Omega Wars Chronicles

Chapter 29 Episode 28: Family

In another medical room as Zera laid unconscious on a medical bed, Leorona who happened to be sitting beside her on a chair with a slightly worried expression, recalled earlier as Zotek was holding Zigar by the throat while glaring at him coldly.
"He should have let go of me by now...!" Zigar said within himself, "Who is this guy? And why isn't my mind warping working on him?"
"You...! Who are you and how did you get here?!" Zigar asked Zotek, "I planned this perfectly! There is no way anyone could sense my energy or find this world i created!"
"I've been sensing a lot of energies lately; both human and inhuman, so the moment Zera's energy vanished, i could tell something is wrong." Zotek said, "Your energy however, why does it feel familiar? Who are you?"
"Zera!" Leorona called while emitting a light from her palms over Zera's chest.
"Will she be alright?" Schroeder asked.
" There is something wrong here."Leorona said, "Her heart is severely damaged but It's as if there is something draining her from within. Schroeder, I-"
"Wait a minute.... Schroeder?!" Zigar asked within himself in shock , "Is he the bastard that corrupted Zera's mind with all that bullsh*t she said earlier?!"
"Hey, you there." Zigar said to Schroeder despite still being under Zotek's hold, "Are you Schroeder?"
"Yes, i am." Schroeder answered.
Zigar suddenly growls as his eyes completely glowed while emitting a disturbing aura.
"You bastard! I'll kill you!" Zigar said as he quickly brought out a rune stone from his pouch with his remaining arm and crushed it, spawning a great light in the area.
After the light had cleared, Zotek finds Zigar far from him while rubbing his neck; Zigar looks at his missing arm and placed his other arm on it.
"Heal." Zigar said.
Zigar's missing arm quickly grew back, leaving Leorona and Schroeder a bit stunned.
"Good thing i came fully prepared." Zigar said with a smirk.
Zigar's eyes moves towards Schroeder and points at him.
"You there. You'll pay for pulling Zera into your bullsh*t and making her murder the entire Vilmir family!" Zigar said, "I'm going to make you suffer before i kill you horribly!!"
"Is that so?" Schroeder asked while smiling as his irises glowed while emitting a blue aura, "What do you know... This might actually be worth my time."
"Just like when the trainings went wrong incident?" Leorona asked with a blank face.
A flashback occurs as Schroeder stood in the middle of some students and a huge grey humanoid reptilian.
"Do you think you can stand before me, human?" The reptile asked, "I am Barak of the Reptorix race! I have killed and dissected so many of the mainline of my race! What makes you think you stand a chance against me?!"
"Pay close attention, class." Schroeder said while smiling as his irises glowed brighter, "Watch me commit abuse in the name of teaching."
"Oh... That..." Schroeder said to Leorona with a smirk after recalling that moment, "He was all talk. It really looked like abuse during our fight."
"You should pay attention to the one that is going to kill you." Zigar said, "I'm going to make sure that master Vilmir is avenged!"
"Vilmir, huh?" Zotek asked, "All this talk about Vilmir, i guess that you're a survivor from the Vilmir family, correct? A cult that does nothing but to go around and kidnap infants from different tribes and brainwash them into believing they are nothing more than objects made to serve Vilmir.
No wonder your energy seemed familiar. Looks like Zera failed in finishing the job."
"You mean that night?" Schroeder asked.
"Yes. The night Zera went off on her own and decided to wipe them all out." Zotek said, "She may have killed the entire Vilmir family but i was the one that killed Vilmir himself."
This revelation left Schroeder, Leorona and Zigar in shock.
"I wasn't aware that you followed her that night." Schroeder said.
"I was one of those few that knew when she ran off but i decided not to interfere... initially." Zotek said, "By the time i decided to go after her, Zera had already killed all of the Vilmir family except for Vilmir himself; she fought hard but was no match for him, that's when i decided to interfere."
"You killed my master! You monster!" Zigar said in fury.
"I've killed a lot of people, both innocent and guilty." Zotek said, "Anyway, you speak of your master as if he is some kind of angel. A man that would send his underlings to go to the homes of children and kidnap them, raising them to feel that they had no other purpose but to serve him. A man who would steal the lifespan of many of his followers to prolong his own life and teach the others that it was an honor for such to happen to them.
Yeah, i don't regret killing him at all."
Zigar began to chuckle which quickly escalated into a full blown laughter to the point of tears flowing out of his eyes.
"You know, i was initially planning to kill only Zera..." Zigar said while wiping off the tears from his eyes, "But now that a lot of things have been revealed..."
"I'm going to kill every last one of you, right here.... Right now." Zigar said with a menacing grin as his irises glowed, "Come out!"
At the moment, a large number of skeletons began to rise out of the ground and were quickly covered in flesh and blood, having a humanoid appearance with scales and crimson skins on them.
"Marvelous, isn't it?" Zigar asked as the humanoids had surrounded Zotek, Schroeder and Leorona, "This is one of the abilities of the Shanox stone. Once you've acquired the stone and it accepts you as it's master, the stone will provide you with a serious number of servants to aid you in a battle.
