Settling the Score

_____________ASH's POV_______________

"Crown…"

I said in a low angry tone as I gritted my teeth

"Oh so you do know me? Then you know what I'm capable of…" He said in a bragging tone while opening his arms wide gesturing that he was some almighty being.

Grimm and I remained silent. But I could see that Grimm was now clenching his fist hard. He had the right to be angry. We both did. This jerk almost killed us in the previous life. He captured Paradox and lured us into a trap as we attempted to rescue our brother. When we were all imprisoned in his dungeon, he began to torture us and made us fight in the gladiator arena. That was when we became Gold Cultivators because of the constant pain and struggle. The final boost that strengthened us in our cultivation was when he showed us something traumatizing. The moment we became stronger than the guards, we went and destroyed his place and killed all his followers. No lives were spared as rage took control over our bodies. Grimm was the one who killed him by decapitation after we beat and tortured him. Serves him right.

After a long pause he finally spoke again.

"No? Let me show you then…"

Out of nowhere, he summoned two machine guns that were attached to his arms and pointed it at us. The guns were now emitting an evil aura. It was as if, we were going to be devoured by him.

Not good… it looks like he is a black crystal's host. He's also in the Stone Layer of Cultivation.

"Nifty eh? I can now kill you with these two babies. You should feel honored! No one can summon a weapon like me. I'm the only one of my kind! BWAHAHAHAHA!" He said as if he was bragging.

This guy…

We didn't flinch and was just standing there taking every insult and stare that they were giving.

"Or the girl could just come to me… and we'll have a… chat in my tent. And maybe I'll spare your brother too." He said while he was smiling evilly.

"You son of a–"

A hand stopped me from rushing towards the group. It was Grimm… he had a serious and cold stare at the people.

"Grimm… you know what he did." I tried to convince him.

"No… we might disrupt the timeline." He answered.

"What are you two talking about?! Do you want to get shot?!" Crown said angrily

*BANG!*

A warning shot was fired inches away from Grimm's feet. We still didn't move and we just stared at him with a cold expression.

"Oho! Look at them fellas. Trying to be brave, aren't we?" Crown mockingly said.

*BANG!*

A shot went passed us and Grimm's shoulder was now bleeding. He didn't move and just stared at Crown.

"He's in the Iron Layer…" Grimm said

"What?! Are you sure?" I asked

"Yes, he grazed me. The bullet was merged with the crystal's power. That's why I was grazed." He explained.

"Grimm… we have to kill him now while he's weak and has a few followers. I don't care if we screw up the timeline. It's already screwed anyway! The renegades were proof of that! And by killing this man right here, we could save millions!" I said trying my best to persuade Grimm.

There was silence afterwards…

"You have quite a mouth woman… All that talk about killing me… as if! You don't have what it takes!" Crown said mockingly.

Suddenly a cold atmosphere was now in the air. A strong killing intent was now tangible. And when I looked at Grimm, he was now glaring angrily at Crown.

Crown was obviously not pleased with what was happening and he began to speak arrogantly.

"Wh-what are you staring at punk? And you guys! What are you guys waiting for?! Fire at them!" He commanded as he stuttered in fear.

I could feel Grimm's killing intent and even I had to admit that it gave me goosebumps. Wow! Better not mess with him.

Grimm then summoned his giant scythe which made the enemies around hesitate for a second.

"Kill everyone… And as for him…" He said pointing his weapon at Crown

"Leave him to me…" he continued

I smirked and nodded. Facing the enemies in front of us, I was now excited to finally use my abilities and my weapon.

"You cocky bastard! Kill them! Kill them all!" Crown commanded his troops to rain hell on us.

I then summoned thorny vines and entangled everyone in front of us binding them. They could not move anymore.

HAHA!

After summoning my gauntlets I then rushed towards the group of teenagers and bashed their faces. Screams were now echoing in the air as I broke bones and tore limbs. They were now immobilized. After seeing this, Crown was now trembling in fear. He squeezed the last bit of courage to insult us.

"You…you monster! I will kill both of you!" He bellowed.

*WHOOOOOOOSH! WHOOOOOSH!*

The sound of the air piercing rang in my ears as the sound of guns hitting the ground was also heard. It was Crown's arms! Blood was oozing all over the floor.

