Chapter 38 – I shall kill
***Long Chapter Ahead***
…
Ben hanged his head as they walked the remaining journey. No one spoke. He could feel the ghostly silence and the distance between him and his friends. He bit lips and gripped his fist hard.
Seconds turned into minutes; it felt a long time to Ben. Finally, he upped his confidence.
“I… I’m sorry.”
The atmosphere became serene. Wind caressed the leaves and branches of the trees. A dragon-like deep, lowly growl sounded as the long river continued with its waters. Ben felt anxious despite the peaceful vibes of the surroundings.
“I’m sorry.”
Ben became shocked. He turned around, gawking at the always prideful face.
“I’m sorry. You could have a happy life back in the county.”
“Oh, you wanted to find your brother though. You should have a fun, casual adventure finding him.”
The boy became uncomfortable.
Jed wore a sad face beside him. He knew Ben lead a relatively comfortable life. The former only just discovered the hardship of strong people. It was too short because his brain still programmed the dangers equated to treasures and rainbows in the stories.
“I tricked you and I’m sorry for that. I shouldn’t have brought you into this mess. It was the truth I am selfish, taking advantage of your interest to find you brother. So, might as well end our journey together, Ben.”
He could perceive her calm eyes, seeing through him. The boy lowered his head, almost letting out a bitter face. Mixed feeling churned and brewed inside his heart right now. He understood what she meant. He might lack knowledge in many things, but he wasn’t slow.
“Don’t you want to ask… about that demon, Clown?”
Sarah didn’t make any movement. “I don’t need to, after all, whatever you did at the end of the day, you still save us.”
Ben sighed. He could now spot the outline of their destination.
Biting his lips, the boy strutted, bypassing both of his friends. His steps lacked the usual force, however.
A glimmer of disappointment flashed in the girl’s eyes. Both she and Jed gazed at his back, though. Maybe in their hearts, they still harbored hope.
Ben observed the ground. Or his steps. And maybe even the time. As he came closer to the village, heat surfaced in his heart. This unusual hotness crept upwards until it influenced his mind.
The boy stopped at the gate. He caught in his vision a few visible residents sweeping the grounds. These people noticed him too. They group into twos or threes and started exchanging whispers. He took a deep breath. With reddened face, Ben spread his limbs while facing the sky, he shouted.
“I don’t want to be a weak nor coward anymore! Being a loser is a miserable feeling. But turning my back away from you guys is worse than anything I’ve felt!
“I will go with you to Enderian Journey! No, I will follow you to the ends of the world. Even you don’t want to!”
Both Sarah and Jed slapped their forehead. They cringed after hearing it and almost wanted to dig a hole. Especially when people gossiping and pointing fingers at them.
But their lips curved, feeling helpless yet amused at the same time.
A bittersweet feeling lingered in their hearts. By now, everyone understood the danger they were going to face.
Demons, humans, and even… Venerables would hunt them!
That was why going to Enderian Journey was the both transition and opportunity to them!
…
An insane amount of clouds’ churning grew visible in the sky. The low groan of the river water had been long subdued by the thunderous roars.
Like an ancient being descending, an emotionless face materialized and accompanied by an endless amount of pressure.
The pages of his books rattled, and the previously piled maps and papers flew like scattered birds.
Yet Clown stood unflinching against an entity considered a natural calamity.
“Sir Cloud Rider. We meet again.”
The face’s eyes bored through the demon, wanting to see what was underneath the mask. “First time could be coincidence. But ‘second time’ and then now the ‘third time’, I don’t believe it even someone smack me in the head. Talk, what do you know?”
“Third time? This is only our second meeting.” Clown chuckled. He nonchalantly fixed his colorful robes. “The weather isn’t nice, is it?”
“I’m not here to play games!” A thunderous voice boomed alongside lightning strikes.
But his snarling only made Clown smile. This showed his speculation was true. “Wonderful! Just wonderful!”
“Cloud, Wind, and Thunder. Probably there’s another one or… the main!”
“Maybe I’m the first to understand the secret of Venerable Cloud Rider’s otherworldly speed!!!”
Clown screamed. He laughed uproariously as the thunder and clouds growled in concert.
“I’ve been hearing your legends since I was a kid. My generation and those after me have been listening to your tales. Not even a hundred-year-old but already attained so much.”
“You are the idol and aspiration of countless children. Even demons and Beasts aren’t excluded from this. We are just like you, aspired to be something in this world.”
“A hero.”
“A challenger.”
“Someone who wanted to be sang as myth and legend.”
