Return of the Fallen Volume 8 Chapter 67
With a slight squeeze, Kazuki had barely used any strength whatsoever but it was this small squeeze that crushed Garn’s head and took his life. Kazuki felt the weight of the old man’s body in his hand and wondered how it could be so light before tossing it away like a rag doll.
*thud*
As it hit the ground, Garn’s corpse made a low thud noise. Just like his death, his body hitting the ground was anti-climatic. There was no huge epic fight, no battle for life and death, and no struggle for survival. With a simple squeeze, everything was over. Kazuki felt odd for a moment. From nearly the moment he returned to Gordonia from Earth, he was hunted by Garn.
Garn, back then to Kazuki was a powerhouse. The closes thing to a grim reaper as he was chased down and fought tooth and nail in order to live. Garn was this monumental thing, this constant looming shadow of doom creeping over his shoulder. This threat that he truly did fear, that he truly was terrified of to his core.
Kazuki literally had nightmares of Garn. A man who was arguably the most powerful human on the continent. A man who could move mountains with his magic and could teleport islands and destroy cities with a wave of his scepter. Garn was someone Kazuki could not face and had to do everything in his power to avoid at all cost. This same god-like figure, with a simple squeeze of his hand, died in such a small way.
Kazuki looked down at his hand that was covered in blood and brain matter.
(Is this what happens when one achieves true power, true strength? After everything, he put me through, after everything he put my friends through and he died just like that.)
Kazuki almost found it unbelievable. He had built the man up so much in his head but in the end, power was power. With what e’s obtained, let alone one floating palace, Kazuki was confident he could handle 100 of them in one go. He had fought for so long and so hard, he had survived the starvation and thirst. He had survived being hunted in the absolute darkness. He survived Ape city and he had even managed to survive his encounter with Zetrazz. Finally getting out of the abyss he continued to fight against Ancient beasts time and time again. Losing his brother in the process was another devastating blow but still, Kazuki continued his path.
Truth be told, Kazuki had lost some interest in Garn. What he cared about was getting his revenge on Fera and his mother as well as being with those he cared about. The moment he escaped the abyss, he knew he had surpassed Garn and no longer saw him as a threat. His hatred for Garn was still there but it was almost a fart in the wind compared to other things. In the end though, Garn placed himself back on the shit list.
Kazuki did not know of his plans for humanity, nor did he know of all the horrors Garn committed. All he knew was that his people were in danger. Had Garn left them alone, it was possible he could have seen many more years of life but in the end, Garn was too far gone. His ambition and obsession led him astray and he became corrupted. He once was a good man, possibly even a great man but the further he went, the more his mind became foul and the worse he became.
Kazuki looked at his hand once more in thought.
(All of that power you had, the mind that could come up with such inventions. You used to be a hero and you could have always been that way to the people but now, people will only remember you as a crazy bastard. So foolish.)
*Tap tap*
Danny tapped Kazuki slightly on the shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts.
“Kazuki, what are you doing standing around here with that dumb look?”
Danny then casually pointed at the floating palace and Kazuki understood what he meant. Asuna was still inside the palace.
Kazuki quickly cleaned his hand with water magic and then flew directly into the palace and arrived in front of Asuna almost instantly. She and Triska were sti8ll being suppressed by magic. Garn’s scepter stood straight up and was releasing magic without him. It was drawing energy from the magic core in the room.
Kazuki used his fused magic and tore open the barrier protecting the magic core before storing it into his ring.
As soon as the core was stored, the magic was released and both Triska and Asuna fell over. Kazuki ignored Triska and quickly caught Asuna in his arms. The moment Asuna saw Kazuki, a strange silence filled the room.
Asuna couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She had hoped and believed for so long that Kazuki had survived. At the same time, she had inner struggles, believing that maybe everyone was right, maybe Kazuki really was dead. After all, no one had ever survived the abyss.
Constantly the logic of her mind and the emotion of her heart battle dit out with one another and it made her sick to her stomach. She thought she was crazy for believing, she wondered why she was doing this to herself, why she kept up her hopeless hope, why she couldn’t give in and give up but she herself couldn’t figure it out. Giving up fully on Kazuki, she simply couldn’t do it. There was no explanation that would satisfy outsiders let alone herself. All she could do was carry on and hold herself together in front of others.
All of this was happening in her mind all of this time which is why seeing Kazuki in front of her, she still couldn’t grasp that this was reality.
Kazuki on the other hand suddenly felt a strange nervousness and anxiety in this seemingly long silence. He had dealt with Ancient beasts and Zetrazz and had done so plenty of times with little to no fear, yet right now, when he was holding Asuna in his arms, he could feel his heart in his throat.
Kazuki had to circulate some of his ki to calm his nerves and he was about to speak when Asuna reached up and grabbed his cheeks and gave it a strong pinch.
Kazuki felt no pain from this little amount of strength so there were no tears on his end but on Asuna’s, it was a completely different story. Tears flooded down Asuna’s face immediately. She really felt Kazuki’s skin on the tip of her fingers. It was real…he was real.
The moment her tears began to flow and she realized all of this wasn’t a simple fantasy, a simple dream, her mind couldn’t take it and she passed out in his arms right then and there.
The battle was a short one but it was exhausting both physically as well as mentally. Adding the fact that the impossible turned possible when Kazuki came back from the dead, it was too much of an emotional burden and she fainted.
Triska grunted heavily before coughing and speaking.
“Kazuki, I heard you fell into the abyss yet you are here and alive. Not only that you possess strength above Garns. I’m glad we are no longer enemies.”
Kazuki nodded.
“You’ve allied with Asuna and the others?”
Triska shrugged her shoulders.
“More like Shin dragged me into this.”
Kazuki was a bit confused but this silence between them caused Triska’s face to flush slightly and Kazuki got the meaning right away.
“You and Shin?”
Triska nodded.
*Heh*
Kazuki couldn’t help but chuckle slightly. Which pissed off Triska slightly.
“What is the meaning of that laugh!?”
“Sorry, my laugh isn’t meant to harm. I’m just wondering how Shin managed to trick you into dating him. With your serious personality, I can’t see him swaying you easily. So how did he do it?”
Triska’s mouth fell open as she found the question difficult to answer for some reason.
Kazuki left the conversation there before surrounding both her and a still unconscious Sam with his aura. He carefully lifted them up with his aura and prepared to disembark the palace when he noticed Garn’s scepter was still standing straight up. His senses spread out in curiosity and he could feel the scepter was strangely still drawing energy from the other magic cores within the palace.
The moment he thought this was weird, a blue light flashed and a holographic video began to play in front of them. The image was blurry for a moment but quickly came into focus revealing an angry Garn. Kazuki and Triska both shared a confused look before the video started to play and Garn spoke with harsh words.
“If your seeing this message, then that means I somehow lost. If you have the power to be able to hold onto my scepter even in death then it’s most likely you are the one who plotted against and killed me.”
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