Engelard walked, dragging half of his weight back to the Erasmus mansion to see his family. His torn and muddy clothes, unkempt hair, and dirty skin made him look more miserable to the eyes.
Although he's gifted with the talent on manipulating mana through runes, his previous experience with his Aunt Rosarya made him not able to move an inch of his body to make a single rune character. His concentration and ability to create huge miracles through magic left him. He's alone. Nothing but a traumatized brat, limped and useless.
But the amount of mana still accumulated within his body can't be denied.
When the formless black mana touched him to drain his own man within his body, he did not fall like the others who coughed out blood the instant they were touched. But the unknown thing continued to leech off on Engelard's abundant mana. Depleting his life, every passing second.
"K-kaa..." Everywhere he looks, dying people can be seen.
"S-save..."
With his knees growing weaker, Engelard's walk became slower than before until a shout came from the center plaza.
"Stop! Haaa..."
"No."
"M-monster..."
People are commenting, saying their last words and are trying their best to hold on to their dear lives.
In the middle of the chaos is a child carrying an infant in his arms.
It's Sergey.
"Sergey!" Engelard shouted, but his voice that was starting to become croaky from undeniable exhaustion did not reach Sergey's ear.
His brother held the unknown child tightly in his arms. He's already bleeding from his eyes, nose and ears and veins are starting to pop fiercely in his neck, but he continued his parade with the child.
"Sergey, what are you doing?" Engelard wanted to ask, but breathing for him became a challenge now, so he did not.
Instead of questioning his brother, he started to walk up to him. But the density of black mana surrounding Sergey and the child was too great.
Engelard coughed out a handful of blood, and he started to catch his breath in every step he made to go closer to them.
"S-serg..."
Sergey saw Engelard's struggle to go after him, which made his eyes grow wider. "No! Please don't come. Don't come over here!" But all these can't be spilled anymore from his mouth, which lost its function earlier that night when Rosarya cut his tongue. All he could do was gently shake his head and cry tears of blood to stop Engelard from going with him.
To save Engelard, Sergey drew out the last bit of his strength and made a barrier around his brother that halted him in his tracks. He also walked faster to the well to end everything. To kill the child who became a curse for everyone within the territory.
He's only thinking about dropping the child from the well. But the exhaustion caught up to him and he, Sergey himself, fell down to the dried up well, following the abandoned child which made Engelard shout, "Sergey!"
The mana inside the young Neo burst and broke the barrier Sergey made for him.
"Damn, find him. The madam will give birth tonight, she needs him to complete the child's birth."
Aunt Rosarya.
It's all Rosarya and that child's fault.
Engelard gritted his teeth in between his sobs and half-ran and half-dragged himself to the well to save Sergey. But he's too late and he will never come on time. The realization that he couldn't do anything for his older brother became Engelard's agony.
He cried, but instead of tears, blood flowed in his face.
He trembled in fear, anger and sorrow. The lamentation he's feeling in his loss that time fueled the genius and hidden miracles within him.
His body that had been overflowing with mana since earlier lit up and started to gather all of the remaining mana in a single point.
Using the drops of blood that came out from Sergey, Engelard wrote in rune language his brother's name along with the word, barrier in the well.
When he finished, the collected mana left him and he died on the spot. His remains started to crumble into pieces and as it slowly turned into dust that's being blown by the wind, a light flashed above the sky where he breathed his last breath. Like a detonated system, runes covered the whole town. It was etched on every solid thing that the light touches and purified the black mana that's taking the life out of them.
The people from afar gazed in wonder, but those who saw Engelard's last struggles prayed for his soul, saying their thanks to him.
It's over. That's what they thought.
But Engelard's gift did not end there.
Runes started to write itself at the borders of the town and thick layers of barriers started to rise up. It's his gift to Sergey. A barrier that will exist forever.