novelraw Chapter 449 – The Dominoes Have Begun to Fall.
Chapter 449 – The Dominoes Have Begun to Fall.
"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!" Hishya swore at the top of her lungs as she flew back to Japan, zipping across the Pacific at speeds far in excess of Mac 10, the boom from breaking the sound barrier seeming to shatter the water beneath her as she accelerated. The Dragon had been informed about the worm shortly after it appeared. At first she hadn't thought much of it, that was until the realization dawned on her that big scary worm thrashing about on Earth was not normal, and thus meant something much more problematic was happening.
{Why did this have to happen when I was away too?!? Stupid Worm! You caused me all sorts of-} (Hishya)
*DING* *DING* *DING* *DING* *DING*
"Oh, great. Now whose... Oh... Oh no..." Hishya paled as her phone rang, showing the caller I.D. which simply read as You know who. "JESUS CHRIST! AKAGI IS GOING TO FUCKING TO MOUNT ME ABOVE HER FIREPLACE!!" The Demon almost never called the Dragon, hence the caller I.D. If Akagi was calling, that didn't tend to be a good thing since she didn't exactly do social calls.
"Oh god. Oh fuck. Oh god. Oh fuck!!!!!!!!!!!" Hishya screamed as she answered the call, ready for the ass-chewing of a lifetime and to potentially kiss her scaly hide goodbye.
_____________________________________________________________________________
"Hup!" Kanato grunted as he tossed an entire tree off to the side and helped clear out a small area. The villagers wanted some extra land to build a few storage buildings and he was more than happy to help. After the attack by the Demon Cult a few weeks prior he'd gotten jumpy, especially after realizing that he couldn't attack the culprit himself. Kanato didn't quite know why he couldn't attack other people, though he had a few guesses "Will this do, Chief? I can knock down a few more if you need the room" He asked the older man who was busy ripping up a stump with a few others.
" Thanks, kid! But that will do plenty" The Chief, a middle aged sun tanned man laughed. "It would've taken us weeks to knock those trees down ourselves! You Heroes really are something else to rip entire trees right out by the root!"
"Ah, it's nothing. Just helping out. You've all been so kind to me, so its natural that I repay you." Kanato said with a warm smile that made the villagers momentarily forget he was much older than he looked.
"WEE-WOO-WEE-WOO-WEE-WOO." The three fairies made a strange noise as they zipped toward the Kanato and the villagers. The villagers had no idea what it was, though Kanato noted it sounded like a police siren.
"What's wrong?" Kanato asked the three of them as they hovered in front of him. "Is there another enemy?" He said, his gaze instantly growing sharper as he expanded his senses to search for potential foes.
"Unknown. Three strong people coming." The female fairy said. "Be at village soon!"
"They want to steal the soup!" The two male fairies yelped in fear.
"I doubt that's why they're here." Kanato sighed, deciding that saying anything else was pointless.
"Hmm... It's rare that we get visitors all the way out here, but it does happen from time to time. Perhaps they are just adventurers looking for a place to rest?" The Chief said as he put down his tools and cracked his shoulder. "We should go greet them. Kanato, I'd appreciate it if you'd come with in case they turn out to be hooligans."
"That was the plan from the start." Kanato said, internally worrying about his inability to defend them if push came to shove but deciding to come regardless.
{Was this a curse the Demon Lord placed on me? It would be fitting. My actions cost the lives of so many innocent people, so taking my ability to hurt others away... But that also means I can't help when people really need it...} (Kanato)
Putting that aside for now, Kanato returned back into the village with the Chief, Kanato quickly ran into Burning Light, who'd just arrived and were looking around. He'd never seen them before though they seemed to instantly recognize him upon their arrival.
"I believe that's our man." Katlyn said, pointing to Kanato. "He looks like the drawings."
{Quite the baby face too. I guess he's kinda cute.} (Katlyn)
"I remember seeing him once or twice during the War, but never this close up." Nier nodded as the three of them slowly approached the Hero. "Good afternoon, you're the Empire's Hero Kanato, right?"
"That depends, who are you and what do you want with me?" Kanato replied defensively as the fairies hid behind him.
"Is this the part where we tell him we've been hired to bump him off?" Katlyn snickered before being smacked on the back of the head by Miz'ri for her poorly timed joke.
"Please don't cause us trouble..." Miz'ri sighed.
"Mizzy! Why must you hurt me so?!?" Katlyn cried. “You're so mean!”
“Only when you deserve it.” Miz'ri huffed. “And you deserve it a lot.”
"Please ignore my wife, she's an idiot and I'm... I'd say that I'm working on correcting her behavior but at this point, she's beyond hope." Nier sighed as he moved for a handshake. "Name's Nier, I'm the party leader of Burning Light. Nice to meet you. I've heard quite a lot about you over the years."
"Burning Light?" Kanato thought for a moment before shaking his hand. "I think I've heard that party name before... Yeah, you were called out a few times in the Imperial battle reports. The Princess thought highly of your ability to take down some pretty strong monsters. I'm Kanato Hiyuki. I take it you're looking for me? Why?"
{Did Rebeckah send them to find me?}
(Kanato)"Yeah, we're here by request of our... employer..." Nier said with a wry smile. "Might be a better idea if we speak in private." He said, glancing at the Chief. "If you wouldn't mind? Otherwise things might get a bit... complicated"
"My wife is out right now, so go ahead and use my house." The Chief nodded, knowing better than to get involved in whatever was going on.
