…Surprise! Two chapter updates back to back? I'm as shocked as all of you are probably.
Now, in this next chapter, Kuda finally shows us what he's really got! Look forward to it!
Chapter 19
The Blaze
"Do you think it's okay to be out here?" Bell asked as he and Clarabeth were walking through the empty village streets. Zeus Familia hadn't actually told anybody to stay indoors while they were fighting, but people knew what was going on and were being safe. However, Clarabeth and Bell, who had snuck out of the Mayor's home, decided to go outside to see the action.
"Of course," Clarabeth said confidently."I mean, if the village does get attacked, they'd have to get past Zeus Familia and if they can do that, just staying inside isn't going to save anyone, right?"
"I guess you're right…" Bell looked around at the empty streets and closed shops of the village he grew up in. It was hardly a bustling city with nonstop energy, but it was strange seeing everything so empty. He supposed that's just what happened when you feared for your life. He thought about those people-Zeus Familia-who showed up out of nowhere and claimed to be friends of his grandfather. They were facing head on what made other people hide in their homes. Did they not fear the idea of their death? Did they think they wouldn't lose no matter what? Either way, they surely are going to a lot of trouble to protect people they never knew. "Do you think they are okay?"
"You mean Zeus Familia? Probably. I know you were unconscious by the time Kyra-san saved us, but she was incredible. I know Goblins are like the weakest monster, but she was so fast. Even I can tell that she is incredible. If the others are even half as strong as her, then I don't think anyone can beat them!"
"They are really cool. Alystar-san is really fast, too. Those other people seem strong as well. Have you ever heard of Zeus Familia before?"
"No, never. My parents were saying they were one of the two biggest and strongest familia over a decade ago."
"What happened a decade ago?"
"Their familia failed to defeat a powerful monster and they disappeared after that. Also, I think I remember something happening about two years ago. Everybody in the village, including my parents, were feeling really tense. I didn't really get it, but apparently Orario was almost destroyed and a member of Zeus and Hera Familia, the other strongest familia from ten years ago, were responsible."
"It can't be any of them, can it?!"
"No… I don't think so. I don't think the village could stay calm if people like that suddenly came here."
"Yeah, that's probably true," he agreed. He remembered two years ago. Like Clarabeth had said, all of the adults were visibly worried, but Bell himself only became anxious when he saw his normally unflappable and spirited grandfather looking just as down as the other villagers. It was a strange sight to see his usually unserious grandpa looking so serious as he stared out in the direction of Orario. Now Bell knew that his grandpa was connected to Zeus Familia somehow, so his behavior back then makes sense now. His grandpa was a friend of the Zeus Familia… he couldn't quite believe that now that he thought about it. He didn't think they were lying, but it was somehow hard to believe. He always thought of his grandfather as strong, but adventure strong? He wouldn't have gotten killed if that were the case.
"Besides, there's no way Kyra-san would be a terrorist. She's too nice. Not to mention cool. Honestly, I think I want to be just like her when I grow up."
"You mean you want to be an adventurer?"
Clarabeth thought about it. An adventurer's life certainly wasn't what she had imagined for her future. She had thought she would grow up, get married, and her and her husband would take over her parents clothing shop. A simple life the same as thousands of village girls would grow up to, and she was content with that. Happy, even. At least she would have been, had yesterday not happened. They were attacked by Goblins, and Kyra saved them.
'No, that isn't right. Kyra-san saved Bell-kun. The one who saved me was him. With his body.'
She glanced at him. Bell looked completely fine now, thanks to Phina's healing and the potion Alystar gave him, but the memory of him bloody and beaten by those Goblins was still fresh in her head. And it made her feel more remorseful than glad that he protected her like that. She was incredibly grateful to him. He saved her life, after all. But she was a bit too intelligent to not realize that much of yesterday was luck. They were lucky that Zeus Familia had come yesterday, they were lucky Kyra had arrived before Bell got killed, and they were lucky that it wasn't worse than Goblins. They were lucky to be alive.
Realizing that, Clarabeth thought she didn't want to be saved at the cost of someone else. It was not a good feeling to be saved. Not when that was the price. If she could, she'd rather save herself.
