Houston prepared for what was to come. Aya’s full capabilities were now unleashed, with how humiliated she was earlier, she stopped holding back.

Houston took out a few more throwing knives from his waist and threw them at her, hoping to delay her to gain enough distance between them.

He didn’t waste time, he ran off in the opposite direction where she stood. Aya when Houston deflected her attack by redirecting the throwing knife. She remembered when he hit the blunt part of the knife, letting him only have to deal with a minor fraction of the impact. She tried to copy the exact same thing.

“She still doesn’t know how to move properly, as long as I take advantage of her inexperience, I’ll be able to knock her out.”

Aya’s eyes focused on the throwing knives, even if she couldn’t see them, she knew their trajectories. Following in his footsteps, she used her fingers to exquisitely tap the blunt side of the throwing knives, pushing them away in another direction. She failed four times and did it successfully six times.

Houston’s eyes glinted with delight, “Thank god she isn’t one of those see-it-once-learn-forever kind of geniuses. She has normal comprehension but an insanely high physical ability.”

“Aya, you know I’m still a Gifted, right?” Houston relaxed his tense nerves by jumping around loosely, letting Aya come closer to him.

She didn’t jump out with her full force just like earlier since there was no need to anymore. She was running with her back straight up and only using her legs to move forward.

She winded up a straight punch toward Houston but he already dodged it before Aya even thought of doing it. With her arm outstretched, her body was left undefended, Houston took advantage of this and landed five blows to her heart, five straight jabs at her stomach, and a finishing blow directly on her liver.

Aya felt her senses dim but at the same time heightened. She clenched her teeth and with her outstretched arm, she tried to land an elbow hit toward Houston’s neck but sadly Houston was already out of her strike zone when he finished his blows.

Aya couldn’t handle the pain anymore and kneeled down in front of him. Her heart felt like it stopped for a brief moment, her stomach was churning, and she was out of breath. She gasped for air but the pain still assaulted her lungs.

“Yup, still human,” these were the last words Aya heard before she drifted out into unconsciousness.

Houston then picked up Aya, similar to a princess carry. He went back to where Luke and the others were and dropped her off.

Luke saw Aya unconscious and immediately ran forward, he ignored Houston and completely put his attention on Aya. She looked extremely pathetic, her ragged red hair and face were stained with countless footprints, her clothes were tattered from being shredded against the tiles, and she grimaced in pain. Fortunately, there weren’t any cuts or bleeding but the skin on her stomach had dark bruises.

“Don’t worry about it, I only hit her a few times. She’ll be fine… probably,” Houston’s last word was slightly muffled since he fully knew he used his full power to strike Aya down. No one knew just how strong Aya really was since there wasn’t a moment that warranted her full strength, but it was safe to say that with how she is right now, her strength could equal just below the three mercenaries Reinhold hired together.

Although these three mercenaries were skilled, they weren’t too strong, only ranking in the upper echelons of the guild, unlike the peak strength like the Fanged Lioness and Houston. Argen could be considered as having upper-tier strength, just below the peak powerhouses.

“Good thing Aya’s an agility type like me otherwise with her impenetrable skin already being this troublesome, I doubt I would’ve even been able to damage her,” Houston thought to himself.

Houston brought out a letter, unfortunately during the heat of battle it was already slightly tattered. The piece of paper had a few holes here and there but fortunately, it was still readable albeit less presentable.

Houston gave Luke the letter, not Heinster the seeming backbone of the team, not to Aya would was the greatest strength of their team, but to Luke, the most unassuming person in the group.

“I should’ve given this to you earlier, my bad.”

Luke solemnly took this piece of paper, he read its contents and took out a lighter, and burned it to cinders. Now, only Luke and Reinhold knew what the contents were.

“You didn’t read it?”

“Me? Oh, I would never! I’m guessing it's something absurd, right?”

“If you read it, you wouldn’t be so carefree right now. Hah, the problem will be convincing Aya. The second most probable plan according to him… and he’s still banking on luck.”

“Regardless, tell Aya to come to meet me in…” Houston gave Luke clear instructions on how to find him.

Houston put his hand on his chin and started to ponder for a while before running away. His footsteps were silent and his movements illusive.

“So… what did Rei say?” unable to contain his curiosity, Heinster finally spoke up.

“He wants to both free and detain the people he hired. Extremely contradictory orders, but in the end, it really does seem like the best option.”

“What’s the catch?”

“It will conflict with Aya’s personality.”

“Do you agree with him?”

“That’s…” Luke was now at a crossroads. He wanted nothing more than to kill every single inquisitor and bring down the God of Trials, on the other hand, he was too weak to do anything. If Reinhold’s words were true, then every single inquisitor here would die.

The core dilemma here was this, would he be willing to stomach using the person he cared for or will he ignore the burning hatred in his heart and ignore Reinhold’s words.

