UNIFIED W

Chapter 14: Brotherhood

The elite guards were slaughtered easily, and Kai and the others in the chamber could hear it.

Zeru drew out his chain knife and reached for the door handle, but one of the room's guards stopped him.

"Where do you think you are going?"

"Don't you see they need help."

"Until further orders, our mission is to safeguard you guys."

"Open this goddamn door."

"Listen, if you really want to die, I can open the door for you, but let me warn you: that man is not your average criminal."

"Is that supposed to scare me?"

"Listen kid, you do not want to dance with this person. He is from a group that call themself the Pillars, and they're on the world's most wanted list."

When Zeru heard what the guard told him, his confidence faded almost instantly.

"Their weapons have a value of billions of points, and their heads have a value of millions. Even knowing where they are might earn you a lot of points."

"What kind of weapon is worth billions of points?"

"Only legendary-type weapons have such a high value. They already have 5/7 of the legendary-type weapons and are only missing the fire and wind clan's."

Kai looked at Zeru and could tell that he was struggling to maintain his composure.

"They may have come here today to retrieve your weapon."

"Let them come. They will learn to never mess with the fire clan."

"Hold up."

"Hello my majesty."

"........"

"I understand. I will inform the participant right now."

"Listen up, the king gave us new order, and that is to safely escort you guys to the transport sphere at the top of the palace."

"The king also informs us it will only be one trip up to stage two, and anyone who misses it will be disqualified since the passage between stages one and two will be closed for an entire year."

"What do you mean when you say it will be closed for a year?"

"It was the king's command." I am only here to carry out his orders."

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door of the chamber as they were chatting.

"Who is it?"

When the person on the other side of the door did not answer, the guard closest to the door peered through the keyhole and noticed another guard standing on the other side. 

He opened the door for him while the other guards inside the chamber prepared themself.

"Where is your unit, guard #26?"

"......."

"Answer me."

Guard # 26 collapsed to the ground and behind him, the masked man showed up. His daggers were covered in blood.

"This man died a long time ago trying to protect king trash's sorry ass."

"How can he be moved around if he is dead?"

"I can control everything that has fluid in it."

"What a terrifying ability."

The guards inside the chamber didn't have time to blink when the masked man swooped in and killed them all in one attack.

With their last breath, the guards told the participant to run to the top of the palace in order to get transported.

The participants ran towards the transport room, and the only person who stayed behind was Zeru.

"Zeru, what are you doing?."

"I will finish this guy before I leave this place."

"Didn't you listen to what the guards warned us about?"

"They are weakling just like you Kai."

The masked man turned to Zeru and laughed at him."

"You got some guts kid, but this is not a playground."

As he was about to shift his focus to someone else, Kai grabbed Zeru's arm and they ran towards the transport room.

***

Kai and his group catch up to the other participants, and they also notice that the masked man did not pursue them.

May tried to calm Zeru down, but it didn't work and instead he turned to Kai and spoke harshly to him.

"What is it you don't understand, Kai?" 

"Understand what exactly."

"I'm not as powerless as you are. I am superior to you, and I do not require anyone's help, particularly yours. Try to understand that."

Kai's eyes welled up with tears as Zero's words cut him like a double-edged sword. But that didn't stop him from telling Zeru how he felt about him.

"I consider you to be my brother, and I wish every day that I could be half as talented as you, but I can't."

As Kai said that, he became emotional because it was something he had always wanted to say to him.

Zeru didn't give a response and just kept running.

"So please, let me be on your side........BROTHER."

Zeru turns to Kai, and before he could say something, they reached the transport room.

The elite guards checked the situation, and they also prepared the participants for departure.

The guards opened the rooftop of the palace and a half-opened sphere emerged from where they were standing. When everything was ready, they received the green light to travel to stage two.

The sphere flowed upward in the air towards a path that goes through the dead sea.

The V clan designed the sphere, and thanks to the power holder cubes, they could store some of the wind powers to the cubes, allowing them to float in the air.

That's how they navigate in the dead sea as well. They employ a cube with a water attribute on it.

A flying arrow formed of lightning struck half of the participants down, including May, as they were ready to enter the dead sea.

The masked man who was attacking earlier was standing outside the palace and another man, dressed in the same cape and mask as him, stood next to him, and he was the one who fired the lightning arrow.

The remaining participants panicked and pushed one another. Thats when someone pushed Kai really hard from behind, causing him to fall off the sphere.

Zeru noticed that and threw his chain knife after Kai, and he grabbed it before it was too late.

The elite guards form shields around the participants in order to save them.

"Zeru, Pull me up now."

"Zeru."

"Zeru."

Zeru's eyes glowed red as he and Kai locked eyes.

"This is the end, Kai."

Kai's brown skin tone was scorched away from his left arm, and permanent chain marks were left all around Kai's left arm, as Zeru fused all of his strength into the chain knife.

The pain from the wound caused Kai to lose his grip and the last thing he saw before falling into Von city's sewer system was Zerus' scarlet eyes turning away.

        【End of the test arc, part one】