Chapter 45 - Standing at the edge of insanity (Part 2)

The fight continued and we kept exchanging blows. My mind was all over the place and in disarray. The little girl kept whispering and tinkering with my thoughts. Xykoss started to act up as well. The inside of the building was wrecked. The sun had risen from the horizon.

“It doesn’t seem like I can convince you. I guess, playtime is over.”

His lavender eyes started glowing and our surrounding was flipped upside down. The entire building creaked and started crumbling. It caught me off guard. He took that opportunity to grab me by my throat while blocking and restraining my claw. His hand was slowly getting tighter, and I gasped for air. My leg went up, trying to kick him but he fended it off with his own leg.

“Let me tell you a little bit more about my Paroxys and what I am capable of. You have probably heard about the term psychic or psychic powers. That is exactly what I can do. I can enter your mind freely and influence your mental state. It’s as easy as stealing candy from a child. You probably remember what happened last time.”

The pressure increased immensely. I grabbed on to his arm and tried to pull it away from me.

“But this time it’ll be different. No one will come and rescue you.”

I prepared myself for our surroundings to suddenly change, but nothing happened. Instead, his grip loosened, and he stumbled back. Blood was running down his mouth. The cause was a hand piercing into his abdomens. And that hand belonged to the little girl. She turned her head to face me.

“I told you. I will protect you.”

I inhaled sharply and coughed. He grabbed her by the head and flung her to the side, into a wall. Blood was gushing out of his wound and dropping on to the ground. I panicked ran after her, but to my surprise she was completely fine. She emerged from the pile of rubble unscratched. The ground started rumbling and the debris floating.

“Tch. What an annoying little pest you have there with you.”

The blood had stopped, and it seemed like he had recovered. Round two was about to start with a new and unexpected participant.

“Are you okay?”

I asked her to make sure that she was fine. For some odd reason, she felt more like a human than a Paroxys to me. She nodded her head and dusted off her clothes.

“I will back you up, but only if your intention is to kill him.”

“What? What are you talking about? Is it really necessary to take his life?”

I was shocked by her words and how blunt she was.

“Yes. He has killed many. I can tell. Sacrificing him will mean that we’ll be able to save others. It is not a big deal, because he is a bad person.”

I felt sick to my stomach. Because the same thought had crossed my mind. It was as if I was looking at my own reflection of my mind whenever I looked at the little girl with no name. Eien didn’t waste time and started attacking again. My concentration was broken and Xykoss was slipping out of my hand. The little girl kept watching from a distance. I didn’t know what to do. What was the right choice? I recollected everyone’s words who had given me advice in the past. I should never become a monster myself. But if I don’t do anything, more people will die, because I couldn’t save them. For every person I have killed, I have to save another ten. Was this rule acceptable in this situation? The world was designed to be unfair. Does that mean that I can just let the people die? Justifying it as it was their fate. Xykoss screamed and I was pulled back to reality. My arm was twisted, and I was tossed into the ceiling. His speed was increasing, and our surrounding was gradually getting weirder. He grabbed one bench after the other to pull them out of the floor and hurl them at me. I managed to dodge one, but the next one hit me directly. I let out a grunt as I was thrown back to the floor. A smokescreen was covering me. I opened my eyes and looked outside a broken window. The sky had disappeared and all that was left was the colour white.

“Come out, come out wherever you are.”

He sang out loud and appeared behind me as I was standing up. He grabbed me by my arms, pulling them back and forcing me to kneel. My claw came detached and fell to the ground as he placed his knee on my back and proceeded to break both of my arms. The sound of both my bones snapping and my scream pierced though the air. He let go and I fell to the ground with a thump.

“Are you now ready to give me Xykoss?”

He walked around me to crouch down in front of me.

“He is not worth you going through all of this pain. Hand him to me and forget about everything that has happened or has anything to do with the Paroxys or Outliners. Turn your back and leave to live a peaceful life. Your mother surely would want that as well. And think about your brother as well. You were not born to be an Outliner. I mean look at yourself.”

He grabbed me by my head to lift it and look me in my eyes. I tried moving my arms. Xykoss was gone, hiding in the shadows. I could see the little girl from my peripheral view. She was sitting on one of the benches. Her legs dangling back and forth. Strangely, I was relieved that she was not in pain like I was.

“What am I going to tell Charlotte then? What about Kanna? And what about Toshiko’s husband? What will I say to Noah? Or to Yabumi-sensei? How will I be able to face Uehara? Have you any idea what they had to go through because of people like you? Do you even have a heart to understand after killing so many innocent people? I promised to be useful and save people. And I keep my promises. No matter the cost.”

“Ah, I hate idiots like you the most. Who are delusional and think that they can change the world.”

He lifted my head up even more by pulling at my hair to knee me in the face. My nose cracked and blood was running into my mouth. He let go of me and I dropped to the floor again. My arms were ruined, so there was no way of softening my fall. My breathing was shallow, and I was choking on my own blood. The taste of iron was spreading in my mouth.

“I guess I’ll just have to forcibly take Xykoss with me then. Surely, I will find a thread that connects you to him. All I have to do is cut it.”

I bent my legs and pushed my head against the ground to try and stand up.

“Zlato. Crusheth their minds and bodies. Maketh those folks weepeth and hopeless.”

The ground cracked. The benches creaked and shattered. I was forced by the sudden intense gravity to lay down again. The air was tight, and it was hard to breathe. It felt like I was buried underground.

“Xykoss. Come out. Please. I need your help.”

Nothing happened. The girl had vanished too. Eien was standing in the middle of the room, looking down on me. His eyes had changed colours. They were completely black. A strange purple marking appeared on his forehead and his tattoos were moving.

“Do you have any last words?”

The gravity increased again and we were slowly going down. The ground was getting pulverised.

“Don’t worry. It’ll be a quick death.”

“Is this how you kill people?”

The words barely came out of my mouth.

“No, I usually don’t dirty my hands. I let others do the work for me. Noah was the best at it, but unfortunately he passed away.”

I exhaled sharply as my body started to tremble. My vision got blurry. And I clenched my jaw.

“You forced him to kill people?”

My eyes were fixated on him.

“I didn’t force him. He did it on his own accord. He had to pay in some kind of form or way for living with us. It was merely a suggestion from me.”

I made my hands into fists.

“He was a child. Are you even sad that he passed away?”

He paused before answering.

“Yes.”

“Liar!”

I screamed at him.

“You’re all the same! Every single one of you! You’re all despicable human beings!”

I forced my arms and body to move. With all my might, I pushed myself off the ground and stood up. My legs were shaky. My arms were hurting. But it didn’t matter to me.

“I will hunt down every single member of the RIP. I will never forgive you for what you did to Noah and every single victim of yours.”

He scoffed and slowly moved his hands upwards.

“Xykoss! You better come out!”

I screamed from the bottom of my lungs. My hammer was in my hand and Xykoss right behind me. I told him to howl as loudly as he could to cause a disruption within the atmosphere. He rammed his claws into the ground and got bigger and bigger, casting a shadow over me. I took my stance too. Round three was about to start.

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