Strongest Nova: Path of Vengeance

Chapter 100: Run

Stanley’s body started to tremble in fear at what he had found.

His brother’s dead body.

Why? Who? How? When? Why?

The same questions went through his head as he fell into a shock, his knees buckling on the ground, next to the roots of the massive trees.

"B-brother..." he spoke softly, unable to process what he was seeing. Even so, tears started filling up his eye while confusion still reigned on his face.

How could this happen? Did a Crawler come here? No, those wounds didn’t look like ones from a crawler. If anything, it was a sword wasn’t it?

Then, was it a Defender who did this?

But why? Because his brother was going to become a mayor? What good would that do them if his brother died?

A person’s face came to Stanley’s mind while a plausible explanation formed in his head.

’It must’ve been Yasu,’ he thought. Yasu, the man with the weird eyelids, the one that was next in line to become a mayor if his brother couldn’t be, was his main suspect.

’This was what George tried to do as well,’ Stanley thought as tears streamed down his face. Anger started filling him, rage boiling in him, and hatred that he never felt before for a human bubbled in him.

Someone had killed his brother, and he would definitely—

*COUGH*

Bradley’s body jerked up as he coughed a few times, spewing up blood in the process.

Stanley froze in shock, watching his brother cough. "Brother!" he shouted a second later as it finally occurred to him that his brother was still alive.

"Brother!" he shouted and grabbed onto his brother.

Bradley’s legs seemed broken and he was unable to walk. There were gashing wounds all over his chest, and his rib case was seemingly broken.

His face was hit as well, and his mouth was bleeding continuously.

"B-brother, wait, I’ll take you to get healed," Stanley said and quickly grabbed his brother before hauling him up with both hands.

Blood dripped in multiple drops from all over Bradley’s body. His leg dangled, his neck barely keeping his head from slumping back as well.

His hands, however, were unmoving. They were stuck to each other, whether by intention or merely by the fact that they were bloody, like the rest of his body.

Either way, Stanley could tell that his brother was trying to use his powers. As for why he was still in this state, he wasn’t sure.

"Just wait, brother. I’ll get you to get healed," Stanley said and started running.

Every step he took felt scary. He was afraid that he would lose his brother at any moment. He had only just recently come to terms with the fact that his mother had died. He could not lose his brother so quickly after that.

He arrived outside of the forest, on the steps that lead all the way to the headquarters in very less time.

Could the old man Sam be able to help him? Perhaps. He had to try.

He started running up the stairs in the rain, wasting no time as he did so. His body was strong, and his brother weighed nothing for him. So, carrying him was no burden either.

As Stanley ran, he was reminded of the little girl that he wasn’t able to save a few months ago. He had only just forgotten about her, so he didn’t want to be reminded of that memory.

However, for some reason, his mind kept trying to show him that image of him failing to save the girl. It was almost as if his inner psyche was preparing him for the worst of what was to come.

"No, that won’t happen," Stanley told himself. "I will save him!"

He ran up the stairs, most of which was just plain road. The roads were slippery in the rain, but his metal boots gave a frightening grip with the spiky soles.

Stanley was like a boulder rushing down a mountain, unstoppable.

Within 3 minutes, for what usually took about 15 minutes while simply walking, he arrived outside of the Defenders headquarters. However, to his distraught, there was no one around the Headquarters to ask for help.

He couldn’t even leave his brother to go check. Most of the ones that could give medical aid were already gone from here to help the Defenders outside of the veil.

’No...’ Stanley thought. ’Why did it have to be now?’

He grumbled for a second before he started running again. Just 3 more minutes and he would arrive at the top of the slope where the mayor’s mansion was.

Just 3 more minutes.

He started running again.

The water canals on the side of the road were overflowing and were now spilling onto the road, making it harder to run, but Stanley still ran.

"S-Stanley..." a weak voice spoke.

"Brother!" Stanley cried out in surprise. "Don’t worry. I’m taking you to the mayor. He’ll get you healed."

"The... the girl..." he said.

"Huh?" Stanley was confused. "What girl?"

"Ware..." Bradley tried to speak, but he coughed up blood again.

"Brother, try not to speak too much. We can talk after you are healed," Stanley said.

Bradley finally loosened his hand, his left hand dangling out, while his right hand slowly reached for Stanley. However, before it could reach Stanley, he lost his energy and his hand fell onto his chest.

Bradley coughed a few more times, but Stanley ignored that for now. After all, he had arrived in front of the mansion.

The guards immediately moved to stop him with their spears pointed at him.

"Is the mayor home? My brother is wounded," Stanley shouted.

The guards paused for a second and looked at Bradley. Their eyes went wide. "It’s the next mayor," one of them shouted.

The other one let go of their spear and quickly rushed to take him. "Stay here," the two said and went into the mansion with his brother.

As the two guards disappeared into the mansion, Stanley collapsed on the ground in the rain, happy that he had managed to arrive here on time.