Chương 72: 70: Childhood

Remnya Crimson flames illuminated the forest, charring the grass beneath Remnya's feet and revealing the faces of those who wanted her life. The voices of her mind muffled the battle cries of the night as she focused on her endeavor. Even though her life could end, her heart pumped an unbreakable will to live through her veins. Remnya thought of those who had left the world, lifting her gaze to face their executioners. I won't lose today. A tree collapsed under the flames.

And a Hunter charged at her, closing the distance before she could blink. Remnya dodged a fist to the face and a kick to the stomach while an energy ball blinded her from the side. She waited until the last moment to dodge the attack, which hissed by her shoulder, and then counterattacked with her fire. An incandescent snake sparkled with crimson lightning from her right hand. Her attacker evaded it, but she shot another one from her left hand. The man leaped aside desperately, groaning as the fire burned his arm.

From behind, a woman tried to kick her head, forcing her to block with her forearm. Soon after, a punch reached her jaw, shaking her surroundings. Tasting blood, Remnya snatched her wrist tightly, and flames erupted from her skin like gas torches. The woman shrieked in pain as the fire wrapped around her arm and spread to her torso. Remnya recoiled in disgust when the smell of burning flesh reached her nose; it reminded her of Persen.

A lightning bolt impacted her shoulder, pushing Remnya against a tree with a stinging pain in her side. A shadow in the distance prepared another skill, but before it could attack her, Remnya shoved her palms forward, gritted her teeth, and shot a fireball. When her enemy tried to react, it was too late. Boom! A mushroom cloud of fire rose into the sky, and a flaming body flew through the night, falling in the distance.

Smoke and embers covered the firmament while the ground where her attack impacted glowed like magma. Remnya rushed to extinguish the fire devouring her enemies, avoiding their deaths, and glared at them. The woman panted while deep burns smoked on her arms and chest. Part of her uniform had turned into ashes, revealing a charred, bleeding torso. However, the masked one was unscathed and smirked at her; only his dark lips were visible.

"Impressive," he said.

"The rumors about the crimson fire seem to be true."

"Why aren't you attacking?" She scowled as flames intertwined with her hair.

"I didn't want to interrupt your magnificent display of power." He chuckled.

"But tell me, why are you holding back?"

"I don't wanna kill any of you," she murmured, clenching her fists.

"I just want you to get out of my sight!"

"Is that why my pets are still breathing?" He sneered and looked at the woman next to him.

"If you don't finish them, I will, for you."

"Pets?" Remnya glared at him, her eyes glowing.

"What kind of sick game is this?"

"You could call this their baptism of fire." He giggled, glancing at his other subordinate, who slowly limped away from the ashes with his body falling apart.

"Quite literally." Her fists trembled, and blood boiled in her veins.

"You coward! Don't send them to do your dirty job!" She stepped forward and took a defensive stance.

"Fight!"

"Do you wish to continue?" he asked the woman. She hesitated, her eyes displaying fear as she stared at Remnya for long seconds.

"Yes, Lieutenant Ferron," she whispered, gritting her teeth due to the pain.

"Please, let me continue."

"As you wish." He shrugged.

"Stop fighting!" Remnya shouted at the woman, pride and anger taking over her heart.

"You're no match for me, and he doesn't even care about your life. This is a pointless fight!"

"Shut up!" the woman retorted and charged at her clumsily. Her stubbornness cracked the last bit of patience left in Remnya. Ultimately, her only goal was to eliminate her obstacles and reach Brisa as soon as possible. She had no time for games.

"Sorry," Remnya murmured and darted toward her enemies, her eyes locked on their lieutenant. The woman tried to hit her, but Remnya crushed her nose with a violent punch, knocking her unconscious, and then advanced toward Ferron while flames engulfed her body. A stream of fire shot out of her hand, and the man shoved his hands forward. The attack exploded against his palms and diverted in multiple directions, forming crimson tongues that crossed the sky and impacted the ground across the battlefield.

Remnya focused on his movements; he decided to end that battle once and for all. Her body temperature increased drastically, and vapor came out of her mouth as she bared her teeth. Ferron chuckled, and a harrowing smirk deformed his mask.

"Marvelous." A flash turned the night into day as her fist slammed into his forearm. The next strike smashed his shoulder, and he counterattacked with a jab that scratched her chin. Remnya remembered Ozura's advice and used the temperature of her body to wear the enemy's stamina. They engaged in a rapid exchange in which their knuckles clashed, sending small shockwaves across the battlefield.

Several impacts landed on Remnya's face and body, but she had gotten used to Merle's brutal strength, and despite the pain, they weren't enough to stop her. Plus, her fire mitigated his attacks and cauterized her wounds. Sweat shone on Ferron's skin as the battle progressed, and Remnya combined her punches with fast fireballs that he diverted with great dexterity. But when the Hunter backed away, Remnya summoned a large fire sphere in her hand.

However, a lance made of ice emerged from the ground and lunged at her face. She evaded it by inches, but two more lances rushed at her from both sides. Remnya ducked the first and jumped over the second one. As she tried to resume her attack, she saw Ferron looming over her. A fist heavy like concrete buried her head into the ground, and blood came out of her mouth.

