Vated continued to look at the strange transformation happening in front of him, but even with his experience, he never witnessed something like that.

Only her roar filled with unwillingness woke him up from his thoughts. However, her transformation was already complete.

With another long roar, she released her strongest magic.

A violent wind blew the foliage and the leaves on its path toward Vated who was still wearing his usual mocking grin.

He didn't try to avoid and simply welcomed her attack.

Contrary to his expectation, the attack was much more powerful than previously.

However, it was already too late to avoid.

The attack hit him head-on under the attentive gaze of Gaya. Surprised by her sudden newfound strength, she began to regain hope for victory once again.

Motivated by her previous assault, she didn't stop and continued to launch her magic.

For several minutes, her angry growls and the violent noise of the wind were the only things that Sellysse and Llynadia could hear.

They watched with their mouth wide open as Gaya bravely fought against an adult without fear.

For several almost endless minutes, she continued to attack without stopping as if she didn't need to take back her breath or use mana.

After nearly five minutes of continuous attacks, all more violent than the previous one, Gaya finally stopped and immediately dropped on her knees while holding her chest with her hands.

She was seriously out of breath, but her transformation was still ongoing. The same green hue was still around her and, more importantly, even after the end of her attack, Vated wasn't moving.

She didn't take her beautiful blue eyes away from the scene happening in front of her. The rumble disturbing the peace of the forest slowly stopped while the dust continued to fall down on the destroyed soil.

Witness to her violent outburst, an impressive long trench of dug earth appeared dozens of feet in front of her.

She watched the long trenched further and further until her blue gaze finally landed on the figure of a large man still standing among the cloud of dust and leaves.

His usual mocking grin couldn't be seen anymore. A long trail of blood on the side of his face took its place.

With the slowly disappearing dust, Gaya could finally see her target.

His clothes were dirty, the side of his face had a long trail of blood slowly falling drop after drop, but except for a cut on the side of his forehead, Vated was totally unharmed.

"How? .."

Shaking in horror and fear behind Gaya, who was still on her knees, the girls didn't even have the time to react in front of this sight when the small body of Gaya was once more blown away with an impact many times stronger than before.

*BAM*

Sellysse and Llynadia didn't immediately understand what had happened until they heard, in a heartbreaking noise of broken bones, the body of the little girl crash at full strength on a large tree a dozen feet away.

Her eyes were still open when she began to slowly slide down while leaving behind an eerie trail of fresh blood.

"No!!!"

The mutual screams of the girls immediately followed when they understood what had happened.

With tears in their eyes, they rushed together toward the distant tree and the fallen girl in front of it.

They fell, glide and hurt their bare feet with the harsh soil while running but they didn't care.

They only stopped when they reached the girl that they knew for as long as they could remember. The serious yet gentle sister who was always there for them in their happy or sad moments was lying motionless in a small pool of her own blood.

Seeing this scene of Gaya's limp body face against the earth, Sellysse and Llynadia both couldn't stop their tears from falling anymore.

The previous green hue surrounding her was no more. Even her long furred ears, which were usually almost always in motion, no longer reacted.

"This can't be.." Slowly muttered Llynadia under her breath.

"GAYA!" Screamed Sellysse while kneeling in front of her bloodied back.

Not daring to touch her, they stayed near her with their eyes blurred by their tears until loud noise of steps echoed behind them.

They turned their attention at the same time toward the approaching Vated.

His muscular appearance along with the thirst for blood shining in his dark eyes made the two innocent little girls shiver and crawl backward.

However, this time nobody stood in front of them.

With each step drawing him closer, the pounding of their young hearts grew heavier and the strength in their legs weaker.

"Don't come closer!" Suddenly screamed Sellysse while turning her red and swollen teary eyes toward this tower like man.

However, he simply ignored her pleas and, after a couple of long seconds, he calmly reached them.

His impressive body stopped just in front of them, hiding the rays of the newly awakened sun and robbing them of its warmth.

Without uttering a single word to the fallen Gaya, his large hand reached forward like an unstoppable monster ready to swallow them whole.

Sellysse screamed with her entire strength and even the usually calm and composed Llynadia couldn't hold back her tears in this situation.

However, Vated simply furrowed his brows in annoyance before taking each girl with one of his powerful hands.

