Return of the Fallen Volume 3 Chapter 39
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Author: Blue_Rat
ch39
Mei began jumping up and down around Asuna in excitement and even Kimi hooked her arm around Asuna’s and laughed with her.
“Hehehe, that was a great hit. About time Shin was put in his place.”
Shin jumped to his feet, a fierce glare in his eyes. With a stomp on the ground, he propelled himself forward and threw a punch.
*Thud*
Sam easily caught his fist and held him in place.
“Dammit Sam let me go, she deserves payback and you know it!”
Kazuki stood directly behind Shin and put a hand on his shoulder, Kazuki’s calm words entered his ear.
“Oh, and do tell, why does she deserve payback? Wasn’t it you who offered your chin and stuck it out for her? You even told her ladies first. If that isn’t a personal invitation to hit you then I don’t know what is.”
Shin was pissed.
“Still, she actually hit me. How would you feel if she had done the same to you, huh?”
Kazuki was about to disagree when Nunully’s cool voice floated over.
“Shin is correct. If I were he I would feel absolutely humiliated being punched across the room by a girl, so I can understand his frustration. Not only that, Asuna, you’ve got a bit of a problem controlling your anger. Swinging a fist about every time someone does something you dislike. When we disagree on something are you going to strike me as well? With your lack of control, your punch will send me to the grave. Am I supposed to be a casualty because you don’t like what I say or do?”
Nunully’s words rang clear. Shin wanted to nod in agreement but he didn’t like how she stated it. His pride as a man protested inside of him. Mei as well felt a little bad. She didn’t want to get hit if she said something bad. Thinking about it, Asuna has hit her once or twice when she did something disagreeable. Mei’s little thoughts were innocent and she took a few steps away from Asuna.
Kimi didn’t like her friend being attacked and snorted.
“Hmpf, Asuna wouldn’t hit us girls and besides Shin deserved it. How can you stick up for Shin when you know what he’s like?”
Nunully shook her head.
“She won’t hit a girl because a girl is a girl and a guy is a guy. Isn’t that incredibly sexist? And when it comes to whether or not Shin deserves it, who is Asuna to judge? Seriously, what gives you the right? Are you gonna do this to random people on the street as well or just your team members who literally risk their lives to save you? You don’t know this because you were out but it was Shin who scooped you up off the battlefield and carried you to safety. So Asuna, once again I ask you, who are you to judge?”
Both Kimi and Asuna became tongue-tied and the atmosphere between the ladies was weird. Kimi didn’t know how to refute Nunully’s statements but still, she crossed her arms and held up a stubborn attitude.
Everyone wondered just what exactly Asuna had done for Nunully to call her out like this. Asuna and Shin always argued that was basically the norm, so why now was Nunully stepping in they wondered.
None of them would guess that deep down her true thoughts weren’t so virtuous. Her eyes darted between Kazuki and Asuna, a hint of jealousy within.
(A childhood friend is not something one can easily overcome but I have to start somewhere. Shin, thank you for giving me the perfect opportunity to make Asuna look bad. Little by little I’ll squeeze you out of Ryuta’s heart and it will be me who takes your place.)
After a moment of silence, Asuna finally gathered her words. Turning to Shin, Asuna did something that surprised everyone, especially Shin.
With a bow, Asuna spoke with sincerity.
“Shin, I got angry and took it out on you I…I’m sorry.”
Kimi’s jaw dropped and she tried to lift Asuna up but she couldn’t. Eventually, she became embarrassed and stopped trying. Shin as well, his mouth hung open like a door with a broken hinge. Seeing that Asuna stayed bowed, Shin could tell she was waiting for an acceptance. A devilish, confident grin spread across his face. He was about to say something outlandish when he caught Sam’s glare.
The foolish statement on the tip of his tongue was swallowed back down with a dry gulp.
(It’s best not to push things too much. At least she actually apologized.)
Shin didn’t like this and felt that Asuna was getting off far too easily but there wasn’t much he could do and after seeing Sam’s glare, his courage fell.
“I accept your apology. We both seem to have work to do. I as well shouldn’t have pushed things when the numbers aren’t on my side.”
Shin stared at everyone around him, directing the last of his words to them. Sam finally released Shin’s fist and Shin shook Kazuki’s hand from his shoulder before kicking open the door to the Dining hall and storming out.
Not long after Asuna got dressed with Kimi, Mei and Nunully shielding her from view. Sam, of course, turned around followed by a shrugging Kazuki.
