The Strongest Family Has Arrived!

Chapter 14

—–CROW—– 

At those words, Ryan realized.

His father and two brothers must have done something terrible.

Something so terrible that even they, who always lived above the law, couldn’t avoid being conscious of outside eyes.

And his always-kind uncle must have tried to stop them.

“It’s just as well, as I was wondering how to deal with this. To be born with my blood and be incompetent.”

Twelve years old. It was a foregone conclusion that Ryan was incompetent.

“This one will be the first example of an ability manifesting at the age of twelve.”

His father, so casually, plotted a scenario to frame his own child as a murderer.

“To the outside world, announce that his ability went out of control during its first manifestation, causing a massacre.”

The blood that produced ability users.

That was the source of his father’s power.

Therefore, the fact that he had produced an ‘incompetent’ child was a poison to the family’s prestige.

Ryan wasn’t a son, but a fatal flaw that had to be hidden and eliminated.

“Of course, there will be a lot of suspicion and gossip at first, but what can they do?”

His father smiled with satisfaction.

“Throw this one as the culprit of the massacre. Keep him locked up in prison, and they’ll all forget about it over time.”

Ryan listened to that voice, like a sentence being passed, and thought.

So, would I be abandoned?

If I told them I wasn’t incompetent, that I had manifested my ability just now, could I avoid being abandoned?

It was obvious.

His uncle was dead, and he had become a ‘useful’ existence, capable of replacing his powerful uncle’s ability.

His father, who treated his son like a bug, would change his attitude in a heartbeat.

He could definitely be loved.

So, at that moment, Ryan couldn’t help but consider it, in his young mind.

A big house, fine clothes, exquisite meals, high status, lavish treatment…

Everything he had enjoyed as a member of the Vasenbergs, and even the father’s affection he had always yearned for.

It was too tempting to give up.

Yet, a voice held him back.

“Ryan, please, just don’t become like your father.”

His mother, who had turned her back on her children who were becoming like their father, and who had held only Ryan in her arms until she died.

“If you use strong power for good, the world could be a wonderful place. Right, Ryan?”

Someone whose intentions differed from his father’s.

His uncle, who had been tormented rather than proud of being an ability user.

Their voices solidified Ryan’s resolve.

“Did you have to die like that, uncle? Did you do something wrong to Father?”

Ryan quietly stood and approached his uncle’s corpse and asked. He closed his uncle’s eyes, which hadn’t been shut.

“Uncle was incredibly strong. He was someone who could have killed someone like Father, who had nothing, anytime.”

At his words, his two older brothers were aghast.

“Hey, are you crazy?”

His second brother, Elliot, said while looking at their father’s reaction.

“We can only use our powers because Father allows us to…”

“Enough.”

His father stopped Elliot and smiled.

“Keep talking.”

“But uncle followed Father. Because he was family. Why did you kill uncle? He was your brother. Why?”

“As you said, it’s because he was strong. He was someone who could kill all the members of our family in an instant. How could I not be wary of someone who keeps opposing my will?”

“Ah, you were afraid of being killed by uncle, so you killed him first.”

His father’s expression cracked.  Elliot jumped in again, shocked.

“Is this bastard crazy? Uncle was in the wrong! He was too stubborn to do something that his ability could have finished in a second, so we had to do it for him. Do you know how hard it was?”

“Something that required uncle’s ability? Ah, you must have gone and done something horrible again, Father.”

*Thwack!*

“How dare you speak to your father like that!”

His eldest brother, David’s, fierce hand struck Ryan’s cheek.

“Get this one out of my sight.”

At his father’s command, David grabbed Ryan and dragged him away roughly.

“Father!”

His vision blurred, and he tasted the metallic tang of blood from his busted mouth. Ryan, his eyes filled with tears, screamed.

“Even if I’m incompetent, I’m still your son! Even beasts don’t abandon their young! Hahaha!”

He laughed maniacally in his rage.

Even as he was being dragged away, he stubbornly resisted and spat blood-tinged saliva at his father’s feet.

In the tense silence…

Ryan grinned and asked.

“You won’t regret what you did today, right?”

His father chuckled mockingly at his son being dragged away.

“…You’re like a bug.”

***

“…I want to wipe out that whole damn family.”

