Nial was anything but fine.
Sabrina wanted to take revenge for their deceased mother. She wanted to do something he had failed miserably with.
It was only obvious for him not to be fine, but Nial couldn't tell Sabrina to not leave. He didn't dare to.
His only task had been to protect Sabrina, and killing Bella could merely be considered a secondary mission.
However, it was obvious that Bella was extremely dangerous. Her being alive would mean that he, Sabrina, and even their father were in danger.
'I should have killed her when I had the opportunity,' He thought, regretting that he had intended to torture her first.
Torturing Bella might have been satisfying and a means to decrease his guilts and regrets temporarily, but it hadn't been worth it.
Meanwhile, Sabrina began preparing everything for her journey, with the goal to become much stronger. After she gained enough strength, Sabrina would start searching for Bella to finish her off and complete the mission Nial had failed with.
Meanwhile, Nial was trying to take care of his father while simultaneously slowly accepting the bitter reality.
He sold the land where the Orin Mansion had been located to prevent being reminded of the horrifying incident that had happened there.
At the same time, Nial didn't want his father to be alone and unprotected. Miles was depressed and he feared that his father might do something to himself the moment Nial looked away.
Harming himself was not something Nial would ever expect his father to do, but the situation was something that had never happened before.
He looked worse than ever and he was in a state of shock and denial, a disturbed state where anything could happen.
However, at the same time, it was also obvious that an attack similar to what had happened a few days before might occur again.
Bella had been able to attack Sabrina within the shelter and it had been possible for her to use her spatial affinity to move the battlefield.
Nobody had been fast enough to guard Sabrina at that time, and the final result of the incident had been tragic.
Nial didn't want the same, or a similar incident to repeat itself, which was why he commissioned the construction of a house right next to the Nightshadow Elves and the Dark Elves' place in the shelter.
The Onyx Association was also located there, providing an extra layer of security for them.
Nial was also prepared to create numerous runic armaments for his father to make sure that he would be safe and protected by all means.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtHe had also asked Sabrina if she needed more runic armaments, but she had more than enough Tier-1 and some Tier-2 runic armaments with her.
There was nothing else Nial could create for her.
Thus, in a matter of a few days, Miles moved inside the house that had been completely constructed while Sabrina ended up leaving the shelter.
Determination gleamed in her eyes and she clenched her fists tightly, ready to go all out in order to achieve everything she was going for, whether that was revenge or to ensure that her family…or what was left, would be protected.
For others, the death of one woman was not much, considering that the shelter had been attacked in the midst of it, by a fellow human at that, however, to the Orin family it was devastating.
Maline's death left a huge impact on Nial, Sabrina, and Miles, but that was not something many noticed. No one knew Miles, and Sabrina had left.
As for Nial, he had entered a state that could only be described as…weird.
Not many people saw Nial in the days that followed the incident. He worked the whole time without a single break not bothering to rest.
The only thing that could be considered as something close to a break was the short period when Nial switched from engraving more and more pieces of equipment with his runic constellation to absorbing more and more mana.
This period was extremely short and merely enough for Nial to take a deep breath before he would get to work once again.
While working as hard as possible, Nial didn't have to be in contact with others. He avoided the people who approached him, whether it was Miranda, Mathias, Master Crevian, or even the Royal Princess of the Elven race.
They understood that he was having a hard time and grieving the loss of his mother. They wanted to help, but that was not easy.
Nial didn't want anyone's help and his sole goal, if one could call it such, was to get stronger.
However, his will to actually get stronger had drastically decreased. His mother was dead, his father depressed and his sister had left them.
Nial didn't know what else to do but to work as hard as possible because he was haunted by nightmares of his mother that came flooding back to him the moment he stopped working hard.
In fact, Nial was not even sleeping. The nightmares appeared out of nowhere even in broad daylight while he was wide awake when he stopped doing something that was related to becoming stronger.
It was almost as if his mother was giving her utmost in the afterlife to make Nial work harder and harder.
And that was exactly what he did. A few weeks passed in the blink of an eye and Nial had become a lot stronger.
Sleep was something he rarely got, or thought of getting and it was never something he enjoyed because the nightmares returned the moment he closed his eyes.
They got worse every single time he fell asleep and Nial ended up using potions to keep himself awake and to revitalize him so as to prevent himself from falling asleep.
