Return of the Fallen Volume 10 Chapter 81
Kazuki’s question hung in the air as Detra was feeling suffocated.
Thinking about the death of her son filled her with dread and undeniable grief, and this was only at the thought of it happening.
“It feels like my heart is being ripped from my body.”
This was her answer. If her son really did die at Zephris’s hands, there was only one way she would feel. Torzz for the first time in forever saw his mother’s pain and guilt stabbed at him. She was willing to do anything for him and he…he had only ever caused her grief.
(Mother.)
Kazuki released both Detra and Zephris from his aura.
“Detra, I understand that feeling all too well. Having a loved one taken and killed right before your very eye, I know it. Zephris, I also know what it’s like to seek revenge. It’s something you want more than anything else in the entire universe. You think, why should my enemies get to live on after what they’ve done? Why shouldn’t they be made to suffer as I have suffered? Is there no justice?”
Zephris said nothing, but he did agree.
“I, no, we both know these feelings all too well, which leads me to believe something. Zephris…you don’t actually want revenge…do you?”
Zephris’s eyes widened, and his jaw clenched so hard that it sounded as if a tooth or two had broken. Speaking through his teeth, Zephris asked.
“And what makes you think that?”
Kazuki held up the crystal orb and admired it for a second before explaining.
“After everything this snake has put you through, after all of the pain and suffering, and after your passionate speech, here Torzz is, alive. We both understand what revenge means, we both have seen one another’s memories but you and I…We are absolutely not the same. I’m not saying that your pain is not equivalent to my pain. No, if there was a real way to judge it and put weight to it, I would concede that you have indeed lost much more than I. This though leads me to believe that you actually don’t want revenge at all. After all, who the fuck would leave one of their most hated enemies alive after they already have the piece of shit within their grasp.”
Zephris lowered his head as his expression changed and his eyes narrowed.
“So are you saying I don’t want revenge? What then is it you think I actually want?”
Kazuki shrugged.
“Hmm, I don’t know specifically but the fact remains, you kept Torzz alive for a purpose. Not only that, I know what’s in your head. You could have made his prison in such a way that he would be constantly tortured and left in excruciating agony yet he’s only trapped for now. I think you no longer see Torzz as something to get revenge on but instead, you see him as a bargaining chip. You want something, either from me or from Detra but instead of asking outright, you decided to play this roundabout game. This…this annoys me.”
*Heheha*
Zephris chuckled lightly under his breath but how could it escape Kazuki or Detra’s ears.
“There’s no fooling you Kazuki. You do know my mind.”
Kazuki wasn’t impressed but was feeling as if his time had been wasted.
“It seems you know my line of thinking as well. Otherwise, you would not have risked pissing me off! Now out with it, no more theatrics, what is it you want?”
Detra couldn’t believe what she was hearing. By the way the conversation was going, this whole situation was just one big manipulation and game just so that Zephris could get something from them. Her wayward soul seemed to harden at this moment as rage boiled in her chest like bubbling magma.
She was posed to attack Zephris right then and there but Kazuki released a tiny bit of aura once more and she just barely kept her shit together.
“WHAT IS IT YOU WANT YOU TWISTED FIEND!?”
Zephris pointed at Detra.
“I want you.”
Kazuki, Detra, and Torzz were all taken aback before Zephris smirked and continued.
“Or rather I wish to have a sample of you to add to my work.”
Zephris looked at the lost expressions before he continued.
“Kazuki you are both right and wrong. After everything I’ve been through, my revenge has not been quelled. At the same time though, it is not as ravishing as it once was. Thinking back on it all, Torzz is just a piece of the puzzle. A terrible maddening piece but definitely not the whole picture. The real culprit has and always been Sephra. It was her who personally caused me to turn into that monster and it was her who took Torzz under her wing. She was a Demigod and Torzz a Titan. Even if he wanted to say no, the power dynamic did not allow it. Not only that but when I became the Miasma, my soul was lost within and I was thought to be dead. Even though Sephra, Torzz, and Fera all controlled the Miasma, none of them knew I was still in there. As far as Torzz and Fera were concerned, they were simply manipulating a mindless monster to do their bidding.”
Detra, Torzz, and Kazuki all shared a dumbfounded look as Zephris went on.
“Not only that but after all this time, my mindset tends to lean more towards Torzz’s own in regards to humanity. Before I became what I became. I had personally helped humans far too many times to count and what was I met with? Denial, anger, humiliation, greed, mistrust. I created crops that any could grow on barren soil. A food that was plentiful and required little water. Something that could be harvested in as little as 2 days. After spreading this information, what happened? All of the nobles, all of the Kings and Queens who are supposed to love and protect their people, looking out for their best interests. They taxed the crop so heavily that it cost more than any normal folk could bear. In most places, they even made it illegal. They tore it up by the roots and burned it to a crisp.”
Kazuki remembered that from Zephris’s memories. It didn’t stop just there. Kazuki recalled many times when Zephris tried only to help people and instead of them accepting it and continuing for the advancement of humanity, Zephris was labeled a liar and a swindler. They dragged his name and his master’s name through the dirt and no one trusted him. When he went to heal the broken, he was shunned and turned away. Even before he was turned into a monster, people ate up the propaganda and lies and called him a monster.
In the end, he began to no longer care about people and usually secluded himself in his ape city. His personality began to change drastically and he saw people as only greedy liars and in his mind, it was humanity that was the monster, it was people who became a plague to him. He became distrustful and things only spiraled from there.
“Torzz, although he is still a bastard, he did not know that I was still in there. Even I myself could not tell if I was still there or not most of the time. This doesn’t change the fact that he is one of the beings responsible for my continued suffering but the scales are tipped heavily in Sephra’s direction. It’s not hard to hate someone who harmed you but it is more difficult to do so when that person does not even know they are causing harm to the other. I find myself in an odd situation now. Torzz still did what he did and in doing so it caused me to go through something that should not happen to most. He still holds some responsibility and should face consequences of some sort. So, I propose this. Detra, you give me a sample of your body and a fragment of your soul. In return, I will place Torzz in your charge. He will remain in your charge indefinitely. If he does not then Kazuki will destroy him once and for all whether you two have an alliance or not. Well, what will you do?”
Detra was more than willing to give up a piece of herself, after all her body was simply made of concentrated energy with a bit of her willpower controlling the shape. It was not real flesh and blood. The thing she was having a hard time with though was handing over a fragment of her soul. The soul was the most important thing to a being of such power. It was something intimate and could literally decide your existence if things went badly.
At the same time, Torzz was her son. She could not turn away from him even now. She is and always was his mother. Detra closed her eyes and entered her own soul world briefly. The very next moment, a tiny fragment of her soul left her and appeared in the outside world.
Zephris didn’t hesitate to snatch it away with his own power and place it into a new crystal orb.
Detra opened her eyes and spoke coldly.
“Now give me my son.”
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