“I have to ask her first.” Luke trailed off, bringing Aya inside her house. Heinster tried to offer his help but Luke took the burden by himself.

The only people Aya truly trusted right now were his brother and Luke. Aya views Reinhold as a cruel-hearted monster that only uses people as his tools while he views Heinster as a father figure but only to the limit of clashing with her ideals. Other than the idea of life being valuable, she didn’t personally know anyone else.

Luke brought her to his bed and brought out some herbs and medicine. He carefully bandaged her bruises while covering them up with special pastes that accelerate healing. He then diluted a few pills and fed them to her, caring to not let her choke.

He held her forehead trying to see if she had a fever but fortunately, she was only unconscious. With her body’s innate regeneration if Luke didn’t do anything she would’ve been fine the following day. He knew this but she wanted her to be more comfortable, to be in less pain.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

He sat at the end of the bed, trying to gather his thoughts. From his initial lustful thoughts, they eventually turned into true love, instead of only seeing her pretty face and figure, he began to see her as someone he should cherish. If only the world wasn’t like this.

He sat on the chair opposite the bed, his thoughts going wilder, finally… he fell asleep.

Night turned to day, unfortunately, other than humans, every single other living creature was turned to meat paste. The Trial of Silence is still heavily affecting everyone.

Aya opened her eyes and saw a familiar ceiling, a room she normally wouldn’t be in. She looked down and saw her bandaged injuries, her body felt more relaxed and the expected numbness from last night wasn’t there.

She looked around the room only to see Luke sleeping on the other side of the room, looking extremely haggard. She got up from her bed and made her way towards him, she gently tapped him on the shoulder. Seeing how deep in sleep he still was, she started to make more proactive moves like lightly slapping his face, moving on having her hands carry his head, this action finally made him wake up.

“Morning…” Luke absentmindedly said.

“What happened last night?”

“Nothing you need to worry about. You don’t even need to learn from Houston, Reinhold already has a plan to deal with the situation all we need to do is lay low…”

“But if we do nothing how many more lives will be lost?”

Luke also thought heavily about this last night but the conclusion that he came up with…

“You’re more valuable than them. I can’t let you get hurt anymore.”

Aya blushed but she still undeterminedly looked away.

“What about the lives of the people we saved? What happens to them?”

“The trial doesn’t only need red hair and red eyes, it also asks for red hearts.”

Aya’s eyes widened in realization, she should’ve immediately figured this out if she was rationally looking at the whole picture. Everyone had red hearts, those that didn’t weren’t human.

“Then we should go out and-“

“Aya! Listen…”

After Luke shouted out, she kept his words to heart.

“We can’t save everyone. I mean what are we doing? We’re just kids compared to everyone else. We shouldn’t have to deal with this kind of problem. Let those mercenaries deal with the inquisitors. From what I’ve seen as long as we follow the trials the inquisitors won’t bother us.”

Aya wanted to rebuke that the mercenaries were under Reinhold’s control, someone who was the same age as them but she held back. That wasn’t the point. The point was that this was a situation they had no control of, they weren’t enough to shift the situation to their favor.

“I could lie to you, and make you hide with me. We could run away from everything but I knew that once you found out the truth, you would hate me, even leave me and I can’t think of a future where I’m alone. So instead, I’m begging you, don’t go.”

Aya started to think of her future, if Chris or Luke died, she wouldn’t know what she would do. From how she pushed herself to the very limits when Chris was dying, it was apparent how venomous she would become if their lives were at stake.

“Then, since we’re being truthful. I want to know what Reinhold wants.”

This was it, Luke has to finally say it out loud.

“You’re his second-best chance at stopping everything.”

Aya remembered Reinhold’s words and actions as if he was training her to see the world’s cruelty, even more so, his.

“Houston’s stronger than me, that old lady at the guild is stronger than me. What does he need me for?”

“Both of them need to be ready for his best plan. They can’t be used too early. So, it just leaves you. Aya, you need to know that even if you don’t do anything you’ll be fine. We’ll be fine.”

“Tell me what he wants me to do. I’ll choose on my own.”

Luke decided to be truthful.

“He wants you to threaten the three mercenaries into participating in the trial. After they killed enough, you’ll detain them and force them to use a signal to ask for help.”

“W-What?” Aya finally realized why Luke wanted her to not do anything.

“He worded it differently but that’s basically what he said.”

“Be the reason why people die…” Aya’s eyes turned muddy, she knew how disgusting the cruel this plan was towards her. Houston or that old lady could be the reason why they do it but Reinhold is telling her to do it herself.

“Rei’s forcing you to live cruelly. You don’t have to.”

Aya nodded, Reinhold was just trying to force her to adapt far too quickly. Not everyone could handle the thought of being the reason why people died, lives were valuable to her.

“Thank you, Luke. But I’ll still learn from Houston. You don’t need to worry about me forcing those mercenaries, I’ll only learn to be able to protect you.”