This didn't help him to solve his problems but it gave Nial some temporary 'help'.
One day, weeks after the incident, Nial heard the news that forced him out of his self-imposed seclusion.
The Elves had their first bloody encounter with the Heligav race. Many Elves and Heligav had died in the encounter and their hatred only increased.
In the end, the Heligav realized that the humans on Jundra were on good terms with the Elves, which was why they ended up threatening the humans.
They were given an Ultimatum; to start killing the Elves, or to get killed by them.
This Ultimatum was obviously just for show and to scare the humans from Jundra. This worked very well as they created a vivid image of how powerful the Heligav were.
24 hours after the Ultimatum had been declared, the Second strongest Original of the human race had been found in his bed, beheaded.
His head had been impaled on a wooden pillar that had been erected between the Forest of Life and the human shelter for everyone to see.
48 hours after the Ultimatum had been declared, the right hand of the President had been killed. Just like the Original, her head had been impaled on a second wooden pillar that had been erected right next to the head of the second strongest Original.
Nobody had seen the perpetrators, not even the Elves, who had chosen to guard the human shelter after the first assassination had occurred.
The Elves felt partially responsible for the mess that happened and they wanted to prevent more assassinations from occurring.
However, this was a lot harder than it first seemed, especially since the right hand of the President hadn't been in the human shelter next to the Forest of Life, to begin with.
She had been somewhere else, yet, the Heligav had found her and killed her. Not even the Elves were certain how they had found the right hand of the President because that woman had been at a location only a handful of people had known about.
It was eerie and frightening enough for the humans to understand that their situation was far from easy.
They could only attempt to hide somewhere, knowing that it might not be completely safe, or seek help from the Elves, such as permission to enter and stay inside the Forest of Life, or to get a bodyguard of the Elven race.
Only a few hours were left until the 72-hour mark after the Ultimatum had elapsed and both humans and elves were wondering who the third target would be.
There was no apparent connection between the second strongest Original and the right hand of the President, except the fact that both possessed high authority and that they were well known by the public.
Anyone with high authority and a big reputation could be considered highly likely to become the next target.
Nial was told to come to the Forest of Life by the Royal Princess, but he couldn't care less. If someone were to attack him, he would show them what it meant to go against him.
The Assassin couldn't be at the Keltian rank, otherwise, the remnants of his powerful mana would have lingered around the bodies of the two first victims.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThere hadn't been a single trace of mana, indicating three things; first, the attack was caused with little to no mana. Second, the assassin could avoid the mana radars within the shelter, hinting at a low mana core rank that could be concealed more easily. And last but not least third, the heads of the victims had been severed neatly when they were still alive, hinting that the Assassin was powerful and well-trained.
Nial was unruffled by all this information. He was ready to fight at any given time, and if he were to be honest with himself, he looked forward to it!
There was nothing for him to look forward to in his life and he was trying to figure out what was necessary for him to gain a new goal to pursue.
As of now, becoming stronger had turned into a necessity rather than a goal.
What was it that he wanted? Was he even allowed to stay alive? Should he start fighting others until he died in a battle of honor? Or would it be the best for everyone if he were to allow the God of Darkness to resurrect using his body as a vessel?
Sometimes, Nial was truly not sure what to do anymore, but he felt that his mother wouldn't want him to die, or to give up on himself. She would already be disappointed in her husband for ending like this, and that Nial was being so miserable.
That was something Nial knew. His mother would never openly scold him for being pitiful or ask him to get his act together. She was not only his mother in name, but she loved him unconditionally, and her love would never falter!
However, she would regret it if she were to know that her death was the reason for the way their family had ended up.
Thus, instead of giving up on himself as he felt like doing more often than not, Nial took a deep breath as he walked through the shelter to get some air, sort his thoughts, and start from scratch.
Hours passed and the 72-hour mark had ended not too long ago.
Nial hadn't been attacked and he didn't feel anything amiss in the shelter as well. His range of perception and [Mana Sense] that covered the entire city hadn't sensed anything odd either.
However, the third head had been collected by the Heligav and they showed it off just like the other two heads.
And Nial couldn't believe who had been picked as the third target by the Heligav.
It made no sense…
"That's not possible…that cannot be…WHY?"
**
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