Return of the Fallen Volume 13 Chapter 46
After Bodock disappeared over the horizon, Verick looked down at Kazuki.
“Are you going to walk, or do I have to use that collar once more?”
Vercik could see the defiant expression in Kazuki’s eyes.
“Hmm, yes, you can withstand a grave deal of pain, that much is obvious now. Your friend, however…Shall we put it to the test? How much can the sharptooth take do you think?”
Kazuki could only follow this man’s orders and stand on his feet.
Verick nodded.
“Good, you know where your priorities lie at least. Remember this exact situation the next time you wish to defy my words. We have the one you care about in our grasp. Even if the two of you are rare, to prove a point, death is not off the table.”
Kazuki did not know if this was true or false. Earlier Verick had threatened both Bodock and Runa the moment they tried to harm the master’s property. Kazuki did not know if he and Monsuta’s lives actually held value or not. For now, it was not the time to risk it. Kazuki did as he was told and he began to walk.
(Kazuki…)
Monusta barely said a word before he once more fell unconscious. His wounds were still borderline. He needed all the recovery he could get.
Kazuki thought about the collar on his neck and cursed not only it but the people who placed it on him and this entire Realm in general. He thought about the many different healing techniques he could apply if the situation were different. He quickly went to Monsuta’s side where Runa met him.
She glared viciously at him.
“If you do anything stupid or try and make any moves, even if I’m not allowed to kill you, I’ll be sure to put you through the worst torment you can possibly imagine. Understand me?”
Kazuki nodded.
“I understand Runa.”
Runa bared her fangs when she heard Kazuki call her name.
“Disgusting. Never call my name you pathetic creature.”
She was about to punch Kazuki and send him flying but she caught Verick’s side eye. She rolled her own eyes before grabbing the broken chain on the ground as well as the broken chain wrapped around Monsuta’s neck. Holding both the broken ends in her hands, a red glow lit up and the chains heated turning red hot almost instantly. Holding the broken pieces together, they fused back together, albeit in a bit of a sloppy manner before cooling back down and becoming sturdy enough for their job.
Verick’s eyes held a soft red glow and the many soldiers knocked out here and there and those who were being suppressed by Kauzki moments ago, all got back up. Many still held fear in their hearts but more held onto anger for Kazuki and wished to kill him right then and there.
Verick’s shout snapped them out of such foolish thoughts.
“What are you all standing around for…MOVE!”
The soldiers did not wait around and followed lord Verick’s command without fail. A long line of soldiers and wagons stretching several miles began to move forward across the land.
Kazuki watched all of these soldiers moving in a long line and thought about their power compared to his own servants and soldiers. He had thousands upon thousands that had died while facing Belux. A handful of them were Gods while the rest were Demigods. There was also Specxzu the wasp-like creature. They difference in strength was lopsided, leaning heavily in favor of these odd-looking creatures surrounding him. He wondered if that was due to this Realm and the primordial flame or if they were simply stronger than other gods outside of this Hell Realm.
(I don’t even know what happened to all of them. I promised that they would all live in peace when everything was over but now I don’t even know where they even are.)
Kazuki looked down at his hand and the finger where he usually wore his storage ring. In the final fight against Belux, he lost everything. Worst yet he did not even know if the souls of those that fought and were loyal to him still even existed. It was one thing to have his storage ring destroyed in a normal Realm but he had lost it in Chaotic space.
(My storage ring would easily be destroyed after a short amount of time in Chaotic space. With it, all of the souls of my followers would be destroyed as well.)
Kazuki wished by some strange occurrence his storage ring fell out of Chaotic space before it was destroyed. That or Arc or Codex somehow recovered it before it was too late. The moment he thought of Arc and Codex, a flash of soul-wrenching pain struck him.
(STILL THIS PAIN HAUNTS ME!)
Kazuki put it out of mind. He watched as Runa took one leap and landed at the front of the marching soldiers. Verick took one last glance at Kazuki.
“Stay in line with everyone else or you know what will happen. Even if you were to leave, the collar cannot be taken off without my permission or the master’s express command. If you think you can survive these dangerous lands with most of your power sealed away…Good luck.”
With that, Verick leapt backward taking the rear of the line several miles back. There were thousands of soldiers between Kazuki and Verick with carts and wagons full of creatures. Many were dead, while a few were alive and seemed exotic in nature.
(Verick is so confident I won’t escape he’s not even chaining me back up. This slave collar truly is confining but is it beyond my skill…That we will have to see.)
After Verick jumped to the back of the line, Kazuki waited for the soldiers to take their eyes off of him before his hands began to flash and blur with the ancient hand signs. After barely a few seconds the element of water flowed to his left hand while the element of earth flowed to his left. His hands were covered in blue and green light as if he were wearing gloves of power.
Very quickly and silently he pressed his hands onto Monsuta’s head. The power of water and earth sank into his head and his hands glowed no more. The wounds all over Monsuta’s body slowly began to close and the bleeding stopped.
Kazuki saw this and sighed in relief. He had used the healing properties in water and earth and used them as best he could. With this world suppression, he could only pull out a fragment of the ancient hand sign’s power which meant the effectiveness was low as well. It only helped a small amount but seeing the wounds healing was more than he could ask for.
Eventually, Monsuta’s pained expression relaxed and his labored breaths returned to something close to normal. His lower half began to regrow and even a new tail sprouted.
Kazuki repeated this dozens of times. He had to do it in many intervals to avoid the watchful eyes of the surrounding soldiers but in this way, he managed to fully close all of Monsuta’s wounds. Kazuki was just glad the slave collar on his neck did not affect the Ancient hand signs.
(It looks like the collar seals my power and mine alone. Thankfully the ancient hand signs pull power from my surroundings and not directly from my core. Otherwise, this would be impossible under these conditions.)
Traveling through deserts and valleys, deep forests made of burning bone, and mountains covered in black flames, nearly 7 full days had passed when Kazuki saw something in the distance. Something was reflecting light from the blue sun in their direction.
A few hundred miles away, there it was, a large stargate. This one, however, held a large reflective piece of some kind at the top of its arch. This stargate sat dead center of some kind of city. Kazuki ignored the city and its structures and focused on the Stargate.
(That’s it, that is my escape route. So long as I get inside that stargate and activate it, I can escape this Hell Realm once and for all. I’ll wait until Monsuta has fully recovered. I also need to find a way to get these damn collars off of us. Once they’re off, with my speed, I’ll get us there in a flash, and we’ll hop across to a new star path as quickly as possible. This can work.)
Kazuki was far too optimistic. As soon as they got closer, it became obvious that his plan would fail. Arriving near the outskirts of the city, Kauzki could see the stargate much clearer. The reflective piece at the top of the stargate. It was not just some mirror or another random piece, but the Stargate’s power source.
From where he stood, he could see several large cracks in this reflective piece and he could feel not an ounce of energy coming from the gate itself. The entire Stargate…it was broken.
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