“You had challenged an impossible feat. It was an arrogant display of your talent. And it costed you for your arrogance!”
“A Dragon and a mature at that! You challenged her, thinking you are the greatest!”
“Yes, you are the greatest talent of all time, but she bested you with intelligence and experience! You think that with your talent, you can already compare to that dragon who deemed as one of the four most intelligent in the world!”
“Against your arrogance, you lose! By then, you became cripple.”
“No! Because of losing–you crippled yourself! A part of the bargain!”
“But instead of falling, you really achieved what people thought to be impossible!”
“No one expected a complete reversal!”
“You have the record of the youngest to become Venerable.”
“And gained the ability to traverse everything under the sky!”
“This mere transgression of this fact leads you what you are right now!”
“The fastest man alive!”
“The only Venerable who conquered all four directions!”
“And the sole individual to survive all Eight Supreme Killing Grounds!!!”
Senior Clown’s laughter became louder, almost subduing the calamity before him.
“Large reason why Humanity become untouchable is because you.”
“No one in history ever managed to safe guard all regions.”
“Dragons with their long lifespan? Amon Clan with their almost infinite numbers? Ancients who roamed the world? No one could truly cover the universe’s sky!”
“Yet you created an exception!!!”
“Lackadaisical. Arrogant.”
“A man who doesn’t follow the rules.”
“Irresponsible yet responsible.”
“My idol! The hero in our hearts!”
“Challenging the impossible and now becoming an impossible!”
An awe spiring aura gushed out from the young demon’s body. His words became louder and clearer, reverberating across the East Region without prudence.
Every Venerables in the East and prying eyes heard him, halting them in their feet.
This shocked everyone to core, especially his concluding words!
“And now… with new impossible challenge such as yourself, Your Excellency, East Venerable Cloud Rider…”
“I S.H.A.L.L… KILL!!!”
Kacha!
The weather exploded like a bomb.
A terrifying pressure landed, cracking the already quivering mask.
From the crack, a single eye became visible. Not of a golden color from Amon Clan. But still demonic!
Words filled with hopefulness, passion, fiendishness and insanity juxtaposed with the frail-looking individual facing against a hell upon the earth!!!
Rumble! The river water boomed, erupting like a torrential rain but upwards!
And suddenly, an unimaginable power reacted from the end and deepest reaches of the estuary… all the way to the All Blue!
This power sauntered directly, helping the reverse torrential rain to vault through the sky!
Looking from the outer space, a huge circular formation of water got established, almost exceeding the atmosphere of Mortal Lands.
Its water continued none stop. What scarier was its momentum that was picking up speed, transforming into a titanic storm no one had ever seen!
And in that circle of storm, two silhouettes grew encased with nowhere to exit!
Every prying eye got filled with disbelief!
Someone created a portal at once and tried to destroy the formation. But all in vain!
A bunch of scientists studied it and understood that it was the power of Mortal Lands, hence, the indestructibility.
They concluded that only with its creator–the formation grandmaster’s will or if he died, then the formation would be disabled.
This information made everyone felt fear!
Especially the humans!
Mortal Lands had only shown support to humans and Beasts. But for it to help a demon? This terrifying notion made their skin crawl!
A calamity!!!
This boy is a calamity!!! This was everyone’s thought.
“Cloud Rider, you have to kill him!” Everyone screamed in their hearts, completely lost in their fear and confidence with Cloud Rider. But a few calmer knew it won’t be easy.
“Why is he willing to be trapped with Cloud Rider? Reports said he was intelligent and an intelligent person won’t do something foolish. I’m afraid… this might not be good for us!”
“Calm Era, oh Calm Era! Probably the calm before the storm!”
…
The trio went to work. The storm had been going for weeks now and they needed to prevent the house from collapsing. People in the village had their hands full just from surviving.
“It’s fortunate we got here earlier or else we will die and be swept away by the flood.” Ben pulled on his jacket to get more warmth.
“But the storm still hit us hard. Villagers are busy and don’t want to entertain us. They are only normal people and only have limited abilities. Their hands got tied with these all fucked up things. So, it basically trapped us here.” Sarah squinted her eyes. She became worried that something bad would happen if they dallied longer.
“Oh, Sis. You mentioned before that someone will meet us here, the Village of the Bends.”
Jed turned his head when he heard this. He didn’t want to drag the team; thus he was cooking. The current situation had also been in his mind for quite time, so he perked his ears. He didn’t want to die when they were already just an inch away from their goal.
A rare anxiousness appeared in the girl’s face. “That’s… I don’t know. I asked about it, but they said they didn’t know that guy.”
