Chapter 183: Enigmus Arc Aftermath

Chapter 183: Enigmus Arc Aftermath

Back with Goma.

Goma moves away from the ruins of the fortress. The rain continues to pour and lightning briefly illuminates the area.

His eyes narrow and his lips turn to a serious frown. He thinks, “The son of the Light Goddess and the daughter of the Dark Goddess together. That could be a problem…”

***

Back at the fortress ruins.

Soon after Kogen’s defeat, angels begin surrounding the destroyed fortress, some on the ground and some flying in the air.

Zaydra spots Zeth and his friends, and immediately moves toward them.

“Zeth!” Zaydra shouts. “We got here as fast as we could! Are you alright!?”

“Yeah,” Zeth replies. “We were able to defeat Kogen thanks to Sasha.”

Zaydra’s gaze shifts to Sasha. Her eyes immediately lock onto Sasha’s Dark Divine Eyes. “I assume the current state of her eyes means she has unlocked her true power.”

“Yes,” Sasha answers simply.

***

A sudden explosion erupts from the outer wall of a different section of the fortress. Stone and debris blast outward as Gen and Subject 1 emerge, running at full speed.

“It’s Gentorious! Kill him!” a male angel shouts.

Several angels rush in to attack.

“Do you grunt soldiers think you can defeat me?” Gen sneers. “Don’t make me laugh.”

A powerful wave of energy bursts outward from him, blasting the angels away. None are killed, but the force sends them crashing across the ruins. In the chaos, Gen and Subject 1 escape.

***

“What’s going on over there!?” Zaydra demands.

Her personal guard, Kren, arrives at her side.

“My princess, Gentorious was here and he was trying to escape with an unknown person.”

“Did he successfully escape!?”

“Yes, but there were no casualties on our end.”

Zaydra exhales slowly. “Well, I suppose I can be happy we didn’t suffer any losses at least.”

Zeth steps forward. “Zaydra, we lost a friend somewhere in this fortress. He goes by the name RAG. We need to find him.”

“Understood.”

Zaydra turns to Kren. “I want most of our forces here to begin a search and rescue mission!”

“Roger.”

Kren immediately begins issuing commands to the other angels, directing them to spread out and search through the remains of the fortress.

***

A few hours later.

The storm has fully stopped. The ruined battlefield is quiet aside from chatter from the angels.

Zeth, Sasha, Joe, Kurt, Keith, Zaydra, and Kren regroup.

“Anything?” Zeth asks.

“Nothing,” Zaydra replies.

“Nothing on my end too,” Kren adds.

Zeth clenches his fists. “Damn it!! Where are you, RAG?”

Zaydra studies the group’s injuries. “All of you need medical treatment, especially you, Sasha. Good grief, you’re basically covered in blood from head to toe. How are you even able to move?”

“Trust me. The pain is agonizing, but I wasn’t going to sit back while RAG might be in danger,” Sasha replies.

Zaydra sighs. “We’re taking you to Angel Sanctuary. We’ll patch you all up there.”

“…Alright,” Zeth says reluctantly.

The angels lift the heroes into the air and begin flying them away from the ruins.

As they depart, a male angel approaches Zaydra, holding a painting.

“My princess, take a look at this.”

Zaydra takes the painting from his hands and gazes at it. Her eyes widen and her mouth opens in shock.

The painting is the same one that once hung in the throne room. An undetailed young boy Zeth stands in the foreground, while behind him looms an undetailed giant red demon.

Zaydra gasps. “This was supposed to be a secret! How did mortals learn of this!?”

***

A week passes.

Kurt returns home. He steps inside his house and is immediately met by his mother. Jane rushes forward and wraps her arms around him, hugging him tight.

“Kurt, where is your father? Is he safe?”

Kurt freezes, struggling to find the will to speak.

“…No,” he finally says. “I was weak. He sacrificed himself to save me…”

Jane looks up at him, tears filling her eyes. “Oh Kurt.”

She begins to cry.

Kurt drops to his knees and slams both fists into the floor. Tears spill from his eyes as his voice breaks. “I’m sorry!! I couldn’t keep my promise to bring dad back home alive!!”

Jane kneels down and pulls him into another embrace.

“It’s okay! You did your best! Your father may be gone but still having you come back is a blessing! Beck died protecting his son! He will get to rest in peace!”

***

The other heroes remain at Angel Sanctuary.

Sasha approaches Zeth and the others. She is wrapped in bandages nearly all over her body.

“After going through medical treatment, I learned I came very close to dying from blood loss. That battle really did take everything I had.”

“Just how bad was the damage you suffered besides the blood loss?” Zeth asks.

“Not as bad as you would think,” Sasha replies. “My bones held up fine and I didn’t suffer any significant organ damage. It was mostly that my skin got carved up from battle wounds and the strain of the power I was releasing toward the end. The pain is still immense and it hurts to move at all.”

“I’m not sure whether or not to consider that fortunate or unfortunate,” Zeth says.

Sasha laughs slightly, but then winces in pain and places her hand on her abdomen. “Ouch. Pain. Lots of pain. One thing is for sure, I won’t be fighting at full strength for a while. They told me recovery will take a few months.”

“Other than finding RAG, we don’t have any immediate tasks right now so you can take it easy for now,” Zeth says.

“Well, there is one thing,” Emily interjects. “There is something I need to look into in the near future. I don’t know if it will involve any fighting but Sasha can hang back here just in case.”

Sasha nods.

Zeth notices Zaydra nearby and walks over to her, saying, “I’m going to Harmone’s government and putting out a national search request for RAG. I have to do something.”

“Very well,” Zaydra replies.

Zeth turns and starts to leave. Emily, Joe, Keith, and even Sasha follow him.

***

Somewhere at an unknown location.

The mysterious boy walks through a dimly lit hallway. His footsteps echo across the metal floor and walls as he reaches a door and pushes it open.

Inside the room, there is very little lighting. There appears to be a desk with an office chair that has a high back.

“I’m back, mother,” the boy says. “I have done what you have asked of me.”

The office chair spins around, but only a silhouette of the woman is visible.

“Excellent,” she replies. “Then it’s time to begin preparations for the Chaos Tournament.”

Chapter 183 END
To be Continued in Chapter 184: Kogen and Udana in Hell