Chapter 157: Kate?!

[Sage, record this.] Kai quickly ordered with a serious tone through his mental connection, to which the beautiful fairy promptly responded.

[I have been recording everything, master. We can review the data in detail when we return.]

Hearing the response, Kai nodded as he left the necklace exactly as it was, only to inevitably lose himself in his thoughts. After all, he couldn’t understand why a necklace dating back more than 160 years was in that place, given that it was currently the year 2172. That necklace was from before the emergence of quirks.

But as Kai drifted into his thoughts, he suddenly noticed that all the noise around him came to an abrupt halt. Quickly snapping out of his train of thought, he focused on the holographic screen beside him, where he saw the leader raising his hands while everyone around him watched with a seriousness that bordered on sinister silence.

[Bring… (the honorable)… (sacrifices)!]

With everyone silent, the leader announced loudly, prompting a loud cheer from the villagers, who quickly rearranged themselves to create a pathway through the crowd leading to a distant hut. From it emerged a burly man carrying a small child, around 7 or 8 years old, with fair skin and brown hair, unconscious and tightly bound with spiderwebs.

The sight of the small child caused a faint electric spark to flicker in Kai’s eyes as he stared expressionlessly at the image. But just then, another burly man emerged from the hut, carrying a woman with tanned skin and blonde hair, similarly bound and gagged with spiderwebs. She struggled as much as she could, writhing like a worm to free herself, while casting desperate glances at the unconscious child.

(Kate???!!!!)

Upon seeing the woman’s face, Kai felt as if he had been struck by lightning, the impact so great that he even felt dizzy, staggering back a couple of steps as he stared at the woman on the screen in utter disbelief. This greatly alarmed Sage, who quickly touched her master while exclaiming through their mental connection.

[Master!! Are you okay?!! What happened?!]

Ignoring Sage, Kai stared fixedly at the woman on the screen, his eyes so wide they seemed about to pop out at any moment. After all, even with the gag, he recognized that face—he knew it well. It was the face of the eldest daughter of the woman he had most loved and respected in his first life, after his own mother. She was the daughter of Mrs. Eva.

(Calm down!!! It must be a coincidence! It can’t be her—she just looks a lot like her! Besides, I don’t owe her anything anymore. I protected Mrs. Eva with my life! I paid my debt, and I don’t have to throw my life away again to save her!!!)

Almost as if trying to convince himself, Kai internally shouted through clenched teeth, his fists trembling as he did everything he could to force himself not to intervene. From what he knew, there were at least five mini All Mights on the island, in addition to the two escort spiders whose power was quite dangerous.

Even his own life was not secure, as he was unsure if his cards could penetrate the strange fog and storm. So, trying to save someone under those circumstances was nothing more than a chimera, a foolish way to seek death.

As his mind silently calculated the chances of navigating through the storm in case the cards failed, while carrying two people and simultaneously defending them from the attacks of nine superpowered spiders. Kai looked at the holographic screen with his eyes shining coldly.

In the image, the men who were escorting the person he ‘was certain’ was not the daughter of the second most important woman in his life arrived before the leader. At that moment, they threw the woman and the child to the ground with obvious indifference, causing electric sparks to surround his tightly clenched fists.

As they hit the ground, the woman writhed and crawled as best she could toward the child, shielding him with her own body, tears in her eyes and a face filled with absolute despair and hopelessness. This seemed to greatly annoy the leader, who began shouting something in his strange language. But the woman, filled with fear and determination, stayed in place, ready to protect the child with her own life.

With purple electric sparks surrounding his body, Kai watched with a murderous expression as the woman's tears fell, as she did everything she could to protect the child, and as the bastard leader screamed like a madman. But just at that moment, the leader seemed to lose his patience and delivered a powerful kick to the woman's side, sending her flying through the air and forcing her to let out a painful groan. This erased the last vestige of self-control in Kai, leaving his mind completely blank as brutal purple electric bolts surged uncontrollably.

...

By the time Kai regained his senses, he saw the world frozen, with himself surrounded by purple electricity, holding the woman in his left hand. Her body was now free of the spiderwebs that had previously restrained her, leaving her completely naked underneath, revealing several wounds and cuts on her smooth skin.

After looking at the woman, Kai turned his head and saw his right arm extended, gripping his trusted Jian sword, which was cleanly piercing through the leader’s throat. The leader’s face bore an expression of absolute astonishment as a trail of blood seeped from the mortal wound in his neck.

“Please… save my son…”

As Kai tried to make sense of the situation, the woman spoke in perfect native English, her voice weak and broken but with a renewed sense of hope, looking at the young man before her with pleading eyes. This led Kai to ask in a nearly melancholic tone, in a language he hadn’t spoken in a very long time.

“What’s your name?”

