Chapter 194: Broken Boy (1/2)

Ray was sitting down with his back against a tree, staring at the moon above with shaky eyes, his short, blue hair dancing in the wind.

He was positive that the retrieval team would arrive and arrest him any second now. Yet, at the same time, he was not entirely certain since he had long given up checking the time, what had been only 40 minutes seeming more like an eternity from his perspective...

It had been a long time since the yellow barrier surrounding the area was shattered but he had yet to move from his exact location, that was because he felt like there was no reason to... He knew that no matter where he ran, in the end, there would be no escape. His fate had already been decided so he had chosen to make it easier on himself and simply accept it.

At first, he was filled with joy, when the barrier was shattered, he assumed that it represented the miracle of Moby's victory. However, now that it had taken so long with no news from either side, he was forced into rethinking his previous assumption, his thoughts of victory turning more and more morbid.

He now thought that the lack of contact no doubt represented Moby's loss, and now that they had won, they had already left the area, destroying the barrier in the process.

And, now that they had captured their target, Moby, they did not bother coming back for him since he was now of no use to them, a bait and nothing more.

'Maybe I should have chosen to be a hostage… maybe I should have just killed myself... that would have at least saved him… Now we are both going to die…' Ray thought, a crazy look of madness in his eyes.

He had gone through such a rollercoaster of emotions only in the last 2 hours than he had in his entire life, seeing his life flash right before his eyes multiple times as he felt the air of death surrounding him where ever he looked. Only when staring at the moon did he feel like his heart was somewhat at peace, but even then he could not shake off the feeling of craziness and despair that lurched deep down in his soul.

Ray had given up all hope… Not only did he fail at protecting one of his only friends in many years, but now he was also about to be executed for his actions. He was the one that should have paid the price, not him…

Moby was once an abilityless F rank that had gone through more pain and torment than he could ever imagine, and now he was a powerful, kind-hearted, talented person that had both the strength and motivation to do great things. On the other hand, he was just a weak, broken little kid that had no motivation outside making friends and was not strong enough to protect himself or reach his aspirations.

Moby's life was truly an inspiration to him... Unlike many other people, he did not see him as a person saved from a life of torture due to luck, but from his perseverance and hard work that was unmatched by anyone he knew.

In his mind, Moby's life was undoubtedly far more important than his own…

'No wonder nobody ever wanted to be friends with me… I bring bad luck everywhere I go…' He thought, laughing heartily at himself.

*Crack*

Suddenly, a noise came from the forest… The sound of a tree branch cracking straight to his right.

Other than the cry of the odd animal, it was the first sound that Ray had ever heard in the past hour. So, it somewhat piqued his interest since he assumed that his time was up at last and the retrieval team had finally arrived.