"Maybe," she said. "What about you, Bell-kun? You want to become an adventurer, too, don't you?"
"Yeah," Bell said. "I think I will go to Orario in a few years when I'm old enough."
"Well, when that time comes, what do you say-"
"What are you two doing here?!" Sapphire snapped suddenly when she caught sight of them as they reached the village entrance. With a furious face, she moved towards them heatedly. The two were surprised to see the village nurse outside of her usual nurse uniform, instead in what appeared to be a battle costume, but she wasn't in the mood to be asked questions. "Bell-kun, Clarabeth-chan. Don't you two know that the village is under a lock down? It is dangerous outside."
"We're sorry, Nurse Sapphire," Clarabeth said. "But nothing is happening right now, is it?"
"That doesn't matter! There is fighting going around all across the area! It's really chaotic out there right now! Trouble could come to this village at any moment. You both need to go home where it's safest."
"But if something does happen, will being indoors really be safest?"
"Like you know how to survive outside," she scoffed. "It's better to be hidden indoors than being out in the open."
Clarabeth was about to demand why she was outside then, when Bell asked something. "Where is Kuda-san? Isn't he supposed to be here?"
The only ones around aside from Sapphire were Nim and Phina. Kuda was nowhere to be found.
"He ditched us," Nim said, annoyed. "He just jumped and ran off. The jerk."
"Well, he probably just saw someone in trouble and went to help," Phina explained.
"He left?" Bell said, surprised.
"Yeah," Sapphire sighed. She was also pretty annoyed that someone of that level just up and left. "But don't worry. Whatever happens, I will do something."
"You will?" The kids looked at her confused, making her remember that they didn't know who she used to be. As she debated to herself how to explain, Phina spoke up.
"...Hey, guys?" She said in a strained voice, clutching her head like she had a bad headache. Nim looked at her with concern and anxiety. "I think something is coming."
"What?" Sapphire said. "What do you mean?"
"Phina has a monster detection skill," Nim explained, unsheathing her sword. Her and Phina's carefree, unserious air was replaced with the veneer of seasoned defenders. They were not in the same league as their 28 superiors. When they joined the familia, it was as children right before the fall of Zeus and Hera. They did not have the same experiences diving into the Dungeon and conquering the Deepest Floors. Even so, they had stuck with them-stuck with Kuda-after the fall. They watched. They learned. They trained. With the best as their role models, they strove to live up to their examples.
"It's bad," Phina said, readying her staff.
Sapphire looked and saw the shadow of something flying toward them. She paled as it came closer and closer and realized what it was she was seeing. "T-That's a Dragon!"
"A Dragon?!" Bell and Clarabeth screamed. Everyone knew that Dragons were the most feared of any type of monster. History was littered with stories of Dragons destroying whole towns, cities, and nations.
"Bell! Clarabeth! Run away! Now!"
"ROOOOOOOOR!"
It was too late. Or rather, it wouldn't matter if they did run, even if they had remained inside. Like Clarabeth had said to Bell before, if the threat really did get past the Zeus Familia, simply hiding inside would not protect them. And a Dragon's fire was something no ordinary person could defend against. For that matter, it wasn't really something the out of practice Sapphire was sure she could handle, either. Of all that she had thought could happen today, fighting a Dragon was not one of them. Even in her days with Rakia, she only fought such monsters a handful of times.
"Oh, gods! What is that?!" A villager who had run out of his house after seeing the monster fly overhead of the village.
"I-It's a Dragon!"
"W-Where are those adventurers?! We need them!"
"Mommy! Daddy!"
The villagers panicked as the grotesque silver Dragon loomed over their little village. Despair crept across all of them. How could it not? The very thing every mortal man, woman, and child feared was happening as they spoke. They had been ordered to remain inside until the adventures had dealt with an apparent threat, but that wouldn't save them now.
From their vantage point, no one could see the body of Jarrod Insley looking down on them all with a look of pure, maniacal glee at the terrified faces of all the little village people of Noda Village. He would die soon, because of the Assimilation Knife, but he would die satisfied leaving a scar on the world.