I looked at Grimm and it made me regret that I did. His face was now like a lion ready to devour its prey. As he was standing, flames were now slowly burning in random parts of his body and he was exuding killing intent that radiated in a huge radius. Crown was now in shock as he witnessed the scene in front of us. Even I was trembling in fear. He must have hated him that much.

__FLASHBACK__

In our previous life, Grimm was a very close friend to a little girl because this girl always teased her. They were very close to the point that he even considered her as his daughter. She was 14 years old and was the daughter of a general in an organization that we were part in.

Paradox went out to save a little girl in one of Crown's territories because she got kidnapped. We were the Alpha Squad in that organization and were tasked to retrieve his daughter, but he knew how dangerous it was so he actually asked us not to go if we didn't want to. Paradox ordered us to stand down and to wait for him to rescue the child. He didn't want us to get involved. But Crown knew that Paradox would do that and used the girl as bait.

After 24 hours of not hearing from Paradox, Kaizer took command and led us to Crown's territory. This went according to that villain's plan and we were all led to a trap. Soon, we were now in his Coliseum and were tied with power dampening chains. Paradox was beside us and was badly beaten up. Half of his face was swollen and covered with bruises and he had wounds all over his body.

In front of us were Crown and the general's daughter. He was on a stand that was designed for a king and he was holding the collar of the little girl while her hands were tied behind her back. There were a lot of people in the stands and was cheering for our deaths. Soon Crown began to speak and declared that he will soon offer our blood to them as a sign of power. He continued to say that before he will execute us, someone had to die for our transgressions. I remember it clearly.

"Tonight! We kill this little girl as a token of sacrifice in order for them to pay for their trespasses against me!" he said.

The girl was now sobbing uncontrollably. We were also trying our best to break away from the chains and get to her. But every time we moved the guards would beat us with their clubs. We were now helplessly watching Crown place the girl's body forcefully on what seemed to be an execution platform. We were now yelling, crying and begging not to kill her, and to take us instead of her. But this cold-hearted man could only laugh evilly before taking a swing on his axe towards the neck of the girl. Time slowed down for us as the Girl smiled at us with tears in her eyes. Her last words would forever haunt us even if it was meant to encourage us. We will never forget it.

"Thank you everyone… Thank you Grimm… Goodbye… Remember, it's not your fau–" before she could finish speaking, her head fell and rolled in front of us. Her smile was still plastered on her face and the tears were still flowing, but there was no life in her anymore.

That was something all of us could never forget. It made us feel powerless. After that day, all of us were never the same. We were soon rescued by the organization but we were also kicked out after they found out what happened. The General ordered us to never show our faces to him ever again. After that day, we were called by many names, but one name stuck with us – "Outcasts". Painful but true. This is why Grimm is having trouble controlling his temper in front of this man. In my book, Crown deserved to die, whatever timeline he may be.

__BACK TO PRESENT__

Grimm was now slowly approaching Crown and he grabbed his head and knelt in front of him on one knee. Crown was now trembling in fear. He was also sweating profusely and he was soiling himself. The fear that Grimm is causing him to feel was enormous. I'm even trembling myself.

"Killing you would be mercy… torturing you would be punishment…" Grimm said in a very cold voice.

"You… You think you scare me?! I'm not afraid of you!" Crown spat

Grimm ran his blade on Crown's leg wounding and burning it at the same time. Crown was now screaming and pain. He tried to kick Grimm but was stopped as he cut off both of Crown's legs. He was now a person without limbs. It was as if the Devil was toying with its food.

"Still aren't afraid of me?" Grimm asked

Crown was now crying and was begging for his life.

"Please… I'll do whatever you want… just let me live…" Crown said

"There is nothing you can do for you to repay what you did…" Grimm replied

"Wh-what are you talking about?! I only met you today!" Crown begged

"Today? HAHA! I remember the day you killed someone dear to me… And your life will repay for that." Grimm said

He stood up and dragged Crown to the side of the road and made his back lean on a car to support him. Grimm wounded and beat Crown as if he was a potato. His face was beyond unrecognizable. He had small stab wounds and bruises all over. He was bleeding so much that I was surprised that he was still alive! He was now crying and saying something but it could not be understood since his lips were swollen too. He was probably begging for his life. But Grimm lifted his scythe up and he began to speak.

"Today… we kill you to repay your trespasses against us." Grimm declared

Crown was yelling and mumbling something that we could not understand. But we knew that he was begging Grimm not to kill him. But Grimm was not easy to persuade.

"Now die…" Grimm said in a very cold tone

Before he swung, yells from people could be heard from a distance. They were Crown's army. There were about 200 of them. They must be the survivors of the town. Grimm just stared at them when they surrounded us.

"Great!" He yelled in a joyful but evil tone

He got the attention of the people as they stared at the human who was barely alive. They must have understood that this was their boss and he was placed in a sorry state. They were in shock as they pointed their weapons at us as to threaten us. But even if it was just the two of us versus the two hundred town's people, it was clear who was threatened by whom.

"TODAY! YOU WILL WITNESS THE SLAYING OF THE DEVIL!" Grimm declared as he swung his scythe over Crown decapitating him. The last thing people saw and heard before they started to retreat a little was a scream that was cut short after a head rolled in front of them. Just then a person rallied the people saying that they were many and there were only two of us.

"We're not afraid of you! The way we see it, the devil here is you!" One of the people said.

"That's right! He gave us a home! You're not just the devil. You are also trash!" Another one said.

This is bad… I hope Grimm didn't hear that.

"Did someone just call me trash?" he asked as a mist of dark aura and killing intent was now in the air.

The people were now dropping their weapons. Some people were kneeling because their limbs got weak from the aura while others began to puke.

"I can't move... What are you doing?!" The man who called him "trash" asked

"No one… No one calls me trash…" Grimm said in a flat tone

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

Suddenly, waves of flames were sent to the people, burning them to ash. None of them were left. Even a single corpse could not be seen. This was his power when he was angry… the lesson here? Never call him trash.

This town that once was a big town was now a wasteland made of coal and ashes. This was the power of someone who was the dubbed the 2nd strongest survivor.

*GROOOOAAAAR! GRAAAAAH!!! BOOOOOOM!! BANG! BOOOOOM! BANG!!*

Suddenly we heard the sound of what seems like a war from a distance. The sounds were coming from our mansion! Something must be happening to Paradox!

"Crown's people?" I asked Grimm

He shook his head before giving a response.

"It can't be. He wouldn't be here, unless the fight was there. The reason that the people were able to walk freely in town is because all the decay are heading for the mansion." He explained.

I nodded.

"Then what are we waiting for?" I asked

"Let's go…" He said.

We then headed to the mansion at top speed. From a far we could see that they were now running for their lives in some kind of bridge that led to the mountains. They were trying to escape to the jet. Suddenly a renegade smashed the bridge and my brother and some other girl were now falling.

"Paradox!" Grimm yelled.

We were still 1km away from the horde of decays. And there was no way we could get through them and save them in time.

"You have to grab them with your vines Ash." Grimm said

"But how? It won't reach them from here." I said while pushing the car to its limits.

"Grab my hand…" he said while he was opening his palm towards me.

I still didn't get how we were going to save them from less than a mile away. But I took his hand anyway then he spoke.

"Remember, focus in saving and covering everyone… I'll take care of the horde…" Grimm said

I still didn't understand him but those were the last words I heard from him before my vision turned black and the next thing I knew, I was on a mountain. Wait what?!

I then saw Paradox and the girl from earlier falling off from what they were holding on to. I then grabbed them and shielded them as what Grimm instructed me. What did he mean by that?

Suddenly, a puff of smoke followed by a ball of flames appeared from the sky and was now getting bigger as it was falling down. It smashed everything and burned everything when it hit the ground. I then understood that THAT was Grimm. He teleported me ahead to save everyone and he teleported above the horde to wipe them out just like what he did when we were escaping. Only this was way bigger and way more powerful. The power to save people was really something.

I then jumped over to him as we saw our brother and greeted him. We then told him everything that happened and why we were late but we didn't tell him about Crown being killed by Grimm. It wasn't the right time yet.

We then headed to the Jet before taking off.

Next stop… Alaska…

____________END OF CHAPTER________________