Return of the Fallen Volume 4 Chapter 25
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Author: Blue_Rat
ch25
As the cold wind blew through an open field, Asuna and the others marched unhappily behind Reya. Asuna beamed a vicious glare at Danny every step of the way but Danny wouldn’t let himself be blamed. Whispering as to go unnoticed by Reya, Danny pushed some blame to her.
“Your seriously gonna look at me like that when this is all Kazuki’s fault. Actually, if you had a better poker face and didn’t blush every time he was mentioned, we wouldn’t have to tag along like this.”
*Whack*
Asuna didn’t hesitate to punch Danny in the side, knocking him to the ground.
“You’re blaming me! Who was it that told her where Kazuki was going and how to get there!”
Reya turned her head back and snapped at the two.
“Shut it! Do I really need to come back there and silence you two?”
Asuna crossed her arms over her chest but she went quiet real quick. She knew Reya’s strength well after the last time. Danny grumbled as he slowly made his way back to his feet.
Reya looked over her captives. After showing off her strength, she didn’t even have to tie any of them up. She made it clear that the moment someone ran she would kill the others before chasing down the runner and showing them what being tortured by an Azirian was like. Sam was silent like always and stuck to Kimi’s side like glue. Kimi and Shin, on the other hand, both stared daggers at Reya. In the end though with the threat of their friend’s lives, they didn’t dare attempt to flee.
Even if they did make a run for it, there was nowhere to go. Mountains as far as the eye could see and a wash of white surrounding on all sides. No, they could only follow Reya or rather lead her exactly where she wished to go.
Reya grabbed Danny by the arm and pulled him to the front.
“You lead.”
Danny didn’t know what to do.
“I don’t know the way.”
“You said it was northeast right, keep going that way.”
Reya pointed in a certain direction and Danny could only listen to her but still, he didn’t understand. If Reya knew which way northeast was, why did she still need him or anyone else to lead the way?
As though she could read Danny’s mind she leaned forward and whispered in his ear.
“Are you curious about why I want you at the front?”
Before Danny could even nod, Reya’s arm extended out several feet and sharpened to a point, taking on the shape of a blade. Her arm had shot past his face, terrifying him and the others. She slowly withdrew it and a line of blood ran down Danny’s cheek. Swinging it to the left of her at a terrifying speed, the blade touched Sam’s side and cut at his shirt. Swinging it again before anyone could blink it went around to her right side and touched the edge of Shin’s neck, once again drawing a small amount of blood.
The speed of her attacks was so swift that none had been able to escape from it. Had she wanted to kill them, she could have done it before they could make a single move.
Reya chuckled.
“Hahaha, with all of you gathered like this, I can reach you all before anyone has a chance to flee. This way you guys don’t get the idea of splitting up and running in a bunch of directions at once. I used two swings just then and you could do nothing but truth be told I could slay you all with one good swing. I’ll kill you all and keep one alive to continue to lead me. That’s why you are in the front boy. You’re merely better suited to be controlled because of how cowardly and weak you are.”
Danny’s heart skipped a beat and his face went white.
“That isn’t right. We are all hostages if you kill any of us, Kazuki won’t trade with you.”
“Bwahahahaha. You still think I’m gonna trade with him, how cute. Once I find him, there’s no possible way for him to escape me. Well unless he takes flight on that ugly bird again. That’s the only reason I’m not killing you lot yet. If he actually does care about even one of you, once he sees you, it may slow his reactions down just enough for me to do what I do.”
Danny and the rest swallowed dryly.
“Ah but that doesn’t mean I’ll let any of you live. Right now you may have some use to me and I have no actual enmity with any of you. I have no reason to kill you but that doesn’t me I won’t. Just give me a reason and I’ll let your death wish come to fruition. One thing that will definitely wear out your use is if you all continue to argue and slow me down. I’m already far behind as it is.”
Danny and everyone else from that point on became as quiet as mice. One thing Danny couldn’t get over though was Reya herself.
