Vella narrowed her eyes. "Destroyed? I have backups. And this building? It's rented. You didn't ruin anything, Kaivan. How unfortunate, your effort was pointless."
She held her hand over the wound on her eye, and Kaivan's body floated upward, catching the dim light like a blade thirsty for blood. Each of Vella's steps echoed coldly through the room, while Kaivan glared back with palpable irritation.
But before the blow could land, another set of footsteps echoed from the dark corner. Light… yet each step seemed to shift the air itself. From the shadows emerged a boy, no older than his early teens, dressed simply. His face was calm, his eyes sharp. He looked straight at Vella and spoke in a foreign tongue.
"Er darf nicht sterben."
Vella froze. Her gaze snapped toward the boy, sharp as a blade. The air around them turned icy, almost freezing over. But she refused to be interrupted. Fury burst within her, and she hurled a mass of metal toward him.
"Silence! I take orders from no one!" she roared.
The boy kept walking, unfazed. He lifted a single hand, slowly, gently, yet with absolute certainty.
What happened next made the entire world seem to halt.
Vella's face drained of color. The pride in her eyes shattered, replaced by pure terror. She broke into a hysterical scream, collapsing and rolling across the floor.
"HHHAAAAAAH! NOOOO!"
Kaivan watched with horror. For the first time, he saw Vella, his terrifying enemy, crumble under an invisible fear. What did she see? What had the boy shown her? He didn't know. But for that brief moment, the night itself felt utterly silent.
The boy approached Kaivan with the same serene steps. He stopped before the bound Kaivan and spoke softly, yet firmly.
"Sind Sie Kaivan? Benutzer von Tome Omnicent?"
Kaivan frowned. The words sounded like German, but he couldn't fully understand. With a weak breath, he replied,
"I don't understand your language."
The boy smiled faintly, then switched to an accented voice.
"Oh, I see. You're Kaivan, right? The user of Tome Omnicent? Why didn't you bring it? Why didn't you attach the crystal to the book?"
Kaivan watched him carefully. He knew he couldn't reveal anything, so he deflected.
"I don't need Tome Omnicent's power. I don't want to be controlled by it." His voice was steady, though his heart trembled.
The boy leaned closer, his gaze piercing through Kaivan's soul.
"Good. I like that answer. Stay that way, don't make things troublesome for me."
He stepped back.
Meanwhile, Vella, still screaming, lost control over her abilities. The metal binding Kaivan loosened and fell away. But before he could react, the boy vanished, dissolving into thin air.
Vella gasped for breath, confusion clouding her face.
Rapi staggered into the room then, his body bruised and bleeding. With what little strength he had left, he struck Kaivan's head with a heavy object, knocking him out.
"M-Madam… are you alright?" Rapi asked shakily.
Vella steadied herself and gave a faint shake of her head.
"The police are waiting outside. Just throw him in a cell. We can't kill him… He'll get angry," she whispered hoarsely.
They dragged Kaivan's unconscious body out of the building. Outside, Kaivan's friends, Felicia, Raphael, and the others, watched from the shadows. Fear tightened their faces as they saw Vella and Rapi limping away with Kaivan.
"We've caught this terrorist. Look at how many explosions and casualties he caused," Vella declared loudly to the police, her voice dripping with accusation, even though she knew most of the destruction was her own fault.
Felicia clenched her fists, anger swirling in her eyes.
"She's acting like the victim? What is this nonsense?" she hissed.
Raphael placed a calming hand on her shoulder.
"There's no point. Kaivan's been blamed too much already. He won't be able to defend himself…" he said quietly, sadness hidden deep within his eyes.
The police shackled the unconscious Kaivan and lifted him into the ambulance. His injuries were severe, but he had to live. He had to face trial… he wasn't allowed to die yet.
The night looked like a painting drawn with deep strokes of fear and ruin. The sky hung low and gray, letting the rain fall like the world's own tears, soaking the asphalt that reflected red and blue lights. Police cars and ambulances formed a line between normal life and tragedy. The air smelled of ozone, metal, and tension.
Kaivan's limp body lay on the stretcher like a puppet with its strings cut. His face was pale, his lips slightly parted, his breaths so faint they barely moved his chest. Two paramedics rushed him toward the ambulance, their shoes splashing water and leaving faint trails of blood across the slick pavement.
Sirens and anxious whispers blended into a trembling symphony that carried the night toward an uncertain dawn.
The crowd slowly parted as the ambulance carrying Kaivan pulled away toward the hospital. Raphael stood on the sidewalk, his posture firm, but his eyes in turmoil. His fists were clenched, knuckles pale as he forced down the explosion of emotion burning in his chest. His gaze followed the stretcher, a deep furrow between his brows revealing a storm of questions he could no longer hold back.
"Where are they taking Kaivan?" His voice cut through the cold night air, deep, steady, yet trembling faintly with uncertainty.
Isabel stood a step behind him, holding the Tome Omnicent tightly to her chest. Her slender fingers flipped through the pages with swift, deliberate movements, like a priestess invoking a distant power. The streetlight brushed against her calm face, but her eyes betrayed a quiet unrest. Every second felt heavier than the last.
She stopped on a page, tracing the lines as though reading fate itself. Then she lifted her head, her voice clear and resolute.
"He was taken to the hospital on Muhamad Toha Street." The words grounded them, turning chaos into direction.
Radit, who had been leaning lazily against a lamp post, raised an eyebrow. A thin smirk tugged at his lips, not of amusement, but like someone waking from a long slumber to greet a challenge. He rolled his shoulders and stepped forward with a predator's ease.
"So? Are we breaking Kaivan out or what?" He closed the distance, body leaning in, tension coiled as if ready to move at any moment. His stare challenged Raphael, testing the resolve of his friend.
But Isabel stepped between them before the sparks could ignite. Her movement was graceful, yet firm. Her eyes sharpened, her voice rising slightly.
"If we do that, we'll be dealing with the police. Helping a prisoner escape isn't something we can take lightly." Her posture stiffened, as if bracing herself against the storm Radit was ready to unleash. She knew one wrong step could ruin them all.
Livia, clutching an umbrella too large for her small frame, looked up with wide, innocent eyes. The siren lights reflected in them like the gaze of a startled fawn.
"Why? Kaivan isn't a bad person. Shouldn't we try to help him?" she asked softly, her voice slipping through the night like a fragile plea.