IS THE END?

Chapter 8

46.

The confrontation finally happens. At first glance, Kane's party looks like the clear victor. The Adamant Sapphire Stone clearly creates a huge gap between their durability in terms of mana. Little did they know, Nin and Kero also have a mythic item… The Adamant Ruby.

Adamant Ruby is the complimentary stone of Adamant Sapphire. If Adamant Sapphire doubles the individual's mana, Adamant Ruby doubles the brute strength of the wielder. Empowering attacks in an extra ordinary level, allowing them to throw an army killing punch or an annihilating spell. Wielding these stones both at the same time will clearly be a threat to every living species, but now.. It's power vs durability, time to test who wields the mythic item at its finest.

"Guards please fetch those children, I don't want to slaughter them accidentally" Kero said.

"But they are guarding them, we cannot find an opening" A guard replied.

"Don't worry, Nin will keep Kane busy… I'll handle your problem from here. To avoid destroying this vulnerable world, transport me and my target to the indestructible space. VOID! " Kero casted his ultimate spell, teleporting Akari, Reiko, Ryuu, Broko, and Mista to a finite place, separated from the real world.

"WOAAAH WHAT IS THIS!" Ryuu said while mesmerized at the place.

"Cool right? This is a place I created to avoid accidentally blowing a country. Everything here can be restored so feel free to go all out" Kero answered.

"How did you make this? And where exactly are we?" Reiko asked.

"I love your curiosity. Fine, I'll entertain your queries. We are inside my magic itself, it's a different dimension. Either I let you guys out or you kill me, you won't be going anywhere. Those children will go back to the laboratory" Kero explained.

"Those children won't go back to your lab. Hikari is still there and she will protect them!" Akari madly reacted.

"I left someone? Hmmm I must have mistakenly thought that she was one of those children, though I think that won't be a problem. Anyway, shall we start?" Kero asked.

After teleporting everyone except Kane and Hikari, the guards immediately charge in order to apprehend their test subjects. In that instant, a strong wind starts to swirl around the children. Those who are trying to approach are immediately getting thrown, making them fly for a distance. Hikari casted a still tornado around them in order to prevent anyone from closing in.

"I will not let anyone go near them! They deserve to live!" Hikari shouted while continuously casting her magic.

"Get my sword" Nin ordered a guard.

"That kid is really something" Nin said to Kane.

"That's average" Kane replied.

"I guess it's hard to please you, I hope I can earn your praise in this battle" Nin responded.

A guard approached Nin and handed a prototype of the Legendary Sacred Sword.

"Don't worry, this is not the real deal. We can't remove the Legendary Sacred Sword from the stone, that's why they created a prototype for me. Compared to yours, I do believe your weapon is terrifying, it suits you.. I guess the weapons are the ones who choose their wielder" Nin said.

"Are you done talking?" Kane asked.

"I'll probably still talk while we fight, let's start the dance, shall we?" Nin responded.

After a brief smirk, Nin immediately launched her first attack. Charging in with a left swing, followed by a pierce, then multiple swift slashes. Indeed, Nin's swordsmanship is way off the charts. Because of Nin's speed, Kane is on his defensive stance. Focusing on deflecting the succession of attacks while reading Nin's approach. But he is not the only one who's reading the battle.

"I see, you train with the Ozo tribe?" Nin asked while continuously striking.

Kane jumped away to gain distance then he asked. "Are you one of his chosen students?"

"Nah, A pawn was his student. I was only watching, though I did learn it eventually. I also know it's flaws." Nin answered.

Nin charges in and never lets Kane gain a space. Her two-handed Broadsword is at it's best when striking directly. Minimizing the distance between them would be disadvantageous for the medium range weapon like the scythe.

"Duskhaze" Kane filled the surface of the battlefield with an enormous black smoke, entirely speeding his movement.

"Oh, smart move. You can have your desired distance with this move. This will be fun" Nin chased her into the mist of darkness.

Even with Kane's ability, Nin was able to get toe to toe with him. Every sweep can push Kane back, even though he can defend those strikes, the impact still creates damage. Kane's brute strength could not keep up with Nin's physical attacks. The question is, can Kane out-stamina her before she lands a fatal blow?

"I never had this much fun!" Nin stated.

