Parallel (A Virtual Gamer's Story) [Vol.1 - Vol.4 Complete]

Chapter 174: My Way

Aethon, Kirkcour Woods.

11:35 pm, 14th Banem 1092.

Ruumble!

The earth trembled as over two hundred pairs of hooves thundered out of the surrounding forests into the deserted town. The moonlight shone on the small army and revealed them to be a force of 104 centaurs, of which 100 were composed of the Longma tribe. Darian, Larsial, and Shadow rode just behind Kashi, who led the centaur contingent.

As they approached the town, Kashi's brows furrowed. Thick, acrid smells of smoke and rot blew into his nose, and a terrible premonition overcame the daeben. Fearing the worst, Kashi spurred Drixlia into a hard gallop and raced to the town. The rest of the army picked up on the daeben's unease and subsequently increased their pace.

Within a matter of minutes, Kashi reached the town gates, or rather what was left of them, and the sight that greeted him caused something primal within him to awaken from its slumber. The daeben's lips were tightly pressed together as he looked at the 'scarecrows' that adorned the broken gates.

The scarecrows were fashioned by impaling branches through centaurs and raising them several feet above the ground. The branches, some big, some small, positioned the centaurs' limbs in humiliating positions like strings of abandoned puppets.

Judging by the open-eyed despair and anguish in most of the centaurs' eyes, they had died a slow, painful death, devoid of honor.

Kashi's eyes were grim as Darian, Shadow, Larsial, and Agamios joined his side. Without looking at any of them, the daeben asked in a dark tone, "Have any of you learned telekinesis?" The deafening silence that followed answered his question. "I see," Kashi muttered and dismounted.

The daeben took slow, purposeful steps to one of the scarecrows. Kashi looked up at the tear-soaked, anguished filled eyes of the female centaur and followed her gaze to see a little colt a few meters away in a similarly humiliating position.

The daeben could tell from the severity of the gashes around the punctured parts of her body that the mare had fought till her last breath to save her child. Unfortunately, not only had she failed, she'd been forced to watch her son slowly bleed out in front of her.

How the colt must have cried. How he must have wept. How did the mother feel seeing the despair take over her son's eyes?

Boom!

Larsial paled as Kashi smashed the branches that held up the centaur mother with a single punch. The corpse lost its support and dropped toward the daeben. Larsial, convinced Kashi was too overcome with rage to notice his surroundings, opened her mouth to warn Kashi to move out of the way.

Bam!

Larsial's mouth remained open as she watched a massive surge of ki gush out of the daeben in the shape of a dragon's clawed hand and catch the corpse. 'You can do that?' Larsial looked at the daeben in awe and shock as the ki hand gently placed the body on the earth.

Kashi, at the moment, did not care in the least what the others thought about him. The centaur mother's eyes arrested his gaze and dredged up old memories Suzuki had buried deep within. Those eyes. They were the same as that time in the fire. The desperation of a mother willing to do whatever it took to save her child no matter how futile it seemed.

The only difference was that this mother failed to save her child. She never got to experience the relief of seeing her child escape to safety.

Kashi sighed as he crouched next to the centaur and gently closed her eyes. "You can rest now. I promise I will find those responsible and make them pay," he promised as much to the centauress as it was to the monster raging within him. The fire in his soul seemed satisfied by this answer as the heat in his chest slowly calmed.