The impact made everything shake around her, and her ears whistled, but despite the confusion, Remnya found an opening and threw a fireball at Ferron as he tried to hit her again. He leaped aside, evading her attack, but Remnya caught his ankle. He tried to crush her head with his boot, but she released an explosion of energy through her body. Flames shot in his direction, covering Ferron, who protected his body with a thick layer of ice. Remnya stood and focused all her energy on finishing that fight.

A profound anxiety and melancholy filled her body, and her heart kicked in her chest violently. She groaned as a crimson mist emerged from her back and grew into the sky until it turned into a monstrous skeleton. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. It had taken her several months to control the crimson ghost, and Merle had advised her not to use it unless necessary. But Remnya knew her sister needed her.

Ferron widened his eyes at the monumental sight, and his ice layer began to melt.

"I don't want to kill you..." she muttered and let out a roar of anger and frustration.

"I DIDN'T WANT TO KILL YOU!" The beast in her pounced on the Hunter, covering him in a blaze of a thousand degrees. He said something, but his body disappeared behind the crimson ghost. The explosion pushed Remnya away, throwing her violently against burning trees. She flew against trunks and rocks while a giant mushroom of plasma, smoke, and lightning rose like an atomic detonation. Her body finally stopped, but the ground still vibrated under her.

Remnya coughed blood and smoke as the flames of her body crackled furiously against the pile of wood and rocks she lay on. Recoiling with pain, she pushed herself back to her feet and staggered like a zombie until her legs collapsed. She buried her knees in the ground and lifted her eyes to witness the chaos she had caused. The place had turned into an inferno, with fires surrounding everything in sight. Embers and molten rocks showered the battlefield and painted the sky crimson and orange.

Nonetheless, Remnya's only concern was to find her sister. She locked her eyes on the west and stood up, gritting her teeth.

"Brisa, wait for me," she murmured, ignoring the pain as her tired, sore legs moved toward an unknown destination. * Remnya hopped over a dismembered corpse and increased her speed while a brutal battle unfolded around her. Chaos became her reality, embracing her restless heart. People she knew perished at her feet, and their screams blared in her ears. Yet she couldn't stop. A mangled body flew before her eyes, and something hit her back violently, making her lose her balance.

But she refused to fall; fire engulfed her body, burning anyone trying to stop her. Even if it felt like a betrayal, she advanced without looking behind and ignored the shadows pleading for mercy. She couldn't stop. Time moved slowly, and the metallic reek of blood asphyxiated her. She couldn't stop. No matter what happened, her only goal was to save her sister. She couldn't stop. As the night grew older, the darkness began to appease the mayhem.

Remnya slowed her sprint, barely feeling her legs while her flames vanished. Even though the screams faded in the distance, they still echoed in her brain, over and over. She halted by a large pine and leaned on its trunk to catch her breath and recognize her surroundings. The horizon glowed like the gates of hell, and for every passing second, a new life reached its end. Looking over a nearby pit, she saw a totaled truck buried in the ground.

It was empty, but Remnya realized she could communicate with the survivors using its radio transmitter. She rushed to it and yanked off the door to reach the cockpit. The radio still worked, so she made several calls.

"This is Remnya," she said, her hands shaking.

"If anyone knows Brisa's location, please tell me!" Her fingers tightened around the device.

"Please!" She repeated the same message several times, desperation growing with each attempt. Silence.

"Follow the road." Remnya's pupils dilated. It was a voice she had never heard before, and an ominous sensation filled her stomach.

"Who is this?"

"Follow the road," they repeated, and the transmission cut off. She insisted on her questions, but they never answered again. A gelid shiver crawled up and down her back like a giant spider about to pierce her skin. Remnya clenched her fists and stood, glaring at the dirt road ahead, knowing she had no choice but to obey that voice. It was the only clue that led to her sister. Flames engulfed her body again, and she took off, running as fast as her legs allowed.

Remnya tore through the darkness like a blazing lance, leaving a trail of crimson behind her and making the forest tremble at her presence. Multiple scenarios flashed in her mind, but she focused on her goal. Brisa and Zaoly were the fuel feeding her soul. In the distance, she discerned the headlights of a parked vehicle. Her heart rate accelerated as the sight became clearer. Out of breath, Remnya halted before a grim scene, her blood freezing. It was Brisa's vehicle. All her fellow Karx members had perished.

The driver's head lay on top of a tree stump in front of the headlights that reflected in his lifeless eyes. Beneath, his companions' heads formed a circle around it in a humiliating display. Remnya's body was stiff like ice while she dragged her feet toward the scene. She trembled as her dilated pupils looked for her sister's head. But it was nowhere to be found.

"I knew you'd come," a gentle yet harrowing voice forced her to shoot a glare toward the shadows. A masked man walked forward, materializing his figure under the headlights. His mask resembled a skull, with hollow eyes that glowed in an intense teal green. His uniform was pitch-black, and his cape waved ominously in the breeze. His presence was heavy like tungsten and seemed to crush her bones. However, the world collapsed beneath her when she saw Brisa lying on the ground beside him.

