Killed Me? Now I Have Your Power

"Wasn't this place supposed to be embraced by flames?" Inara inquired, looking around the Evolution Room where there was nothing reminiscent of fire.

No charred remains, no wisp of smoke, no anything.

It honestly didn't look like the tale they'd heard when they came back from the war.

"Logically," Meris answered, observing the same sight as Inara.

The place was destroyed, yes…but not by fire. The damage came from the shredded rocks of the ceiling torn apart by Reditha. All over the room, blocks of stone had implanted themselves into the floor, followed by smaller clusters that covered the ground like sand over a desert.

Each of their steps made a crushing sound, loud and echoing, like a beast grinding human bones under its jaw.

Kaden, Rory, Meris, and Inara walked quickly through the pit, heading toward the spot where Kaden had first seen Brain sitting, surrounded by the corpses of the Six Lobes.

Now nothing remained except a cluster of broken tubes, blue liquid spilling across the floor. The bodies had been taken and burned to ashes by the Elamin fire users.

They wanted to take no risks with those bastards. They were disgustingly sly.

And now, instead of seeing Brain sitting calmly on his brain-shaped chair in his perfect suit… they saw a chained man on his knees, long, dirtied white-brown hair fluttering under the slashing wind, his head hanging low as if waiting for a judgment blade to fall.

His clothes were torn apart in multiple places, leaving most of his body exposed to the world. Through those tears, Kaden saw purple, teeth-like marks all over his chest and beyond — the kind that looked as though an obsessive lover hadn't gotten enough of him.

Though for him, it was no lover.

He was poisoned.

Luke twitched at the sound of their crushing footsteps. Slowly, he raised his head to look at them, revealing deep red eyes framed by heavy bags. He looked like someone who had been denied the mercy of sleep for years.

It was almost pitiful to see, but none of them cared.

Kaden, with Rory perched on his head, and Meris and Inara flanking him, approached and stopped a few meters away.

No one spoke.

Kaden only stared at Luke, his mind drifting, thinking of too many things at once. Honestly, he already had an idea of what, or who, was responsible for all of this.

Brain had spoken about the Forbidden Alchemist, and through the clues of how he acted and the information Kaden extracted from his death, he'd managed to connect the dots between the Forbidden Alchemist and the Devourer of Souls.

And whoever spoke about the Devourer of Souls… inevitably spoke about souls.

So now…

If he added that knowledge to the new revelation that Luke was a traitor… a very clear picture began to take shape inside his mind.

But some things still didn't add up.

Who had Luke betrayed the Thornspire for? Was it really the Cerveau? If so, then how come they hadn't used these runes that could have ended the fight so much easier?

Some kind of restriction?

He honestly doubted that.

'Things are getting bloody annoying,' he cursed inwardly, before focusing back on Luke.

Perched on his head, Rory was looking around the room with a sudden, strange calm. Her red eyes darted about as if searching for something.

When Kaden stepped closer to Luke, she suddenly flew off his head and scanned the Evolution Room.

Neither Kaden nor Meris nor Inara paid much attention to it.

Inara already had her snake back, coiled protectively around her neck. This, for some strange reason, made her feel safer and more at ease.

Meris was calmer now. Freed from some unnecessary worries, she returned to her mischievous, curious nature. She watched the room with something like awe, wondering how her sweet, lovely Kaden could possess such destructive power.

Wings of love fluttered inside her chest as she realized how cool her Kaden was. Her deepest regret was that she had missed the scene where he shaped a dragon with his blood power.

Only that. And she would gladly kill a bunch of innocent people just to witness that…

She paused.

'Oops. I am rambling.' She chuckled.

By the time she regained her senses, Kaden had already begun his interrogation.

"Do you know me?" he asked as he half-crouched, looking Luke face to face.

The man's lips slowly curled into a small, mocking smile. "How could I not know you?" he said, his voice like someone drugged to stay awake for years. "Aren't you my lovely niece's fiancé?"

He paused, and Kaden frowned at the casual familiarity in Luke's tone. Looking deeply into his eyes, Kaden felt something sharp pierce his chest.

Something like…

'…sorrow?' he thought, frowning, only to be interrupted by Luke's voice.

"Nice to meet you. It seems it's our first meeting." Luke added.

"Not the kind I expected when I was to meet my in-law," Kaden said, tone neutral. "But I suppose the world is unpredictable like that."

Luke chuckled. "And that makes it more fun, isn't it?"

"So you think all of this is fun?" Kaden's voice dropped a notch, colder, his blood-red eyes boring into Luke's ruby ones.

"You betrayed your house. But that's not all, Luke — you betrayed your own family, left your brother at death's door and Rea orphaned."

Luke stayed silent, but his smile didn't fade.

Kaden felt rage rise, but he kept it in check. This wasn't a moment for impulse. He calmed himself and spoke again.

"I'm not going to ask why you did it, you'll explain to those you owe it to later."

Luke laughed. "Now that's interesting. You want me to explain myself to the dead?" His laughter echoed, sharp and mocking.

"Dead?" Inara echoed. "He's not dead yet." Her snake snarled at Luke.

"You said it yourself…" Luke looked at Inara, "'…yet.'"

Inara's eyes deepened, her monstrous nature threatened to surface, curses swelling at the tip of her tongue, ready to spit profanity at this bastard… but Meris cut her off.

"It's fine," Meris said with a chuckle. "Neither he nor Rea will die. My Kaden will make sure of that."

She paused briefly; her smile turned mischievous, her eyes twinkling with wicked amusement.

"And let's even say they do die…" her smile widened, "you will still explain yourself to them. After all, you will follow them."

"Is that so?" Luke's eyes darkened slightly, but…

"Do you doubt that fact?" Kaden cut in. Luke turned his head slowly to look at him.

Kaden's face didn't change, but there was something in his eyes that made Luke shift uncomfortably. Kaden had activated his Will.

"You see, Luke, I'm not fond of wasting time, and with my father-in-law about to meet Death I'm on edge, so let's make this simple, shall we?"

He didn't wait for an answer.

"You will tell me where you found this rune and what the remedy is."

"You have one try." He said.

He wanted to give him a chance, but he should have known better about people like Luke.

Luke didn't even bother to respond; he looked at Kaden as if he were a fool, a man meddling in matters beyond his capacity.

"You're a fool," Luke began, "if you think being hailed a hero of these now-shattered strongholds gives you anything to be proud of."

He leaned in toward Kaden, voice laced with condescension and poison. "You are nothing, you fool. These pathetic people call you a hero only because they need someone to lean on, someone to shoulder their burdens and continue their wrenched, ignorant lives." He spat the words.

"For them, you are nothing but a fucking symbol. You can die today and none of them would mourn you, Kaden Warborn. They would mourn the symbol you represented and even then…"

He chuckled,

"…they'll find someone else to hail as hero. And if they don't have one…" he shrugged with an annoying grin, "…they'll create one."

He let the words settle, face twisting in disgust as he looked at them. "So in the end, what makes you special? What gives you the courage, the audacity to stand before me and speak as if you're my equal?"

Silence, crushing and pitiless, filled the pit. It was broken only by Kaden's low, humorless chuckle. "You get one thing wrong, Luke."

He slowly raised both hands and pressed his palms to each side of Luke's head.

"I'm no hero, Luke. I don't care what others think of me. I don't care their expectations. I don't care the burdens they place on my shoulders."

"I am Kaden Warborn. And you have no bloody idea who I am or what my motives are."

He smirked.

"And you are unworthy of that. So let's finish this."

He paused, then his grin widened as he spoke the next words,

"Mind Eye."

—End of Chapter 276—