Free Web NovelChapter 190: Cycle
When Luisa realized that she had no chance of doing anything against the man in front of her, an oppressive silence overtook the place.
The reality of the situation was overwhelming, and fear clouded her thoughts.
The icy, triumphant voice of the mysterious leader of the invaders cut through the silence after a few moments.
"You realize the situation you’re in, right?" He asked.
"You’re a monster." Luisa muttered.
The leader of the invaders tilted his head, his skull mask remaining as inexpressive as ever, a grotesque parody of curiosity.
"Monster? Perhaps. But I understand what it takes to change the world. And you, Matriarch of the Selvarum Family, you will be the first because of your insolence."
With an agile movement, he grabbed the dagger again, his invisible eyes fixed on it. The lilac light from the walls continued to pulse faintly, a flickering reminder of the power she couldn’t access and also of time standing still.
Victor, still trapped in the temporal static, felt each beat of his heart like a painful hammering. Powerlessness consumed him, and a growing rage began to boil inside him. He watched every detail, every move the leader made, silently planning how he would react when time finally flowed again.
The leader of the invaders raised his dagger once more.
Luisa, sensing the inevitability of the blow, closed her eyes and muttered one last silent prayer. "May my death not be in vain." she whispered, her voice almost inaudible.
"Oh, I’m sure it won’t be." The man said with a tone of mockery.
The dagger came down in a deadly arc, piercing Luisa’s chest. At first, nothing changed. Seconds later, the blood flowed slowly, staining her clothes and dripping onto the floor frozen in time. Her eyes opened briefly, staring at Victor with a mixture of pain and farewell. Then her body collapsed, motionless.
In that instant, time began again.
Victor felt the instantaneous release, the flow of time returning with an almost overwhelming intensity. His body reacted immediately, moving with a speed and precision determined by accumulated anger. He was so quick that he grabbed the sword of one of the nearby invaders, yanking it out with enough force to knock the opponent down and at the same time throw him away.
With a primal scream of fury, Victor lunged forward, his vision blurred with tears and hatred.
"YOU BASTARD!"
His every step was a blur of movement as he approached the leader of the invaders. The man in the skull mask barely had time to turn around before Victor was upon him, his sword glowing with lethal intent.
"YOU!" Victor roared, his voice reverberating through the surrounding space. "YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!"
Victor’s sword sliced through the air, aimed precisely at the leader of the invaders. The man’s eyes widened and he instinctively raised his black dagger to block the blow, but Victor’s strength was overwhelming. The blades collided with a loud clang, sparks flying as Victor’s sword put more and more pressure on the leader’s defense.
"Who are you?" The leader was surprised by Victor’s strength and reaction. "Hmm! Never mind, you’re nothing compared to the power I command." ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
"I don’t fight for power." Victor growled, pushing with all his might. "I fight for hate now."
With one mighty thrust, Victor swung his sword so hard that the leader’s black dagger shattered, fragments flying through the air. The invader’s hidden expression showed surprise in his eyes for a brief moment before Victor’s blade found its target.
The mysterious man still managed to take a step back, so the blow cut through the skull mask, splitting it in two instead of his head.
As the mask fell away, the leader of the invaders stepped back with one hand covering the shallow wound on his face. "This... this can’t be happening," he stammered, trying to maintain his posture.
Victor gave him no time to recover. With one fluid movement, he struck another blow, hitting the leader in the chest. The invader fell to his knees, blood gushing from the wound.
"By Luisa, I’m going to kill you now." Victor muttered.
The skull mask split in half to reveal a distorted, pale face, a combination of old scars and a new cut on pale, hairless skin. The leader of the invaders looked at Victor with eyes full of fury and palpable fear. His lips trembled as he tried to maintain a semblance of control, but pain and surprise were evident in every contortion of his face.
"You... don’t... understand..." he stammered, his voice broken and full of hatred. "This isn’t... the end."
Victor didn’t reply, just raised his sword again, ready to deliver the final blow. He could feel the frantic beating of his own heart, each beat a mixture of adrenaline and despair. The image of Luisa lying motionless on the ground, blood dripping from her chest, was etched in his mind. He knew he couldn’t let this man get away with it. Luísa’s death would not be in vain.
But then something strange happened. Just as Victor began to lower his sword, time stopped again. He felt the familiar tug on his body, as if an invisible force was gripping every muscle, freezing him in place. His scream of rage died in his throat, turning into silence.
The invader, however, was not held down by the same force. With a slow, deliberate movement, he stood up. His eyes were now filled with an almost demonic rage. The expression of pain had disappeared, replaced by a mask of pure fury. He raised his hand, touching his face where the mask had been cut, and looked at Victor with contempt.
"You’ve made a big mistake, man." His voice was now cold and without the hesitation of before. "Destroying my mask... you have no idea what that means."
As always, Victor tried to move, to fight against the temporal static that kept him trapped, but it was useless. He was completely immobilized, forced to watch as the leader of the invaders slowly approached.
"That mask," the man continued, "wasn’t just a symbol. It was a seal. You broke the seal, and now... now you will see the true power that I command."
With an abrupt gesture, the invader removed the remaining fragments of the mask, completely revealing his face. The skin under the mask was pale and scarred, with a supernatural glow that seemed to pulsate with energy of its own. He reached out towards Victor, and an invisible force began to squeeze the air around him.
Victor felt a crushing pressure in his chest, as if the air itself was pressing against him. Every breath became a struggle, and he could feel his vision beginning to darken. The invader smiled cruelly, enjoying Victor’s suffering.
"Do you see now?" he sneered. "You’re nothing compared to me. You and your precious Matriarch... you’re both just insignificant pawns in a much bigger game."
Victor couldn’t move, but his mind was buzzing with a mixture of anger and despair. Every second that passed increased his frustration, and he felt the crushing weight of the invader’s power pressing down on his chest. The sight of Luisa lying motionless on the ground still pulsed in his mind, fueling his fury.
The invader laughed cruelly, his eyes shining with sadistic pleasure. "Look at you writhing in agony. It’s pathetic," he mocked, as his hand reached out, channeling even more of the invisible force that gripped Victor.
Victor struggled to breathe, each inhale a battle against the crushing pressure. His muscles were frozen, but his mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. He couldn’t let Luisa die in vain. He couldn’t allow this monster to escape.
Then, suddenly, a sharp pain pierced his chest. The invisible pressure became unbearable, and he felt something inside him break. The world around him began to darken, his strength fading fast. Victor knew he was dying. The anger and despair turned into an overwhelming sense of failure.
"For Luisa..." he tried to mutter, but the words died on his lips. His vision went completely dark, and the last thing he heard was the triumphant laughter of the invader.
When Victor opened his eyes with a start, his heart was still beating frantically. He found himself back at the moment when it all began, the leader of the invaders still speaking on stage, the skull mask intact on his face. Time had turned again.
"This... this can’t be happening," he whispered to himself, gasping for breath as he tried to process what had just happened. "For the first time, I feel like there’s nothing I can do. I’ve tried talking, I’ve tried fighting, I’ve tried listening to him, but... nothing. What do I need to do to stop a killing spree?"
He looked around, the atmosphere was exactly the same: the crowd of invaders, the leader in his mask, the tense atmosphere. He knew he couldn’t make the same mistake.
Taking a deep breath, Victor tried to calm his thoughts. He needed to think of a new plan, something that could get him out of this cycle of deaths.