“What?! That won’t do. Let’s ask everyone. It’s impossible no one will recognized him as he already lived here for many years.” Ben exclaimed.
“Relax.” Jed spoke, “We don’t need him. It was only an advantage if we have him because we will have a guide who has knowledge of our destination.”
“That’s where you are wrong, Turtle.” Sarah tapped the table while Jed paused at what he was doing. “What do you think about this storm?”
“Hm?” Both boys tilted their heads.
“Deadly, right?” They nodded. “But even an Expert could withstand this as long he has a formation.”
“Of course, a Miniature-Version Formation won’t hold on unless you have a dozen of them.”
“So, if they have Soldier Formation, which needed a certain amount of people powering it, then it’s possible.”
“And demons only have nothing but numbers.”
“Actually, we are just lucky.” Sarah snickered. “Marakur and his henchmen didn’t know any formation. Probably because he doesn’t have time to train his subordinates. After all, a sizeable amount of time needed to train a Soldier Formation, hence, only the armies trained in it.”
“Or maybe, he is too extreme in the spectrum. A talented demon such as him has deep pockets. So where these resources go? My assumption, everything went to his stomach!”
Ben gulped, reimagining that gigantic mouth devouring flesh after flesh like a snack.
Sarah felt amused when she saw his reaction. “He is clearly building up his foundation. He only needs to eat. The better the flesh, the deeper his foundation. And the more he eats, the larger his potential.”
“Who do you think is stronger from the both of you in strongest state?” Ben kept blinking.
Sarah giggled. “Hard to say. He could only use Monsterization Demon Art once per each hand. More than that, he will cripple his arms. Anyway, this is enough to blow anyone to death, regardless if the opponent is a Grandmaster.”
The chubby boy nodded. He also thought the same because Grandmaster still remained a mortal in the end.
“As for me, I can reach Grandmaster Level for a period of time. But, honestly, it’s more of a Pseudo Grandmaster Level than an actual one. I could use my speed to dodge him, but not for long. I will still end up being blown by his punch if he waited for my power to end.”
“Although, I still have an advantage.” Winking, Sarah continued. “If I got hold of him, then he will be finished by me. So, even if reaching Grandmaster means I am faster than him, only by attacking him head on I could win.”
Jed chimed. “Your battle is like a guessing game, and only one who landed the lucky punch will win. Though, I bet Sister Sarah have higher chance of winning.”
“You are so vicious to yourself. This means you can face death with less fear. I don’t know about Marakur but basing from your recap, then he is someone who values his life more than others.”
“So, it’s still Sister Sarah who is stronger!” Ben let a loud wow.
Sarah rubbed her nose, but a hint of haughtiness appeared in her face. But then she immediately got angry. “Hey! We are going away from the conversation!”
“Okay, what I meant to say is–it’s possible that a group of demons will come after us while this storm still occurring.”
“Thus, let’s get ready. I don’t want to do this, but we can only resort to drastic methods.”
Their face became grim. Especially Ben. But he already hardened his heart.
A world was a big place and Mortal Land was much, much bigger in comparison. To find his brother, he needed power. And he couldn’t do it alone.
He also had a debt to pay with Sarah. His conscience won’t let him sleep if he didn’t. Thus, the trio briskly finished their remaining task and set forth.
…
Creak.
“What a damn weather!” A woman in thirties pressed her weight onto the violently quivering door.
“Quit it! We can’t do anything with that damn door! Unless you wanted to fly too?” Her husband grumpily turned the maximum volume of the TV.
“Karmen said that it’s been a day since he saw Ilocos.”
“Probably swept away by the wind. By the way, where are those brats?”
“Hmph! They went house after house. Did they think someone will spill something to them?”
The man hurried to a finger on his lips. “Don’t be loud.”
“Don’t worry.” His wife shook her head. “With the weather, this is the best sound proof.”
“So… are they prey or let them enter Enderian Journey?”
“Stupid! Of course they are prey. And don’t worry about the consequence. The situation really helps us a lot, so no one will know if they died in the supreme killing ground or in the road. They are just kids, butter up your confidence.”
The man nodded. “Yeah. Thinking about it, which kid will go to a forsaken place unless they are orphan or beggars or whatever fuck life they have? If it’s those descendants of the clan, they will have an entourage.” He exaggerated his hands, spreading it apart to indicate how large he imagined an entourage.
“Eeek!”
“What’s that sound?” The woman pressed her ears to the door. But the only thing she could hear was the tumultuous winds banging on everyone’s roofs and doors. “Did you hear that?”
