Suffer Not The Radiant

Chapter 45: Not To Be Trusted

The little girl's eyes were a mixture of astonishment and sorrow battled for dominance as she stared back at the imposing figure before her. The armored giant's eyes, void of life, bore into her soul, and in that moment, a profound realization washed over her. It wasn't fear that gripped her heart, but an overwhelming surge of denial and anguish.

Her thoughts were brought back to the times her sister had lovingly embraced her, the moments of pure affection and care that had made her feel safe and cherished. Even amidst the pain of being cast out from their home, it was her sister's tearful eyes that had etched a lasting imprint on her heart.

But now, standing face-to-face with this armored sentinel, the dreadful truth couldn't be ignored any longer. Her sister, her protector, her guardian, was truly gone. A profound emptiness settled within her, and tears welled up in her wide, disbelieving eyes.

The world seemed to shatter around her, leaving her feeling utterly alone and adrift in an ocean of sadnessIn the midst of the colossal figure's presence, the little girl realized that she had lost not just a sister but the one soul who had genuinely cared for her. And the only one who saw her as another person.

Soon enough, the grief and sadness were now replaced with rage, rage against not just the monster who killed her sister, but the monsters that had made her this way, the monsters who never accepted her, even if she had done nothing wrong, the humans.

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The agents and soldiers gazed upon Ranesk, their eyes wide with shock and curiosity. Who would have thought that this man could be the very one responsible for slaying the sister of this pitiable cultist? She, who seemed to have unwittingly entangled herself with a nefarious group of people, had fallen victim to the hands of the most unlikely assailant. Such a revelation struck them with a mix of shock and intrigue.

'Ranesk?' Phoenix asked. He found himself bereft of any inkling of Ranesk's past actions or his whereabouts upon arrival, if he even knew where he had arrived, that is. So, it came as a rather shocking revelation to him that Ranesk apparently snuffed out her sister's life in Britain. The dossier merely hinted at a fleet-based origin, though its meaning remained somewhat elusive.

'What do you mean?' Phoenix added.

But Ranesk chose to remain silent, ignoring the question altogether, his helmet fixed on the girl before him. Her tears had ceased, replaced by a chilling blend of impassive wrath and grief. A profound silence engulfed the charred ruins, every breath reverberating through the air.

Gazing back at the agents, Ranesk let out a quiet chuckle. 'I had presumed that Brimstone had apprised you of the single Radiant I killed before they dragged me into the Protocol.'

The young cultist mustered the courage to speak up, addressing Ranesk with a tentative tone. 'Mr...?' Her voice trailed off, and Ranesk turned his helm towards her once more, an eerie stillness hanging between them before she found the words again.

'What... what did she do?' she asked, her curiosity tempered with apprehension. 'What was her... purpose that led to her demise at your hands?'

Ranesk, characteristically taking a moment to contemplate, broke the silence. 'She appeared to be a government operative, deployed as a Radiant tool to extract information from anyone,' he responded, his words measured. 'Until she tried it on me.'

In those haunting words, she reacted instinctively, her body trembling with disbelief. The truth hung heavy in the air—she was dead, and he had confirmed it.