"You have an Adamant Stone inside your body, right?" Kane asked while catching his breath.

"Ooooh, Good observation, How did you know?" Nin questioned.

"Your eyes turn bloody red while we are fighting. The aura is the same when I fought Kayle, the difference is his eyes were black. I've been investigating that scenario ever since that happened." Kane answered.

"Fine, I'll give you the answer as a reward. They solute the Adamant Ruby. The first try was to let Kayle drink it but it did not work, it destroyed him. It turns out you need to inject them instead! My brother and I were the successful ones. Any other questions?" Nin explained.

"I'll reserve the rest once I beat you" Kane stated.

"Yooouuuu sly bunny" Nin replied as she continued to charges in.

Hours of battle continue as Kane starts to bleed out. The overwhelming swordsmanship of Nin can still wound Kane, closely landing a fatal one.

"HAHAHA! You are clearly no match with my sword, though I got to admit, you are giving me a hard time. I guess that Glowing scythe is not just a design, it's quite sad that I cannot wield that." Nin said.

"You are right, I'm no match with you in terms of physical attacks. Good thing I'm not just a swordsman." Kane mentioned.

"Ooooh, sounds like you have an ace on your sleeve. Let's see what you can do" Nin taunted.

Kane extended his arm, directly at Nin's position and yelled "Smoke!". In that instant, it created a thick black smoke pushing everyone away. The same technique he used when they were in pursuit of the hidden cave. Kane raised the scythe on his other hand and created a black hole on the other end, almost the same size of a human. It devours all of the smoke together with everything sent through it.

Nin is trying her best to fight against the smoke, but the force prevents her from getting out of there. One wrong footing will send her to the black hole in the blink of an eye.

"I… I need to weather this storm until he runs out of mana…" Nin whispered. She pierced her sword onto the ground as she desperately held on to it.

47.

On the other hand, Kero versus the rest of the party started their battle. Due to the environment advantage, Kero can teleport himself around in an instant. He can also make clones of him and cast numerous spells alongside the clones. Everyone is trying to hit every clone, hoping they can hit the real one.

"HAHAHA! this is indeed amusing" Kero said while casting fireballs.

"Even with Mista's speed buff, I can't catch up with him" Ryuu said as he pursued the clones.

"I still cannot see an end to this…" Reiko added while blocking the fireballs using her water magic.

"He is not even sending a lethal attack, he is doing this to have fun" Akari mentioned.

"You coward! Stop running around!" Broko yelled while smashing the clones near him.

"You better choose your words young lad" Kero warned.

Kero casted light beam, piercing through Broko's arm like a laser beam. Everyone is shocked, Reiko immediately rushes to Broko in order to heal him.

"See that Akari-chan? That's the peak of light magic, not just some flashlight or blinding magic" Kero bragged.

"YOU MONSTER!" Ryuu charges in with clones from his mist.

"Oh you are a fast one. But that's not going to work" Kero casted a flare, removing the mist thus eliminating the clones.

Ryuu is able to catch up with Kero, he was close to landing a dagger but due to Kero's field advantage, he immediately used a clone to replace himself.

"I must say. You were close to making me bleed. I'm impressed" Kero said.

Without making Kero flinch Ryuu and Akari simultaneously attack. Ryuu attacks from the rear, Akari launching fireballs in a distance, while the rest is taking care of Broko. Due to healing buff from Mista, Reiko only took less than a minute to fully heal Broko.

"That support and healer is quite a pain, I should shoot them next" Kero said madly.

"I won't let you!" Broko charges in as he attacks alternately with Ryuu.

Kero miscalculated his next teleportation and Akari luckily predicted his next move, landing a fireball to his face and a follow up slash on his left torso from Ryuu.

"Keep that up! He can't deal with us all!" Reiko instructed.

"Okay, Now I'm pissed off" Kero whispered.

Kero disappeared for a while as the area changed color. He then appeared with a giant ball of flame on his hand, almost the size of the whole area.

"OW SHIIIIT! THIS IS BAD" Ryuu screamed.

"Everyone get behind me! Mista max magic buff me!" Reiko instructed.

Everyone trusted Reiko and hid on her side. Mista used every bit of her mana, buffing Reiko's magic in order to protect them.

