9.A New Page

Six months earlier...

The restaurant was filled with conversation and laughter.

The Elias and Amira families sat around the same table, exchanging jokes after finishing their meal while the waiter placed the last dishes on the table.

Amira’s father laughed.

“Looks like we should have these gatherings more often.”

Elias’s father smiled.

“Next time, it’s on you.”

Laughter filled the restaurant once again.

The customers began leaving one after another. As the minutes passed, the restaurant gradually emptied until only the two families and a few staff members remained.

Everyone stood up, preparing to leave.

Suddenly... Elias’s father’s expression changed.

His gaze fixed on the restaurant entrance. He sensed something unnatural.

His eyes lit up yellow, and he turned around quickly...

But...

He froze.

A man wearing a black coat had appeared in front of him, as if he had been transported there in an instant.

Before he could move...

A blade of energy pierced through his chest.

His eyes widened as drops of blood fell to the floor.

Screams erupted throughout the restaurant.

Elias’s mother rushed toward him.

“No...!”

But the man swung his energy blade again.

The blade tore through her chest, leaving a deep wound.

She collapsed motionless.

Panic spread through the restaurant. The staff and customers began fleeing in every direction.

The man approached Elias’s collapsed father, then leaned slightly toward him and spoke in a low voice.

“I told you before... those who betray us will pay the price.”

Elias stood frozen, unable to comprehend what he was seeing.

He moved toward his father with trembling steps.

His father raised his head with difficulty and shouted with all the strength he had left.

“Run...!”

Then he continued between breaths.

“Save yourself!”

The man kicked him violently, sending his body crashing into the wall.

Elias rushed toward him.

The man noticed and smiled coldly as he advanced with steady steps.

He intended to finish the job.

His father raised his trembling hand one last time.

“My... son...”

The words came out with difficulty.

“Run...”

His breathing grew heavier.

“Whatever you do...”

He could not finish the sentence.

His arm fell to the floor.

And he died.

Time seemed to stop for Elias.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from NovelPhoenix. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Shock, anger, grief, and regret mixed together in his eyes, as if all his emotions had collapsed at once.

The man raised his energy blade and aimed it at Elias’s head.

Before it could touch him...

The blade vanished.

A dense yellow aura began surrounding Elias’s body, its pressure causing the air around him to tremble.

The man instinctively took a step backward.

In the next moment...

Elias vanished.

The man saw nothing but a flash...

Then he found himself outside the restaurant.

He crashed into the ground with tremendous force, his back smashing through a parked car as glass from the restaurant’s windows scattered everywhere.

He raised his head with difficulty.

Elias was standing at the restaurant entrance.

The man looked at him.

“So... you really are his son.”

Elias did not answer.

He repeated in a low voice,

“I’ll kill you...”

Then his voice grew louder.

“I’ll kill you...”

With his final scream...

A massive golden aura erupted from his body.

His hair began to grow longer, with part of it turning golden.

The man’s eyes lit up red, and his appearance began to change as he prepared to attack.

But...

He suddenly felt a sharp pain.

He looked at his shoulder.

His arm had fallen to the ground.

He had not even seen when Elias moved.

Elias swung a blade of golden energy.

Then...

He vanished.

He appeared behind the man.

A stab.

Then in front of him.

Another stab.

Then beside him...

A third...

A fourth...

And a tenth...

Golden blades began piercing through the man’s body from every direction.

He tried to resist...

But there was no chance.

His body collapsed motionless.

He was dead.

But Elias did not stop.

He kept stabbing him again... and again...

Cutting into his body as if he no longer saw a human being in front of him, but all of his rage given form.

He continued until his strength finally gave out.

The golden aura began fading, and his hair returned to normal.

He fell to his knees.

He looked at his hands, stained with blood.

Then he burst into tears.

Amira ran toward him without hesitation and embraced him tightly.

Her family stood behind them, tears filling their eyes, in the middle of a restaurant that had been transformed into a scene of death within minutes.

The scene returned to the present.

Elias stared at Wael, fear written across his face.

“The... Golden Transformation?!”

He unconsciously took a step backward.

How...?

What had brought Wael to this stage?

A rapid stream of memories flashed through his mind until it stopped at the moment he had slapped Amira.

He furrowed his brows.

“No... Impossible.”

He could not believe that alone had been enough to awaken this power.

Although Wael’s aura appeared unstable and chaotic, Elias immediately assumed a defensive stance.

He knew that a single mistake now could cost him his life.

Wael vanished.

Elias sensed him to his right and turned, firing a beam of light.

But the beam only cut through empty air.

Wael appeared on the opposite side.

His fist reached Elias first, followed by another... and another.

Blow after blow rained down on Elias while he was in midair, followed by a barrage of lightning bolts that exploded around him.

Smoke swallowed the battlefield.

Elias emerged from it with difficulty and crashed into the ground, blood running from his mouth.