The man didn’t answer and continued enjoying his leisure time.
Inside a dirty empty house beside theirs, three silhouettes could be seen ganging up a larger body. The latter struggled so hard that his shoes knocked violently on the floor. He also wanted to cry for help but Sarah’s choke hold him and Ben’s hand planted on his mouth.
On the other side, Jed brought out a rope and started tying the helpless man. Finished, Jed patted Ben and Sarah, telling to stop.
“We’ve been manning you the whole time, Ilocos.” Sarah chuckled. She didn’t seem bothered by the saliva on her arm as she stared at the man directly. “Convenient, isn’t it? Your hideout sure help us a lot. Jed, go find it.”
“Okay.” Although he had blurry vision, Jed seemed proficient in what he was doing. In his mind, he thanked Jigen’s informations about mechanism.
Tapping and knocking the floors and walls, the boy was unbothered by the gross webs and dirt clinging to him. When he reached a corner, though, he heard a hollow sound. “I found it.”
“Hm. Such a simple mechanism.” Sarah kept punching through the wall until an open space appeared before them.
Ben and the man in his arms rolled their eyes. What simple mechanism? She just went ahead and destroyed it without bothering to operate it!
Although that was the case, Ben was still excited to grope the walls to find the switch.
At first, Sarah thought it was a horizontal tunnel for what she examined in the entrance. But it actually sloped down as distance passed. Moreover, it had been too dark, so Sarah needed to rely on the walls to continue.
Suddenly, Sarah stopped. In front of her, a red light became visible and also illuminating a terrifying scene.
A spine tingling cold passed through her body. She thought a wind was caressing her body. Yet also seemed like a ghost from its sobbing tone. Her little face became pale while struggling to make a straight face.
Blood. Blood everywhere. And from what she could hazily see, flesh and limbs mixed, combining into a picture of hell!
Bleurgh.
Ben vomited what he ate earlier. Beside him, the man and Jed were also uncomfortable. Though, the first had least expression.
“You did this?” Sarah’s low, shrill voice came out, making the males shivered.
“N-no.”
The girl turned around, wearing an angry expression. “Then who fucking did this?! Why is it a ritual is happening here?!!”
Jed frowned when he heard this. He gazed at the man with sharp intent.
“What is a ritual?” Still sick, Ben didn’t want to stare any longer. But he also wanted to know what they were seeing.
“A ritual is a sacrifice of those demons to gain abilities from Evils. These Evils used flesh and blood sacrifice as their sustenance and currency.”
“Of course, they also accepted resources such herbs, treasures and products of experiments.”
“An equivalent exchange. Just like the popular games invented for the rich. You pay, you win.”
“But out of all winners, only those who have deeper pockets, capabilities and background have higher chance to gain unimaginable power exclusive to them.”
But Sarah’s expression took a turn. Filled with derision, she worded everything through the seams of her teeth like a hissing snake. “But just like in the games, no matter what beautiful gift, they are still inside it. The game developers could still steal back the power or ban your account.”
“Doesn’t it mean everything is useless then?” Ben disdained the demons’ method.
“Not completely. At least they have powers when while they are weaklings.”
“For example, talented demons like Marakur. Even though he has emotions just like normal humans giving him great potential, he is also defenseless at first just like the latter.”
“So he also has to rely on these rituals to gain power until he had trained his Demon Arts up to sufficient level.”
“Unplugged his mouth.” Sarah gestured at Ben before looking at the man. “What do you think, huh?”
The man inhaled deeply. He knew he fucked up. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but look at the amazing youngster in front of him.
“Can I know your name, Young Miss?” Ilocos wouldn’t underestimate her after he heard her seemingly out-of-nowhere question. He vaguely understood she already knew something.
“Not going to talk? Okay.” The girl nodded.
“I could say, I have two ideas what is going on here.” Sarah made a smile, but not a smile. “One, a Heart Demon or a group of demons ordered you to do this so that they can gain power. The second idea…”
“… Is that you wanted a power to yourself… a human selling his own to the Evils?”
Ilocos trembled. He felt something clutching his neck, getting an illusion she was choking him once again. “No, you are wrong.”
“Then, pray tell. We have a day to listen.” Sarah took a step. “Because I don’t mind killing you if you don’t speak.”
Ilocos gulped, but he knew he needed to talk if he wanted to live!
“This…”
A sudden rhythmic yet quick steps echoed, interrupting the man.
Tak. Tak, Tak. Everyone’s head craned towards the sound and became amazed when they saw the newcomer.
