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Return of the Fallen Volume 2 Chapter 45

Author: Blue_Rat

ch45

Sam concentrated all of his energy into the small object Kazuki had given him and Sam could feel an intense connection. Sam became oddly still and since Asuna couldn’t see anymore, she became worried and approached him. Only a step forward though and she felt her entire body grow heavy by severalfold. It became incredibly difficult to breathe and her blood even slowed down by a fraction. She reflexively teleported a few feet back and the pressure instantly vanished.

Kazuki lit a small flame that hovered over his finger and walked over. Staring at her sternly he shook his head at her as if to say [ “Don’t try that again.” ].

*SCREeeeeeeeeeeeeeee*
*SCREeeeeeeeeeeeeeee*
*SCREeeeeeeeeeeeeeee*

*SCREeeeeeeeeeeeeeee*
*SCREeeeeeeeeeeeeeee*
*SCREeeeeeeeeeeeeeee*

Several loud cries came one after another from the sky above and continued nonstop. Shin and everyone else were stunned by this and wondered what had happened but Kazuki knew.

A small white light appeared as Kimi awoke in confusion. Her arm was in pain for some reason and it had awoken her. Mei’s hand gripped her arm tightly and Kimi couldn’t help but wince in pain. She tried to get Mei’s attention, shaking her light in front of her but both Mei and Tsura were completely out of it. Mei gripped her arm tighter and finally, Kimi could take the pain no longer and slapped her hand away.

(What’s wrong with them?)

It was only now that Kimi shook her confusion away and got a good look at them.

Mei and Tsura trembled uncontrollably and tears flooded from their eyes. Their faces became as pale as a sheet of paper and they were completely disoriented and unbalanced. With a slip, Tsura bumped into Mei and the two fell from the tree.

(Ah, careful!)

Kimi reached out and caught the two and pulled them close to her on the branch.

(What’s wrong with these two? They’re completely disoriented and terrified.)

Kimi lifted a hand in the air and shot an orb of light into the air.

(Solar Flare.)

The orb floated high up and lit the world up like a small sun. Looking around she spotted Sam and her emotions burst forth.

(Sam, he’s alive.)

Kimi began to cry in joy.

Kazuki flicked his finger and his small flame went out. Seeing the bright floating orb in the sky, he knew Kimi was awake.

Asuna and the others also felt a sense of relief knowing she was OK.

*Thud Thud Thud*

Kazuki and Asuna and Shin all felt the ground tremble slightly as they caught a glimpse of something falling from the sky. Not far from them, they spotted what had fallen.

It was the Mangshi. Every single one of them lay on the ground thrashing about and writhing in pure agony. Asuna and Shin had no clue what was wrong with them but they tried to stop Kazuki when they saw him approaching.

Kazuki shook his head and grabbed one of Asuna’s daggers from her side. Walking up to one of the Mangshi thrashing around, Kazuki waited for the best opportunity and stabbed it in the neck.

*Gashick*

Blood spurted out and splashed Kazuki’s face and neck, even covering most of his chest. Kazuki wiped his face and inched the dagger ever so deeper until…

*SCREeeeeeeeeeeeeeee*

The Mangshi’s body spasmed and Kazuki gave a final twist of the blade. The Mansghi’s body went limp as it bled out and died.

Repeating this step, Kazuki casually walked up to one Mangshi after the other and with a simple stab, he killed the rest of them then and there.

Wiping the blade on his pants, Kazuki tried to hand Asuna’s dagger back to her but both she and Shin were left completely flabbergasted, with mouths hanging to the floor. Kazuki flashed a satisfied smile before he simply put the dagger back in its sheath at her waist.

Kazuki then turned and walked casually off to the side. Asuna and Shin had no clue what he was going to do next and followed after him. Walking over to a few trees, there Kazuki discovered Abah’s location. She too was on the ground writhing in agony.

“So this is where you were hiding, you old bat.”

Shin and Asuna both shared a strange look before they both tried to speak.

“Ah.”

“Hello.”

Their eyes went wide.

“We can speak again, holy shit hehehe.”