"With every drop of mana inside my body, casting the power to heal and protect, defend my surroundings at a hundred percent! WATER DOME!" Reiko casted an immense swirling water around them. It's the thickest water dome she ever created.

"Let's see if that can save you, Dwarf star..." Kero launches the gigantic ball of flame, replicating half the size of the smallest known star.

It is almost similar to what Akari and Reiko tried back then at Mectown. The difference is that this time, the size of what's hitting them is way too big and powerful compared to Hikari's Meteor move. Dwarf star directly hits Reiko's multi-layered Water dome, a large destruction erupts as the surroundings are completely obliterated. The impact also set Kero flying towards the edge of the upper part of the dimension. The collision was too strong, it dug 10 meters deep, 50 meters wide, creating a huge steam with enough force to take down the trees nearby.

As the dust settles, the party manages to tank a town ending magic. But due to exerting too much magic in order to sustain the dome, Mista and Reiko are unconscious. The rest of them barely survived the impact.

"IMPRESSIVE! IIIIMPRESSIVE!" Kero stated as he slowly flew down.

"With that magic, I'm sure you don't have mana left. I hope you are now ready to die" Ryuu madly warned.

"True, I can barely restore this place due to low mana. At least I took down those annoying supports. I'm pretty much sure that you three are the ones that are going to die without those two" Kero replied.

Ryuu immediately charges in, he aims for Kero's head. As Kero tries to dodge, he fails to react faster, it cuts his ear instead. Kero has a destructive spell inside his body, when Ryuu sliced his ear, it detonates in that instant, sending them both flying and knocking down Ryuu.

"RYUU!" Akari worriedly screamed.

Kero laughs as the right part of his head bleeds. "An ear for your life? HAHAHA, That spell explodes directly to whoever dares to kill me!"

"What should we do?" Broko asked Akari.

"You take care of everyone, I'll take him to his grave" Akari replied.

"You saw what happened to Ryuu right? You clearly heard Kero right?" Broko argued

"If that is the only way that all of you will live, I'll escort him to his death" Akari madly stated.

"This is indeed interesting. I promise to not hurt them if you want a 1v1. Shall we begin?" Kero responded.

The 1 on 1 battle begins, even though Broko does not like the idea, it's the smart choice to not intervene in order to let the others live. Broko focuses on deflecting flames that accidently flew towards them while the battle of two fire mages continue.

A scorching battle keeps on going. Kero's attacks are observably weaker than before due to lack of mana, but he can still go toe to toe with Akari. Flames after flames, fire all over the place, Kero and Akari continue to cast their magic.

After a series of fiery exchanges, Akari is able to land a spell named Phoenix on Kero's body, knocking him down on the ground.

"Free us now, or I'll force you to do so" Akari said while catching her breath.

"If I can't take you down… I'll take everyone here with me!" With the last drop of his mana, Kero glows and starts to initiate a self-destruct that will wipe everyone inside the dimension.

"Akari get out of there!" Broko shouted.

"HAHAHAHA, NO ONE'S GONNA PROTECT YOU NOW" Kero said as he laughed while continuing to self-destruct.

Akari ran towards the rest of the party, Broko created a hole for them to hide under the ground, it's the last option that they can do. Kero is about to explode when he suddenly heard Nin's voice

"I'm losing my strength, how does he still have that much mana…" Nin questioned.

"That's Nin… Is she losing?" Kero asked himself.

"I can't hold that much longer… I guess this is the end…" Nin whispered.

"WAIT! I'M COMING!" Kero canceled his self-destruct and without a second thought, he immediately dispelled his void.

Nin did not have enough strength, she lost her grip on her sword, making her fly straight to the black hole. As her foot enters the spell, Kero casted a light beam from the sky, directly hitting the black hole. He used every bit of his mana to counter Kane's ability. As he lands on the ground, he catches Nin saving her in a nick of time. Though the black hole already ate Nin's right foot before Kero was able to counter it.

"Aniki…" Nin said.

"I'm sorry I was late… I could have saved you.." Kero responded.

"You did, I lost a foot but at least I'm still alive hehe…" Nin weakly replied.

"You need to take some rest now, I'll handle everything from here" Kero casted a weak spell, making Nin fall asleep and lightly relieves her pain.

