Retribution

Dozens of cloaks encircled us, leaving no gaps.

Me and Anna were frozen in place.

She had sweat running down her face and her knees trembled in fear. A slight nudge would be enough to make her lose balance…

While I was afraid as well, I more or less remained in control of my body.

Then there were these two.

The situation was anything but favorable, yet they were unusually calm. Like seasoned veterans that they were, they silently began devising a plan.

“Zepsis?” muttered Gyorn.

“Yeah…” murmured Braun.

Carefully examining every single individual out of the corners of their eyes, they minimized any movement which could provoke the enemy.

“Any city-scale…?” asked Gyorn.

“No… but it doesn’t matter…” Braun whispered, “…there’s a country-scaler right there,” he tilted his head and pointed his eyes to the side.

“…seriously…?” Gyorn exhaled desperately. “Oi… kid… that one’s yours…”

I was surprised he could make jokes under such circumstances.

“QUIET,” shouted one of the assailants, probably the leader of the group, “FOR BREACH OF THE CIVILIAN SOCIAL CONTRACT DECREE, AND DELIBERATE EVASION OF RIGHTFUL RETRIBUTION, YOU HAVE EARNED YOURSELF THE IMMEDIATE EXECUTION PENALTY.”

“IN ACCORDANCE WITH OUR PROTOCOLS, TO PREVENT THE POSSIBILITY OF REPEATED OFFENCES, YOU WILL BE DISPOSED OF, AND THESE GROUNDS SHALL SERVE THAT PURPOSE.”

I looked at Gyorn’s face, and for the first time ever, I saw a troubled expression upon him.

It was at that moment that it fully settled in.

We were in dire straits.

“…what… do we do now…” I mumbled through gritted teeth.

But I never received a response.

In this quandary, they knew the response just as well as I did…

Nothing…

“YOUR EXECUTION WILL BE PERFORMED BY SIR SIMMER, PESTILENCE’S COUNTRY-SCALE OFFENSIVE MAGE AND …”

“…foreigners… what a surprise…” said Gyorn.

On top of them having a full-fledged country-scale mage, there were a lot of enforcers.

The enemy certainly didn’t hold back on their troop deployment.

For each of us, there were 5 of them…

I looked around once more.

Braun was completely silent, trying to think as hard as he could in this insurmountable state of affairs.

Gyorn was staring back at the country-scale mage, hands clenched together as if ready to fight bare-handed.

Anna was gripping my arm tightly, shivering nervously with tears in her eyes.

This was no different from the time with the Oracle.

The people who accompanied me on my self-serving journey, would be killed…

The same people who were worried about my physical and mental wellbeing…

The same people that, despite our initial quarrels and differences, are the closest to me in this present moment…

Because of me, we had a completely hopeless and utterly irresolvable predicament on our hands.

Yet for some reason, my fear had faded.

Instead, it was replaced with excruciating pain in my chest.

I let out an audible grunt of pain and as if breaking them out of their daze, worried faces started turning to me.

“Kid… what’s the matter?”

“Zenzo… you okay?”

“…zenzo…?”

I could barely stand. The pain was blurring their faces, the trees around us, and the sunset sky…

I was reminded of my hatred towards these people. Towards this organization. The ones who took grandpa away from me…

Wrath was welling up within me.

My body felt heavy, yet powerful. I have never experienced this sensation before.

My limbs tingling and mind consumed with anger, I spoke to Gyorn.

“…I will destroy this entire place… take Anna and run back towards the forest…” I mumbled.

“…what?” asked Gyorn. “…kid… you don’t mean…”

“…the entire cliff… on my signal…”

He contemplated this reckless plan as efficiently as he could, but everything was simple.

It all boiled down to ‘what other choice do we have?’

I could see his disapproving expression coated with concern.

I met his eyes with my own, and let them demonstrate my decisiveness.

“…not suicide…” I clarified.

“…”

“…alright…” Gyorn said firmly, “…do it…”

These couple of seconds were the longest in my entire life.

Prepared to devastate this whole area, I was careful not to show my determination to the enemy.

I carefully hid my intentions and waited out the right moment.

I braced myself, got ready, and lifted my leg, about to make the decisive impact.

“...go.”

Braun picked up Anna and Gyorn led the way.

When I eventually stomped the ground, I never found out what happened.

Whenever I try to recall this event, I keep drawing blanks…

Even years later, this would be the only gap I have in my memory.

I woke up on a mountain of rocks which broke during my improvised escape.

The cliff was gone and so was any trace of a palace that used to ever exist on it.

In front of me, the rising morning sun shined brightly, as if declaring that the altercation was over…

I didn’t know where anyone was.

Not just Gyorn, Braun or Anna.

I couldn’t see a single Zepsis member in sight either.

I was tired…

Without any concrete plan in mind, I started walking.

The desolate city in front of me seemed eerily quiet, as if it was deserted by its residents overnight.

My eyesight faltering, my hands shaking, and my right leg trembling uncontrollably, I slowly set off back towards the hideout.

“Zenzo!” yelled a voice, running towards me. “Say something, are you okay?”

Was a Zepsis member approaching me?

Or did I get lucky for once?

“It’s me, Braun.”

Lucky...

Since Braun was here…

I could let my guard down for just a second…

Maybe even sit down for a moment…

…and close my eyes…

…

I woke up in a comfortable bed.

The smell around me carried an air of a damp room, filled with medicinal herbs and potions.

There was a faint torch exposing vast, dark stone walls.

I saw some familiar-looking wooden barrels and boxes stacked on top of each other in one corner, and a shelf with medicine and drugs, in the other.

I was back.

It was the same room I woke up in a month ago.

However, contrary to last time, people were gathered inside, waiting for me.

Anna was lying against the bed by my side.

Braun was sitting up against the wall opposite of me, bobbing his head, and resisting the urge to fall asleep.

Xax was standing in the entryway to the room, leaning against the frame with his eyes closed.

I was happy to see them. I was feeling a lot better. But there was just one problem.

“…where is Gyorn?”