Raizal didn't look at Elara at all.
He stepped forward and drove his boot straight down toward Kael's bloody face.
Before the kick landed, the ground shuddered.
Thick, black branches exploded out of the dirt like living snakes. They wrapped around Raizal's body in an instant — one around his neck, two crushing his already bruised ribs, another pinning his knife arm. The wood bit into his skin hard enough to draw fresh blood.
Then they flung him.
Raizal flew backward through the air and slammed into the ground several meters away. His body skidded across sharp stones and dirt. Pain flared in his ribs and back. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth and from his nose where Kael had hit him earlier.
He pushed himself up slowly on one elbow, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the grass. His face stayed completely cold. No rage. No shock. Just that dead, empty stare.
Elara lowered her hand, the branches sinking back into the earth as if they had never been there.
"You don't listen to what I just said," she said, her voice flat and icy. "Don't forget — you are still a Defect."
The words hung in the cold night air like a slap.
Kael, still on the ground with blood running from his broken nose, laughed weakly through the pain.
"See that? Even she knows you're nothing but trash."
Raizal wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and slowly stood up. His eyes remained locked on Elara, cold and unreadable.
The other Defects on the hill stayed frozen, too scared to speak. Axel looked like he was about to be sick, his face pale with fear.
Elara stared down at Raizal with open disgust, like he was something filthy she had stepped in.
"In a few days you might go through Awakening… if you don't die before that. Until then, know your place."
The wind blew across the hill, carrying the smell of blood and dirt.
Raizal said nothing.
He just stood there, breathing steady, the same cold mask on his face.
Axel finally gathered enough courage to move.
He walked toward Raizal with shaky steps, but before he could reach him, another Defect — one who wasn't as badly injured as the rest — stepped forward first.
"Are you alright, man?" the boy asked quietly, voice low.
Raizal didn't answer. He just stood there, blood still dripping slowly from his nose and split lip, eyes cold and distant.
Axel finally reached them. His face twisted when he saw Raizal's condition up close — bruises already forming on his ribs, fresh blood on his clothes , dirt and scrapes covering his arms. Axel looked shocked. He had known Raizal since they were kids in the orphanage. Raizal was always the calm one, the one who never acted rashly. Seeing him like this felt wrong.
Before Axel could say anything, he turned toward Elara, anger and fear mixing on his face.
"How can you attack someone like this when he's already injured? On top of that, using your Tide?"
Raizal, who had been glaring coldly at Elara, was surprised when he heard Axel speak. The Axel he knew was introverted and timid, always avoiding trouble. Seeing him stand up for him… a small, faint smile tugged at the corner of Raizal's mouth for a brief second before it disappeared.
Elara, who had been staring out into the dark forest, slowly turned her head toward Axel. Her voice stayed cold and flat.
"I asked him to stop, but he didn't. That's why I had to use force."
Axel's face turned red with anger. He couldn't hold it in anymore.
"You remember when he didn't listen to your words… but you didn't say a single thing when that guy over there was poking Raizal and insulting him! You were quiet the whole time!"
Kael, who had just pushed himself up and wiped the blood from his nose, immediately got angry. A mocking smile spread across his bloody face.
"So what if she attacked him? What can you do about it, huh? Tell me — what can you do?" He laughed bitterly. "I was right all along. Even Defects now have this much courage to criticize Distors. Don't forget your place. You people are nothing right now but a threat to society. It's only because of our kindness that you're still alive."
The moment those words left Kael's mouth, anger flashed across every Defect's face on the hill. Some clenched their fists. Others looked away, ashamed.
Axel opened his mouth but nothing came out. The truth in Kael's words hit hard — Defects were seen as a threat. Everyone knew it.
Raizal and the boy standing beside him didn't react much. Raizal just took a deep breath and placed a hand on Axel's shoulder, steadying him.
Elara didn't bother stopping Kael.
She simply stood there, arms crossed, staring out into the dark forest with a bored, indifferent look on her face, as if the entire argument was beneath her.
Then she murmured under her breath, voice cold and tired:
"You're finally here, Trainer Diego. I'm tired of these idiots."
The words had barely left her mouth when three shadows shot up from the edge of the hill.
They landed with heavy thuds, moonlight catching on their military uniforms. Trainer Diego stood in the center, flanked by two soldiers. His rock-solid face was as emotionless as ever, eyes scanning the bloody scene in front of him — Kael with blood still dripping from his broken nose, Raizal standing silently with fresh cuts and bruises, and the tense group of Defects watching in silence.
The air on the hill suddenly felt heavier.
Diego's gaze moved slowly from Kael to Raizal, then to Elara.
No one spoke.