“Don’t you dare kill my father!” A little child with ponytails appeared in their vision. They saw the former became shocked before screaming on top of her lungs as she rushed.
Lunging, she didn’t bother if her opponent was larger as she bit the nearest to her!
But she didn’t expect the enemy not yelping from pain. Thus, she put more pressure until her little teeth became numb.
Everyone only kept staring at her. The trio didn’t expect to meet a child in this setting.
Blood and flesh laid everywhere around them. But from the child’s expression, this wasn’t new to her.
Tired, she stopped biting Ben. Her teeth ached and tears almost welled up in her eyes. Even then, her hatred almost congealed as she covered her father with her small body.
“I will fight you–you bad guys! You only know how to bully my father! I hate you! I hate you!” The shrill and venomous cry of the desperate girl reverberated.
Yet the trio became statues instead. The girl awaited their retaliation, but she didn’t expect the lack of movements from the trio. She followed their gazes… to the single horn jutting in her forehead.
Ben trembled. He struggled to raise his hand to point at the horn. “Is that what I think it is?”
“Demon transformation… Demonization Program”
The trio inhaled a cold amount of air. Their faces darkened.
Both Sarah and Jed gazed at each other. Although not cunning, both of them could picture how this would affect the Mortal Lands. Especially with the Conference as reference.
“You!!” Hatred burned in Sarah’s heart as she grabbed Ilocos. “What have you done?!!”
“What did you do to this child?!!”
Ilocos only quivered in answer. Seeing her father like that, Karmen hurried to hug him. This made Sarah even more incensed.
Sensing her rage, Karmen got down to her knees.
“Please, don’t hurt my father anymore. Okay? He just wanted the best for me.”
“Pretty Big Sister, I don’t want to die. My father begged with everything to save me.”
“It’s my fault. If only I didn’t cry back then.”
“No! If I accepted my fate as a sacrifice, I wouldn’t cause my father to become a traitor!”
“I’ve gotten stronger! And I can tolerate pain! See, see this. They injected me with large needles and tubes as long as a rope. It hurts!”
“But I can tolerate more now. I can accept everything so my father can finally escape being a traitor.”
“My body is tougher and could take a beating. Hihihi, our neighbor's kids, saw my horn. They said I look like a demon, so they bullied me. I thought it will hurt when they punched me. But it wasn’t.”
“My father is innocent. I’m the sinner here!”
“So… please, please! Do it with me! I promise I won’t cry. I’ll do everything you want.” Karmen groveled. Her palms bled from rubbing her palms too much. She begged and begged as if asking for alms.
Tiny, pitiful and pathetic.
Just like a worm.
Tears poured on her cheeks like a broken dam. She would do anything to protect her father.
Weng. A lightning flashed. A deep hush fell as the entire world turned black and white.
Creepy. Ilocos thought as he stared at the youngster before him. He thought the girl was the only monster here. But he got the wrong answer.
Bloodlust filled the eyes of the girl before him while veins popped on the face of the chubby boy clinging on his shoulder.
And the most frightening was the monstrous sharp, killing intent radiating from the boy he thought was too quiet.
Continuous crushing sounds in the distance repeatedly buried their silence.
Too silent. Just inhaling became difficult as the silence was too much.
The ground shook. They felt the entire world moving violently. Their eardrums went numbed from hearing the clash-like phenomenon of the storm and thunder. As if ancient gods battled in there.
Yet despite everything happening in the outside world, the trio couldn’t control their soundless yet smothering feelings.
Huff. Gasping, Ben felt desperate to revive himself. He quivered from the feelings storming his insides. This time, he won’t stop her from murdering anyone. In fact, he cursed nonstop in his mind.
“I will fucking kill those bastards!!!”
It wasn’t Sarah who said this. Ben did. Although the former had the same motive, judging from how contorted her expression.
Traitor. That word again. A gut-wrenching pain punched Jed to daze.
He had a beautiful smile and friendly voice. Not too talented, but everyone loved to hang out with him. Their idol who would protect them regardless of injuries he would receive. But why you? Why? Why?!! That face. Why? That voice. Why? That protection. WHY?
The fire resembling an inferno should be hot. But the boy’s heart got chilled. Biting cold, seeping through whatever dregs left from his being.
Jed hugged the petite frame kneeling on the ground. His shoulders quivered, resembling a beaten dog. And yet, he attempted to pat the similarly trembling back.
Then, a hoarse voice came from him.
“We understand.”
“…”
The trio walked out at the same time. Silence still accompanied them as they perceived the sunlight passing through their fingers. The storm finally subsided.
…
