Chapter 101
101 The Red King (I)
Cain saw that lightning claw coming toward him and knew what it meant. He could not back down now since the red ring’s self-destruction could not be stopped, but if he carried on with his attack, there was no way he could survive.
Time froze for Cain at that moment as he faced that decision. He would have to pay the ultimate price if he wanted to kill the Atrox and save his friends.
A smile formed on Cain’s face as he pushed forward and connected his left fist to the Atrox’s chest, right on top of this one’s heart. The second he did that, blood splattered all over his face.
Cain’s eyes widened as he felt that blood because it was not his. A sense of utter dread overflowed his heart as he looked to the side and saw a scene that would be forever engraved in his soul.
Beelze used her body to stop the Atrox’s claw. The lightning blade pierced her chest, leaving what one could only a.s.sume to be a lethal wound.
“NOO!”
“?BOOM!”
Cain’s shout did not last long as the explosion of the red ring happened the next instant, sending everybody flying away.
Flames spread throughout the forest due to the firepower unleashed by the red ring’s explosion. The Atrox landed almost two hundred meters away, and there was a b.l.o.o.d.y hole in the center of his chest, while burn marks covered the rest of the body.
.....
On the human side, things were a little better. Levi had crashed against many boulders on his path, repeatedly hitting his head, so he was unconscious. Cain was still conscious, but there was an immense agony on his face since the explosion had destroyed his left arm.
However, while the pain was immense, Cain couldn’t care less. He rose from the ground and looked at the surroundings until he found her.
“Beelze!” Cain shouted as he saw Beelze lying in a pool of her own blood a few meters away from him. Moving his body was hard, but nothing could stop him from reaching her side.
When Cain finally got next to Beelze and saw her wounds, the feeling of dread grew even stronger. The Atrox’s lightning blade had pierced her body entirely, and he could see some of her vital organs.
“It is... ok.”
Cain trembled as he heard Beelze utter those words and could feel the peace in her expression. She understood what would happen and had no regrets.
“Stop talking. You will be fine!”
The fact that Beelze came to peace with what would happen did not mean Cain felt the same about it. He attempted to put pressure on the wounds, but the help something like that could provide for such a ma.s.sive injury was null.
“System, scan her and find a way to save her life!”
Cain’s mind was so chaotic that he even mentioned the Absolute Life Form System out loud.
[Scanning target.
...
...
Scan completed
—
Target has suffered ma.s.sive internal injuries. The spine is severed, and lightning has scorched both lungs. The heart also sustained a deep laceration, generating ma.s.sive internal bleeding.
—
Generating medical procedures:
...
...
No medical procedures are capable of treating her wounds. Target’s chances of survival are 0%.]
“What!? That can not be right. Do it again!” Cain shouted with rage as he saw the a.n.a.lysis of the Absolute Life Form System. Deep down, he knew those wounds were lethal, but he could not accept that things would end like this.
Beelze did not understand with whom Cain was talking, and as her last breath came closer, something changed in her eyes. A feeling of aloofness emerged as if her condition mattered little. She no longer showed calm in the face of death since now it seemed that death did not matter to her.
Such a drastic change in Beelze would have shocked Cain if he had noticed it, but his mind was so wild and frantic that he missed it.
Beelze’s aloofness faded when she focused on the man that fiercely looked for a way to save her life. She could not help but show a tender smile.
Cain was shouting to the Absolute Life Form System to find a way to save her when he felt a hand touching his face. He looked down and saw Beelze’s lovely smile.
“I wish we had more time together.”
As he heard those words, Cain felt something squeezing his heart and saw Beelze’s hand falling to the ground without strength.
[Target vital signs are null.
...
The target is dead.]
“No, no, no, no. NO!” Cain roared as a wild burst of Astral Wave emerged from his body while rage and frustration overwhelmed his heart. However, that did not last long as utter sadness replaced those feelings, and he gently brought Beelze’s body into his embrace.
“Why... why did I have to lose her like this?” Cain began to cry as a sense of total loss filled his heart. Seeing her like that made him feel he had lost something very important.
Even if he never said it out loud, the way Cain looked at Beelze was not that of simple friends. She was brave, beautiful, smart, and funny, so it was not odd for emotions like those to emerge in his heart.
However, Cain’s past experiences made him avoid that topic. He always thought they would have more time and allow things to happen naturally instead of forcing it. Unfortunately, it was too late now, and he lost that chance forever.
Cain’s mind was in complete chaos, but the red light in his eyes that symbolized the strength of his willpower only kept growing stronger.
It is not odd for a life form’s willpower to rise after overcoming a traumatic event, but Cain clearly was not handling Beelze’s death well. Besides, the red light in his eyes was not only growing more potent but also colder.
[WARNING! ?WARNING!
An unknown force is acting over Vessel’s willpower. Regain focus immediately before a change in the ego happens.]
Apex spoke less than a second after the warning from the Absolute Life Form System echoed inside Cain’s mind. For the first time, the System Spirit lost his composed tone of voice, making it clear just how worried he was.
“Brat, focus! Do not let pain and sorrow overcome your mind. Allow yourself to grieve, but do not lose yourself in it. If you don’t get your ego under control, something catastrophic will happen!”
Apex’s voice carried the urgency of the situation, but Cain’s mind was in such a chaotic state that he did not hear anything. He was all alone with his thoughts.
“Why...”
Cain’s tears fall on Beelze’s face, making the sadness on this one only grow stronger.
“Why does being weak have to hurt so much?”
The red light in Cain’s eyes grew even stronger as he uttered those words, as did the coldness in these ones.
“WHY!?”
Cain shouted that word with a voice full of grief as the red light on his eyes reached its zenith, and he fell unconscious.
Silence reigned in the forest for a moment before a mournful sound appeared.
“Ahhh!” A shriek of pain echoed as the Atrox Wave Champion began to rise from the ground. His condition was critical, to say the least, but he was still alive!
The Atrox touched his chest, and as he focused on his Rebirth Heart, a look of horror and desperation emerged. The damage to his heart was so ma.s.sive that it was essentially crippled, completely shattering his cultivation. He would grow weaker and weaker, and it would be a miracle if he still had any power by the next day.
All his hard work would fade away, and the damage he endured was so severe that he would be crippled and confined to a bed for the rest of his life.
That realization filled the Atrox with pure and immense hatred. His eyes focused on the man responsible, and he wanted nothing more than to rip this one to pieces. For a race that worshiped strength, living as crippled was no different than h.e.l.l.
“I will... kill you!” The Atrox roared as his wrath exploded. It took him a couple of seconds to reach the unconscious human, and he clenched his right fist, gathering in it what little strength he had left, before firing a punch with more than enough power to break a Level 2 Wave Warrior’s skull.
Just as the Atrox punched toward Cain’s skull, he opened his eyes. There was no more blasting light in then. Instead, his green pupils had turned red.
That aesthetic change was meaningless compared with the intent that Cain’s eyes now unleashed. Those eyes had a sense of ancientness and detachment as if everything in this world was inconsequential.
The ego capable of unleashing that intent did not belong to a fourteen years old boy. They belonged to an ent.i.ty that once stood above all existence and reigned supreme.
Those red eyes belonged to a king!