Return of the Fallen Volume 13 Chapter 47
As they arrived at the outskirts of a large city, Kazuki could see the Stargate more clearly now, and his hopes were crushed.
(No…the stargate…It’s broken.)
At the center of the stargate, resting at the top, was a cracked core of some kind. It was the Stargate’s power source.
(With the core broken, there’s no way I can teleport out of this damn place. No, I can’t lose hope so easily. If it’s similar to any of the other stargates I’ve come across, my knowledge should aid me. Teleportation comes down to a few key factors. Space, light, power. I have a good deal of Arcs knowledge when it comes to the element of space.)
Kazuki felt an ache in his mind recalling Arc. He couldn’t help but grip his head in pain.
(Kazuki are you ok?)
Kazuki and Monsuta had been forcibly dragged along with this large group of soldiers. After about 3 days, Monsuta had finally fully regained consciousness and now after a few more days, he had recovered by around 80% and could move on his own. Even though he was still not entirely healed, he still showed great concern for Kazuki.
(I’m fine. Don’t worry about me and just keep focusing your energy on recovering.)
(But.)
(Monsuta, trust me, I’m ok. You on the other hand still don’t even have your tail. The faster you recover the quicker we can escape.)
Monsuta’s eyes widened before he quickly returned his expression to normal.
(Kazuki does this mean you have a plan to get out of here? I don’t care what it is but we need to leave as soon as possible. These are the creatures I was talking about. The ones who betray their own kind and enslave them. They are strong, cruel, and know how to work in groups. If we fight them we can’t win.)
Kazuki understood this as well. The soldiers he and Monsuta could easily take but if they had to deal with Verick or Bodock, even Runa would take too much time to handle. Kazuki was confident in his skills but at the same time, he knew that Runa had underestimated him during their last fight and she hadn’t even drawn her weapon. If they were to face one another again, she would most likely forgo fists and take out her blade right away.
Currently, Kazuki could sense Verick at the back of the line and Runa at the front. Kazuki and Monsuta were sandwiched between two experts with seemingly no way out.
(I won’t lie to you Monsuta. I don’t have a plan just yet but I’m not ready to give up. I’ll find a way out of this and we’ll both escape together so again, focus on recovering. Wait, what about your door?)
Monsuta looked left and right in confusion.
(My door…What about it?)
(When we broke out of the cave, you only took a small portion of the door with you. Meaning that hill-sized rock still has a large portion of your aura inside of it. If that aura is returned to you, your powers will rise rapidly. You may even be stronger than that giant shrieker or these dangerous creatures surrounding us.)
Monsuta’s eyes went wide and they lit up with light before the hope faded and he became sad. His voice became like that of a failure. Shaky and full of regret.
(That would have surely helped that night. If only I would have thought of that sooner. Before we even fled from my home, I could have returned all of my aura from my door and grown stronger right there and then. At that point, I might have not even needed to fear the giant, let alone his minions. We also wouldn’t have gotten captured by those evil slavers. This…This is all my fault.)
Monsuta felt like a disappointment. The last thing he wanted to do was bring danger or harm to Kazuki and wa snow blaming himself for their current situation.
Kazuki placed a hand on Monsuta’s side in comfort.
(This is not your fault, not at all. We were trapped in the cave with those shriekers and they were also trying to make their way inside. It was my idea to run and it was my idea to use part of your door as armor. Had I been thinking more clearly I could have suggested you use all of the aura in your door but I was careless and did not even see that as an option at the time. Don’t fret though, if you can get the aura now, we can escape right away.)
Monsuta wanted to cry hearing this and his large head slumped down.
(Kazuki…That’s impossible. I…I can’t sense my door. I can’t sense any of it from this distance. We’re too far.)
This was another heavy blow for them.
If they had the aura inside the cave door, Monsuta’s powers would climb several fold. Maybe they wouldn’t be able to take on everyone but at least with Monsuta reaching that level, the two would have no difficulty in leaving this place behind. Without it though, the two could only continue moving their feet forward drawing ever closer to the large city.
(Kazuki…Please don’t be upset with me. If…If I had known, I…I
(Stop. I’m not mad, how could I be? This was an unforeseen situation and honestly, the outcome may suck. At the same time, if not for these unruly bastards, we would both be dead right now. The giant shrieker would have crushed us or melted us down. The fact that they showed up and stopped the giant, sending him retreating back to the underground could be counted as a blessed curse. At the same time, It’s my presence that attracted the giant in the first place. He wants something from me that I cannot…No I will not give him. It is my fault you are a target. So if there is blame to be had, it falls squarely on my shoulders and not yours.)
Monsuta disagreed and a small back-and-forth ensued. Finally, the pair settled on it being both their fault a little with the majority of the blame going to the ones who attacked them in the first place. With this, the two shared a small laugh inwardly. Even in this dire situation, neither gave up and bot appreciated that they were still alive. Besides that, now that they were going into this strange new city, it meant a sort of protection from the giant shrieker.
(The giant shrieker seems to have a special ability of sorts that allowed him to sniff out the fact that I have Artifacts with me. Verick, Bodock, and Run, although all three are incredibly powerful, none mentioned any Artifacts. This could be because they don’t have senses as good as the giant or the fact that I recently underwent an evolution with my own powers and soul right before they arrived and they cannot detect it with how powerful my soul now is.)
Kazuki did his best to think through this and came upon this guestimation. If it wasn’t due to the fact that his soul had received a major upgrade after he absorbed all of the energy from thousands of shriekers, his soul world should have been easily accessible by someone like Verick or Bodock. They would have surely sensed something like an Artifact on him if his soul really was that much weaker than theirs.
(Monsuta, once we enter this place, try to memorize everything you can about this place. The more detail the better. Even if it’s about small things and might seem useless memorize it anyway.)
(Ok but what good will that do?)
(In order to find a weakness one must observe and look. Weaknesses will reveal themselves eventually, that, I guarantee. Once we’ve found said weakness, I will build from there and form a plan for our escape. Besides that though we need to follow their orders without complaint. We will act like good servants and slaves and earn their trust. All the way up until we make our leave from this place.)
Kazuki and Monsuta, along with the tens of thousands of soldiers arrived at the city gate. Walls stretching upward for thousands of feet. Made of a dark reddish brown material. Kazuki could tell how sturdy the walls were with a simple glance.
Unlike other city walls Kazuki had come across in the past, these walls had zero protection. There were no magic cannons, no open ports to even toss a spear or fire a bolt of lightning through. No inscriptions of any kind, no nothing. Even the top of the wall was left unguarded, which was of course confusing.
(Do they not care about defending this place?)
Kazuki’s thoughts stopped here as he suddenly felt a powerful wave of aura envelop him. Not just him but every single person there. In an instant, Kauzki understood why there were no protections or defenses set up. It was due to this aura or rather the owner of this aura. This power was more than Runa’s. More than the shriekers, more than Verikcs and Bodocks.
Once more, Kazuki had come across a power that was beyond all he had ever personally felt before.
(No wonder, there are no defenses. Who would dare attack this place when there is a monster guarding it.)
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