Her sister was bleeding with multiple contusions, yet conscious. She crawled forward, lifted her golden eyes at Remnya, and murmured an inaudible plea. That monster grabbed her sister by the hair, lifting her before her eyes, and Remnya's heart exploded with the fury of thousands of demons.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER!" she roared, charging at him while flames burst from her body. When she came face to face with him, a flash blinded her, and an electric shock paralyzed her body, sending her violently against the ground with excruciating pain through her veins. Remnya groaned, spitting blood, and tried to get up, but her limbs trembled, unable to support her weight. She turned and twisted on the soil, desperately trying to stand.

"Pitiful," he said.

"Despite being a pure Nephilim, you waste your potential on worthless creatures." Remnya buried her tail in the ground, using it to push herself upward, and, gritting her teeth, she stood up. She tried to shout, but only desperate whispers left her mouth.

"She has nothing to do with this." She glared, her jaw shaking.

"Take me if you want, but leave her out of this!" He looked at Brisa and dangled her in the air like a rag doll.

"So... This creature is the one holding you back." He lifted his left hand and aimed his sharp claws at her sister's back.

"But worry not. I'll free you from your chains at once."

"NO!" The ground exploded beneath Remnya as she propelled herself with her fire, a crimson stream of fury and agony.

"DON'T DO IT!" The crimson ghost erupted from her body and tried to tear apart the demon before her. All her emotions clashed into a monstrous shriek that gave birth to a gigantic banshee that wailed with sorrow and despair. All her life energy attacked that demon in a final attempt to protect her sister. Everything vaporized around them like a sun on earth, consuming the remnants of the people she knew and the whole forest with them.

Remnya traveled through the plasma of her last will, trying to stop the demon who threatened to take her family away. Remnya gave everything in her heart and soul to stop him.... Remnya gave her last breath to stop the man she hated more than anything in life.... Remnya abandoned her humanity that night.... Remnya grabbed her sister, embracing her in her flames as a furious inferno consumed reality, destroying the nature she loved so much. Innocent creatures died that night, and with them, all her dreams.

Tears rolled down her face, instantly hissing into steam against her burning skin and blurring her vision. Brisa lifted her dilated pupils at her and smiled, with her face covered in blood. Remnya squeezed her sister tightly as warm blood drenched her hands, sprouting from Brisa's chest like crimson roses. She was cold, her breath vanishing, yet she had the strength to whisper her last plea in her ear.

"Save Zaoly, please." Remnya widened her eyes in shock and stared at her sister.

"What are you saying?"

"He's still alive..." Brisa murmured, her lips trembling.

"I'm sorry for asking you this, Rem..." She gripped her hand.

"I can still save you both!" Remnya picked Brisa up and tried to walk, denying reality for the last time, but her sister stopped her.

"Please, Rem!" she cried, her voice fading with each word.

"I don't have much time left. You need to save him!" Remnya gritted her teeth, dropping to the ground, burying her knees in molten soil.

"I'm sorry..." Her tears burned her eyes like acid.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you...

""Don't blame yourself." Brisa's trembling hand reached out for her face, and Remnya gripped it tightly against her cheek.

"You're my little sister, and I'll always love you."

"I love you too..." Remnya's throat burned, choking her words. She pulled her sister against her chest and trembled, holding back all her pain to ease her last moments.

"And I promise you I'll protect Zaoly with my life," she lied, feeling the warm blood of her abdomen sliding between her fingers.

"Thank you..." Brisa murmured and laid her head on her chest, silently assuring Remnya that she would always be with her. When the wind ceased, her beautiful golden eyes froze forever. And with his mother, Zaoly stopped moving. Silence embraced the chaos of the forest, and black smoke covered the sky, engulfing the stars. No more light. Her crimson fire couldn't illuminate their lives.

With her heart shattering into a million pieces that pierced her soul, Remnya eased Brisa onto the ground and placed her hand on her sister's abdomen. She pushed against it, hoping, wishing, Zaoly would move again.... Nothing.... That demon's hand had snatched his life, too. Hatred devoured her existence, and she wished her fire would consume her with them. Her mind wandered off, wondering if Marcus had ever forgiven her. She wondered if Magenta had ever found peace.

She wondered if Persen was still burning in hell. Remnya wondered if Ronner would hate her for having failed. Her emotions remained frozen in a void of time, but her nightmare was not over yet. Multiple shadows gathered around her to watch her pitiful self. They laughed at her misery and mocked her existence. Remnya hugged her sister with all her strength and kissed her cheek.

"Don't worry, Bris," she murmured, taking her gold pendant between her trembling fingers.

"I'll be with you two soon." The agony of her mind numbed the pain of her body and soul, and she stood up to stare death straight in the eye. Flames erupted from her insides furiously, craving vengeance. The Crimson Fire had no reason to protect anymore and was prepared to execute her last will. To burn the whole world with her.