The forest remained silent.
A strange silence.
Heavy.
As if even the trees were watching.
Malrik swallowed.
In front of him stood Kael.
Aurelion.
Seraphina.
And behind them, sitting on a rock as if nothing were happening...
The Little Fat King.
"Give back the Little Fat King."
Seraphina’s voice sounded exactly the sa as always.
Monotonous.
Calm.
Emotionless.
And yet it caused several inquisitors to step back.
Malrik tried to regain so dignity.
"No."
"..."
"..."
"That was your answer."
"Yes."
Kael put a hand to his face.
"I think that’s the worst negotiation I’ve ever seen."
"Agreed," said Aurelion.
"Thanks."
Malrik pointed at them.
"It doesn’t matter!
The creature is a threat to the world!"
Kael replied.
"Technically, the sa could be said of Darius."
"Hey!"
No one paid him any attention.
Seraphina stepped forward.
The temperature dropped imdiately.
The ground began to frost over.
Malrik smiled.
"Then it’ll be the hard way."
A magic circle appeared beneath his feet.
And for the first ti...
Kael felt sothing strange.
Pressure.
A lot of pressure.
The air seed heavier.
More dangerous.
Sharper.
Aurelion narrowed his eyes.
"Wow.
He wasn’t exaggerating."
Kael looked.
"About what?"
"About being an A-rank adventurer."
Silence.
Kael slowly turned.
"WHAT?"
Malrik lifted his chin.
"Finally soone recognizes my greatness."
"No.
I’m more surprised that you used to be famous."
Critical emotional damage.
Malrik pointed a finger.
"I was the Scourge of the Seven Frontiers!"
"Which seven?"
"The seven."
"That doesn’t answer anything — there are many frontiers in the world."
"Everyone knew my na!"
"I didn’t."
" neither," said Aurelion.
"Mhm," added Seraphina.
Malrik looked like he was about to cry.
Then he exploded.
A storm of red energy appeared around his body.
Lightning.
Wind.
Electricity.
The ground split beneath his feet.
And this ti, no one laughed.
Because he was strong.
Ridiculously strong.
Much stronger than any student.
Even Seraphina seed to get serious.
Very serious.
Ice lances appeared behind her.
Dozens.
Then hundreds.
And they shot forward.
BOOM.
The explosion lit up the entire forest.
Malrik responded with a wall of lightning.
The lances collided.
Exploded.
Shattered.
The forest trembled.
Kael’s eyes widened.
"Ah.
I definitely don’t belong here."
"Correct — you’re very weak," said Aurelion.
While the two monsters began exchanging attacks,
the inquisitors moved.
Fast.
Too fast.
Five of them surrounded Kael.
"Target located.
Capture the bearer.
Don’t kill him."
Kael smiled nervously.
"Look.
I think we can talk."
The first one hit him.
Directly in the stomach.
"AGH!"
Kael was sent flying.
He rolled on the ground.
And barely had ti to get up before another attack ca.
He blocked.
Failed.
Got sent flying again.
"Why is everyone so good at fighting!?"
"Because we train."
"That seems unfair."
He tried to use his chains.
Several energy chains appeared.
They shot forward.
The inquisitors dodged them easily.
One.
Two.
Three tis.
Kael felt frustration beginning to grow.
He couldn’t reach them.
Couldn’t keep up.
Couldn’t protect the Fat King.
And that was the worst part.
Because those idiots kept trying to take him away.
"Leave him alone!"
One of the inquisitors laughed.
"He’s a dangerously absurd creature."
"No.
He’s my partner."
"He’s a threat."
"He’s a cat."
"He’s both."
"Fair point."
They hit him again.
Kael fell to his knees.
A few ters away,
the Fat King kept watching.
Not moving.
Not intervening.
Just watching.
As if he were evaluating sothing.
As if he were waiting.
Kael gritted his teeth.
"I’m not going to let them take him."
He tried to raise another chain.
The energy appeared.
It broke.
It appeared again.
It flickered.
It warped.
Sothing strange happened.
The chain began to glitch.
Like a damaged image.
Like a...
Glitch.
Glitch.
Glitch.
Kael frowned.
"What the hell?"
The tip of the chain changed.
For a fraction of a second.
An absurd face appeared.
A ridiculous expression — a yellow sponge in square pants smiling with its tongue out.
An impossible image.
And it disappeared.
One of the inquisitors stared.
"Did you see that?"
"Yes."
"What was that?"
"I have no idea."
Kael didn’t either.
He tried to move the chain.
The image returned.
Clearer this ti.
Then disappeared again.
The whip vibrated.
The energy exploded.
And sothing shot out.
Not a blade.
Not a spear.
Not a chain.
A sandal.
A giant flying sandal.
Silence.
Absolute.
The entire church watched it.
Everyone.
Even Malrik.
Even Seraphina.
Even Aurelion.
"..."
"..."
"..."
The sandal flew slowly toward an inquisitor.
The man blinked.
"Is that a sandal?"
"I think so."
"Why is there a sandal?"
"I don’t know."
He tried to dodge it.
The sandal changed direction.
The inquisitor’s eyes widened.
"What?"
He tried to move again.
The sandal turned again.
Faster.
"What?"
Third ti.
Fourth.
Fifth.
Every move he made,
the sandal followed him.
As if it were obsessed.
As if it had taken it personally.
"WHY IS IT FOLLOWING !?"
"I DON’T KNOW!"
"HELP !"
"I DON’T KNOW HOW EITHER!"
The speed increased.
More.
And more.
And more.
Until...
BOOOOOOOOM.
It hit him directly in the face.
The man went flying.
Through three trees.
A rock.
And disappeared into the forest.
Silence.
Total.
Absolute.
A bird fell from a tree.
Fainted.
Kael blinked.
"..."
Aurelion blinked.
"..."
Malrik blinked.
"..."
Even Seraphina looked confused.
Which was extrely rare.
One of the inquisitors swallowed.
"What the hell was that?"
Another raised a hand.
"It reminded of my childhood."
"And it was terrifying."
"Yes."
"Very much."
Kael looked at his own hands.
Then at the chain.
Then at the spot where the sandal had disappeared.
"I DON’T KNOW."
The chain vibrated again.
Glitch.
Glitch.
Glitch.
For a fraction of a second,
more impossible images appeared.
A bat.
A bone.
An absurd smiling face.
A strange figure.
And they disappeared imdiately.
As if the power were still being born.
The Fat King watched everything.
Very attentively.
And for the first ti since the fight began...
His eyes seed to shine with sothing like satisfaction.
Pride.
Just a little.
Just for an instant.
But it was there.
As if he were seeing sothing interesting.
As if he were thinking:
"Finally, you did sothing worth watching."
Kael didn’t notice it.
He was too busy trying to understand why he had just summoned a killer sandal.
But the cat did.
And for soone like the Little Fat King...
That was a huge step forward.
Because for the first ti since he had t Kael...
His summoner had just surprised him.
And that was much harder than destroying a mountain.
User Comments
0 comments from readers