The power of love

The holes in the tentacle completely recovered by the time Phillip stood back up.

Hikaru saw that Phillip was fighting back the pain that he took from a level 3 tentacle which was almost as wide as himself and he smiled.

Four slimy appendages burst out from Hikaru's back and stretched out into the air around him. Phillip looked in horror as he felt like he was trapped in a spider's web.

All of them were level 2 tentacles which were half of Hikaru's body width. With a total of 8 limbs, Hikaru looked like a man-spider.

"Haruto! You have to get out of here and get help!"

"No, noo! I'm not going without mom!"

"There's nothing you can do! I'll save your mom, just get out of here!"

"No!"

Phillip's face twisted in agony and fear. Haruto had picked the worse time to disregard what he said but he could not blame him. Despite how afraid he was, Haruto wouldn't abandon his mother.

Phillip saw that Haruto's legs were shaking and even though he clenched his fist to stop the tremors, his arms were also shaken by his side. Maybe anyone else would have run, but he was loyal to the end.

Phillip gritted his teeth.

'If only I was stronger and saved your mom.' He wallowed.

Hikaru looked at Haruto with the look of a hungry lion. Phillip's body moved on its own and ran straight to Hikaru.

*Smack! *

Phillip was whipped by a level 2 tentacle to the side but he bled off the force of the impact by staggering.

*Smack! *

Phillip was now staggering in the other direction as he took another blow.

*Smack smack smack smack smack smack smack smack*

Hikaru's back tentacles went to work like the whips used on slaves back in Egypt. They hit so fast that they left a grey trail of afterimages. It was not without cost as his tentacles were being grated from the spikes faster than they could reform. However, it was enough.

After a barrage of whips, Phillip was barely standing as his arms hung down to the ground and his legs were shaking. Blood poured down into a puddle beneath him. Out of the 206 bones in the human body, 52 of Phillip's were broken, yet he stood, not giving in to defeat.

Phillip's posture began to collapse.

"Dad!"

Phillip fell to the floor but supported himself with his palms on the ground. He lifted his battered head and saw Haruto's mouth was wide open and tears were streaming down his eyes. It was a sad sight but it made his heart warm. It was because this was the first time Haruto called him that.

"Haruto... Please do your mum and dad a favour... go save yourself." Phillip gave a thin smile but it was full of parental love.

Haruto reluctantly nodded in reply.

Phillip lifted himself to face Hikaru. Even if it was just getting a one-sided pummel, he would take any hits to give Haruto a chance to escape, even if it was just a fraction of one per cent. Hikaru was delighted at this sight.

Earlier he pretended to target Haruto just so that Phillip would rush in and drop all his defences. There was nothing outside of his calculations. He just didn't want Phillip to get away as he wanted the ability that was unique to enhancers and Haruto was the perfect bait.

Even without Phan's memories, he would have succeeded anyways but wanted to ensure absolute victory. It wouldn't be good to get complacent as there could be hidden surprises anywhere. He was also training to fight against tougher opponents in the future, perhaps opponents stronger than him.

"Hmph" Hikaru closed his eyes in understanding when he saw a glint of hope in Phillip's eye.

"You can try all you want but unfortunately, you are not a hero of this story. You're not going to gain powers from going over your limits by forcing it with willpower and turn the tables like the main character from a fairy tale. You are going to die here." Hikaru mocked.

"You- puff... You talk too much." Phillip replied.

Hikaru lifted his left arm which was now a level four tentacle. It was as wide as him and was the one he was about to use against Botan before Daichi stopped the fight. Then he smashed downwards like a Warhammer.

*Crack* *Splat*

The tentacle was as wide as a human body and so Phillip could not be seen from underneath the tentacle except for his arms that were peeking out.

Hikaru lifted his arm, thick viscous blood stretched and dripped from his tentacle. The red liquid was a mix of blood and slime. A couple of white spikes were stuck onto the tentacle much like spines from a cactus.

They slowly fell out as new flesh began to fill out the holes.

The spikes from Phillip's body were broken while some were bent flat. A few them were pushed into Phillip's body and blood poured from around the base of the spikes. He had been impaled by his ability. Phillip coughed out blood and lifted his chin, still holding onto life.

Hikaru could see that Phillip's eyes were lit up with a fighting spirit that he had failed to extinguish.

'Is this the so-called power of love?' Hikaru thought.

Could having a bond make himself stronger? Hikaru pondered.

That thought quickly went away as there were more risks than there were benefits to having attachments. If his enemies were to take hostages of his loved ones, they would be striking where the armour was thinnest. What was the point of adding weaknesses to yourself?

Haruto remembered what Phillip said and took this moment to run around Hikaru in the living room to the front door. Hikaru didn't move an inch. Haruto stopped outside the door and looked back.

Hikaru's level 4 tentacle had healed itself and was preparing to strike down like a raised guillotine. He then turned to look at Haruto's expression and grinned.

Haruto regretted not spending more time with Phillip. He regretted throwing tantrums and wasting time. If he didn't run out of the house, maybe this wouldn't have happened. He regretted everything. A glint caught his eye. Phillip had looked back at him and smiled.

There was no pain, no regret and no sadness in his smile. It was kind. Maybe after all this, Haruto's psychological recovery could proceed much better because of his smile. It felt like he was forgiven and that Phillip was saying that it wasn't his fault and that he wholly loved Haruto.

Tears sprinkled as Haruto turned away and ran.

*Smack*

Haruto did not look back.