CHAPTER 268: HER TRIAL [3]

"NO, YOU FOOL, WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, I CANNOT LET YOU PUT YOURSELF IN DANGER," her brother roared in anger, but the screams of the innocent ones drowned out his anger-filled voice. Sophia only smiled sadly at her brother, without saying a word more. She then turned around and ran towards the direction of the bandits, as they were discussing among themselves who to send through the path to catch those who had escaped.

One of them suddenly realized something peculiar: a 10-year-old girl was running toward them. With a knife in hand, but that sight only made the bandit chuckle. He signaled to the others,

"Look there."

All 10 of the bandits looked at the same scene and burst out in uncontrollable laughter. A few rolled around on the ground. One of them stepped forward, a lecherous smile on his lips. He shouted,

"Who let this little bitch escape? I’m gonna cut off those bastards’ heads."

The others also threw in similar comments. Just as the little girl was within the reach of the bandit, who had stepped forward to take care of Sophia. The buff man swung his saber with the intent to injure the little girl slightly, as the unmistakable sound of flesh-piercing resounded everywhere. The man seemed to remain frozen. Just as they were about to ask him, his body dropped back to the ground with a resounding thud.

The other bandits’ eyes widened as the little girl lunged forward at the rest of them, without a second of hesitation, like a ghostly demon with blood splattered all over her face and body. She attacked like a rabid beast, yet the movement of her knife was as deadly as that of a seasoned killer. Her eyes saw through all their movements, weak points, and predicted everything with a superhuman-like, calculative mind; her knife did not even miss a single stab. In just a few moments, all 10 bandits were killed without exception.

This eventually drew the attention of the other pillagers; a total of 60 pillagers had come to loot their village, consisting of 300 people, not counting the children. As they were all experienced in this, and the village people were nothing but ordinary farmers who never hurt a fly in their lives, let alone knew how to fight other humans.

Many of the bandits could not help but be horrified at the brutal slaughter committed by the monstrous little girl. At the same time, others rushed towards her in anger. But the very bandit who had raped the mother of Sophia, killed her father, as he watched on from afar. He noticed something that no one else did. The little girl’s body, which was littered with wounds just now, seems to be healing suddenly. He did not know how or why. He even doubted his own eyes, wondering if he was seeing things or having some weird dream; it wouldn’t be the first time, after all.

Yet, he realized he was not dreaming, not only that, as a very perceptive person, he deduced that the girl seemed to be somehow growing stronger with each person she killed. He wasn’t entirely sure about that hypothesis, but his instincts were screaming at him to flee from that place. And he always listened to his instincts. Tying up the unconscious woman and taking the few other bandits who were close to him, they all ran away using the carriage, which had the most valuable goods stored.

While the slaughter continued in the burning village grounds, Sophia was like a monster out of a nightmare. With each kill, her strength, speed, and mind all strengthened, the coldness within her also gained more ground. Her movements and ruthlessness were evident in the passing seconds. An elegant dance of calculative slaughter unfolded in front of the eyes of a small number of remaining villagers.

As the fire burned brightly, blood flowed like a small stream. Her bloody face was illuminated by the yellow light of the fire. Her shadow turned into the shape of a grotesque and hideous monster beyond mortal comprehension. Only the miracle worker seems to notice that monstrous shadow as it cackled with open arms, drinking in the sight of the mortifying situation. Sophia had killed them all, no, not all of them. Some seem to have escaped, the one who raped her mother. And her mother was also nowhere to be found as she gritted her teeth in fury.

Her gaze drifted towards the few wagons that had escaped. As soon as the killing ended, more of that unknown power poured into her existence. Her injuries, both major and minor, had now healed. The strength flowing within her was almost too much now; she was unable to handle it. Her vision blurred, her brain shut off, and her body went limp and fell to the ground.