To prevent them from struggling anymore he simply put them under one of his arms but this didn't end their cries and screams. It would have been much simpler for him to knock them out, but hitting their heads again so soon didn't seem like a wise idea even for this violent man.

These girls in good health were worth a lot of money and precious equipment making this discomfort worth it.

After adjusting the girls and completely restraining their movements, he turned away from the motionless girl he hit earlier. He intended to sell her as well, but her previous surprising outburst made him lose his temper. He already regretted his reaction but it was too late. He disregarded her small corpse and prepared to leave.

His mission was finally complete but its cost was way beyond what he could tolerate.

Swearing to take his revenge, he finally left the forest.

However, after only a few steps, he stopped in his tracks.

Without any apparent interlocutor, his deep and powerful voice echoed inside the forest while easily overwhelming the screams of the girls.

"Still alive?"

Even with his usual rough voice, this question couldn't hide his surprise.

He slowly turned his body to face a little girl trying to raise her upper body from the ground with one of her tiny arms.

Seeing this scene seemed to wake up the crying girls. They used their hands to awkwardly wipe their tears away and make their blurred sight clearer.

The slim figure of Gaya was painfully twitching on the ground while her bloodied back was slowly moving up and down along with her weak breathing.

Her face was even paler than before making the blood covering her almost surreal, but her blue gaze was the same and didn't waver when she crossed Vated's gaze.

As if waking up from a nightmare, Sellysse and Llynadia both stopped crying at the same time.

Their sadness turned into joy until the regular noise of Vated's steps, walking once more toward Gaya, brought them back to the cruel reality of their situation.

"No, leave her alone!"

"Gaya run!!!"

Despite their desperate pleas, Gaya didn't move from her spot. The large wound on her back and her broken bones prevented her from moving, but she still desperately tried to stand up from her own pool of blood.

However, her efforts were fruitless.

She didn't have enough strength to stand up anymore.

The pain of her entire body was nearly unbearable. She just wanted to curl up in a ball on the ground and not move anymore.

However, she didn't.

She couldn't just leave the girls to their fates.

Still on her knees, with one hand on the ground to support her, she watched Vated drew closer.

His previous calm appearance was nowhere to be seen. His brows were furrowed while the expression on his face couldn't hide his bewilderment.

The girls that he tried to catch all night were in his hands totally defenseless but he didn't leave yet.

He couldn't.

His dark gaze was fixed on the small girl taking slow and careful breaths while his mind was full of various unusual thoughts.

After a couple of seconds, as if he had made a decision, his brows relaxed but his gaze grew wilder.

"You should have stayed down."

His free hand reached forward to catch her small defenseless neck.

Despite the desperate screams of the girls under his other arm, he slowly tightened his grip making her turn even paler than before.

"You have some value as a Beast girl but something is wrong with you. I don't know your secret or your origins, but I won't take the risk. You're more trouble than what you're worth so.. die."

The disturbing and cruel scene continued for long seconds.

Her pale face turned red with the lack of air while her only moving arm, supporting her on the ground, lost its strength leaving all the weight of her small undeveloped body to her executioner who continued to slowly tighten his grip.

Even in her half-conscious state, she understood what was happening.

She was dying.

She didn't think about the consequences when she tried to stand up. She didn't have any other thoughts than wanting to save the girls she always considered as her own sisters. This innocent thought in this cruel world spelled her doom.

She watched her murderer in the eyes.

His dark emotionless eyes were like two monstrous holes swallowing and destroying everything.

The man who tried to kill her in the house earlier had the same kind of eyes.

However, this time this terrifying gaze without remorse didn't seem as scary anymore.

On the contrary, it seemed a little empty to her.

Devoid of emotion.

Devoid of love.

A lonely gaze.

She didn't want to die while looking at this kind of gaze.

Therefore, she gathered the last bit of strength she had inside her and turned her electric blue eyes toward the girls struggling with their entire strength to free themselves.

Their eyes full of tears were also full of love for her and unwillingness to see her death.

It was a nicer last view to die.

However, their teary eyes were also full of regrets and sadness.

She didn't want to die either but she didn't have the strength to save herself.

"Curse your fate for crossing my road."

She nearly failed to hear his last heinous words among the screams of the girls and her weakening senses.