"Thank you." Nier said as Kanato nodded and the four of them plus the fairies headed into the Chief's house and took a seat a the kitchen table.
"Are you here to drag me back to the Empire?" Kanato asked, presuming they were here on the Princess' behalf. "I'm sure the Princess is worried and I'm honestly a massive asshole for not going home to see my family in so long."
{I'm just the worst... I've got two other wives and children and here I am hanging out in a village in the middle of nowhere... What kind of scum am I?} (Kanato)
"We haven't been asked to take you anywhere actually." Nier shook his head, his words surprising Kanato. "I'm sure you're familiar with Akagi, right?"
"Wait, what?!? You work for her?!?" Kanato yelped.
"That was a recent change in employer." Katlyn said as she tried to pat Miz'ri on the head and was smacked away. "Did you hear about what happened in Simoea?"
"No." Kanato shook his head. "This village is pretty out of the way and I've been here since she and I parted at the Holy City. I was aware that the Demon Kingdom was sending its army to fight the Vikes Cult, but nothing since then." He said, to which Nier and Katlyn exchanged glances before nodding and explaining what had happened. They went into detail regarding the annihilation of the Demon Army, the capture of their leaders, and their subjugation by Akagi. Naturally, such a thing rankled the Hero since he, as a man of justice, could not abide the deaths of so many people.”
"That's..." Kanato paused, looking down at the table in defeat. "Dammit... More people that I've..."
{All I've done is get more innocent people killed. What kind of man am I?} (Kanato)
"It was a hell of a mess." Katlyn said with an overly flashy shrug. "In all my years I've never seen the complete annihilation of an army, at least not the wholesale slaughter of one. Most battles end with the majority of the losing forces running away, not cut down to the last man. So it was a bit... Yeah...
""War is always a bloody, but that... If I went my entire life never seeing something that bad again, it would be too soon." Nier agreed. He'd seen much death during his career but that didn't prepare him to watch a hundred thousand plus people wiped out like they were nothing.
"And you survived because you surrendered to her?" Kanato asked, his words carefully articulated so as not to seem to blame them.
"Y-Yeah... Something like that." Katlyn laughed, not wanting to talk about Miz'ri's brainwashing and subsequent actions. "We were honestly expecting to be killed or tortured but she went and 'offered' us a place working for her and well..."
"It's okay, you didn't have much of a choice." Kanato shook his head, indicating that she needn't say more. "I just hate that things keep coming to that... Not having a choice... I used to berate people for using that cop-out line, but after everything we did to the Spirits..."
"Listen, kid. Don't beat yourself up over it." Katlyn interjected, seeing the sadness in his eyes. "You were deceived, as was basically the rest of the world. You did what you thought was right." They'd been brought up to speed about everything and honestly felt bad for three of the four Heroes since they were honestly decent people who wanted to help the world.
"That the four of us were tricked changes nothing." Kanato replied, grateful for her words but rejecting them. "Ever since I found out the truth about this world, about the Gods... I just... I don't know... Its like everything's fallen apart. I thought I was brought to this world to be a Hero, someone who saves people and makes the world a better place... But to find out that I'm the villain in this story..." He let out a self-deprecating laugh. "I can't even bring myself to face my family..."
{How can I face my kids? How can I tell them that their Father is a monster... How can I tell everyone that put their faith in me that their entire world is a lie? I suppose... I suppose that I'm a coward, aren't I? I thought becoming a Father and Husband would change me, but at the end of the day I'm still a coward...}
"Kanato..." The female fairy landed on the table in front of him and put her hand on his. "No sad..."
"Yeah! No sad! Only soup!" The two male fairies smiled as they hovered in front of him.
"Thanks, you guys." Kanato smiled a bit as he pat the female fairy on the head. "I'm fine. Thank you."
"Oh my... I've never seen fairies get this friendly with a Human before." Miz'ri commented, eyes wide in suprise. “They usually can't stand Humans.”
"Elf Lady!" The two male fairies exclaimed as they landed in front of her. "Dark Elf!"
"I-I'm only a Half-Dark Elf. It's nice to meet you two." Miz'ri said, smiling warmly. "My name is Miz'ri."
{WHY WON'T YOU SMILE AT YOUR BIG SIS THAT WAY?!?} (Katlyn)
"Miz'ri?" The female fairy turned, her eyes going wide in surprise. "Name Miz'ri?!?"
"Y-Yes." Miz'ri replied, a bit startled by her loud voice. "Do I know you?"
"Important!" The female fairy said as she zipped over to the Dark Elf and hovered close to her face, examining her. "Come with!"
"With? To where?" Miz'ri asked, confused.
"Hero and Dark Elf! Needed for Lord Kaleago's Plan!" The female fairy said, her words catching everyone else by surprise. "Must come to Fairy Temple!" She said before flying back to Kanato. "Kanato! Need to come with too! Important!"
"Hold up! What's going on?!?" Kanato tried to get her to calm down and explain what she was talking about. "Where is this coming from? You never mentioned anything about needing me for some kind of important plan. And who is Kaleago?"
"Forgot due to soup!" The female fairy said with an embarrassed look on her face. "But remembered name Miz'ri! That made me remember Plan! Lord Kaleago said both needed to save world as part of Plan!"