Kane approached Nin and Kero.

"This is the end, I'll give you 2 options; live and answer my questions or die right here" Kane said as he points his glowing scythe.

"You already did that to our subordinate, did they tell you an answer?" Kero mockedly replied.

"They detonated themselves before I could make them speak" Kane answered.

"Well you know what's going to happen" Kero responded.

"I know this time is different. You are willing to die but you won't let your sister die. I can either torture her in front of you or kill her and let you live" Kane stated.

"You are indeed a cruel one… I see that we are in no condition to flee… Fine, I'll answer your question just to spare my sister's life" Kero said.

Hikari stopped casting her spell since every guard is now lying on the ground. They cannot be transported all at the same time, that's why Kane instructs Hikari to guide all the refugees to Graspmoon. Kane will transport the whole party with Nin and Kero to Mystic Forest, then ride Taurus back to Mechtown. Broko also helped him in apprehending the two prisoners. Since Akari is already worn out, she can't assist Hikari to Graspmoon, though she is still strong enough to walk on her own. They will coordinate with Orichi about the refugees once Kane is done interrogating Kero in Mechtown.

Before bringing everyone back, Kane entered the facility once more and completely obliterated every corner of what's left. Akari already did a huge damage but Kane made sure that no one else will be able to conduct an experiment there. Those who dared to protect the lab were killed along the way. Thus being the nightmare that set the children free. With a successful mission on their hand, they proceed as they planned.

48.

After hours of travelling, Kane is able to take everyone back to Mechtown despite the injuries. Kyap immediately gets some bandages and wraps it to Kane's wound while the town's healer takes care of the rest. Kane tells Kyap the whole event and the interrogation finally starts as Gali joins the conversation.

"I'll start answering every question just let Nin rest on a comfortable bed" Kero bargained.

"Fine." Kane carried Nin to a room where the rest are being treated, he then asked "Now where is the Mad scientist?" Kane straight-forwardly asked.

"It's a tough question to answer, you see, it's quite complicated about his whereabouts" Kero answered.

"What do you mean?" Gali asked.

"So you don't know the truth? Poor Gali, his consciousness is still here in our world but he is already dead. Don't know where he is preserved but I do believe he is finding a way back to life." Kero answered.

"You're bluffing, I saw him! I had a conversation with him!" Gali argued.

"You have a conversation with one of his clones. Believe me, that one is hard to kill. I already disintegrated him down to ashes but another clone will randomly show up out of nowhere. That clone also died when Akari's meteor landed, I'm sure a clone will immediately go there just to see a completely obliterated laboratory." Kero replied.

"If he wants to be back, why did he have to test on children and attach different species to it?" Kyap questioned.

"He wants to create the ultimate being, the one he will inhabit" Kero said.

"Why children?" Kane followed up the question.

"He tried using all ages before, from a grown man down to a baby. Grown men have tougher builts and are already aging that's why it fails. Babies die easily, meanwhile those children at 9-14 years old were the best one to experiment with" Kero clarified.

"Where do they hide the bodies of the failed ones?" Kane madly asked.

"I see, I kinda get the glimpse of why you are doing this. Perhaps someone was taken away from you, though they are probably dead by now since every project fails" Kero responded.

"WHERE ARE THEY?" Kane shouted as he reiterates the question.

"There's a graveyard at Hikage, the town next to Shihanto. That's where our previous base is, but it's already abandoned because we were anticipating that your party will be heading there. Your party is indeed hard to predict." Kero answered.

"I've been wanting to ask you this, why are you doing this?" Kyap asked Kero

"You see, we were suffering back then at Lacreyn. Nin was dying even though she was only 2 years old. That guy offered us salvation, sure he did plenty of tests on our body but that kept us alive. Some of our blood was needed for their test subjects then we'll get food in return. The last experiment that he did was injecting Adamant Ruby on our bloodstream 3 years ago and it worked. We were given a chance to be stronger, that's why I'm doing what he says, and mostly to protect my sister." Kero explained.

"How did you know all of this?" Gali asked.

"He once tried to fuse his consciousness inside of my body. Those huge apparatus powered by magic were the closest thing to his dream. He almost succeeded but my body did not let him enter completely. As a result, I've gained some of his memories." Kero answered.

