Chapter 126: Brighter Than The Sun.

“WHERE ARE MY DAUGHTERS?!”

Lior flinched when Rico shouted, the sound so loud it felt like it pushed against his chest. It didn’t sound like how Rico talked earlier.

It sounded broken, like something inside him had cracked and couldn’t be fixed anymore.

Rico’s grip loosened.

Lior felt it immediately.

The tight hold on his wrist disappeared, and suddenly, there was nothing there. No hand. No pull.

Nothing was keeping him in place except the fear that rooted him to the ground.

He didn’t run.

He wanted to.

His legs felt like they should move, as they should just go anywhere, but when he looked around, there was nowhere to go.

The shadows were everywhere.

They weren’t far. They weren’t hiding.

They were already there, surrounding them, standing in silence like they had been waiting this whole time.

Lior’s breathing grew uneven as he slowly turned his head, trying to find a space, a gap, anything—but there wasn’t one.

Every direction looked the same. Dark figures. White masks. Still bodies that didn’t move unless they wanted to.

’I am brave… I am brave…’

He tried to believe it.

But his hands were shaking.

“GIVE THEM BACK TO ME!” Rico roared again, and Lior flinched harder this time, stepping back without thinking.

His foot dragged against the ground, and he almost stumbled, catching himself just barely.

Tears kept falling. He didn’t even notice them anymore.

’Maman… please come… please come…’

“We did not bring them.”

The voice cut through everything.

Lior’s head snapped toward it, his body going still as he saw one of the shadows step forward.

He looked bigger than the others. Taller. The mask on his face didn’t change, but Lior felt like it was staring straight at him.

That voice didn’t shout. It didn’t rush. It just spoke, and that made Lior’s stomach twist in a way he didn’t understand.

“W-What… why not…?” Rico’s voice shook as he stepped back, his movements uneven. “I—I brought the kid… I brought…”

The man didn’t stop walking.

He shoved Rico hard.

Rico fell, the sound of his body hitting the ground making Lior flinch again.

Lior’s eyes widened as he looked between them, his chest tightening.

“Ezra Belloren gave everything to save you,” the man said. “He was not successful, but we heard he was willing to do anything to help you.”

Lior froze at the name.

’Maman…’

He didn’t understand everything, but he understood enough to know they were talking about him. About what happened. About why he was here.

“So? What does he… what does this—”

“Despite his kindness, you took away his only son.”

Lior’s fingers curled into his palms.

The way the man said it made something feel wrong.

Not just scary.

Like he wasn’t even talking about a person.

The man pulled out a knife.

Lior’s gaze locked onto it without meaning to. His breathing went shallow, his chest rising and falling too fast.

He remembered Maman holding knives before.

But for cooking.

Lior knew that if it wasn’t for cooking, it was for killing.

“HAH?!” Rico pushed himself up, his voice louder again, but now there was something wild in it. “Wait… you’re punishing me now? Are you actually punishing me? I just want my daughters. I don’t care—”

The knife moved.

It was fast.

Too fast for Lior to understand what happened until Rico made a sound that didn’t sound like a word at all.

Lior’s body went cold.

“R-Rico—!”

He stepped forward without thinking, his feet moving on their own.

He was scared of Rico.

He didn’t like him.

But Rico had been crying. Rico wanted his daughters.

That part made sense to him.

That part made it hurt to see him like that.

But before he could reach him—

A hand grabbed him.

Hard.

Lior gasped, his body jerking as he was pulled back.

“No! No! Let me go!”

He started struggling immediately, kicking, twisting, trying to pull his arm free, but the grip didn’t loosen.

It only tightened, holding him in place like he weighed nothing.

“I want my maman! Let me go! Please!”

His voice broke in the middle of it, the words coming out unevenly as his chest started to hurt from how hard he was breathing.

He couldn’t see properly anymore. Everything looked blurry through his tears, the shadows blending, the masks all looking the same.

’Maman… I’m here… I’m here…they’re taking me–’

He tried to stay brave.

He really tried.

But he was scared.

He was so scared.

The hand didn’t let go.

It pulled him up, lifting him off the ground like he was nothing.

Lior kicked harder, his small legs hitting air, then cloth, then nothing again. His hands pushed against the arm holding him, but it didn’t move.

“No! No! I don’t want to go!”

His voice came out louder now, shaking, breaking in the middle as he tried to breathe and cry at the same time.

“I want my maman! I want my maman!”

The man holding him didn’t tighten his grip more than he already had.

He didn’t shake him.

He didn’t hit him.

He just held him steady, like he was trying to keep him from hurting himself.

“Be still,” the man said, his voice low. “You will not be harmed. I promise.”

Lior shook his head violently.

“No! No! You’re lying! You’re all lying!”

Tears kept falling, his face hot and wet, his chest hurting from how hard he was breathing.

’Maman said don’t trust bad people… they’re bad… they’re bad…’

“I want to go home!”

His voice cracked again.

He pushed harder, his small hands pressing against the man’s arm, trying to pry it away even though he knew he couldn’t.

“Please… please let me go…”

But the man didn’t let go.

“Calm down,” he said again, quieter this time, almost like he was trying to soothe him. “You are safe.”

“I’m not safe!” Lior cried, his voice rising again, turning sharp with panic. “You took me! You hurt Rico! You’re not nice!”

His hands kept pushing.

Pushing and pushing—

And then—

Something changed.

Lior felt it first.

A strange warmth in his palm.

Not like holding something warm.

It was inside his hand.

’What…?’

He didn’t understand it.

It tingled.

Then it burned.

Light flickered.

Small at first.

Then brighter.

Brighter than the moon itself.

The man holding him froze.

Then—

“Agh—!”

The grip on Lior’s body broke instantly.

The man recoiled, his hand jerking away as if something had bitten him.

There was a smell.

It was smoke.

Lior didn’t know what it was, but it made his nose sting.

Smoke curled faintly in the air.

And then Lior fell.

Hard.

“Ah—!”

His back hit the ground, the air knocked out of him as pain shot through his small body. His eyes squeezed shut for a second, his hands curling close to his chest.

“Ow…”

His voice came out small this time.

Everything hurt.

For a moment, he just lay there, trying to breathe again.

Then he opened his eyes.

And looked up.

Rico was staring at him.

The shadows were staring too.

All of them.

No one moved.

No one spoke.

They were just… looking at him.

Lior blinked, his chest still rising and falling too fast as he slowly lifted his hand.

The same hand that had been pushing.

The same hand that felt strange.

There was still a faint glow on his palm.

It was slowly fading.

But still there.

’What… is this…?’

His fingers trembled slightly as he turned his hand, staring at it like it didn’t belong to him.

“Hold on…”

Rico’s voice came out hoarse. He raised his hand slowly, pointing at Lior.

“You… you can use that…”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep