555: Crazy Dream(2) 555: Crazy Dream(2) Editor: TheSloth “How ugly it is.”
Leaning against the wall outside the riverside mill, Nero was wiping the Yama Sword in her hand with a rag.
She put her hand down and lifted the blade to examine it.
“Don’t you think so, Yama Sword?”
The blade shimmered faintly with a dark red gleam, as if in agreement.
Nero smiled, “But there’s nothing to be done, right?
Those who don’t dare defy their destinies can only obey them.
In that case, no matter how miserable the end…
people, even knowing it only takes a bit of effort, never seem to know what they’re truly afraid of…”
She closed her eyes, listening to the cries of agony ing from the small mill behind her.
Indifferent.
…
…
“So that’s how it is.”
Kuck wasn’t very familiar with the terrain near the town, but when it came to the abandoned mill outside town, almost everyone knew where it was, so finding it didn’t take him much effort.
The sun had long since set, but from a distance he could see a faint firelight ing from the mill.
Probably an oil lamp or something similar.
Two men were sitting a short distance from the mill’s main door, each holding a flashlight and waving the beams around…
They were likely waiting for him to arrive.
Kuck picked up a small stone from the ground, moving as fluidly as a wildcat stalking at night—swift and soundless as he closed in behind one of the men.
He suddenly sprang forward, clamped a hand over the man’s mouth from behind, and smashed his fist into the man’s temple.
The man’s eyes went wide and he lost consciousness almost instantly.
The man, of course, lost his grip on his flashlight.
As it hit the ground, the noise attracted the attention of the second man.
The other man instinctively swung his flashlight in that direction, but all he heard was something striking—ing from the other side!
He quickly shone his light that way.
But it was only the small stone Kuck had thrown…
The man never noticed, in the darkness, something closing in on him from behind.
All he felt was a brutal, crushing blow—so hard, so heavy that his brain registered the pain at the back of his neck too late; his nerves were cut off, and he collapsed to the ground.
In less than five seconds, Kuck had quietly dealt with the two guards…
He was increasingly certain he could not be an ordinary person, but had no time to think about that now.
He walked toward the mill, planning to peer inside through a shuttered side window.
But just then, the mill’s wooden door was suddenly flung open.
Zhang Kun’s voice came out, “Lai Pi, bring me some water!
I’m dying of thirst!”
Zhang Kun, bare-chested and covered in sweat, was at that moment fastening his belt.
He looked exhausted…
but then his eyes widened in shock!
He had seen Kuck—a foreigner, appearing like a Devil, silent and deadly in the darkness of the night, right in front of him.
It was the most terrifying glare Zhang Kun had ever seen in his life.
He shuddered violently.
“Lai Pi!
Where the hell are you guys!!”
He even instinctively took a step backward, but he was no match for Kuck’s speed—or his iron-forged fists.
That punch came without the slightest hesitation, blasting into Zhang Kun’s chest like a cannonball.
Not even his layers of fat could shield him from such overwhelming force!
His internal organs turned over with a nauseating churn!
Zhang Kun even heard the sound of his own ribs crushing!
Bang—!!
His whole body flew backward, slamming into a wooden pillar inside the mill—nearly snapping it in two!
That was a post as thick as a grown man’s thigh!
But Kuck felt no triumph whatsoever; his body stood trembling slightly outside the mill’s entrance.
Inside the door…
in the corner of the mill, the little girl—Xiao Zhi had her eyes blindfolded and mouth stuffed, tied up on the floor, and beside her, San Er had just lifted her head in a daze.
Tangled hair couldn’t hide the look of utter despair on San Er’s face.
She just hugged herself tighter, hands clutching at her tattered clothes.
Her arms, shoulders, and bare legs were mottled with bruises and red scars everywhere.
A single threshold, as if it separated two worlds.
“San Er…” For the first time, Kuck called her name.
He crossed the threshold on impulse and walked forward.
“Don’t e closer!!” San Er suddenly screamed.
She clamped her hands tightly over her head, shaking violently, shrieking in pain, “Don’t e here!
Don’t e near!
Don’t look at me!
Don’t look at me!!”
“San Er!” Kuck rushed forward, wrapping her in his arms.
San Er collapsed against Kuck’s shoulder, wailing with a hoarse, broken voice, pounding her fists against his powerful body.
“Why did you e so late…
Why did you only e now…”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…
I’m so sorry.”
San Er suddenly stopped, whispering with a note of grief, “Mark…
I don’t want to remember anymore…
I don’t want to remember what that beast did…
even less do I want to remember, right in front of Xiao Zhi…
Mark, do you understand…”
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Kuck held her even tighter.
“It’s not the same…
I’m not like you…” San Er’s eyes lost focus, “It’s not the same…
Mark, promise me, take care of Xiao Zhi, will you?
I’m so tired…
so tired.”
“San Er…
San Er?” Kuck felt a faint tremor in her body as he held her.
“San Er!!”
This woman, blood was pouring from her abdomen…
With both hands she gripped a piece of firewood, its sharp end turned into a deadly spike.
“San Er!!!!!!!!!!”
Kuck’s eyes turned bright red.
A splitting migraine exploded in his skull; he clutched his head with one hand, San Er’s falling body with the other, kneeling, lips torn wide…
He couldn’t make a sound.
Suddenly, a gust of force swept in.
Kuck, moved by instinct, raised his arm to block—yet the impact was so huge that he was thrown aside.
But his physical strength exceeded even his own expectations; even after the crushing blow, he rolled up at lightning speed without hesitation.
The figure before him was a guy in a long coat.
Definitely not someone like Zhang Kun could pare to…
Kuck’s body, on pure instinct, braced with wariness against this man.
But this freak in a coat, hat, and mask looked at San Er’s body on the ground and shook his head, “Really?
So visible an end?
I’d thought she’d be different, stronger, but…”
“Was it you…
who ordered them to do this?” Kuck’s voice turned ice-cold.
“Yeah,” the freak shrugged.
“Feeling moved?
Didn’t expect the woman to be that chaste—felt bad for you, so she took her own life.
By the way, what’s it like, having a woman do that for you?
Huh…
you seem unmoved?”
Kuck replied coolly, “No.
I want to kill you, but I won’t let you enrage me.
Losing my cool doesn’t help me…
No matter how much I want to kill you, I won’t lose control.”
The freak blinked, then suddenly sighed.
“I’d considered this oute before, but seeing it up close, it really does feel like failure.
Guess your heart is just dead water…
Well, whatever.”
The freak shrugged, suddenly saying, “In that case, this little one’s useless alive, right?”
He flicked his wrist.
A flash of cold light burst through the mill window, landing in the freak’s palm, then suddenly slashed toward Xiao Zhi on the ground.
But the cold light merely swept past the floor where Xiao Zhi had lain!
At the same time, Kuck rolled on the floor clutching Xiao Zhi, and in a flash, scrambled up—he had, against all odds, snatched Xiao Zhi from the freak’s grasp.
Though in doing so, a gash deep enough to show bone had opened on his left arm.
“Xiao Zhi!”
He heard the little girl in his arms whisper, “Uncle Mark, where’s mommy…”
“She…
she’s fine.”
“Uncle Mark…
Let’s go home, please…
Xiao Zhi’s so scared…
scared…
it hurts, Xiao Zhi hurts… so much…”
Kuck gently touched Xiao Zhi’s back—his hand came away wet…
with blood.
“Ah, looks like I got her after all,” the freak cackled shamelessly.
But Kuck couldn’t hear…
or rather, refused to.
All calmness draining from his body, something burning hot surged up from the deathly stillness in his chest.
“Xiao Zhi, Xiao Zhi!!”
“Uncle Mark…
I can’t see…
it’s so dark…
Listen…
Mommy, mommy definitely, definitely loved you, Uncle Mark…” Xiao Zhi grew weaker.
“Won’t you be…
Xiao Zhi’s daddy…
please…”
The little girl in his arms finally went still.
Kuck cradled her, kneeling, head bowed—motionless.
…
A long time passed…
Kuck still didn’t move.
The freak—Nero—stood not far off.
She scratched her cheek absently, muttering, Maybe I really overdid it this time.
Suddenly, the Yama Sword in her hand pulsed with blazing heat.
Nero’s eyes sharpened, a look of wild excitement ing over her.
She muttered, “It’s here, it’s here…
at last, it’s here!”
Wreaths of black vapor rose from Kuck’s body, like smoke from a bonfire.
The black mist wrapped ever more tightly, as Kuck gently set down Xiao Zhi’s body and rose in silence.
