Return of the Fallen Volume 4 Chapter 106
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Author: Blue_Rat
ch106
By this time, most of the city was quiet. Those set to rise early were already tucked away sleeping peacefully. Guards were bored as they watched over this odd calm. With everything that’s happened recently, most were expecting chaos. With the city lord killed, a power vacuum should have naturally formed but because of Degra and Triska, everything was quelled within hours and the city was theirs.
The guards and soldiers had little choice but to accept the new order but most were fine with this new leadership and things went smoothly. Even those rambunctious fellows who would normally cause trouble. Knowing who was in charge now, there would be no bribes nor favors to get them out of trouble were they to be caught up in something. The criminal elements who would have the perfect opportunity to cause trouble, after their leaders were all killed in one fell swoop were either absorbed into Triska’s people or taken in by Degra’s organization. Those that refused could only die or go into hiding, laying low, or giving up entirely.
Because of this, the past few nights had been fairly quiet.
Back in the house Kazuki and the others were staying, Asuna had passed out from drinking far too much. Things had been rowdy but after Asuna was out, Shin soon followed after her. After Sam finally got Kimi to calm down, the two separated from the rest and comforted one another. Soft moans were barely held back but with Kazuki’s hearing, it didn’t matter much.
Tsura and Nunully eventually called it quits and helped Asuna to bed with them and all that was left was Kazuki and a passed out Shin.
Kazuki poured himself another cup and downed it with ease. A slight buzz tickled his senses but with a deep breath, Kazuki circulated his ki throughout his body, and the effect of the alcohol was completely neutralized.
Kazuki thought about what Asuna was saying just before she passed out. She was on the verge of saying she’d come with him. Kazuki couldn’t help but shake his head.
(Is she a fool? After knowing everything, even how petty I am, how much of a hypocrite I am for still seeking revenge and yet she says she’ll follow me. Even if it means she or the rest could all be killed.)
Kazuki didn’t know whether to feel happy or sad. It seemed that they’ve all seen things from his perspective now but to still want to follow him.
Lost in his thoughts and twirling his half empty cup, the sound of knocking nearby roused him from his thoughts.
*tok tok*
(At this time, who?)
“Kazuki, I can see your’e still up, open the door for me.”
Kazuki recognized the voice and sighed.
*Haaa*
Answering the door, a pair of snake-like eyes met his.
“Degra, I know you know what time it is, yet you still show up here unannounced.”
Degra smiled before squeezing past Kazuki. He saw the mess from the drinking and the broken table but he didn’t seem to care about that. Grabbing a cup he filled it with some wine and sipped at it.
“Now why would I need to announce my arrival, do you forget that this is my house? hehe.”
Kazuki was already in no mood for anything else tonight and yet Degra was already a fly in his face. Sitting down across from Degra, Kazuki poured himself another cup.
“Fine I get it, it’s your place you don’t have to say anything whether you’re gonna show up or not. Let’s cut through the bull shit, you know what kind of day I’ve had. Just tell me what it is you want so I can go ahead and tell you no.”
“Oh, you assume your answer will be no. The way you think, I don’t believe your reply will be so rash after you hear what I have to say. Look ahead and think about what happens if you say no to me.”
Kazuki narrowed his eyes and glared at Degra but Degra just smiled in return.
“We just got done defeating Triska barely a day ago and you’re already pointing a blade at my throat. You sure get over friends fast.”
Degra shrugged his shoulders.
“Since when were we friends? My dear Kazuki, we simply had a partnership, allies for the moment and now that things are done with Triska it’s time to move forward, look to the future if you will. We can be allies again. Or…”
“Or what?”
Degra went silent and stared at Kazuki for a long time before he finally smiled and looked away.
“Hahaha, why so serious? Whether I do anything or not, I can’t beat you, that’s clear. At the same time though, I wouldn’t need to do much. A few words were said through long-distance communication. King Garn has been known to teleport around these days.”
Kazuki stood up and reached forward at his fastest speed. Degra was ready and a sword made from dark energy had already formed and he was slicing towards Kazuki’s hand. Just as the blade of dark energy was about to cut through Kazuki’s hand, Kazuki’s arm changed direction and he grabbed Degra’s wrist and squeezed.
*Urgh*
Degra let out a painful moan and his blade fell out of his hand and stabbed deeply into the floor, his eyes almost shining as he looked at Kazuki.
(I knew he was fast but he shouldn’t have escaped my blade at this range barehanded, frightening.)
Kazuki held out his empty hand and a blue flame formed above it and grew until it was the size of a head.
“You dare threaten me!”
Degra feigned innocence.
“No no no, I wouldn’t. I never said I would actually do anything. I simply said I wouldn’t need to do much. It was a joke, a slip of the tongue, you could say.”