(She is completely different from what Garn told us about Azirians. She’s not some dumb creature that kills people on instinct. She clearly has intelligence as well as loyalty to that Fera lady. Not only that her strength is also beyond what Garn said. How could Garn be so wrong about all of this? No, there’s obviously missing information. Garn showed us that video of that small Azirian child. She ripped through a squad of soldiers but she was nowhere near the level of ability as Reya. Could it be an age thing or something else? Either way, if there are more Azirians like Reya than Treia, no, all of the Feya continent is in even more danger than originally thought. Garn, no all of the leaders of this land must be warned as soon as possible.)
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After walking for close to an hour, Reya spotted something in the distance.
“Hmm, HEY PICK UP THE PACE!”
Reya started to run ahead and she grabbed Danny and dragged him along as she went forward. Asuna and the others stared at one another for a moment, hesitating but they knew they could run from Reya. They ran after her, a feeling of a twisted knot in their stomachs came with them.
Reya stopped before the thing she spotted and threw Danny down. Danny landed face first in the snow and lifted his head in a daze. He was greeted by the sight of a large maimed, eyeless corpse.
“AHHHHH!”
Danny’s scream scared Asuna and the others and they picked up their pace. Arriving in front of the dead body, each one felt a sense of disgust but only a second later, Shin recognized the body.
“That’s Abura!”
Reya wondered who that was before the image of a big fatty circled her memories. She didn’t know Abura’s name but she could somewhat make out the body, after all, Abura’s large frame was not something just anyone could have, especially out here where there were no villages or other settlements to be found.
As soon as Shin mentioned the name, everyone recognized the body one by one. Danny was one of the most surprised.
“He…did Kazuki do this? No, Tsura and Mei were with him. Even if they were both injured they could still do something with their irregular strength and armored bodies.”
As soon as he spoke out, Danny denied it right away. In his mind, there was no way Kazuki, who didn’t have a Mage core could do this.
(Even with his ancient hand symbol power, it takes time to use. With Abura’s speed and tough defense, there’s no way Kazuki would have been able to use it on…)
Danny stopped in his tracks as he looked over the wounds.
(Burns.)
He hadn’t noticed at first but looking at the eye sockets, there were clear scorch marks. On the side of his shoulder as well, there was melted skin. Danny’s curiosity outweighed his fear and he leaned in closer to get a better look.
He could see directly into Abura’s head through the eye socket.
(His brains been liquified, that’s a lot of heat. There are also burn marks around all of the orifices on his face. Kazuki must have burned him from the inside out and the temperature must have turned some of his blood into steam, which would have caused some of these burns as the heat came out of him. How did he have time to do this. Did Tsura and Mei hold Abura in place? Abura wouldn’t have done anything though. He can use wind blades like Shin. He should have been able to cut through their armored feathers with his power. Ahh…)
Danny noticed the broken legs. Picking up Abura’s only remaining arm, he felt a broken bone. Rubbing his chin in thought a picture came together.
(They must have broken his limbs one by one. Yes, that would have done it. Once he was immobile, there would be nothing else he could do. Kazuki would then have all the time in the world to use his ancient hand signs. Yes, this makes sense.)
Danny never once thought or could even possibly imagine that Kazuki had actually reforged his Mage core, which allowed him to completely dominate Abura. He couldn’t fathom Kazuki killing Abura on his own.
Kimi looked at Abura’s body and felt both anger and disappointment.
“So that fatty failed, damn useless.”
Sam wore a difficult expression hearing Kimi but he couldn’t be upset with her.
Reya grabbed Danny and threw him to the side. Squatting down she looked at the mess that was Abura.
“Hmm, this is the one Muteki sent after Kazuki.”
A thought jumped into Reya’s mind seeing this corpse.
(Muteki sent this fat one after Kazuki but how did this ball of meat track Kazuki down. If Kazuki simply flew out of sight, he could have gotten away completely free but this one ended up in this state which means Kazuki didn’t just get away freely. This one stayed on their trail somehow.)
Reya walked over in front of Abura.
(I guess I’ll have you tell me.)
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