Sapphire leaped off the ground. She attempted to kill it before the Dragon could have a chance to burn her home down. She prayed her status was strong enough to carry her high enough to deal a killing blow. Inlsey noticed her and sneered. Her agility paled in comparison to the Werewolf King's speed. The dragon unhinged its jaw and released fire directly at her.
'I was too slow…' Sapphire thought in despair. If she had a Crozzo Magic Sword, things might be different, but that was pointless final thought. Time slowed for every one who witnessed the dragon's fire rain down onto them. It would consume Sapphire, and Bell, and Clarabeth, and Nim and Phin, too. Not to mention a large portion of the village.
The chienthrope and the elf knew there was nothing they could do with their own abilities, so they did the only thing they could think of.
"KUDA-SAAAANNN!!!"
They shouted out the name of their hero, desperate for him to come and save them.
"...I am fire. Blaze!'
As if responding to his two youngest familia members' pleas, he flew from the trees and intercepted the ball of fire that would have burned them all alive, pushing away Sapphire before she was burned. At the same time, he completed his chant and called out his only magic's name. Kuda's own body burst into flames. His and the Dragon's fire merged. For a brief moment, he was engulfed. In the next second, he could be seen unharmed, the fire surrounding him like a protective veil instead of a destructive force. He floated stationed in the air.
"Noooo!" Insley's human voice screamed in anger. He recognized the one who was getting in his way. The whole reason he chose to go after Noda Village after assimilating with the Dragon was because he deduced two possibilities. Either, his fellow bandits had already destroyed the other targets or they had been stopped by other members of the Zeus remnants. Insley believed that even if a fighter of the Werewolf King's caliber was here, they wouldn't be able to kill him before he burned down the village. He might've been if the opponent had been anyone else, but the man before him was essentially his worst enemy. "Not you! Anyone but you!"
In contrast to the flames surrounding him, Kudo looked coldly at the grotesque monster-human hybrid. He saw the human body of Insley fused onto the neck of the Dragon. His clothing had been destroyed in the assimilation process. His human body looked less like a human, and more like a malformed growth with his skin becoming an unnatural color matching the silver scales of the Dragon and countless veins all throbbing all across his body.
"...So Mr. Cool was right. You used an Assimilation Knife to merge with that Dragon. How foolish."
"DISAPPEAR!" He howled. The Dragon released a stream of fire directly at him that was large enough to engulf the entire village beneath him. When they reached him, the flames moved in an unnatural way, bending around him and blending with the flames he was already producing. The Dragon's fire was rendered impotent against Kuda. "Dammit! Why did it have to be you, Blaze! Why are you getting in my way!"
Kuda's only magic was called the Blaze. Its power was to engulf him in an armor of fire. In essence, he became a living inferno. Among its effects was the nullification and absorption of flames. Any fire that hit him in this state was absorbed like a sponge. Any flames surrounding him would be pulled into him like a powerful magnet pulled in metal. In other words, fire was totally useless to everyone except himself.
The villagers gazed up in awe at the sight of Kuda hovering over them like a protective guardian of fire. They couldn't quite comprehend what it was they were seeing, but they could feel in their souls that they had just been saved.
"Damn you, Blaze!" Insley attempted to fly away. Because he was still adjusting to his new body, his movements were clumsier compared to real dragons.
'There's no saving you now…' Kuda thought darkly, unsheathing his broadsword. The bright red flames that protected him started to change color. They became pure white. 'So, all I can do is release you from your mortal coil.'
Kuda's Blaze was not ordinary fire magic. When his perverted God, Zeus, first discovered he had acquired it, his eyes nearly popped out in excitement.
"Holy crap! You hit the jackpot with this one, Kuda!"
"Did I?"
"Damn straight! This isn't just any fire you got. It's the divine flame. All of heaven's fire is at your disposal!"
"Sounds good."
"You're acting pretty nonchalant, aren't you, you playboy!"
"...You are the last being in existence who can say that to me."
"Hit a nerve, did I? Let me explain it simply. All godly fire is available to you. Hephaestus, Apollo, Ra, Surtur, and, hell, even that shorty with big boobs."
