Return of the Fallen Volume 9 Chapter 51
Every few moments the sound of explosions resounded through the sky and rocked the mountain base, rattling it to its foundations.
*BOOOOOOOM*
King Brian ordered everyone to take out all of their items and gold. Anything and everything that contained magical energy. Everyone understood right away what he was planning to do. With Danny mentioning he could transfer the energy of objects using his own body, it meant he could increase the efficiency to such a degree. That combined with the teleportation gates they would make with the metal plates Triska and Shin still had, meant there was still hope of escape.
*BOOOOM CRACK*
No one hesitated. All of the items whether big or small, seemingly grand or insignificant, they dumped everything out of their storage rings. As everyone emptied their rings, many were surprised by Shin’s treasures. Out of everyone there, he had the most and it was all of one kind.
Sam’s eyes grew round at the sight of the black rocks.
“Magnitium!”
Shaila picked up a large piece of Magnitium and examined it. She was naturally curious and wondered how a mere human like Shin was continuously pouring out this rock.
When everything was said and done, Shin had dumped a pile of Magnitium on the ground that climbed to the very ceiling and filled most of the room.
Danny took note and did some quick calculations in his head.
*KA-BOOOOOOM*
Another explosion rang out. Everyone did their best to ignore it and get back to th etopic at hand.
“This amount, were you to convert it into gold Zeni it would be trillions of gold and if this were Earth then it would be a few hundred billion dollars. You could buy a few kingdoms with this much. If memory serves correct, a place abundant with Magnitium was it not the Mangshi forest?”
Shin nodded.
“Yep, just before the war broke out, I knew I needed to advance as quickly as possible, and in order to do that, I needed a vast amount of money. Where in the world could I obtain that amount of wealth I thought and naturally my mind went back to the place where we had been shown all of this treasure.”
Asuna immediately felt furious.
“Don’t tell me you stole from the Mangshi people!?”
Shin waved her away.
*BAM*
The mountain base shook harder this time and the barrier wavered, it was getting closer and closer to falling apart. Inside the base though, everyone tried to remain calm and shin continued.
“Steal, there was no reason to steal from them as they had promised to give all of it to Kazuki. I simply said I was taking a small amount of it away to help Kazuki as he was busy with other matters. Those Mangshi folk believed me his companion right away.”
“So you lied to them and took what belonged to Kazuki.”
Shin raised a brow.
“You’re not hearing me Asuna, I never lied. I said I was taking a small amount to help Kazuki. Using some of the Magnitium, I soled it for max profits, then using that money I bought a shit ton of mana crystals. I gathered enough of them to get me to the 5th stage, the Core stage. Me becoming stronger means I can help protect you all so in a way I am helping Kazuki so I technically did not lie to them, hehe.”
Asuna and everyone else were stunned.
“So that’s how you got to the 5th stage so quickly. Why did you not tell us? If we all did the same then we too could have entered the 5th stage much earlier, the many lives we could have saved.”
Shin shook his head.
“Did you forget how things were at that time? You, me, all of us barely spoke to one another. We were no longer connected. Between all of us, there was resentment and some anger. Have you already forgotten that for a while you blamed me for Kazuki falling into the Abyssal Trench? I dove in after him but got myself in a bad situation. Because of that, Kazuki had to use the last of his power to save me and knock me out of the trench. You were angry with me and you blamed me. You blamed Glacious and Etora for not going in after him and because of that, there was bad blood for a while. We all had our issues so I’m not blaming you Asuna, I’m just telling you how it is and how it was. So at that time when I went my own way, I had no thoughts of you or anyone, only myself. I knew I needed to get stronger as fast as possible and figured this would be the best way. Only later did I consider helping you all reach the next stage but by that time the war was already fully underway and there was no time whatsoever for anything but fighting, fighting, and more fighting.”
Danny rubbed his chin before nodding.
“You made the right decision in my opinion. Given the circumstances, I would have most likely chosen the exact same path, though I would have been more efficient in my undertaking. Still, you did the best you could given the situation.”