Right now, you are surrounded by 30,000 of these crimson servants who will aid me in crushing you all! Tell me something, do you honestly believe you can withstand me and these numbers?!"
"Numbers? What numbers?" Zotek asked.
In an instant, all of the crimson servants exploded, leaving Zigar in shock.
"He just killed 30,000 of these things like they were nothing..." Zigar said within himself, "T-thats impossible...!"
  Zotek began to emit a faint aura that altered the sky color of that realm and caused all the trees there to wither which made Zigar's knees knock as he was feeling his terrifying presence.
"What's with this guy...? What's this feeling?" Zigar asked within himself.
Zigar could suddenly feel something like a shadow of death, gripping his neck from behind which made him gulp hard.
"Zotek..." Leorona called.
"Wait, you are Zotek?!" Zigar asked in fear while shaking tremendously, "You are the Grim predator?!"
"What if i am?" Zotek asked.
"Wha-what kind of monstrosity has she aligned herself with?" Zigar asked.
"If this is all you have to offer... Then let's get this over with." Zotek said in a darkened voice while walking towards Zigar as his irises glowed brighter and was still emitting that faint aura.
"No, please!!" Zigar said with his stretched out arm.
  The scenery was suddenly interrupted as a green light shot out far behind Zotek which was revealed to be Zera as she was slowly rising to her feet without any support, leaving Schroeder and Zigar stunned while Leorona was terrified.
"Oh no..." Leorona said within herself with a wide-eyed expression, "There is a side of Zera, i never thought I'd see again. When her health drops below 10% or far below it, a side of her awakens... A wilder and more dangerous side, devoid of reasoning and overridden with immense bloodlust and in this state, Zera's raw capabilities massively increases.
This side of her is known as..."
"Kaijira Zera." Leorona said within herself as Zera was facing the ground while slightly grinning in a psychotic, twisted manner along with her irises glowing.
"This is bad! This is really bad!" Leorona said within herself while her hands were shaking, "I can't believe we forgot about this! Animals hunt and feed until they are satisfied but this side of Zera only hunts and kills until her bloodlust is satisfied!
We have to get out of here!"
"What is with this fiendish feeling...?" Zigar asked within himself, "Could it be...?"
At that moment, Zigar quickly grasped the situation which made him step back a bit.
"No..." Zigar said within himself, "Dammit! If they had just let me kill her, we won't be dealing with this! In her current state, my mind warping doesn't even work on her;  i could still summon more of those crimson servants to aid me but what can they do against her? More importantly, why isn't the kaliss technique working?!"
Zigar's irises glowed brighter and he was able to see the golden light still in Zera.
"It's still there..." Zigar said within himself, "She still can't access her Kan ability of beast soul but yet, she isn't getting weaker... She's getting stronger at an abnormal rate! This doesn't make any sense!!"
Zera dangerously glanced at Zigar which made him instinctively hop back in fear.
"Come out, strongest crimson servants of this realm!!" Zigar said as he quickly spreads his arms apart.
  Many crimson servants emerged from the ground and surrounded Zera but Zera paid no attention to them and was still facing the ground while smiling psychotically. One of the crimson servants dashed towards Zera to punch her but Zera knocks off its legs with one swing of her foot. Right before the crimson servant could fall to the ground, Zera grabs hold of its head with both hands and began to slowly squeeze it.
  The others advanced towards Zera and began to release a torrent of powerful speedy punches but none of them were fazing her until Zera eventually crushed the head of her victim which created a shockwave that pushed the servants back and left Schroeder, Leorona and Zigar in shock.
After Zera had killed the crimson servant, the other servants charged towards Zera as she was still facing the ground while smiling in a psychotic manner. Zera chuckles as she gazed upon the servants and in a flash, Zera murdered them in a brutal fashion, leaving a limb or two missing from the servants.
A crimson servant tries to punch Zera from behind but Zera stops it's attack without looking while facing the ground;  Zera turns to look at the crimson servant with a relaxed demeanor and an open smile and in an instant, Zera grabs hold of it's Adam apple and crushed it which made Leorona gasp in horror with both hands covering her mouth; Zera immediately headbutts the servant, leaving the shape of her head on it's face as it drops dead on the ground and quickly punched a hole on it's chest, creating a large crater on the ground.
"Sh*t! Sh*t! Sh*t!" Zigar said within himself in dread.
Zera appeared in front of Zigar which startled him and made him subconsciously hop back. Zigar immediately grits his teeth as his irises glowed brighter.
"Empower: Big bang fist!!" Zigar said while charging a powerfull aura.
Zigar immediately advanced towards Zera and punched her face which broke the ground, destroyed all the trees in that dimension, temporarily altered the sky color and created a shockwave that pushed the others back (except for Zotek, who stood unfazed at what just happened while having his arms crossed). As the smoke had cleared, the attack was shown to have barely pushed Zera back but had left her upper body bent backwards and her neck twisted which both reverted back to normal, leaving Zigar in shock and horror.