"Who?"
"You don't know her. She hasn't descended yet. Though I guess you two might get along. Anyway, this is literally god tier magic. You need to come up with special moves for it like yesterday. After all, named attacks are the strongest"
"...So you say. Such as?"
Kuda's Blaze was the flame of the gods. All of heaven's fire was at his fingertips. In honor of this incredible magic, they dubbed him The Blaze. He was Kuda Zeldon, the last captain of Zeus Familia. Level 7.
The white flames danced and moved towards the blade of Kuda's broadsword. It was a special sword with higher magic conductivity than mythril and more unbreakable than adamantine. It was forged with ore retrieved from the lowest floors they conquered and crafted by the last captain of Goibniu Familia, who died creating this masterpiece. The white flames fused with the blade and shined brightly like a star.
"Vesta Slash!" Kuda swung his sword with two hands and a wave of bright white fire was released directly at Insley. The abominable creature could not maneuver to avoid the wave. It was engulfed in the pure white heat of Kuda's fire borrowed from the deity who ruled over the flame of the hearth.
"NOOOO!" Insley roared and cried out in despair. He didn't want to die. Not like this. Not without destroying something. Anything!
"So beautiful…" Bell whispered in awe at the sight of Kuda's form coated in the white flames.
"Yeah.." Clarabeth said, equally entranced.
"Heck yeah!" Nim squealed.
"Nice one, Kuda-san!" Phina cheered.
"You alright, miss?" Eddie the human fighter asked Sapphire, who he had caught as he and Sabrina had run to confront the dragon right when Kuda had returned..
"Yes, thank you…" was all Sapphire could say as she, too, was mesmerized by the white flames of Kuda's fire.She had never seen this in the times when Ares had made them invade Orario. The thought he could have used such destructive magic against them at any time against them was a frightening thought. 'Oh, Ares-sama… why do you keep insisting on challenging these monsters from Orario…?'
The brightness of the Vesta Slash was so incandescent that it could be seen from far away.
"A bit flashy, don't you think, husband?" Kyra commented.
"Show off," Alystar grunted.
"It's a beautiful sight, I will grant him that," Celesata said in a queen-like tone.
"When it comes to showing off, he's a chip off the old block," Barren smiled nostalgically.
"Ah, Kuda, you're so bold tonight…" Lezanna muttered in her tranquilized sleep.
"What are you dreaming?" Wilna asked dryly.
"So, that's what the Blaze can do," Sakuto commented. His son and daughter, Kiyomaro and Akari, both gazed at the light in the sky in wonder. Silently, Kiyo vowed to reach that man's level someday.
And it was not just the surrounding towns and villages who could witness the light of Vesta Slash. Orario, too, could witness it. At least, those with sharp enough senses to detect the flash in the light of the morning sun.
"...Light," a certain golden girl commented looking at the sky. "There's a light in the sky…"
"Ais-san?" Her elven fangirl said, looking confused.
"Wow, that's so pretty…" Tiona gawked.
"Is that magic?" Tione wondered.
"It's definitely fire," Bete said.
"Finn, that can't be his fire, could it?" Gareth asked.
"It is," Riviera said.
"It's Kuda's Blaze," Finn said, looking seriously in the direction of the fire in the sky.
"I can't believe that perv's brat is here," Loki said, her face contorting with annoyance.
It wasn't just the trickster's children seeing the light. The most fearsome goddess of beauty's family also witnessed it.
"Ottar… if I'm not mistaken, that's the magic of that child, isn't it?" Freya asked her most loyal follower.
"...Yes, milady." Ottar almost didn't respond as he was transfixed by the familiar light in the sky. "It's him."
"What is that light?" Grer Gulliver asked.
"Don't know?" Berling Gulliver answered.
"It's probably magic, isn't it?" Dvalinn Gulliver suggested.
"It's a white blaze," Alfrigg, eldest Gulliver, concluded.
"Tch, how gaudy," Allen Fromel clicked his tongue in annoyance because he could not avert his gaze.
"It's competent magic," Hedin Selland said. "I will grant it passing marks."
