Nigo, zara and Granny chi flew for about ten minutes before coming to a stop at a small neighbourhood, about fifteen kilometres, north-east from the school.

Flying here wouldn't have taken much time for granny chi, but carrying along Ejiro's corpse made her reduce her speed to the minimum. Not to mention; both nigo and zara were in a devastated state of both body and mind.

Granny chi looked down from the cloud and said "we are here"

"!!" Nigo and zara, who were both deep in thought were startled by her voice.

Nigo took a deep breath before replying "let's go down"

Zara remained quiet because something else was bothering her

She was thinking of how Ejiro's father would react to his mutilated son. What he would do to them, and how he was going to cope with Ejiro being gone. This were indeed serious questions she wanted answers to, immediately. She had been thinking about it since they left the school.

Granny chi didn't speak. She only obeyed and brought them all, down to the ground.

At first glance, the neighbourhood wasn't special or flamboyant like that of the guardian's villa. It was mainly filled with short buildings and bungalows with sparse appearance of some tall buildings here and there. The tallest building in the area is four stories tall, which is the station office of the Flame empire.

The area was serene and no adult could be seen, except the children who were running about, playing.

"It's been a while" granny chi said to the kids as she tried to lighten the mood a little.

The kids didn't respond, nigo just looked around and started walking forward towards Ejiro's house. His face grew darker and darker with each step he took. He felt pain! Not pain from his injuries but that of his heart.

His greatest pain right now was that; his friend died because of him and he was going to deliver the corpse to the deceased father.

Zara followed behind him, still in thoughts of how Ejiro's dad would react before them.

Nigo's steps grew heavier until he finally stopped. He couldn't move anymore. At this point, he felt like dying and following his friend.

Granny chi, who had been following behind them while carrying Ejiro's body stopped, when she saw nigo halt in his footstep "Don't worry about what would happen when we get there. If you knew Erhi Benson then you won't be worried over anything" she said to them in a calm tone.

Nigo heaved a heavy sigh before continuing on his movement. He didn't reply at all, same thing for zara as well.

They continued moving, but as they were passing by the houses, people turned to look at them through their windows with probing eyes. They were not denizens of the neighbourhood, so they had an unfamiliar aura, except for the boy in front. Which means, majority of them were seeing zara and granny chi for the first time.

Some of the people who had seen nigo before when he came visiting, were not as overwhelmed by granny chi's aura as those, who had not seen or met him before.

They all suddenly noticed something floating behind the trio, and at a second glance; their eyes almost popped out of it's sockets.

It is because, the face of the youngster was a familiar face in the neighbourhood. The pride of every denizen of the area: Ejiro.

The people of this neighbourhood were not experts in the user way. They were mostly researchers, and they were greatly valued by the Flame emperor and denizens of the Flame domain at large.

The reason they all lived a simple life is because, they never had value for material things in the first place. Even when the Flame emperor offered to build structures and increase their standard of living, they bluntly refused, stating: that it would halt their research and hold them back from discovering things.

The people of this place looked lowly but could not be trifled with. It was so serious that if any outsider caused trouble in the area, that person would be hunted down and put in the deepest parts of the 'Sea of Torment Dungeon.'

Hence, everyone was careful with how they moved about the area. Some even avoided the place completely.

When Ejiro was a child, he was already known for his genius. The residents of the area all saw him as a guru in the making. One that would lead the entire area and the whole world at large, into a new era of discovery.

He was so popular that when the flame emperor offered to take him to the United royal institute, they didn't resist. Normally, the residents of the area would turn down such offer from the emperor, but how could they refuse to send Ejiro to the United royal institute? It was because he needed to broaden his knowledge and improve his study!

But he wasn't as lively and exhilarant as usual. He was pale and his skin had grown white. Though he was smiling, his eyes were closed. They all wondered what had happened to him, then they noticed he was missing his legs and an arm.

They panicked in fright at the scene. Some almost collapsed on the spot. It was at this moment; some who had little bit of training in the way of the user, noticed that his life aura had vanished completely.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Cries began to break through this peaceful and serene environment, and the people ran out of their houses to meet the trio. They all wanted to know how the ray of hope, that the heavens blessed them with, had been snatched away by death.

Though the entire continent had been shaken due to the calamity. The denizens of this location didn't experience it in anyway. They had only felt and saw the calamity decend but it didn't affect their location. After it ended, they all went into their various houses to start a new research on the cause behind the ordeal.

They couldn't wait or spare time to stand around anymore.

Granny chi quickly said with a wave of user energy, stopping them in their tracks "Don't come any closer, if you want to know what happened to Ejiro then follow us to his house"

"!!" Zara was a little surprised by what had happened. She expected granny chi to scare them off. Was she planning on creating a scene in Ejiro's home? She didn't know that Ejiro was like a god child to them and granny chi couldn't scare them for fear of offending them.

She only lingered on the thought for some seconds, before she turned to look at nigo to see he was coping with the pressure. But to her surprise, he was very calm, so calm that it was really frightening.

Nigo didn't say a thing, he continued walking. He had expected an even worse situation to occur, so this was for the better.

