Kabanata 19

Keenan paused his feet, his eyes were looking forward as his back sweated a bucket. He felt like cold water poured down on him. He saw the ship that they used to travel in the Netherworld, it was destroyed and dismembered. He had mixed emotions as he scanned the enormous scraps of metal. Keenan didn't know what to say. He just stared at the mobile ship. He took a deep breath and clenched his fists. In the corner of his mind, he knew that this was going to happen, but it was still hard to accept. 

He remained standing there for a few minutes, he cleansed his mind like an innocent child who didn't know how the world works... But it was futile, he is a human, and he has feelings. All he has to do is to become tough and face it like a man.

After acknowledging that nothing will change, Keenan decided to move his heavy feet. His eyes directly gazed, they weren't trembling anymore. Keenan experienced seeing the death of his loved ones. This scene was not a stranger to him.

"Although I keep telling myself that this will be the last time. But I guess promise is meant to be broken."

He crumpled his fists and blood slowly crept out of the cracks of his fingers. He was getting closer to the destroyed ship. He steeled his heart and got ready for what he was going to see. He took a step and, at last, he reached the mobile ship.

He was in front of the tattered and broken ship, he found that the tail and wings of the ship were destroyed. He saw some claw marks around the ship, but the most thing that caught his attention was the bodies inside the ship, or should we say the leftover meat inside the ship.

Keenan smelled the awful scent of decaying flesh. The floor had blood, dried painted like an unfinished art on a canvas. The looks of the bodies were horrible. He found bite marks, torn fleshes, scratches, broken bones, and slashed skin. It was a miracle that he didn't puke, he was too numb to puke.

The image was so disturbing that a person would surely puke if he saw it. However, Keenan didn't evade his vision. He looked directly at them, at his teammates. Their bodies may have been ravaged but their clothes, hair color, skin… Keenan could identify them.

Keenan did a lonely chuckle and traveled his gaze around. Then he found his best friend.

"Heh, you bastard. Even in your death, you didn't stop fighting."

Keenan approached the body of a person who's holding a pole. The metal pole was painted with black blood showing how Carson fought, he died valiantly fighting. Keenan kneeled and reached the bloodied dog tag.

"You asshole…"

Keenan cursed while tightly clenching the dog tag. Carson died but he died with dignity. He didn't run and continued fighting the monsters. He helped his teammates till the very end.

"This is why I told you that your justice will kill you, you should have run."

He grimly smiled and swallowed the frustration that he had. He understood that this was not the right time to mourn. He could sense them, the culprits of his teammates' death.

"Don't be shy, show yourself, guys."

He said with a bone-chilling voice. He was slowly turning into a demon incarnate. He would make a hell out of their bodies. 

He could sense the Nightmares that were hiding in the ship. Perhaps they thought that they could ambush and kill him. But they were wrong. As of now, Keenan was burning in fury, and he wanted to release this fury on them.

The monsters slowly showed themselves. They were growling as their salivas fell on the floor. They have another fresh food to eat, they were lucky, they thought.

Keenan remain standing and wore the dog tag, he didn't feel any tension despite being surrounded by dozens of Nightmares.

"Let's see, you guys are stray Zvieras. It's uncool to see you here together feasting over my friends. I think it will fair if I feast over your N-cores like what you guys did."

The Nightmares couldn't understand his words but they understood that he was mocking them. They growled and showed their fangs. They would bite his limbs off and make him suffer.

They started dashing at him. First come first serve, they couldn't wait to taste this fresh meat right in front of them. They attacked him simultaneously but they didn't know that invisible Hands were waiting for them. The Hekatonkheires Hands swing and whacked the monsters, the strike was powerful that it sent them into the walls. But Keenan was just getting started and the surprise attack was just a welcome greeting. He dashed as his left arm disintegrated into small particles and transformed into a blade.
Keenan activated his second Skill, Concentrate Draw.

Keenan aimed at the monster close to him, the Zviera was still groggy and shook its head. It didn't know that this would be the last time that it could move its head. A blade slashed its neck and the head flopped on the ground. The body fell together with the ink blood that was coming from its neck. The first monster died just like that, but Keenan was not satisfied. This was not enough to erase his hatred.

"Who's next?"

He splashed the blood out of his blade. The Hands behind him were wriggling like deadly snakes.

………
……
…

It didn't take a long time for him to finish them. Keenan cleaned his blade and returned it to normal, back to being his arm. As for his Hands, they were still covering him in case a surprise attack happened. Keenan looked around, the black blood and the organs of the Nightmares he butchered were on the ground. The scent of death was lingering although Keenan was used to smelling this. His gaze set upon the dead bodies of his comrades, his face contorted and he forced to gulp down the emotions he had. His reddened eyes, he closed them. He calmed himself to control his thoughts. Yet despite trying to calm down, the memories he spent with them started to show up. They were teammates since they were freshmen, they spent a lot of time together.

It was heartbreaking for Keenan to see his friends lifeless on the floor. He felt choked and opened his eyes. The Arms started rampaging. They grabbed the Nightmares and tore them apart. His act was futile. But he didn't care, all he wanted was to ease the feelings that were burning in his chest.

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