"It comes! The brilliant white light of divine favor!" Hegni Ragnar declared madly.
"Shut up, Hegni…"
It wasn't intentional, but Kuda Zeldon essentially announced to the world that Zeus Familia had returned.
"...Where am I?" Insley asked as he realized he was not in a place he knew. He looked and immediately realized he was no longer fused to the Dragon. He was now in a place that seemed to be entirely of burning white flames. Strangely, he did not feel as though he was on fire. On the contrary, he felt delightfully warm. "Is this… the afterlife?"
"Not exactly, but you're on the way."
"Blaze!"
Kuda Zeldon stood-or rather floated-before him. They were several paces apart. Also, they were both naked as the day they were born. Ignoring that, Insley looked at him with both hatred and fear.
"You should consider yourself lucky. I was a part of the force responsible for dealing with the chaos those Assimilation Knives caused. I fought plenty of those human-monster hybrids, and those that avoided getting killed and survived until their bodies broke down from the instability did not go out painlessly. A man who had merged with a Dragon the same as you had avoided being slain by me. He had lived for two days as a hybrid until his body had hit his limit and he seized uncontrollably, his body started to melt, and he screamed for his mother the entire time it was happening. It was a horrifying way to leave this world. Be glad you were spared from that, at least."
However, Insley looked neither glad nor grateful. He only looked hatefully at Kuda. "Do you think I care? Did you think I wasn't aware of the consequences? Why are you here, Blaze?! And where is this place, anyway?! What is it"
"I've never really been too sure about the where and the what. The old man said I should consider this place something like a pseudo altar. It's where I and the person I burned go together. Consider this a space where our two souls can interact and talk. The problem is our bodies alway end up naked for some reason…"
"Talk?!" Insley scoffed. "What could you possibly want to talk to me about?!"
"...For starters, how about why you did all this, Jarrod."
His eyes widened. "H-How do you know my name?!"
"When this happens, basic information comes into my head. Names for starters. Your name is Jarrod Insley, you are the captain of Morpheus Familia. You are Level 3. Is that right?"
Insley's eyes widened slightly. Any will to deny him fizzled out. "I see. I guess it is true. I'm dead."
"Yes."
"You killed me."
"I did."
"..."
"..."
"...Why couldn't you let me be?!" Insley Snapped. "Why, Blaze, did you get in my way?! Why did you thwart my ambitions?! Why do you people always interfere!?"
"..."
"You people are the strongest! The greatest! The richest! The most beloved! You're blessed! Why did you get in the way of small fry like me! Does that make you people feel good about yourselves? Do you feel like big heroes now? Even though you failed to slay the One Eyed Black Dragon?! Even though one of yours helped kill thousands in Orario two years ago?! Do you still feel like heroes saving one insignificant village?! After all these years you return to get in my way again? Have some shame, you failed hero! "
He kept silent as Insley shouted complaints and abuse at him. His logic was twisted, but he also made a strange sort of sense. They did disappear. Zard did help almost bring down Orario. Them showing up now to stop him now must have felt like a spit in the face of all their efforts.
"We simply could not allow you to destroy the towns and villages. Not when we could save them. It's that simple."
Insley glowered at him, unsatisfied.
"However, I will grant you that it was a form of hypocrisy on our part. After we failed to slay the Dragon, we gave up on trying again, and left Orario. As a result of our failure, the people of Orario had to deal with the darkness and chaos that came after our defeat. I know we played a part in that pain. It doesn't help that tasteless Zard and that witch Alfia went and did what they did as well. For all of that, I can never apologize… BUT DON'T USE THEM AS AN EXCUSE TO TAKE YOUR ANGER OUT ON EVERYONE ELSE!!!"
Insley's body jerked at the volume that Kuda's voice boomed and the way his kind face contorted with undisguised frustration..
"You called us blessed? As if we never knew hardships? Don't be stupid! In reality, you wanted to be like us as well, but when you couldn't live up to our level, you chose to become this, right?! No one forced you to do this!"
He cursed, unable to deny that.