Shin broke out into wild laughter and Asuna smiled from ear to ear.

“Ryuta, what happened? Why did the Mangshi and even Abah become that way and why are unaffected?”

“Wait a moment. Before I get into all of that, I have unfinished business with this old coot here.”

Asuna understood and pulled out her dagger to hand it back to Kazuki. Unfinished business meant one thing. Kazuki though waved it away.

“I don’t know if that will be necessary or not yet. Can you two give me a moment alone with her? There’s something we need to discuss.”

Asuna and Shin both felt a little offended that Kazuki wouldn’t say in front of them like he didn’t trust them but at the same time there was no particular reason to listen in. The two walked off, Shin to make sure Sam was ok, as he was still badly injured and Asuna to check on the girls.

Kazuki knelt down next to Abah and placed a hand over her arm. Just like when he discussed business with Nunully back in the Dancing Gazelle, Kazuki formed a small barrier of ki around Abah’s entire body.

Kazuki could have used this earlier to communicate with Asuna in the forest but at that time he still didn’t want to give any secrets of his away. Only when he got desperate enough did he use his ancient hand signs to light all the trees on fire in front of her.

Sending a bit of his ki out it formed a small barrier around her body. The outside effects immediately vanished and Abah slowly opened her eyes. Once she saw where she was and recognized Kazuki in front of her, she quickly jerked her arm away and tried to retreat. As soon as she did that though she could tell she made a mistake as she crumbled to the ground and felt that agony once again.

Kazuki slowly got up and sat down beside her. Placing his hand on her arm, once again he formed a barrier of ki around her.

Abah opened her eyes and saw Kazuki, this time she didn’t try to run away as a thought occurred to her. Abah’s face warped in shock as she muttered.

“You…you can control the void. How? why? This can’t be true.”

Kazuki waged his finger.

“Control it is not the right word, instead I simply used it. Do you remember the down payment your brother, Chief Atoh gave me? I used that small single piece of Magnitium to bring you all down.”

Abah shook her head in anger.

“Impossible, even if you had a piece on you, there’s no way its range could affect us all, not only that, the void is never supposed to bring us pain, it’s supposed to bring a full lack of every sense. Under it affects we should feel nothing, no sense of time, no sight, sound, taste, touch, no nothing. It’s the absence of these things which drive us mad. What you did brought both. A sense of nothing and at the same time an excruciating agony. How did it do it?”

Kazuki shook his head. His intention was only to spread the void, any other effects like pain, even he was confused by that and didn’t know how it happened.

“I don’t know about any pain or whatever but even with that small piece I had, it’s range, as you can see, is quite clear.”

Abah looked at Kazuki oddly as if he were still trying to trick her. Kazuki sighed and explained.

*Haaa*

“You already know that as long as a fragment of Magnitium is powered it will affect other pieces of Magnitium within a certain distance. Knowing that, I broke a piece of Magnitium off and threw the rest to my friend. Once he crushed it down into dust, he would simply throw it out. From there, the blazing fire I had lit earlier, that dust will fly up along with the smoke and spread everywhere. Then my other friend would cause it to rain down capturing any remaining bits that would cover everyone just in case. After that, I gave my remaining piece to my friend and he flooded it with his power. The Magnitium piece connected with all of the tiny bits of Magnitium in the air and, well, you know the rest. I would have done it myself but my friend clearly wanted revenge. After all, he’s kind of been picked on by you lot ever since we first encountered one another.”

Abah shook her head.

“This isn’t right, this can’t be.”

“But it is. And because of this, I have won and you all have lost.”

Abah realized something from his words and looked over toward the open field and saw her brother and the other Mangshi unmoving.

“You…you killed them!?”

“Hmph, of course I did. How can I let an enemy such as that remain alive.”

Abah’s withered body shook hearing that. With a hard swallow, she barely could get the words out of her mouth.

“Why are you telling me all this if you’re just going to kill me in the end anyway? What are you waiting for?”

Kazuki shook his head.

“Kill you…I don’t know if we’ve reached that point yet. It will all depend on whether or not I like your answer.”