The trio alongside Ejiro's corpse, continued their journey towards Ejiro's home with the entire neighbourhood following behind them.

They all came to a stop before a cottage. The cottage had a farm behind it, and another small building made from bricks at the side, about hundred metres away. It was Ejiro's lab that was built for his research by the neighbourhood. The entire compound belonged to Ejiro's family.

Nigo and the rest couldn't see anyone in around, which meant the occupants were inside the cottage.

Nigo heaved a heavy sigh before going forward to knock on the door. Just as he was about to knock, the door suddenly opened, and a middle aged man stepped out.

"!!" Shocked a little, nigo withdrew his arm back and knelt on the floor bowing his head to the ground.

"He died because of me, so you can do whatever you want to me. Even if you want to kill me, i won't resist!"

"!!!"

Everyone was shocked to their bones by what the youngster just said. Not even granny chi and zara fared any better than the crowd. It is because, he was the reason, they had lost their brightest star, because of a cripple! Some were even clenching their fist till it popped. Though they had good temperaments among themselves, they really wanted to jump out and beat nigo, despite his already critical injuries.

The middle aged man looked at nigo without any surprise on his face "If your brother died because of you, would you want to die also, to waste his sacrifice?" the middle aged man said with a hoarse voice. From his tone, one could tell he had been crying for a while.

"Very well said Erhi Benson" Granny chi said in agreement.

Zara also suddenly knelt down before him and said "Forgive me, for I couldn't do anything when he needed me the most"

"Nonsense! How could I ever blame you for not being able to stop that abnormal star meteorite? I'm just glad that you all didn't loose your lives" Erhi Benson retorted

"!!" The residents were shocked to hear the words 'Star Meteorite' from Erhi Benson's mouth. They were deeply angered by nigo when he had said those words earlier, but now, they only felt sorry for him. They could only imagine; just how much torture this youngsters went through at the hands of the calamity, which befell the entire continent.

"!!!" Nigo didn't respond to him. He didn't know what to say. He had expected Erhi Benson to be angry and even try to kill him. But instead, the man was even trying to condone them. He wondered; why must it be someone like him, who had to loose his son?

"You are both brothers and you would have done the same if you were in his shoes. Don't forget, you are still the guardian's son. So stand up, and don't let everyone present, look down on you in anyway. You and I both know that he would never tolerate what you are doing before me, right now" Erhi Benson said

"!!!!!" Some of the people present almost dropped down to their knees when they found out, nigo was the Guardian's son. It was now, they all realised; the kid who had always come around to stay with Ejiro, was the son of the Guardian. They had seen him many times but never realised it. He was so fond of Ejiro, that they had thought; he was only one of those normal kids in the United Royal Institute.

They had wanted to beat the son of the guardian. What a joke? With granny chi, a powerful expert around, they couldn't even touch him and even if they did, the guardian could wipe out the entire neighbourhood in his wrath.

Nigo finally soon up to his feet and said "Thank you for forgiving me of my unforgivable sin, Mr Benson"

"There's no need for that. Why would I hate someone whom I consider a son to me? You are like a brother to Ejiro. I just hope you are doing better yourself" he looked all over nigo and shook his head before saying " you don't look so good"

He noticed zara was still on the floor and said while stretching his arm to raise her up "you don't have to hold any guilt towards me or Ejiro. I know you did your best" He smiled a little and said "Looking at the two of you, I wonder how my son made friends, with the Guardian's son and the princess of the 'Raging seas Continent'"

"!!!"

Everyone including nigo was shocked to their bones. Ehey all looked at zara. Even nigo, who was her friend didn't know who her family was. He had always wanted to know but she always put him off saying ' when the time is right, you would know'. Who would have thought that zara has always been a princess?

"!!!" Zara was a little shocked, but she had expected him to know about her identity from the start. His son had died with herself and nigo around, so when the report was made, no information would be withheld.

Granny chi also knew her identity, so she wasn't the least bit flustered. She walked forward carrying Ejiro in front of her and said in a sympathetic tone "This is what remains of his body, please accept my condolences"

Erhi Benson looked at his mutilated son and his eyes grew wet. He stretched his shaky hands to carry his son. He picked his body up and hot tears flowed freely from his eyes. He didn't scream or wail in pain, but just looking at him would make a person almost shed tears.

Every denizen of the neighbourhood present, began to shed tears as they watched the sight unfold.

"He lost his wife ten years ago, now he I has lost his son, why is life so cruel" an onlooker said

Erhi Benson wasn't a researcher like majority of the residents of the area. He had moved to this place, in other to work in the farm research area thirteen years ago.

His wife was heavy with pregnancy, so they all had to stop at a town for her to put to bed, but they were attacked and she sustained grievous injuries.

She managed to continue living as her condition grew worse day after day after childbirth.

They finally arrived at this place and she died three years later. And now, Erhi Benson had also lost his only son.

"He was beaming with life when he left this morning, but who would have thought he'd die by the afternoon?" said another

"He didn't even die with a whole corpse, why are the heavens this merciless?"

People continued lamenting as they cried alongside Erhi benson.