"Do you want to know what it takes to achieve what we have? The methods vary, but one thing always remains the same. You must fall and taste the mud, then get back up, fall, and taste it again. Repeat that until you find that it happens less and less. Eventually, you find yourself strong, or you give up. The strongest are the ones who know that awful taste better than anybody else!"
The path to becoming is different for everyone, but it was always long, rife with setbacks, frustrations, and pain. It didn't really matter what you wanted, or what had happened that set you on the path in the first place. All that mattered was that you endured and learned as much as you could and used everything you had to break the barrier to the next level.
To Kuda, that is what it meant to be an adventurer.
"So, which of those are you?"
Insley's face quivered, moving from anger, to frustration, to sadness, and finally regret. He said nothing, hanging his head in shame. He didn't need to answer. It was obvious what he was. He could blame Gale Wind, Orario, and the world itself for all his problems til his soul burned away, but that wouldn't be the truth. In all honesty, he simply never had the will to keep getting knocked down and tasting mud. It was far easier to give up and blame everyone else for his lack of resolve. Simpler to just hide in the shadows away from bright people.
As if responding to his resignation, the white flames encasing them started to fade, revealing a brighter white light.
"I guess we are done here," Kuda said as the pseudo altar began to break down. "In all likelihood, my friends probably didn't kill any of yours. Although I doubt they were gentle," he mused. "If you have any last words, I'll pass them along.
"...I have a vice captain, Reese Shades," Insley said with his head still down, his voice almost empty with only the faintest hint of any emotion. "He has incredible magic. If he honestly put his mind to it, he could have become like you people, maybe. But he chose to stay by my side as a friend and got stuck in the mud with losers like me. If you see him, tell him… don't give up. It's too empty. That feeling of giving up."
"Okay. If I see him, I'll tell him what you said." Kuda turned and walked away, which was weird since they were souls so it was a pointless act but that is what he did. He stopped for a moment and turned to look at Insley. "You know, I can't forgive you for what you guys did. You hurt someone important to me doing what you did."
"...I'm sorry."
"It was cruel, selfish, and evil what you planned and what you would have done had we not been here."
"...I know."
"Still, it was impressive."
"EH?!" Insley's eyes widened at the compliment.
"I faced a lot of powerful enemies in my time. Fought a lot of scary powerful threats. You guys aren't in the top hundred, but you were still threatening. I mean, you formed an army of 600 and acquired several powerful monsters and you even had the resolve to give up your humanity to achieve your objective. Heinous or not, it was impressive. The kind of thing someone with potential could have used for more positive purposes. It fired me up. Not bad, Jarrod Insley." Kuda pumped his fist at him, flashing an innocent smile that seemed brighter than anything else. "If you and I meet again in another life, even if we completely forgot ourselves, let's face off properly. Even if that time is a thousand years later, in an era when adventurers are no more, let's both give it our all to overcome each other."
Tears streamed down Insley's face. It shouldn't have been possible, given that they were only souls with no bodily fluids, yet still he cried. Right from the heart. All he really ever desired was acknowledgement, and at the very end he received it from he who was deemed capable of becoming a hero.
"See you someday, Jarrod Insley."
With that last farewell, Kuda Zeldo vanished from the pseudo altar, leaving behind a crying Insley. The altar steadily faded away into beautiful white embers around him as he fell to his knees and sobbed.
"I… I…" He tried to say one final thing, but he could cease his sobs. "...I wish I had never stopped tasting the mud!"
With those final words of regret, the altar vanished and Insley's soul was released to the next plane. What would happen next for him was something only the gods could know.
I hope this chapter and my words touched your hearts. As a writer, my goal is to move my readers and make them feel something, just like how I have countless emotions reading and watching some of the best works of fiction out there.
A lot happened in this chapter. Kuda used his magic. He has access to the divine flames of heaven and is also a Level 7. He's the real deal. To be honest, I was originally going to make all 6 of them Level 7, but that's obviously too overpowered. Although, they probably all deserve to be Level 7, but like Omori didn't Level Up Gareth before Finn and Riveria for plot reasons, I won't make them a level higher either!
Well, like I've been saying. You can read ahead on patreon.com/TheWorldForger. There are always 7 more chapters ahead.
With all that said, see you next time!