ignoring his provocation.
"I'm not going to tell you that." He chuckled.
"As expected, he isn't a lackey…" With her instincts controlled, she began thinking rationally again.
"Either way, I can't trust any of his words. He thinks he's in no danger, this makes sense…I can't contact Kayla without him noticing and immediately attacking me, preventing me from doing so…"
"He seems to enjoy seeing despair on people's faces and feeling the fear that they have, as if it gives him life…if he wanted to, he could've immediately tried to kill me…"
"Everything undoubtedly seemed too convenient for Anna. I knew that what she did here was a big risk, especially to the extent that she even stole an artifact without any powers…"
"It's very likely that this person has a strange connection with Anna, since he said he's her 'guardian'…"
After Astra successfully composed herself, her mind had raced as she summarized all of the relevant information so far.
"That's right…" She had finally found an idea.
A short second had passed as Omar looked at Anna with an ecstatic expression.
He sighed and continued, "Anna, I can't believe your selfishness has let an innocent person get caught up in this mess. How do you feel?"
…
Suddenly, I hear this man's voice clearly out of the noise.
"I can't believe your selfishness has let an innocent person get caught up in this mess…"
My eyes stared at the ground, but I can tell that this man had that horrifying and disgusting smile on his face while saying those terrifying words.
But I knew that those words were right.
I was too confident, and such a nice lady like her will likely die because of me.
Because I was too selfish.
"No, I'm not like that…I just wanted to be free."
But I didn't have to bring someone else into it. I'm a terrible person who needlessly causes suffering.
"No…that's not who I am. I just want to have a day where I can feel happy."
If I simply stayed where I was, maybe I wouldn't have suffered as much...
"No! I just want to live a normal experience, live a normal life!"
He's got his flaws, but he fed me and watched me grow up. I'm not grateful at all!
"No! I just want to feel like I'm someone, I just wanted to feel human, instead of an object!"
"I just want to feel human…"
In this instant, Anna's body began to show faint, light purple cracks. It looked as if her skin was beginning to become parched like the desert.
As she stared at the ground, her body had an almost invisible, grey mist beginning to seep out of the light purple cracks.
…