20. Leaving the Mountain Hill

Wail suddenly woke up.

He opened his eyes in alarm, anger still filling his gaze.

He rose violently, but...

"Stop!!!"

Elias's voice rang out in front of him.

"Come to your senses!"

Wail froze in place. He stared ahead for several seconds, until his eyes gradually began to regain their clarity.

He turned toward him in confusion.

"Elias...?"

"What happened?"

Elias shook his head.

"I don't know. I suddenly felt your energy appear, so I came here."

He looked around at the beach.

"I found you unconscious."

Wail put a hand on his head. The next moment...

The memories rushed into his mind.

The blood... the severed heads... the torn bodies... and the faces of those he had killed with his own hands.

He covered his mouth, then suddenly bent over and began vomiting.

His body continued to tremble violently.

Elias approached him with concern.

"Wail...!"

"What happened to you?"

Wail gasped for breath.

"I... don't know..."

"I defeated Raouf... then two girls appeared behind me... I attacked them without even realizing what I was doing..."

He coughed violently before continuing in a broken voice:

"Then... I woke up in a strange place..."

"It didn't look like our world... I don't understand what happened..."

He clutched his head with both hands before collapsing to the ground and sitting there.

The images of the massacre began flashing before his eyes again.

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He whispered in a trembling voice:

"I didn't do that..."

"I didn't do that..."

Suddenly...

Elias slapped him hard across the face.

Wail raised his head, stunned.

Elias said sharply:

"How pathetic."

"Come to your senses."

"If you remain lost in panic, you'll never understand anything."

"Tell me everything that happened, and we'll find a solution."

Wail remained silent for a few moments.

Then he said hesitantly:

"Let's go to the mountain hill first."

"I want to make sure Amira is safe."

"I'll tell you everything there."

---

The two headed toward the mountain hill, which was submerged beneath the sea this time.

They reached the cabin and found Amira sleeping peacefully.

Wail gestured to Elias not to wake her.

The two went outside and sat beside the river.

There... Wail told Elias everything he could remember.

From Raouf, to the Valis, whose story he still knew nothing about, and finally what had happened inside that strange place.

Elias remained silent until he finished.

Then he said:

"Don't blame yourself."

Wail raised his head toward him.

"They wanted to kill you. You were defending your life."

"Any fighter in your position would have done the same."

Wail lowered his head.

He couldn't accept it that easily.

The images he had seen... they weren't images of a battle. They were images of a massacre.

Still... he forced himself to move past them.

He knew that dwelling on them would change nothing.

Amira woke up a little while later.

As soon as she saw Elias, surprise appeared on her face.

Wail briefly explained what had happened.

As for Elias, it turned out that he had spent the entire time training and had not encountered any of Bahaa's followers.

And so... the three returned to training.

---

Several days passed.

Wail and Elias had been fighting since morning.

Elias lunged forward with a powerful kick. It struck Wail in the chest and sent him flying backward.

Wail planted his feet firmly. His blue aura erupted as he charged forward with all his strength.

At the same moment, Elias released his yellow aura and rushed toward him.

Their fists collided.

But instead of the collision exploding as it usually did... a new aura emerged between them.

Its color... was a mixture of blue and gold.

Their eyes widened, and both jumped backward at the same time.

Elias looked at the aura as it quickly disappeared.

"What was that?"

Wail shrugged.

"If I knew, I wouldn't be asking."

The two tried to recreate what had happened.

Once... and again...

But nothing happened.

Wail remained silent for a moment before saying:

"I don't know why..."

"But the feeling I had..."

"It was similar to what I felt when I attacked Hida's followers."

Elias looked at him in confusion.

Wail continued:

"But this time... it wasn't anger."

Neither of them could find an explanation, so they continued training.

---

Several days later...

The three were having dinner inside the cabin.

Wail broke the silence.

"What are we going to do now? Are we just going to keep training?"

"We don't even know what's happening outside."

Elias looked at him.

"And you want to go outside so Bahaa can capture you?"

Wail replied:

"And you want to stay here... while Bahaa grows stronger and gathers more allies?"

Silence filled the cabin.

Amira intervened.

"He's right, Elias."

"Being here is useful... but not forever."

"If you two want to leave, you need to make a plan first."

Elias thought for a few moments, then stood up.

"All right."

He looked at Wail.

"We'll leave at dawn."

"And you'll be the one leading us."

Wail's eyes widened.

"Me? No... I'm not good enough to lead..."

Elias cut him off.

"Enough."

"Stop underestimating yourself."

"Trust yourself. You're stronger than you think."

"You can achieve anything if you set your mind to it."

He stepped closer.

"You're no longer that weak boy... the one who stayed silent when others looked down on him."

"Today... you're capable of protecting yourself and the people you love, and facing the strongest fighters."

He looked straight into Wail's eyes.

"Believe in yourself."

"And stop acting so pathetic."

Silence filled the cabin.

Elias turned away.

"I'll sleep outside."

Then he left.

Wail stood as well.

Before he could leave, Amira whispered:

"Wail..."

He smiled calmly.

"He's right..."

"Gather your things. We'll leave as he said."

---

Dawn arrived.

Elias woke early, washed his face, then headed to the cabin to wake Wail and Amira.

But he found only Amira, still asleep.

He raised his head toward the top of the hill.

Wail was standing there, staring silently at the horizon.

Elias climbed up until he was standing beside him.

"Are you ready?"

Wail answered without taking his eyes off the horizon.

"Not yet."

"We'll leave with the sunrise."

Elias looked at him in surprise.

"But we..."

Wail turned toward him.

His gaze was calm... so calm that it stirred a strange feeling inside Elias.

It wasn't the gaze of someone lost in thought, nor the gaze of someone sad.

It was a calmness that was difficult to explain.

Elias looked away.

"As you wish."

After some time, the first rays of sunlight began to break across the horizon.

The sun slowly rose, its orange dawn light reflecting across Wail's face.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then opened them.

He turned around with a smile.

At that moment, Elias arrived carrying Amira, who had already woken up.

He said:

"Let's go."

Wail smiled excitedly.

"Absolutely!!"