Seeing that her brother rushed forward, shouting at the top of his lungs, fearing what might have happened to her. The other villagers, though saved by the little girl of their village, did not dare come close. The brutal killing efficiency shown by the little girl was too much for the terror-stricken remaining villagers. That little girl now seemed scarier and more vicious than all of those bandits.

How this 10-year-old girl had killed so many of those grown men who killed and looted others for a living seems incomprehensible in their minds, and the human mind always feared the inconceivable, the unknown. Their fragile minds created an innate terror for Sophia, unable to see her as one of their own anymore. Sophia’s brother picked up her unconscious body, dismissing his fear and revulsion for the unhealthy amount of blood covering her whole body. Taking her to a nearby water source, he cleaned off all the blood from her body and froze.

The deep gash on her head and the countless cuts she had received while fighting those men weren’t there; they had all healed. He didn’t understand what was happening. He was holding his own little sister in his arms, but was it truly her? She seemed too different now, nothing of her past shadow remaining inside of her, no trace of the little girl she was supposed to be, but it didn’t matter; he gritted his teeth and called out the miracle worker. The woman walked towards the two of them, her feet trembling slightly, fear still evident in her eyes.

She checked Sophia’s body, but there seemed to be nothing wrong with her, which was itself an unnatural state. The other villagers all remained at a distance. Until one of them shouted from afar,

"What kind of monster is she?"

The brother gave a chilling look to the old woman who said those words and spat in rage,

"She’s my sister. What nonsense are you spouting?"

But the woman spoke again, conveying a tone of caution, "Open your eyes, you fool. I also know the girl is your sister, but do you think it makes sense for her to be able to do all this? Some wretched ghost has definitely taken over her body. Throw her into the fire; otherwise, she will definitely kill us all and bring our real doom."

"That’s right, she must be the bad omen, because of whom all this misfortune had happened."

"The spirit of fire must have done this to us, to warn us of the real danger that was walking amongst ourselves."

The brother roared in rage, unable to control himself, "YOU DARE SPEAK SUCH NONSENSE, YOU OLD WITCH."

"If not for her, if not for my monster of a little sister, you all worthless bag of bones would have been turned to piles of ashes by now."

The brother spoke again, this time with a mix of anger and sarcasm, "Oh, no, no, sorry, allow me to correct that: not even your ashes would have remained by now."

"OR SHOULD I TAKE THE DUTY IN MY HANDS AND TURN YOU INTO THE ASHES THAT YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BECOME, OLD WITCH?"

With each of his words, his voice continued to rise higher and higher. The old woman stepped back in fear from the apparent threat. From then on, no one spoke about it any further, but the same fear about the little girl remained in their minds stronger than ever.

What if she wakes up and decides to kill them all? Could they do anything? No, they could not; they would be lambs waiting to be slaughtered, just as it happened when the bandits came. Some went to the top of the mountain to deliver the news to the rest that the bandits had been mostly eliminated, and now that it was perhaps safe. Of course, they were also told the story about how that little girl named Sophia had done it, and they could make their own decisions.

Sophia woke up, her mind groggy and messy. She slowly opened her eyes and saw an unfamiliar ceiling above. They were all now residing inside a mountain cave, and most of them feared that the bandits would come back to get them. She got up and saw her brother sleeping exhaustively; he was holding her hand in a gesture of protection. She looked around and saw many others who were staring at her, with a dangerous glint in their eyes. She did not understand for a moment what was going on.

But a frown appeared on her face, expressing her obvious annoyance, and they all backed away or averted their gazes involuntarily. Noticing her movement, her brother also opened his eyes and hugged her tightly in relief, as he kept muttering in a broken voice, "Thank the heavens, thank the heavens, you’re okay, you’re okay, you’re okay. I’m so so glad."

Usually, she would be elated at that warm gesture from her brother, with tears forming in her eyes, but that was not what she was feeling; it was annoyance. Forcefully brushing down that negative feeling for her own brother, she gently pushed her brother away.