Kazuki thought about killing Degra right there and then. To get rid of him now would take some pressure off of him. At the same time, there were too many unforeseen variables. He didn’t know if Degra came alone or not. If any of his people were around and Degra didn’t come out at a certain, that could screw Kazuki over completely. Not just him, this could wind up affecting everyone else. Plus if Degra was dead, Kazuki wondered if Triska might come back to slay him. For some reason even now, Triska had yet to come for him and Kazuki had a feeling she was off his back had something to do with Degra, though he wasn’t for sure.
(It’s either him that’s preventing Triska from coming for me or maybe her sister mentioned something in passing. There’s no way to tell. Either way, Killing Degra may put the whole city against me, and in return, it could drag the others into the mud with me. After all the shit they’ve been through, I’d be an asshole if I did this.)
Kazuki let go of Degra and Degra began rubbing his wrist pitifully.
“Was the grip necessary? What are you related to a damn dirty ape?”
Kazuki tilted his head slowly.
“Your lucky I didn’t just break it. In the end though, I suppose you could just take it as a joke a slip of my strength you could say.”
Kazuki gave Degra a facetious smile.
Degra became annoyed.
“Fine I get it, I was a piece of shit just then. To use threats, I may have gone overboard but you see I really want you to accept my offer.”
“This shit again. Let me guess, work under you and we can defeat Triska and rule the city together, riches will rain from the heavens and you can have it all with me or something like that, right?”
Degra shook his head.
“No, I can tell what kind of person you are. You care for power but not the kind like mine. Not the kind where you control pawns beneath your feet. No, you want real power, a strength so large that no one can fuck with you. So that if a king wants your head, you can take his instead and no one will oppose it, or rather you’ll be so strong that they aren’t even capable of even trying. You want power so mighty that it can crush the mountains and overturn the seas with a snap of your fingers. To overthrow the balance of the world with a thought, this is what you want.”
Kazuki became silent and Degra smiled.
“Am I wrong Kazuki, am I?”
“Are you saying you can give me all of that?”
Degra took a step closer.
“I can…in time.”
Kazuki shook his head.
“Too bad that’s not what I desire. Now if that’s all, could you kindly get the fuck out of your house.”
Degra’s expression became deflated.
“You…Really. Are you really going to sit stand there and tell me you don’t wish for power? Then just what in the 7 realms of hell do you want?”
Kazuki didn’t answer him. Instead, he grabbed Degra by the arm and shoved him out. Degra was so shocked he didn’t even resist. Only when the door slammed in his face did he yell back in a final protest.
“Dammit, Kazuki don’t be an idiot. You think you’ll be able to protect your friends without power. Accept my offer, otherwise, sooner or later, all of your friends will die uselessly, just like that Danny fellow!”
Kazuki ran over to the door and flung it open but only an afterimage was left behind and Degra was already long gone.
Kazuki felt his anger boiling over him and so he picked up a nearby chair and slammed it onto the ground, breaking it into pieces. Then he shattered the already broken table even further and began breaking everything in sight. All of this noise should have awoken the entire neighborhood but even with all of this anger, Kazuki still had some control and had erected a ki barrier to cut off all the noise from inside the room. Still, after he was done, Kazuki couldn’t help but stare at Shin incredulously.
Shin was inside the ki barrier so he heard all of it yet he was still passed out drunk. Seeing his stupid face with debris laying on top of him, Kazuki’s mood was lifted slightly.
Kazuki’s shoulders relaxed and he sat down in thought.
(Danny. You didn’t die in vain. Because of you, everyone was saved and they don’t even realize it.)
Kazuki calmed down completely and sat in a meditative position. Breathing in and out deeply he shut his eyes. The next moment, he was in his soul world.
Kai greeted him.
“Yo little dummy, what brings you around these parts?”
Kai looked at Kazuki’s sullen expression and asked.
“What’s the matter now?”
Kazuki was confused.
“I thought you could see and hear everything I see?”
Kai rolled his eyes.
“Do you think your life is so interesting that I would sit around all the time just observing all of that shit? Besides watching what goes on out there is like watching one of those movies back on Earth except everything is on super slo-mo constantly due to the time difference between out there and in here.”
(Ah, that makes sense. Who would want to watch something so slow? I guess the only reason he winds up doing that is that it gets boring in here but to sit around and watch all the time, in turn, would become extremely boring.)
Kazuki was lost in thought for a moment when he noticed something odd about his big brother. Looking him up and down he wondered.
“Big bro, did you get smaller?”
Kai sighed out loud.
*Haaa*
“You really are slow sometimes. For you to just now notice that this body has grown smaller.”
Kai really had become smaller. He was now much shorter than Kazuki.
“Eh, what happened!?”
*Whack*
Kai punched Kazuki on the head.
“Don’t scream so loud dummy, I’m right in front of you. As for my height, well you can thank him for that or rather blame him.”
Kazuki turned around and there he was. Danny casually walked over.
“Kazuki, can we finally talk about this whole dead thing?”
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