Luke smiled and hugged her, her words finally gave his shivering heart some warmth. At the same time, however, it felt like this was what Reinhold was planning on, having Aya learn to fight.

Aya also had a feeling that Reinhold was forcing her to learn to fight but she didn’t mind. She knew Reinhold was trying to protect only a handful of lives, Luke was one of them. If he planned anything, it would only harm Aya at most.

Luke told Aya the directions to find Houston and she promptly left after Luke made her a heavy breakfast. He went to Heinster’s forge to talk about him on what’s the next plan.

“Sir Heinster, good morning.”

“Luke, how’s Aya?”

“How’s big sis?” Chris propped up from the side, looking extremely timid. This entire time, he had been living in fear, of what the future will bring him.

Inside, other than Chris, Johnny, and Miss Howards were casually sitting around, letting the time pass by. Johnny tried to look jovial but hearing about his mother’s passing really messed him up. Miss Howards was there trying to console Johnny. As if trying to care for him, in place of his mother.

The entire atmosphere inside the room was stiff and dark. Too many people lost too many loved ones.

Luke went and explained what he planned on doing. In Aya’s stead, he was going to talk to the mercenaries and burden himself instead.

“Sir Heinster, can I leave you to care for the others?” Luke said as he left.

Heinster saw Luke’s golden hair in the distance and sighed. Everyone was changing, their true natures were being revealed. Reinhold turned out to be an extremely calculative manipulator, being the sole hope of the city. Luke turned out to be a brave hero that turned his troubles into hope. Meanwhile, he was simply hiding away from a distance, afraid of tomorrow.

“I’m getting old so why am I so afraid of death?”

Perhaps only Heinster could answer that question, he went back inside and prepared his weapon. He was drafting his own plans for the people outside on the streets. This was the least he could do.

After finishing his plans, he gathered everyone outside and made them pick up a weapon. They started training.

Aya finally managed to follow the cryptic directions Luke gave him and saw a familiar person casually drinking a cup of coffee.

“You should really try some, it’s really good.”

“I’m here to learn, just like you wanted.”

“Alright, let me just finish my cup,” Houston slowly savored his cup, leaving Aya a bit baffled.

“So-“

“This just tastes really good. I want to take my time,” Houston immediately cut off Aya.

Left with no other choice, Aya found a nearby bench and sat down. She kept her eyes on Houston, taking note of when he was about to finish his drink.

Time passed by and Houston casually threw a sharper throwing knife towards Aya. She expected this somewhat when a person behind her held her joints down, rendering her strength null, forcing her to maneuver only using her upper body.

After dodging the first one, there was one more knife trailing behind the first one, left with no other choice, she had to redirect the attack by hitting the blunt edge of the knife to the side.

“Mm. We’ll work on that soon enough,” Houston finished his cup and carefully placed it to the side where it wouldn’t hurt.

Aya felt the hands holding her joints down disappear. She immediately jumped off and looked behind her only to see no one there. Feeling something amiss, she looked back at Houston who was casually walking towards her.

“Your physical endowment leans more towards stealth and speed but you’re fighting like a brute. That’s definitely a problem, you don’t even run properly. Such a waste, no matter let’s start with the basics.”

Houston was going around her, casually touching her arm and leg muscles. Being a fair maiden, Aya was embarrassed and instinctively tried to slap him but as per usual she couldn’t even touch him.

“Learning how to properly strike would be an essential thing to learn but with how much…” Houston remembered how much force Aya generated, “destructive power you have.”

“Landing a hit should be fatal enough, try to dodge my attack, get ready.”

Aya readied herself as Houston disappeared from where he stood, running to the left trying to flank her. Her eyes followed his movements but at some point, she lost track of him, she looked around only to find out that Houston was already to her right, landing a weak kick to her body. Her feet stuck to the ground and slid across the pavement, creating two marks on the ground.

She barely felt the impact.

“You saw what happened? Or rather didn’t?” Houston was already backing off, making Aya understand some of his techniques.

“How did you do that?”

“It’s a simple technique, everyone calls it Shadow Step. There are many more things to learn, I don’t have enough time to teach you advanced techniques, but this movement is essential in utilizing your body.”

“I saw something dark around you when you suddenly disappeared. I didn’t see it last night because it was dark out but now it’s clear.”

Houston smirked, “That’s the basis of this corrupted world. The power of law. Get ready, Aya. Your whole world’s about to expand beyond the skies.”

Saying this, Houston brought out his hand in front of him and darkness appeared to cover his entire body. Aya’s eyes glistened as if a missing piece in her life was finally filled in.

On the other side of town, Luke was staring eye-to-eye with a murderous-looking man. This man had dark tattoos all over his body and wielded a scythe, it was one of the mercenaries Reinhold hired.

“We need to talk,” Luke’s bright blue eyes showed no fear.