Ryan muttered fiercely.

‘Ah, don’t reminisce alone!’

He seemed to have recalled a memory that made him very angry. I had no way of knowing, which was frustrating.

“You’re smart and know a lot, so you understand what I mean by revenge, right?”

“Yes?”

“It’s not just revenge because I was wronged. Our family is truly like a rotten tooth. That man, my father, just kept producing people who are just like him, and they’re all doing crazy things.”

“…”

“They don’t even think about using their powers for good. So if I don’t wipe them all out, how can there be peace in the family, the country, and the world?”

Ryan’s eyes shone. I stared at his profile for a long time.

Twelve years old.

At the same age, I, knowing nothing, wanted to continue living luxuriously in the family.

And Ryan, even in a despairing situation of being imprisoned, had vowed to tear down the rotten family with his own hands.

‘I wouldn’t have been able to do that.’

Even after learning the truth about the family, I couldn’t resist much.

I was afraid of being killed and scared of my father and siblings.

So this was atonement.

Atonement for my past life as a ‘bystander’ which was shameful to excuse with claims that I was young, didn’t know, or had no power.

“….?”

I quietly reached out and took Ryan’s hand. He turned around.

“What?”

“I want to get closer to Appa.”

“…What?”

Everything I knew. My ability.

I would use them all to help Ryan.

This time, I would destroy the Vasenbergs in a different way than before the regression.

So that when everything was over.

Ryan wouldn’t be labeled a ‘murderer’ but a ‘punisher.’

“You seemed a little scary at first, but I think you’re a kind and brave person after all.”

“…”

Oh, he’s embarrassed…

Ryan, uncharacteristically blushing around his ears, avoided my eyes and looked around before getting annoyed at seeing livan in the distance.

“Anyway! What kind of ridiculous experiments did those professors do?”

“…”

“I understand the intention, but how could that even succeed? How can someone use an ability if it’s transplanted into a normal person?”

Ryan kept grumbling about how he caused trouble with his ridiculous attempts.

I remained silent.

“Hey.”

When I remained silent for a while, Ryan nudged my shoulder.

“Hey, bunny.”

Lost in thought, I turned around, bewildered.

“Yes…?”

I never expected such a cute nickname from this big, disheveled man…

“What’s wrong. Are you crying? Are you crying?”

“Huh? No?”

“You’re crying?!”

Ryan exclaimed in surprise.

Crying? I was just as surprised.

When I wiped my eyes, it was true.

I was crying without even realizing it.

“Why are you crying all of a sudden?”

“…I don’t know? It’s just that, ah…”

The ability transplantation experiment, the .

I knew that the experiment had finally succeeded.

I also knew who the sole successful test subject of the ability transplantation was.

“Why are you crying?”

Nike.

Nike Valensia…

The name of my lover, which I had tried not to think about, had come to mind unintentionally…

I couldn’t help but cry.

***

Nike Valensia.

He was the third prince of the Valensia Empire.

With his exceptional martial arts skills, he was entrusted with command of the Imperial Knights at the age of sixteen, as soon as he came of age.

And now, he was at the forefront of the monster subjugation, personally wielding his sword to protect the nation.

Despite his noble lineage, he was a paragon of noblesse oblige, never fearing death.

“Your Highness! Be careful!”

At the moment he heard his adjutant’s cry, Nike quickly turned around.

A roaring maw with dozens of teeth. A ferocious body over two meters tall, covered in armor-like skin.

The monster was a terrifying creature that looked human yet wasn’t.

As he saw the monster’s arm swinging toward him, Nike instinctively knew.

It was too late.

“Your Highness!!!”

There was no way to avoid it. The monster’s sharp claws severed his neck artery in one blow.

‘A fatal wound.’

The moment he made that judgment, Nike closed his eyes.

At that moment…

*Click.*

The world’s time reversed by thirty seconds.

This time, Nike turned around before he heard his adjutant’s cry.

The monster, not yet close, was met with his sword, thrust deep into its neck, which was its weak point.

*Kraaaak!*

The monster’s breath was cut short with a painful scream.

Nike Valensia.

He had a secret.

Thirteen years ago, under the tacit approval of the royal family, a secret ability transplantation experiment, the , had begun.

He was the only successful product of that experiment.

—–CROW—–