Her eyelids were becoming heavier and her gaze harder to maintain.

She knew that this was the end.

Just before her eyes lost their light forever.

Just before her last strength disappeared, she tried to scream.

However, the large hand on her neck prevented her from emitting any sound.

She wanted to scream.

She wanted to say a thousand words, to evacuate her feelings, to declare her unwillingness to die and her love for her adoptive sisters.

She wanted to scream her emotions to the world.

It was more of an instinct than a rational thought.

This instinctive idea replaced her fear of death and became her whole world.

No air could come out of her mouth, but she still opened it.

No sound came out but she continued to try nonetheless.

Seeing her last struggle made Vated smile viciously.

His smile grew wider until a blue light began to illuminate her face.

The strange blue light wasn't coming from the girl but was simply reflecting on her.

After noticing this point, it only took him an instant to understand its origin.

This mysterious light was coming from his own artifact, still hanging around his neck, that he used earlier to threaten the hidden guards. The light of the artifact grew stronger and quickly became impossible to ignore.

The artifact was activating without his mana or his will.

In front of this impossible situation, Vated watched the only possible responsible and finally decided to crush her neck.

The simple movement taking half a second was more than enough to rob the young girl of her fleeing life.

However, the sound of her broken neck didn't resonate across the forest.

The strong hand holding Gaya didn't answer his will.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't close or move his hand.

Slowly, along with the mysterious blue light, his hand began to open offering a saving breath of fresh and most desire air to the young girl.

As soon as his hand opened, the long-desired roar repressed by sheer strength finally resonated inside the forest.

The roar coming from the deepest part of her young soul and holding all of her feelings before her death made the entire forest tremble with its might.

While her previous roar was a cry for help this time it was a declaration, a scream coming from her soul.

The powerful and unexpected scream strengthened the artifact still attached to Vated's neck. Its blue light illuminated the whole sky above the forest and made Vated take a couple of steps back while dropping the girls on the ground.

His ears were ringing while his eyes lost their focus. For long seconds, his strong mind was shaken and unable to react.

"Ahhhhh!"

With an angry scream, Vated awkwardly tore apart the artifact around his neck with his massive and powerful hand. Immediately after, his sight grew clearer and his desire to kill the mysterious girl stronger.

"You!"

With a large motion, he wiped the blood near the corner of his lips distorted by his anger and finally took out his axe on his back under the terrified eyes of Sellysse and Llynadia.

They watched in horror as this great bringer of death rose high in the sky, ready to take Gaya's head.

"Stop!!!"

Vated ignored the desperate screams of the girls while Gaya's roar finally end.

She stayed on her knees with her blue eyes glued on the sky beyond the large axe threatening her life.

However, despite the blood all over her face, her expression didn't betray any kind of worry when the axe finally hacked downward.

She didn't miss anything happening around her. It was as if time was slowing down under her electric blue gaze.

Sellysse and Llynadia crying.

The blue sky overlooking the calm forest.

The light of the day suddenly becoming stronger.

Vated's change of expression in the middle of his attack.

*Boom*

The loud noise broke this magical moment.

However, it wasn't coming from the mortal impact of the axe. Likewise, the blood splattering the ground didn't come from Gaya.

Just before reaching Gaya, Vated stopped his attack to protect himself on instinct. However, even with his reflexes, a large bloodied wound still appeared on his arm. The mysterious impact sent him flying dozens of feet backward before he finally stopped by putting all his strength in his legs.

"How?" He exclaimed, shaken and surprised before raising his head from the ground.

Gaya was still at the same place with the same peaceful expression on her tired and bloodied face.

However, she wasn't alone with Sellysse and Llynadia anymore.

A tall and elegant woman was standing in front of them to confront him.

Her slim figure and beautiful blue eyes gave a strange contrast to her imposing presence and the fury on her pale face.

It only took an instant for Vated to recognize this woman who hit him as soon as she appeared.

However, it took him long seconds to accept this reality.

"How.. how can you be here..." He muttered before raising his voice in anger and incomprehension.

" ... SELEDIA !?!"

Her usual elegant silver hair was no more.

As if to answer her feelings, long fiery red hair took their place.

Bloody red hair fluttering along the wind, like a wild and angry flame awaiting for too long, finally ready to swallow everything in its path.