He stared at the one before him for a while before calmly speaking.
“Nero…
you went too far.”
“Ah!
You’re back!” Nero tore off her disguise, brandishing the Yama Sword.
“All that effort wasn’t wasted after all.”
“Unnecessary,” Kuck said plainly, voice frigid.
“I can recover on my own.
You had no reason to meddle.”
“You’re so boring.” Nero blinked…
But every pore on her body opened wide; a crushing sense of pressure invaded her being—her heart hammered at a feverish rate, dread mixing with excitement, body and mind cresting to a critical point of intensity.
This man, cold to the core in body and soul…
had never before shown such murderous intent.
Kuck nodded.
“Maple Club sent you?”
“Well, you’d been missing a while—of course those old geezers had their own ideas,” Nero said with a wry smile.
“I’ll go back.” Kuck nodded, then added flatly, “After I take care of you.”
As he spoke, he flung out his right hand.
The black mist curling over his body lashed round his arm like a swarm of ravening tongues, his fingers splaying wide.
This time, he was anything but calm—a volcano sleeping a million years beneath the sea, erupting wordless in the hidden undertow!
It was a cry shattering lungs and soul.
“Gáe-Bolg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
…
In the raucous, feverish Elysium, Sun Xiaosheng was lost in maniacal merrymaking on stage, drunk in the intoxicating haze.
Yet the black, glossy rod he was swinging on suddenly flared with magma-like heat, shot from between his legs like a missile, pierced the Elysium ceiling, and disappeared into the night sky!
“Brother Xiaosheng!
Brother Xiaosheng!!”
Pandemonium—the bar’s goblin staff scrambled to him, only to see their boss clutching his privates, face twisted in pain, foam spilling from his lips as he thrashed on the floor.
…
…
A crimson spear, red as blood, tore open space and appeared beside Kuck.
The instant his fingers clenched its shaft, a wave of joy flooded into him.
But sensing its master’s heartbreak and fury, the spear instantly suppressed its elation, unleashing a roaring surge of power!
That force, in a blink, obliterated the upper floor of the mill—reducing it all to dust!
Nero sprang up, grabbing the Yama Sword in both hands, white hair whipping as she grinned in a maniacal snarl, howling, “It’s here, it’s here…
HAHAHAHAHA!
At last!!!!”
The Yama Sword too erupted with a power to match!
Two supreme forces, in a flash, tore the rest of the mill to shreds!
But Kuck had quietly stood before San Er and Xiao Zhi’s corpses—behind him, the wild violence rampaged, but here remained as calm as a sunny harbor.
“That’ll distract you, Kuck!” Nero forced every ounce of strength into the Yama Sword’s power.
“Pierce…
thorn of death,” Kuck murmured coldly…
The Gáe-Bolg vanished for an instant—only to reappear in his grip in the blink of an eye.
Nero froze.
The Yama Sword’s power instantly collapsed, dispersing in a frenzied shockwave that leveled everything around them.
She instinctively clutched her heart and stared at Kuck, as if suddenly understanding.
“So that’s why…
No wonder none of the fighters dare cross you…
So that’s what it is…”
A torrent of thick blood spurted from her mouth, gushing out like a spring, pouring ceaselessly.
Nero gripped the Yama Sword’s hilt, plunged it into the earth, and let out a spine-chilling scream as golden light burst from her body in hundreds of beams!
A force of utter destruction exploded from her, being countless blades skewering her insides from within!
In the end, she knelt before the Yama Sword, body slumped against the hilt, and said only one word: Lost.
Then fell face-first into a pool of blood.
…
Kuck drew a deep breath, glanced up at the night sky, and slowly exhaled.
With a blank face, he walked to Nero, nudged her body over with the Precious Spear.
The spear-tip hooked aside her clothing, exposing whatever she’d stashed there…
including the emergency medicines given to every fighter on assignment.
He reached for the Yama Sword—as its fighter was dead, the weapon had to be retrieved.
Without its master, the Yama Sword immediately became rusted and dull.
He packed it away, then carried the bodies of San Er and Xiao Zhi, set the place ablaze, and didn’t leave until he’d watched their corpses blacken to ash.
He looked at San Er and Xiao Zhi, and said quietly, “I may never be your kin…
but at the very least, I can take you home.”
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