Elements: The Ancient Tomb

Chapter 2: Face to face

Victor turned back at an angle of 45 degrees as if he was about to perform some special move. His left hand grasped the "Lightning Sword", and his right hand used the Elemental Card to charge it, a few seconds later he shouted:

"Lightning Slash!"

He swung his left arm in a forward curve. The Lightning Sword followed inertia to create an arc-shaped slash that flew straight toward "the Tree Monster". Suddenly a voice rang out:

"Telekinesis- Mode 1 and 3- Manipulation of Space and the Shield!"

Suddenly, a gray circle surrounded Victor's area and "the Tree Monster" slowed down the blow. Someone appeared right in front of the "Tree Monster" very quickly and raised his shield to block the attack. A loud "Boom" explosion was created. When the smoke disappeared, Victor saw the appearance of a disruptor. He was dressed in pitiful black armor, with a scarf around his neck that was put over his face. While Victor was confused about what to do next, he said:

"Stop. You can't kill him now."

"You… who are you? How can you stop my killing blow?"

Suddenly, in his mind, Thedus said to Victor:

"Can you let me talk to him?"

"Do you know him?"

Although Victor was a bit confused by Thedus' silence, he remained silent so that they could talk privately.

"Handaz! Did you show up already?"

"Yes, waking up after 1000 years, I decided to do some small experiments. Are you still fighting alone?"

"Could it be… that guy is the experiment you were talking about?"

"Yes."

"You…how did you get this ability?"

"Ah, I got this power from a human. That person is someone I hate so much, but yeah, he is now dead. Fortunately, I had his power before his death. Honestly, I'm quite satisfied and working on mastering and raising this power."

"I've already guessed who he is. You are much stronger than 1000 years ago. Your master must be very proud of you, Handaz."

"He seems to be so strong. I saw him reverse my blow without any injuries. It's not to be underestimated."- Victor thought.

"Thank you. By the way, may I ask about your master's whereabouts?"

"Sorry, but I don't know. Are you still searching? That must have been your master's order. His will to wipe out humanity hasn't changed, has it?"

"Always. Ah, so don't you know? That's fine."

"I know you cling to me for that, wherever I appear, I feel your "homo". Stop it, when you and I separate from each other, there is no longer any bond between us..."

"Who told you that? The bond between us is still very strong, you will be quite useful later on."

"What do you mean?"

"Is he saying that the Thedus and his comrades are still worth using?" - Victor thought.

Suddenly, thinking of that made Victor get a headache, and kneel. Several memories of the past appeared in his mind. Seeing Yellow Lightning like that, Handaz immediately turned his back and said:

"You seem exhausted both physically and mentally. War arrives here today. See you again. Activate the spell: 'Telekinesis- Mode 4- Teleport.'"

He and the 'Tree Monster' immediately disappeared in the black smoke. Suddenly, Michael came running. When he looked around and didn't see the monster, he asked:

"Where the hell is that guy? Are you OK?"

"Ah, it's okay. I'm fine. Sorry, I let him run away."

"Victor..." - Thedus muttered after seeing Victor like this.

After the encounter with Handaz yesterday, Victor became sad, all day without saying a word, unable to do anything in the right way: not paying attention to the guest's order, leading to bringing the wrong drink, wiping the cup, etc. The cups fell and broke continuously, dumbfounded thinking about something while cleaning, when Mr. Karatini sent him to buy things, he returned with the things that Mr. Karatini didn't demand to buy. Victor's drowsy face and distracted attitude at work made Mr. Karatini let him rest a few hours early. When the shop had received customers, Mr. Karatini knocked on Victor's door to ask if he had any hidden problems. A voice in the room emitted:

"The door is not locked, Uncle Denvy. Come in."

Mr. Karatini did not expect him to guess that he was the one knocking on the door. When he opened the door, he saw Victor lying on the bed, turning his body inside. Mr. Karatini immediately appeared with a happy face, and coaxed him like a child:

"Come on, get up. If there's something wrong, tell me. Don't look so depressed. I just want to make you better, so you don't need to feel shy."

Hearing that, Victor immediately sat up and made a big sigh. Mr. Karatini asked:

"How did you know it was me who knocked on the door? That made me surprised."

"According to the habit of knocking on the door. I noticed that you often knock on the door twice, and Michael will knock only once."

"You are so detailed. So now tell me what makes you so depressed that you can't work as before."

Victor was silent for a moment, then asked:

"I have some questions to ask you, so you have to promise me to answer honestly."

"Ok. I do."

"What's the real relationship between you and Yelena?"

"Why do you ask that? Didn't I already say to you before?"- Mr. Karatini asked with a surprised face.

Victor put his phone in front of Mr. Karatini and said:

"I've always had doubts about our relationship when I looked at the screenshots taken with her on my phone, the theory of being a couple of husband and wife or a couple of lovers makes sense. Are we simply friends and colleagues?"

Mr. Karatini now sighed and said:

"OK. Come with me to a place tomorrow. There I will tell you the truth."

"Where is it?"

"The cemetery is at Silver Road. She was buried there."

Then he quietly walked out of the room. Victor sat down, held his head, and closed his eyes, thinking about something that will happen tomorrow.

The next morning, Victor and Mr. Karatini drove to the cemetery at Silver Road. After entering the gate and parking the car, Mr. Karatini and Victor carried a bouquet of chrysanthemums and bags of incense, lighters, and towels along the road leading to Yelena's tomb.

"Where is Yelena's gravestone in this area?"

"Yelena's gravestone is near a big oak tree."

"Well, a pretty easy-to-remember sign."

When Victor came to Yelena's gravestone, he stood still for a moment, looking at the gravestone with Yelena's picture and her name and date of death engraved on it. Mr. Karatini took a towel to wipe around the stele while chatting:

"Yelena, now I and another person have come to visit you. Do you feel lonely here alone? Surely not, right? You still have a lot of people here to vent. Now not just me, Victor is also coming here."

Victor suddenly said:

"Now can you tell me the relationship between you and Yelena?"

Mr. Karatini was silent for two minutes even though his hands continued to wipe. Two minutes later he said:

"I apologize for lying to you. The two of you are not only colleagues but also a passionate love couple."

"No wonder most of my memories contain her. Every time I have a headache, I always think of her. Were we passionately in love before?"

"You two are very similar. She always tells me about you. She always protects her love for you, no matter how I forbade her at first. She said she was the one who fell in love with you first because you were a cold, quiet person in the office at the time. Honestly, she likes the kind of person like you."

"Got it. She must be a patient person and has such a strong love for me."

"By the way, come to this place. This is an archaeological institute called Eternal - where Yelena and you used to work. There you can restore your memories through old colleagues."

Then Mr. Karatini gave Victor a photo taken outside the Eternal Institute building with the address written on the back of the photo. Mr. Karatini continued:

"Go and find your answers."

Victor looked at the photo attentively. He asked:

"I will go there. Can you tell me the cause of Yelena's death?"

"Just because of an unfortunate accident."

"Incorrect. Is it because of me?"

Mr. Karatini was startled, slowly stood up, looked at Victor, and asked:

"Based on what?"

"Yesterday I remembered the moment she died in my lap somewhere pretty dark. Her body was full of blood. At that time, I felt very confused as to whether I had caused her death. Everything is so blurred, I can't remember what happened before."

"You just need to know that you are not at fault for that," Mr. Karatini suddenly said loudly.

"You know something, right? Who is the killer?"

"Stop it. I don't want to talk about it again."

"Why? Haven't you always wanted to know the truth about her death? She's your granddaughter, right?"

"Because...!"- Mr. Karatini said with a confused look- "...Because I think it's impossible to find the real killer, and I want to forget to let myself and Yelena will be at peace. Please don't ask me again."

Seeing Mr. Karatini's unusual attitude and expression, Victor was suspicious. He said with resignation:

"Oh right, I won't force you to talk anymore. If it was not my fault, I'd be more relieved."

Even though Victor stopped asking Mr. Karatini, he still thought in his mind:

"Fine. I'll go find the culprit who did it myself, then I'll rip him off."

Mr. Karatini rolled his eyes at the car and said:

"The tombstone has been cleaned, flowers are carefully placed next to the stele. Let's go."

The next morning, Victor was driving and following the address recorded in the photo. After driving for 20 minutes, he reached the gate of the Institute.

Walking inside, he looked around, suddenly he felt something familiar here. Suddenly he felt a slight headache, this time it hurt more than normal, causing him to collapse. He recognized some more memories now came to mind. Thedus asked:

"Are you OK?"

"The memories..."

"What do you remember?"

"This place… Yelena… trip… Mason… the cave… I remembered."

Suddenly a passerby asked:

"Sir, are you okay?"

"I am fine, thanks." Victor looked up that in front of him was a young girl. The tag on her shirt said "Susan Hill", he guessed it was an employee here. Susan made a surprise face and asked:

"You look familiar... Oh, is it you, Mr. Helblinken?"

"Yes, do you know me?"

"Hey, have you forgotten about me? It's me, Susan- your colleague. I think you have died. Where have you been for a week?"

"Sorry, but I don't remember anything, including you..."

"Let me take you in to meet the director and everyone. If they see you return, they will surely be very happy." - Susan fervently.

Susan pulled Victor to take a few steps. Suddenly, they heard a scream from a young woman at the security gate:

"Where is the leader here? Let me in to see him. I have to get justice for my brother. I will hold them responsible for the death

of my brother. I have a picture of him here. Look closely. Here

was my deceased brother."

That caught Victor's attention. He saw her hand holding a

photo. He immediately let go of Susan's hand and approached her. He told the security guard to release her and asked:

"Who are you? Why would you come here to make a mess?"