"Now that their facility is destroyed, there is no certainty about the mad scientist. The generals are already captured, what do you want to do next?" Kyap asked Kane.

"Kero and Nin were just victims of poverty, I don't think they should be punished." Kane answered.

"I'm not talking about what we are going to do with them, I'm asking you what do you want to accomplish now?" Kyap clarified the question.

"It's true that everything will be halted now due to the mess at Beringia. Investors will probably back out immediately since they are afraid to be exposed in other countries. Without the fund, that scientist will just be a roaming lost soul. You should focus on your next step now." Kero responded.

Gali kneeled in front of Kane and said "I do believe that our deal is now done. You managed to take down that facility, that is at least equivalent to killing him since that's the only thing that kept him alive. I'll be honored to finally be killed by you"

"I highly respect one's resolve. If that's what you truly want, at dusk, meet at the cave on the south of Mechtown." Kane replied as he walked out of the room.

The sun settles, dusk comes through. Gali showed up, holding a shovel, as Kane waited inside of the cave.

"You've been here since you left earlier?" Gali asked.

"This is the place where I collect my thoughts." Kane answered.

"It will be an honor to die here" Gali replied.

"You already made up your mind" Kane said.

"I can finally atone my sins" Gali warmly stated.

Gali kneeled, tears in his eyes started to fall down. The sense of fulfillment enters his soul as he remembers all the cruel things that he has done. Gali whispered "Thank you for setting me free". The scythe lands on his neck, finally ending the nightmares that hunts him every single night. Using the shovel that Gali brought, Kane dug deep into the ground. He threw Gali's body and buried it.

Kane walks out of the cave, by the time he reached outside, he saw Akari standing and waiting for him.

"I have to do it…" Kane said.

"I know.." Akari walks closer and gives Kane a warm hug.

"Let me share your burden" Akari added.

Kane hugged back Akari tightly, his strong mental fortitude is worn out and that warm hug is exactly what he needs in order to lessen the burden in his feelings.

"Are you fine now?" Akari asked.

"Just let me hug you for a bit longer…" Kane replied.

"Don't worry, I won't go anywhere" Akari softly said.

After clearing up their minds, Kane and Akari head back to the guild room. Seeing the blood on Kane's hand, Kyap and Kero did not even bother asking what happened.

"He left his notes to me, I'll continue his greatness in a better way. I'm sure that's what he truly wanted" Kyap stated.

"I agree that he is destined for greatness, too bad that someone needs to end his suffering" Kero added.

"What are you going to do now?" Akari directly asked Kero.

"Don't be too cautious with us, we were only asked to protect the laboratory. Now that it is destroyed, our bond to them no longer exists. Unless of course they use their political power and force us to rebuild that, which I think will take time before they do so. We can probably escape their grasp once they are back on their feet." Kero answered.

"Or we can build a better political alliance that can end their schemes and manipulation" Kyap suggested.

"What are you implying?" Kero curiously asked.

"Graspmoon and Mectown are already formed an alliance, adding Bysstal will make the 3 largest land on Right continent on sync. I'm sure that force is formidable enough to protect both of you." Kyap clarified his argument.

"Hahaha, Interesting. I see, now I understand why Nin took an interest in everyone here. We'll give you an answer when I discuss this with Nin" Kero responded.

After their long conversation, they did not ask Kane furthermore questions to let him rest. The next morning everyone wakes up with pain on their bodies. Ryuu immediately jumps out when he sees Nin and Kero. Akari explained their current state which led them to seizing fire, putting their guards down.

Broko, Mista, and Kyap go straight to Graspmoon first thing in the morning. Due to Nin's current state, Kero stayed in Mechtown beside her. Kyap promised them that he will create a prosthetic foot for Nin once he gets back, thus making them lie low for the meantime.

Everyone is worried about Kane since he is just lying on his bed, not making a single move. The whole party already knew what happened since Akari told them. The sense of emptiness from Kane can be felt even without him expressing it. Akari, Reiko, and Ryuu wait for everything to settle down.

-he may probably not achieve the revenge that he wanted but he freed those who suffered like him and prevented those children that might end up like him. I wonder if is this the end of our road?