(What’s the point, I’ve already seen it all.)
A few minutes after that and many villagers came in with a million different questions. They saw no harm in telling the villagers so they answered what they could before going back to the important topics.
Kimi threw a question she was curious about into the pile of other questions.
“So I don’t get it, is a soul attack Time magic or something else? From the sounds of it, it doesn’t sound like any of the elements.”
Asuna wondered that herself.
“Although I was in there for a long time due to the element of Time, I don’t know if I would necessarily call it Time magic. Ryuta what about you?”
Just as Kazuki was prepared to say something a nosy old villager interrupted them.
“Eh, Time magic, no no no, that’s a gods power. Zetsu’s a demon god.”
Geil quickly got in between Kazuki and this old man and began apologizing.
“Sorry sorry, this old man has lived for far too long and not only says crazy things but doesn’t know when to speak. Come on old man, can’t you see they’re trying to figure out how to kill Zetsu, how can you say he’s a god. Let’s go get some air.”
Kazuki and the others stared at the two but the old man started struggling in Geil’s hands and shouting.
“Dammit Geil, I may be old but I ain’t a crazy coot just yet. As for my words, let them hear what I have to say before you shove me out the door.”
Geil just nodded along while still dragging the old man away. The old man continued to shout at the top of his lungs.
“It’s the ancient power of the gods I’m telling ya. I’m not crazy just listen to what I have to say otherwise we really are doomed!”
Kazuki sighed.
*Haaa*
“Wait, Geil, let him speak.”
Geils steps paused and he looked back as though he were saying really. The old man wiggled free from Geil’s grasp and ran over before kneeling down in front of Kazuki and the others.
“Brave adventurers will you please listen to this old man?”
Kazuki nodded. The only reason he decided to let the old man speak was because he figured if the old villager didn’t get to speak his peace, he would continue to shout all night long. Kazuki didn’t feel like dealing with an extra headache. The sooner the old man spoke the sooner they could all get back to solving this mystery.
Kazuki grabbed a couple of nearby chairs and set one down, offering it to the old man before sitting down on the other one himself.
The old man didn’t need a gesture and plopped his old bones down and went right into it.
“That thing you keep calling a soul attack is a gods attack. The mountain Zetsu escaped from is the sacred mountain, for it to suddenly split open one day and a monster to come out from there, Zetsu has to be a god. Not only that, all this time he’s been kidnapping people and bringing him back to his dwelling. A monster that size, the amount of food it would need, shouldn’t it have consumed this entire village in only a week or so. Otherwise, how can it maintain that large body it has.”
Kazuki and the others were caught off guard by the old man’s words but that indeed made no sense to them. How could a creature that big maintain its body size with such a small amount of food? Before they knew it they were already hooked on the old man’s words and urged him to continue. The old man nodded seeing this and went on.
“The answer is simple, god’s don’t eat, they don’t need to but they do need a source for their power. Tell me if Zetsu isn’t using conventional magical elements as you say then what would be his source of power?”
A word escaped Kazuki’s lips.
“Soul.”
The old man pointed his finger in Kazuki’s face and exclaimed loudly.
“Exactly! A god doesn’t need food but instead souls. Zetsu’s been stealing my people away not to feed on their flesh but on their souls instead.”
Something clicked in Kazuki’s mind.
“This, this is why he uses that soul attack.”
Asuna and the others were puzzled.
“Don’t you all get it. Once he uses that attack on you, your entire body shuts down. Once your back in his cave, he can continually feed on your soul. That’s why he doesn’t kill you. He wants to keep you alive for as long as possible so he can keep on feeding on your soul. Old man, is this what you’re saying?”
The old man wiped his nose and nodded.
“Yes, this is what it has to be.”
Nunully eyed the old man suspiciously.
“You say all this but why have you not told anyone this earlier. Had we known we would have approached things completely differently. By you saying all this, are you not admitting to knowing all of this beforehand and purposefully keeping your mouth shut.”
Everyone’s eyes began to turn cold. If that were the case then this old man isn’t anyone good for telling them now and most likely just felt guilty about knowing and that’s why he came forward only now. The old man shook his hands in front of him seeing the atmosphere turn icy. He quickly explained.
“No, you all got it all wrong. I truly didn’t know. Only when I saw the fight between your group and Zetsu, only when he used that soul attack, only then did things make sense. I’m not lying I swear. Up to this point he had never used that attack before and was just taking us left and right. I swear to you all I didn’t know.”
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