  As Zera lifts her head and sadistically smirks at him with a raised eyebrow, Zigar stepped back in fear.
"Impossible... No one is supposed to survive that..." Zigar said within himself, "Her healing... Not only has her healing level increased but she didn't seem to feel any pain from that attack... No, It's like she doesn't feel any pain at all!"
Zigar clenched his fists and growls as his irises glowed.
"Die, you demon!!" Zigar said as he hurls his aura engulfed fist towards Zera, "Empower: Big bang fist, stage 2!!"
   However, right before his attack could make contact with Zera, Zigar finds his forearm separated as it was slashed off by Zera with one quick swipe of her hand.
"What the... Her movements... I couldn't read her mov-"
Zigar gets interrupted as Zera thrusts her hand deep into his chest and grins evilly at him.
Zera pulls her hand out and Zigar drops to the ground and began to cough out blood while clutching his chest with his remaining arm.
During this moment, Zera grabs both of Zigar's legs, lifts him upside down and slowly began to crush them with her grip, causing Zigar to scream out in pain while Zera grins sadistically at this.
In an instant, Zera rips Zigar in half, leaving Leorona and Schroeder terrified at this scene.
After ripping Zigar in half, Zera threw his body away and began to laugh out in a demonic tone while emitting a green aura.
Being through with laughing, Zera stared down at the ground and Schroeder began to walk towards her, leaving Leorona stunned.
"Schroeder, stop." Leorona said, "In the state she is in, she'll-."
"Don't worry." Schroeder cuts in while walking towards Zera, "She won't harm me."
"Zera, can you hear me?" Schroeder asked as he placed his hand on Zera's shoulder.
Hearing Schroeder's voice,  Zera's aura began to decrease as she gently placed her hand on Schroeder's wrist which made Schroeder smile; Zera's aura suddenly increased as she crushed Schroeder's wrist and hurls her fist at him.
  Right before her fist could connect, a hand from out of nowhere stopped the attack which resulted in creating an intense shockwave, revealing the person to be Zotek, who happened to be staring coldly at her.
"Enough." Zotek said, "Stand. Down."
The glare from Zotek sent a pressure towards Zera that made her lose consciousness and drop to the ground.
After recalling that incident, Leorona sighed.
"Damn. That was close."
Leorona stood from her chair and turned her back to leave the room
"Leorona..." The feminine weakly voice called.
Leorona turned and saw the person to be Zera, whose eyes were opened while laying on the bed and staring at her.
"She has recovered that quickly?" Leorona asked within herself.
"Where am I?" Zera asked.
"You are at the Keigras medical room." Leorona answered, "We brought you here after your little incident with Zigar and you almost killing Schroeder."
"I tried to kill Schroeder?"  Zera asked.
"Yes, you did." Leorona answered.
"Where is Cloud?" Zera asked.
"Why are you asking after him?" Leorona asked.
"I have to speak to him." Zera said.
"If you're planning to-"
"No! No!" Zera cuts in with her eyes closed, "I need to speak to him! I need to apologise for everything I've done! All those times... All those things I've done to him... I just wanted to keep him safe..."
"This is some kind of joke, right?" Leorona asked with an expressionless demeanor, "You wanted to keep him safe by treating him like garbage? You've berated him, treated him like he was some kind of third-rate existence, I'm even surprised that you haven't made him crawl under you to prove it.
You were trying to keep him safe... By constantly trying to sabotage him? Who are you fooling? You weren't trying to keep him safe, you were doing it out of hatred. You hated that he proved you wrong and was continually proving you wrong and because of that, you became so obsessed with proving him wrong which is so unlike you; you may be wild, crazy and all, but to stoop so low and do something like this... It was like i didn't even know you anymore; even Zotek himself, who doesn't seem bothered about things, was disappointed in you.
  No matter how we tried talking to you about your actions, you wouldn't listen. You even put him in extremely dangerous tasks that even Zotek himself admitted that they weren't ready, all because you wanted to prove Cloud wrong, forgetting the lives of the other students involved!
   You've constantly endangered the other students all because of your petty obsession with him! Yes, Cloud is the weakest among them but he does make up for it with his cleverness and determination but you still wouldn't acknowledge that; Heck! You were the one that was insisting on giving him the D rank but we disagreed, so don't you dare you give me that crap!
Oh and let's not forget Schroeder, the man you were looking forward to marrying. I just told you that you almost killed him and you took it like 'Oh no, i tried to kill him?! Anyway...' Are you serious?!"
"I-"
"Zera!" Leorona called with a frowning demeanor.
Leorona exhaled with her eyes closed and resumes walking away from Zera.
"You better think of a proper apology to the both of them. I mean it."
"Leorona." Zera called.
"What is it?" Leorona asked as she paused.
"We're still friends ... Right?" Zera asked with a sad demeanor
"Foolish question." Leorona said, "We were never friends..."
"We're family." Leorona said as she turned to look at Zera with a smile, "And we'll always be a family no matter what happens. Do not forget that Zera."