CHAPTER 13
Suddenly, she stopped walking when she saw a floating lantern like a balloon with a small fire suspended inside flying in the sky slowly.
There was only one at first but it was followed with one...
two... and then a lot of it flew upward, lighting the night beautifully.
They were like big fireflies in the sky.
Momentarily, Sera was mesmerized by the fantastic scene and the sight soothed her heart. She felt good... for the first time in her life.
"This feeling..."
However...
"No! This is not mine. It belongs to this girl!" she reacts strongly, denying it repeatedly in her mind.
Sera's face flushed.
However, those feelings were only fleeting when a horrible memory flashed before her eyes.
Sera was holding her head while mumbling some words as a dark aura exploded from her body sending chills to the surrounding. And her body was trembling nonstop.
"Ah! You're all going to pay! I'll destroy everything in this world!" she screamed as voices played in her mind like a song.
'Sera... my little Sera is so pretty!'
'He-he! Of course, little Sera is pretty like mommy!'
'Sera, I want to witness your wedding when you grow up!'
'Sera, give Mommy a hug!'
'Sera, promise me you'll behave.'
'Sera, don't hate them. It's not their fault.'
'Sera, my time is so short but I enjoy it because I have you.'
'Sera, please don't exact revenge.'
'This is my fate. I'm sorry if I couldn't attend your wedding one day.'
Sera gritted her teeth as anger took away her rationality.
She remembered everything.
She remembered how her precious mother died at the hands of the monsters with human skin. They tortured her to death without mercy!
She prayed to the gods to bring her mother back but they didn't hear her prayers at all. She felt abandoned and fell into the darkness. Everyone drives her to insanity!
Sera remembered how the humans treated her ruthlessly. No one takes pity on her!
They all pushed her deeper into the abyss!
All the bad memories flooded into Sera's mind and her eyes turned hollow.
"I will destroy... this rotten world! I will destroy everything the gods created!"
"Destroy!" Sera uttered and formed a dark ball the size of a basketball which fluctuated strong energy. She throws the dark ball straight to the lively town.
With a stomp of her feet, dark power exploded throughout the surrounding once again and quickly enveloped the town. All the plants, trees, and animals within a few kilometers radius died instantly.
At the same time, the dark ball exploded at the center of the town and everything was reduced to ashes. A huge crater formed at the center as blood showered the entire town.
The sight is gruesome and nauseous!
"It's not enough! Destroy... destroy!" Sera mumbled endlessly like a mentally deranged person and laughed menacingly.
The once lively town was reduced to such a horrendous state in just a matter of seconds!
Just like that, thousands of lives were lost in the face of the world. They didn't even know how they died.
Sera left with a menacing aura with only one goal in mind; to destroy the world and share her despair!
Without realizing it, Sera's face was drenched with endless tears, and her heart throbbed painfully.
She touched her wet face and she didn't understand why she was crying. Even so, she continued walking gloomily filled with endless resentment to the world.
The only thing in her mind is... destroy!
As Sera carries on with destroying everything in her way, Cruella also follows her trail and arrives at the ruined town of Angladur.
Seeing the gruesome sight of that eerie midnight, Cruella furrowed her brows in curiosity.
What monster ruined a town into such a horrendous state? She saw no survivor at all and blood splattered everywhere.
She looks down into the huge crater and observes the situation.
"Hm, this attack carries dark energy. Is it demons who attack this town? But it seems this explosion is only done by one powerful blow. And how come all the trees and plants withered like their energy was absorbed?"
Cruella couldn't help but ponder this situation.
Suddenly, she saw something moving at the edge of the crater. Someone is hiding in broken blocks and a small head slowly peeks out.
Their gaze met and the innocent yet fearful eyes immediately glistened with tears as if they saw a monster again.
The wind blows and Cruella snaps out of her daze and quickly scurries over to the child not far away from her, who hides back fearfully.
When she looked down, she saw a small child curled up, trembling while bursting into tears. The child looks so pitiful.
Seeing this situation, Cruella doesn't know what to do for a moment.
However, seeing the pitiful state the child was in, her heart clenched and softened her gaze.
She held out her hand and softly said, "Little one, don't be afraid. I won't hurt you, I promise. Come, take my hand."
The child looked up and blinked her eyes as she examined Cruella's face. Slowly, the child took Cruella's hand and Cruella immediately lifted the child out of the blocks.
To Cruella's surprise, the child wailed loudly and hugged her tightly while trembling.
Cruella couldn't help but sympathize with the child. She soothes the child's back while saying, "There, there... I know it's scary being left alone, but I'm here now. You're safe..."
The child chokes on her tears and look at Cruella's face while blinking away her tears. Cruella smiles gently and pats the child's head.
"Do you know what happened?" Cruella asked.
The child shook her head no. In a cute baby voice, the child uttered, "I was asleep in the basement and I woke up with the explosion. Everything is ruined and no one's around. Wahhh, it's so scary!" the child sobbed again.
Cruella lifts the child and carries her. Then they look for a survivor.
However, it seems everyone died in the explosion. Cruella saw some bodies scattered around but it was incomplete. Some were even blasted and cut in halves.
The scene looks grotesque. Whoever did this seems to despise humans the most.
Was it an act of revenge?
Cruella narrowed her eyes as the faint aura left in the surroundings was very familiar.
She has her suspicion but she has to see the culprit herself.
Cruella took the child with her and continued her journey. This time she followed the trail of the culprit that destroyed the town.
The child fell asleep in her arms and only when Cruella stared at the child did she find how cute this little girl is. Her heart softened seeing the innocent face of the child.
The child became an orphan at such a young age. Just like her...
She couldn't help but saw herself in the child.
"Little one, from now on... I will protect you. That... I promise you." she murmured and looked at the destroyed surroundings with furrowed brows.
The farther she walked, the more she felt vexed.
Well, that's because the environment was all ruined. All the trees and plants have withered like they had been burned to a crisp.
But Cruella knew it had something to do with the user's power. A dark power that could destroy everything similar to her power that could devour everything whenever she wanted.
As she kept on walking, the more her interest grew. This kind of power is so strong that could send terror to the people.
She badly wants to see this person or monster!
With decisive resolve, Cruella flew in the air with the child in her arms. In a flash, she flew at a fast speed while following the trail of the monster. Wherever that monster passed by, everything withered and it made it easier for Cruella to follow its trail.
She even saw from above that another town was also destroyed.
Then another place was also ruined in a grotesque sight.
It was dusk till dawn when Cruella stopped at the end of the destroyed place. Ashes of smoke still flew in the air and the sight was horrible.
It was the town of Crossville.
And a slender figure was standing in the middle looking up at the yellowish orange sky. The sun was about to rise on the horizon.
Cruella landed in front of the figure and they met face to face.
For a moment, Cruella was taken aback upon seeing the woman's face. She feels déjà vu. She momentarily forgot her annoyance and anger.
The woman has long dark hair, and dark red eyes which look hollow, her body is full of tattoos and even has some on her face.
Moreover, she has an immense dark aura around her which is very familiar to Cruella.
And Cruella couldn't remember where she had seen those tattoos as they looked oddly familiar.
They just stood there sizing each other up.
"You... why are you doing all these?" Cruella asked without beating around the bush. She knew this was the woman who destroyed many places.
...
AI Photo of the little girl: