Chapter 45: Punching Bag

IT WAS HOPELESS.

Ram never felt so hopeless like he was feeling now as he watched almost everyone inside the Giant Tentacled Sphere coming at him with everything that they had.

The only ones that were not participating were Veera, who was enjoying the downfall of The Institute, Sandhya and Chandra who were glaring at Ram as if he betrayed them horribly and frozen in shock as a result. Aunt El and Elder of Air, who had their backs to each other as they made their way towards Ram.

It felt like Ram was in a Zombie move, surrounded by endless hordes of zombies while his friends were trying to help him.

In this case, his friends were Aunt El and Elder of Air while the zombies were everyone else.

Just as Aunt El and Elder of Air were about to reach him, a portal appeared in between them, with Proxy Elder stepping out of it.

Her hands were glowing with blue light, the signs of her using the powers of water.

Wasn't she supposed to be the User of Light? No, more important than that, wasn't she supposed to be helping them to save him instead of coming between them?

Ram shook his head. He didn't know. What he know was that Elder of Space who stepped out of the same portal next was the one who was opening the portals. And that Proxy Elder was also working for Veera.

Or was she hypnotized.

"What are you doing with him?" Aunt El asked, pointing towards Elder of Space.

"To prevent you from helping Ram," Proxy Elder said.

Aunt El was hurt. "What nonsense are you sprouting? Stop playing games and come to your senses," she said.

Proxy Elder shook her head. "No it was you who was playing games. I will stop you," she said, gathering more Power of Water.

Aunt El raised her hands in front of her, but didn't summon any Power of Illusions yet. She looked conflicted."Why are you doing this?" she asked.

"Don't you know why?" Proxy Elder asked as she created a whirlpool and sent it towards Aunt El.

Aunt El froze.

Elder of Air made her move. She gathered her powers of Air and sent a strong gust of wind at the whirlpool, sending it away.

Both of them collided with some of the blasts that were coming towards Ram, pushing them farther away.

"Ella, this isn't the time for you to stop thinking about her betrayal. Let's focus on protecting your foster son," Elder of Air said.

Aunt El shook her head. "Maybe she was hypnotized?" she asked.

Proxy Elder chuckled. "It's good to see that you care about me. But why don't you know how I really feel about you?" she asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play innocent. I know that you liked girls. When you recruited me into your plan, you did it because you were interested in me. I could feel your heated gaze. I thought you were afraid of your sister and didn't act on your wishes. But it had been many years. Instead of showing your love to me, you were showering them at that bastard. He doesn't deserve you. I deserve you. He was not even your own son. Why do you care so much about him?" Proxy Elder asked.

Aunt El was literally froze just like Sandhya and Chandra, who were frozen because Veera Froze the Flow of Time for them, but Aunt El was hurt emotionally.

She was staring at Proxy Elder with hurt in her eyes.

Elder of Air shook her head, she turned towards Sandhya and Chandra. "Sandhya, why are you staring at this like a fool? Have you forgotten what your grandfather wanted? Go and save Ram," she said.

They didn't even flinched.

"Elder of Air, their flow of time was frozen by Veera over there. We have to do something fast. I believe they are in danger," Ram said.

Elder of Air frowned. "Ella, this is not the time to ponder over your emotions. Go save Ram while I will do the same to my daughter and her fiancee," she said, moving towards Sandhya and Chandra.

Proxy Elder blasted a wave of water at Elder of Air.

Elder of Air snorted, sent a powerful gust of wind at her, which made her fall down towards endless abyss below.

Elder of Space opened a portal, disappeared into it. A portal appeared beneath the falling Proxy Elder and he had her in his arms.

He glared at Ram and then at Elder of Air. "You are doing this on purpose. I shouldn't have allowed her to get close to you," he said.

"Why do you care so much about her?" Elder of Air asked as she moved towards Sandhya.

Elder of Space opened a portal and stepped right in front of Elder of Air. "Because she is my daughter. I told her that Ella was not going to reciprocate her feelings. That she was wasting her time on her. That's why I hated Ella. That's why I hated you, your father as well as your faction.

"Even after all these years, she cared more about that bastard than for my daughter. If she had come to me, I would've allowed both of them to be together. But no. She let my daughter on, sink her so deep into it that she was even willing to step in as a Proxy Elder of Light for her. But where did it got her, endless pain. I am going to make sure that all of you receive every inch of it," he said.

"Father, no. Please don't do this. Let me talk to Ella. She will listen to me," Proxy Elder said. She turned towards Aunt El. "You will listen to me right?" she asked.

While it was really good to know that someone was loving his Aunt El, Ram didn't want to know about it when practically everyone present here wanted to beat the hell out of him.

"Aunt El, snap out of it. If you want, you can be with her. Once we get out of this alive — if I get out of this alive — I will make sure that both of you will live together. If you want, I will even be your son. Or will get out of your life. Please, stop fighting with each other over love," he said.

Aunt El shook her head. "Fathima, I am sorry. It's not that I don't love you. I do. But like a friend and not like a lover. Please understand me," Aunt El said.

Proxy Elder, Fathima, was shaking all over, sobbing. Elder of Space glared at them. "I told you many times that she doesn't love you. You are only hurting yourself. Let's forget about them," he said.

Fathima shook her head. "No father. I think if we talk together, she will help me. She will listen to me. She will love me. I had been with her through her life, faced many ups and down. She's just confused of her feelings. She focused too much on Ram. That's right. Let's eliminate him. If he no longer exist, she will love me," she said.

Ram swallowed. She sounded like a maniac. The one that lost her mind because of her broken heart.

"No. You are not going to touch him while I am alive," Aunt El said.

"Father, you take care of Elder of Air, while I take care of her. There are no one to help Ram anyways, he will die sooner or later. Once everything was over, let's take her to Veera. He promised he would help me get Ella's love," Fathima said, gathering the power of water in her hands and she steeped out of Elder of Space's arms.

Ram couldn't concentrate on them any longer.

The crowd were successful in stepping out of Ram's allies way and were coming at Ram with everything they have gotten.

Couple fo Users of Space opened a portal on either side of Ram and sent out dark tentacles that wrapped around Ram's arms and legs, spreading him, keeping him in place.

The Users of Water threw their swords, lances, whips at Ram, which by the time they reached him, they turned into gust of water and gave him such a powerful blow that Ram fell backward.

Before he could fall into the abyss, the tentacles holding him tightened, pulling him back.

The Users of Fire threw their blasts of fire at Ram, which were dispersed by Users of Water.

"What are you doing?" A User of Fire asked.

"What were you thinking? He had killed our leader. We have to teach him a lesson. We have to let him suffer. If you use so much fire at him, he will be burnt to ashes in a moment. ," said a User of Water.

User of Fire nodded, before compressing the fire around his fist like a boxing glove and started to hit him.

Users of Air sent gusts of air at his back, while Users of Water hit him in the front.

He was being used as a punching bag by Users of Fire.

Ram wished that his torture would end. He was aching all over. At places where he was punched by Gloves of Fire, his skin was burned.

The repeated attacks from the Elites was so much that Ram couldn't take it anymore.

A small voice called out to Ram once again, but he couldn't focus on it.

He was in so much pain that he couldn't focus on anything.

He gave in to the endless pain.