Return of the Fallen Volume 13 Chapter 118
Mefius covered the field and everyone standing on it with his aura. The pressure was so great that it caused them all to fall to their hands and knees like a pack of lowly beasts.
Mefius’s cold voice spread across the field, sending chills down the spines of his subjects. More than all, he directed his booming voice at Runa, who had spoken up in defense of the crowd.
“Right, that is not for you to determine, child. I am right, no matter the case. Not only have you committed the sin of questioning me, but you have also shown no respect for my title. I am your master long before your father. One would think by now that you would have learned this. It seems Verick has failed you as a teacher. Once again, it seems you need to be taught a lesson.”
Mefius’s ring flashed, and once again he brought forth the frozen painting. The cold energy spilling out of this painting was enough to chill one to the bone. Verick felt this was way too harsh and spoke up.
“Master, Runa is still a work in progress. Her words may be foolish, but as you yourself have said, she is but a child. How can we go to extremes with someone who’s just barely taken the spoon from their mouth? Should this not be an opportunity to show how magnanimous you can be rather than a man who only wields an iron fist.”
Mefius turned to Verick.
“You think my punishment is a harsh one. You know the rules. When someone does not respect authority, they must be dealt the consequences.”
Mefius turned back to Runa. His red eyes focused on hers. Runa could only look away as her father’s gaze sent fear coursing through her blood. Just the thought of being dragged back into the frozen world was enough to make her soul crumble.
(No no no no no. Not that place, not again.)
Runa had just spoken up but now with the threat of the frozen painting, she was regretting her decision and actions.
She wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. She looked toward her teacher in belief but he shook his head. Her eyes darted around the field looking for a glimmer of hope, something, anyone to cling to until eventually her eyes for some reason landed upon a slave. She didn’t know why but she felt if it was Kazuki, maybe he could save her.
These foolish thoughts plagued her but she could not remove them and stared desperately at Kazuki. Reading her thoughts and soul, Kazuki understood just how terrified she was and how she looked to him for help. Helping Runa was not on his mind. He still had to complete his plans he still had much to do but seeing Runa like this, the way she placed her trust in Kazuki…
Kazuki could only sigh inwardly. He folded his aura around himself several billion times which allowed him to go from a kneeling position to moving his neck just enough to look up at Mefius and Verick.
“Master, this is too much!”
His voice broke and cracked under the pressure but it was still clear enough to shake everyone to their core. Even Mefius and Verick became wide-eyed.
From their last coded conversation, Verick had learned several things about Kazuki. One of them being just how clever Kazuki was. That’s why when Kazuki spoke up just now, he was left confused because in his mind this was the absolutely stupidest thing Kazuki could do.
Mefius felt irritation.
He wished to move his plans up by several months and for that, he needed Kazuki’s speed when it came to crafting swords. For Kazuki to speak up now and directly say that this was too much. It was directly calling out his actions as a mistake. Mefius was now contemplating if he should kill Kazuki or not to set an example.
(Hmm, I don’t know human anatomy too well. If I remove his lower half like Editrix, even if he has insane regenerative abilities it could be too much and he may die. Maybe my frozen world could be a proper punishment but again the cold may be too much for him and he dies again. Torture, maybe some soul damage on top of that…No, if his soul is damaged he won’t be able to use his aura properly for my swords. Breaking him too much puts my schedule behind and doing too little shows weakness and possibly favorability on my end.)
It had been quiet for nearly a minute when Mefius finally curled a finger. Kazuki and Runa were wrapped up in his power and were dragged through the air, to the stage, where they were made to kneel directly in front of him.
Mefius looked down upon Kazuki with disgust.
“Just when I was starting to like you. In the end for a slave to question his master…What shall I do with you?”
Kazuki could feel Verick and Bodock staring at him as if they were looking through them. Verick was confused about Kauzki’s actions while Bodock was more curious. He did not care for Kazuki and seeing his niece standing up for mere servants and soldiers pissed him off and disappointed him to no end. Right now he did not care about either of their fates.
Kazuki ignored the two and focused his attention solely on Mefius. As he resisted the pressure he spoke through gritted teeth.
“Master, I never questioned you or your methods. I merely pointed out that this was too much.”
Mefius felt his anger rise and without a second thought his tail shot forward and he ripped one of Kazuki’s arms off on the spot. He was slightly surprised there was this much resistance and toughness in Kazuki’s muscle fibers but in the end, he still tore the arm off with relative ease.
Kazuki purposely slowed his regeneration at this moment and it took several seconds for his arm to regrow.
Everyone that could see Kazuki, watched in shock at his recovery speed. Even though for him this was slow, to them it was insane and unlike anything they’d ever seen.
Bodokc took an interest in this recovery speed.
“To regenerate at such a rate…I would like to test my blade on him.”
Bodock drew his long forked blade from his back and crimson lightning began to gather between the forked blades.
Mefius found this interesting.
“Just when I was wondering how to punish you. my brother’s blade may just be adequate. I wonder how many strokes it would take for him to cut you to pieces. Shall we test it or will you repent here and now?”
The crowd was shocked. Their master who was ruthless when it came to handing out punishment was actually allowing a way out for someone. This was completely unheard of.
Mefius fully expected Kazuki to agree to this and Bodock became even more frustrated and disappointed. He thought he would finally have a bit of fun for once but just like that Mefius stripped it away. To the surprise of not just them but everyone there, Kazuki gritted his teeth and struggled as he shook his head.
“I have committed no misconduct so there is nothing to repent for. All I’ve mentioned was that this is too much… But I never said it was wrong. In fact, I agree with Master. With what we currently have, no one deserves the meat.”
Bodock grew excited. With Kazuki admitting no wrong doing it meant Mefius’s way out was now off the table.
Bodock took a step forward and pointed his blade directly at Kazuki’s head. He wondered which part he should cut off first.
“Your arm already grew back so quickly. I wondered though, if I were to cut off both arms at the same time, which would grow back first, the left one or the right? Shall we find out ugly human?”
Bodock lifted Kazuki’s arms using his aura until they were pointed straight up at the sky.
Runa could not watch Kazuki get tortured and looked away. Just as his blades touched Kazuki’s right arm, Mefius’s tail caught Bodock’s wrist in mid-swing. Bodock glared at Mefius.
“What are you doing?”
Mefius sighed.
“Did I say to continue? More than that, another subordinate who questions my actions.”
Bodock threw Mefius’s tail away with a flick of his wrist, and the two stopped for a moment and stared.
“Big brother, is there something else you wish to do or can I go about my business here?”
Mefius’s words were filled with sarcasm, which irked Bodock further. Looking at the situation, though, Bodock knew he needed to reserve his strength for now, so he stepped back.
“I was merely curious, but your right, this is your business, not mine.”
Bodock took to the sky and glared down below for a moment. With a thought, a red cloud appeared and flew him away in an instant.
Verick could feel the tension in the air still but something had also changed. Mefius had stopped Bodock, so Verick knew Kauzki’s words had gotten through somewhat. Verick kept his words brief.
“Kazuki, What do you mean you agree?”
Verick helped take some of the pressure off of him, and for that, Kazuki was thankful.
“Lord Verick, Master was correct, but…”
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