Shin gave Danny an odd look.
“Thanks, I guess.”
Danny noded.
“No problem.”
Asuna was pissed at first but after hearing Shin’s reasoning she understood. She really was angry at Shin and for a while, she truly did put an unfair amount of blame upon him. She did resent him and hated even the sight of him. When they all went their separate ways, his separation gave her the most relief. Realizing everything now, Asuna felt angrier with herself than anything else. Had they not separated as they did, maybe Shin would have discussed such ideas with her and they could have all entered the Core stage much sooner. They could have fought together and they could have saved so many more people.
Asuna had allowed her emotions to sway her thoughts and cloud her judgment, because of this, others suffered when they possibly did not have to.
Asuna clenched her hand into a fist and dug her nails into her palm causing her hand to bleed.
(All of those people, could they have been saved if I were even just a tiny bit stronger. If I was stronger sooner than when Kazuki was trying to escape with us, we could have gotten away from the surrounding Miasma. Instead, he had to stop because our bodies couldn’t handle the extreme speed and force. Now, he’s…gone.)
*BOOOOOOM*
The barrier tore in several spots but then quickly repaired itself.
Asuna’s heart was heavy and she felt like she could cry. This time it was Nunully’s comforting hug that stopped her from crying then and there.
“It’s ok Asuna, I know what your thinking, don’t blame yourself, it will only cause you to drown in despair. Kazuki…he wouldn’t have wanted you to feel this way. All we can do now is rely on one another. Kazuki has shown us that time and again. When we are backed into a corner, it is us coming together that allows us to overcome. So do not cry, now is not the time. Once we are safe and away, once we are through the darkness and we are safe, only then shall we cry, and it will not be in sadness but with joy. Because, that is how he would want us to be, happy.”
Asuna’s hand slowly unclenched and Nunully held her hand over Asuna’s. With a soft blue glow of her ring a glove of water coated her hand and glowed. A second later, Asuna’s injury healed as though it were never there in the first place.
“Better?”
Asuna nodded.
“Thank you Nunully.”
Asuna looked at Shin and simply gave him a nod. Shin did the same and just this acknowledgment allowed something between the two to be repaired. No words were needed and nothing fancy had to be displayed, resentment, anger, hatred, just like that, it was let go and the two were unburdened slightly.
King Brian did not care for whatever was happening, instead, he stared at the glorious hill of treasure Shin had emptied in the throne room and his mind instantly wondered.
“Danny, with this much, combined with the treasure in my vault, will this allow everyone in the base to escape from here!?”
Danny looked and scanned over all of the treasures present and added them together with what he sensed inside the vault before shaking his head.
“It’s getting closer but sorry, it’s still not enough.”
King Brian wanted to scream but he wasn’t ready to give up.
His finger began to tap once more, this time with rapid succession as the gears in his mind turned nonstop.
Just as his finger started up though a thought hit him.
He immediately stamped his scepter on the ground with a loud…
*BANG*
As soon as he did this, magic filled the base and King Brian’s voice spread through its entirety echoing out like a great bellowing giant.
“EVERYONE LISTEN NOW TO YOUR KING! THIS BATTLE IS NO LONGER SOMETHING WE HAVE A SAY IN BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN WE HAVE TO DIE HERE! RIGHT NOW, THERE IS A CHANCE, A SMALL OPPORTUNITY FOR US ALL TO LEAVE HERE WITH OUR LIVES INTACT! I HAVE A TELEPORTATION GATE BUT IT REQUIRES POWER TO USE. RIGHT NOW WE ARE CLOSE BUT WE NEED MORE! IN ORDER FOR US TO GET EVERYONE OUT OF HERE SAFELY, EVERYONE MUST EMPTY THEIR STORAGE ITEMS, WE MUST USE EVERYTHING WE HAVE TO POWER IT AND ESCAPE! SO HERE ME NOW! IN ORDER TO LIVE, WE MUST USE EVERYTHING WE HAVE!”
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