Before he could catch his breath...

The scene was illuminated in blue.

A massive lightning beam was rushing toward him.

Elias fired a golden beam to counter it, and the two beams collided violently.

But Wael’s power was far greater.

Elias’s beam gradually began to retreat.

He leaped away at the last moment, allowing the lightning to pass beside him and destroy everything behind him.

The moment he turned around...

Wael was standing directly in front of him.

Electricity and energy gathered around his fist.

Then...

One punch.

Elias was sent flying with tremendous force until he crashed into the ground.

The Golden Transformation disappeared, followed by his aura.

Wael approached him.

He grabbed him by his clothes and raised his other hand.

A massive sphere of energy formed above his palm.

But...

Before he could bring it down...

The golden aura disappeared.

His hair returned to normal.

He fell to his knees, gasping violently, as if he had been holding his breath the entire time.

---

On the cliff...

Bahaa said,

“It’s time.”

A black portal opened in front of him.

He entered it with Mark and their third companion, then emerged directly in front of Wael and Elias.

At the same moment...

Yassin appeared in a golden flash and stood between them.

Mark and their companion tried to move forward and grab Wael and Elias, but Yassin blocked their path.

Suddenly...

Purple threads wrapped around his body.

The moment his aura began to emerge, those threads ignited with purple energy and immediately suppressed it.

Bahaa appeared behind him.

“You fell into the trap.”

He raised his hand, and a massive black portal opened.

A tremendous force began pulling Yassin toward it.

Bahaa said,

“I may not be able to kill you... but this will do.”

Wael and Elias were completely unable to move.

Yassin smiled.

“It’s fine...”

At the last moment...

He released golden energy through the threads wrapped around his body.

The energy traveled into Bahaa.

A burst of golden light engulfed the area.

Before the darkness swallowed him, Yassin turned toward Wael.

“I’m counting on you...”

Then he disappeared into the portal.

At the same moment...

A golden flash surrounded Wael, Elias, and Amira, and all three disappeared.

Bahaa closed the portal as the light gradually faded.

He looked around in frustration.

“Damn it!!...”

He said it with intense anger.

Then he calmly sighed.

“It’s fine. We succeeded in half of the plan.”

He turned toward Mark and their companion.

“Well done.”

His eyes were completely black, as if darkness had swallowed everything within them.

Then, a strange voice echoed deep inside him.

“You did well... Once the Golden Heir is dealt with... we won’t have any problems.”

---

At the training grounds...

Silence filled the area.

The three slowly regained consciousness, none of them understanding what had happened.

Wael rushed toward Amira.

She was breathing.

He breathed a sigh of relief, tears filling his eyes.

He stayed beside her until she opened her eyes.

She whispered,

“What... happened?”

Wael smiled.

“Don’t worry... we’re safe.”

She suddenly jolted upright.

“Elias! Where’s Elias?!”

She turned and saw him sitting near the waterfall, holding his arm.

She hurried toward him.

He raised his hand to stop her from coming closer.

“Don’t worry... I’m fine.”

Silence settled between them for a few moments.

Then Elias lowered his head.

“Amira...”

He raised his eyes toward her.

“I’m sorry. What I did... I wasn’t aware of it. I completely lost control.”

She did not answer immediately.

Then she gave him a small smile and sat beside him.

“What matters is... that everything ended safely.”

Elias breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he embraced her silently.

Wael hesitated before asking,

“Looks like you two have known each other for a long time.”

Elias pulled away from her and nodded.

“Since childhood.”

Wael looked at him again.

“So what do we do now?”

Elias answered,

“I still can’t believe you reached this level of power in such a short time. Are you really planning to enter this world?”

Wael said,

“It’s not like I want to... but I have to protect those who can’t defend themselves.”

Elias smiled.

“It’s much bigger than that.”

He stared at him for a long moment.

“You’re stepping onto a path where you could die at any moment.”

Silence followed.

Then he said,

“And yet... you seem ready.”

He approached Wael and extended his hand.

“I know you have a thousand reasons to reject me.”

He lowered his gaze for a moment.

“After everything I did to you... I won’t blame you if you refuse.”

He raised his head again.

“But if we want to uncover the truth, and if we want to save Yassin and ourselves... neither of us can succeed alone.”

Wael stared at his outstretched hand before reluctantly shaking it.

Elias smiled.

“Good. From today onward, we won’t stop training, and we’ll start searching for companions who can fight alongside us.”

Wael said,

“Companions? You mean other Elemental Users?”

Elias nodded.

“There are many.”

Then he added,

“And I’m counting on you to convince Amin.”

Wael hesitated for a moment.

“Amin...”

Then he sighed.

“Fine... leave him to me.”

Wael looked at him again.

“But what exactly is happening?”

Elias smiled.

“It’s a long story...”

Then he turned toward the waterfall.

“And I’ll tell you everything... until I convince you that what I’m saying is true.”