NOVGO.NET Chapter 179: Just as three years earlier
Chapter 179: Just as three years earlier
"...Raelor... Raelor... Raelor... Raelor..."
Ren turns as cold and still as ice.
His mind is flooded with memories, flashing by one after another. Every single one is so vivid it feels like he’s living through that night all over again.
Raelor standing in the doorway of their house, just like three years ago.
The sound of the intercom while Ren and his family sat around the dinner table, waiting for Raelor to arrive.
His father, Aoshi Toya, getting up to answer the door.
And then...
...the beginning of the end.
Aoshi’s charred body collapsing to the floor.
The cries and screams of despair that carved themselves so deeply into Ren’s soul that he can still hear them ringing in his ears.
And finally...
"Iris... Ren... take Yuzu and run! Now!"
...his mother Eliss Narkhalis’s final desperate cry before the succubus was brutally killed, fighting with everything she had to buy her children enough time to escape.
And after the storm... complete stillness.
Ren, Iris, and Yuzu stood there, their eyes locked on their parents’ bodies, shattered by grief and frozen in terror.
The silence was so overwhelming they could even hear the frantic pounding of their own hearts.
And Raelor vanished without a trace moments after killing Aoshi and Eliss.
Now, three years later, Raelor is standing in that very same doorway once again.
"...Raelor... Raelor... Raelor... Raelor..."
Then, something inside Ren snaps.
His fists clench. His teeth grind so hard they screech.
The fear that had frozen him in place is swept away by a surge of wild adrenaline, every muscle in his body tightening in an instant.
"...Raelor..."
Large purple wings burst from Ren’s back.
Violent violet lightning races across his body as a sword of pure electricity forms in his clenched fist.
"Raelor... why...? Why did you kill Mom and Dad?! They trusted you more than anyone else in the world! Why?! Why?! WHY?!"
A violent surge of energy erupts from Ren’s body, so powerful that Zaira, Iris, and Yuzu are forced to jump back to keep from getting caught in it.
Raelor, however, doesn’t move an inch. Standing only a few steps away, he isn’t affected by the overwhelming power in the slightest.
"The reason I did it is none of your concern," Raelor replies coldly.
"It... it doesn’t concern me?! How can you even say that?! They were my parents, and you... you were like a second father to me! I cared about you, damn it! I loved you like you were really part of our family!" Ren screams at the top of his lungs, tears of rage and grief streaming uncontrollably down his face.
"Me, Mom, Dad, Iris, Yuzu... all of us trusted you! And you... you stabbed us in the back! And the worst part is that after all these years, I still don’t even know why! Why did Mom and Dad have to die?! Come on, tell me! Why did you kill them?!"
"I already told you. It’s none of your concern. Besides, I’m not here for you. Step aside unless you want to join your parents in the Realm of the Dead sooner than expected," Raelor replies, his voice as cold as ice, his gaze drifting past Ren and settling on Zaira.
Ren catches that look immediately and his rage burns even hotter.
"I-I can’t believe this... First my parents, and now Zaira... y-you fucking bastard... you already took my family away from me once... I won’t let you do it again! I was too weak back then, but I’ve trained nonstop ever since, all to become strong enough to avenge Mom and Dad! Even if it costs me my life... I swear I’ll stop you this time, Raelor!"
A crackling purple sword of lightning, just like Ren’s but much larger, forms in Raelor’s hand.
"Then try, Ren. Try to stop me. Show me how strong your hatred has made you."
Ren doesn’t hesitate for a second and shoots toward Raelor like a bolt of lightning.
At the same moment, Raelor spreads his massive wings and beats them once, propelling himself backward to evade Ren’s charge.
Then, without warning, Raelor comes to an abrupt stop.
Ren is on him instantly, unleashing a relentless flurry of sword strikes. But every single one is blocked with effortless ease.
The battle quickly moves out of the Toya estate’s garden and farther and farther away, until they reach the barren foothills of Tama.
With every swing of his sword, Ren keeps pushing forward while Raelor gives ground.
But it’s not because Ren is overwhelming him. Far from it.
Ren realizes it soon enough. Raelor isn’t even trying to attack him.
He’s actually holding back, deliberately limiting his own strength and speed. Just like he used to during their training sessions three years ago.
W-Why...?! Why is that bastard toying with me like this?! I... I swear I’ll kill him, even if it’s the last thing I do!
Ren lashes out with a lightning-fast horizontal slash aimed at Raelor’s side, but Raelor effortlessly avoids it by soaring upward.
A split second later, Ren takes to the air as well.
He catches up to Raelor in the sky, and the battle resumes high above the ground, fiercer than ever.
Ren’s sword of energy crashes against Raelor’s again and again, and every clash unleashes so much power that they set off a rapid chain of violet flashes across the sky above the Tama hills.
"Damn, looks like Raelor’s having the time of his life," Zayn says, looking up at the sky as his eyes follow the violet flashes lighting up one after another.
At those words, Chris and Mia exchange a horrified look.
The exact same terrifying thought hits them both at the same time.
Don’t tell me... Raelor went to the Toyas’ place and he’s fighting them? But that doesn’t make sense. Why now? Ren said Raelor could’ve wiped them out that very night if he’d wanted to. Unless... Zaira?!
Did he figure out she’s with them and go there because of her?
He already killed Ren’s mother, who used to be a princess of the Kingdom of Ravessia... the same title Zaira has.
Could it be that, for some reason, Raelor is targeting the princesses of that kingdom?
Shit! Shit! Shit!
Chris’s body trembles with rage and helplessness.
He wants to do something. Anything to save Zaira.
But he can’t.
Zayn is blocking their way from the front. The Crimson Requiem is behind them.
They’re trapped.
Isabelle raises her massive sword and shifts into a guard stance.
"Chris, Mia, Leon... get ready to fight!"