As he asked, Kai couldn’t help but lose himself in his memories as he gazed at the woman’s beautiful face—the face of that girl who had been like an older sister to him in his childhood. Kate, the one who always fought with everyone, who seemed to always be shouting and ready for anything, the one who defended him at school when he was bullied for being a “weak nerd”.

That same Kate whom, in his stupid arrogance, he had pushed aside to focus on his career, convinced that he was meant for great things, that he would be the best in the world, that he would be the next young billionaire. And that stupidity led him into the clutches of a lying whore and a parasitic scum who ended up taking everything from him, leaving him in a dirty, smelly room licking his wounds like a coward.

“…Eva…”

The woman replied in a low voice, laden with various emotions. On one hand, she felt relieved that he could understand her, unlike that savage and ruthless tribe. But at the same time, she felt apprehensive that he might not want to save her son, causing her naked body to tremble with terror.

But at that moment, Eva saw how, in response to her answer, a bitter smile formed on the face of the blue-eyed young man. It seemed to carry melancholy, regret, and pain, but it quickly transformed into one filled with determination. He then looked directly into her eyes and spoke with a firm voice.

“Well, Eva, then we’re getting out of here.”

Almost simultaneously with Eva hearing the young man’s voice, she saw him withdraw his sword from the leader’s throat, which seemed to set the world back in motion. Two horrifying screeches echoed from the front, while a great commotion filled with panicked and angry shouts erupted from behind.

At that same moment, Eva saw the world spinning, which made her feel a bit dizzy. But suddenly, she felt a weight on her, causing her to instinctively cling to what had fallen on top of her. She then looked in confusion, quickly realizing it was her own son, which filled her eyes with tears.

"Oliver..."

“[Accompany] On! [Home]!!”

Having managed to push back the spiders with two full-powered flying slashes, Kai quickly picked up the child from the ground and conjured the Accompany card, activating it without wasting a single second. A jet of light surrounded them, transforming into a barrier of light before they shot into the air and disappeared from sight.

But just then, Kai felt a sudden lack of weight at his side, causing him to look down in alarm, only to see the child being “dragged” out of the barrier. He quickly used Gyo in his eyes, allowing him to see, for a brief moment, a kind of ghostly spiderweb extending from the webs still wrapped around the boy.

“OLIVER!!!!”

Seeing her son disappear, Eva let out a bestial scream, filled with panic and pain, reaching out into the air to try to grab him, though in vain. She then quickly grabbed the blue-eyed young man’s clothes and exclaimed on the verge of madness.

“Please!! Save him!! I beg you!!!”

“[Accompany] Cancel!!”

Almost in unison with her words, Eva saw the young man raise a strange golden card she didn’t know where he had gotten from, shouting loudly at the same time. This caused the round barrier of light surrounding them to shatter, leaving them to fall from a great height, which filled her with such panic that she clung tightly to the young man’s clothes.

But to her astonishment, after falling a few meters, the young man somehow managed to slow their descent. He then looked directly into her eyes with those piercing blue eyes and spoke with a firm voice, filled with infinite conviction.

“Don’t worry, you and your son will leave here alive today.”

The words, and above all, the resolve in the young man’s voice, evoked an inexplicable feeling of calm in Eva, as if somehow she was now safe. They landed softly on the ground, and the young man quickly set her down, speaking in a grave tone.

“Sage, keep her safe at all costs.”

“Understood, master.”

In response to the young man’s words, Eva heard a tender yet serious feminine voice. A small fairy, no larger than her hand, materialized out of nowhere above her. The fairy wore a beautiful dress of blue light, which quickly transformed into an elegant feminine armor, while two small black-as-night Jian swords materialized in the fairy’s hands.

“Thunder Fortress!”

Flying above Eva’s head, Sage announced loudly and with power, causing a spherical barrier to form around Eva. At the same time, Kai, as his purple electric aura intensified to the point where even his eyes began to emit sparks, conjured two Jian swords identical to Sage’s but sized for him. He then unleashed his Conqueror’s Haki with all his might.

The sudden release of all his power caused ominous dark purple sparks to shoot out in all directions, so dark they seemed black, with only their edges revealing their true color. This caused the people in the area to fall unconscious simultaneously, as Kai shot forward, leaving a trail of dark purple electricity in his wake.

As he launched forward, seeing everything in slow motion, Kai quickly analyzed the battlefield, identifying the child’s position. The boy was about to land in front of one of the two escort spiders, thanks to the ghostly spiderweb connected to his backside. Meanwhile, the spiders were rapidly growing in size while emitting a strange golden light from their bodies.

At the same time, Kai took note of the horde of presences approaching his position at great speed. Even beyond the range of his Haki’s perception, Kai could feel three of the five original spiders approaching, thanks to [Trace] still being active. He silently calculated how much time he had to act—a mere few seconds.

(With my speed, it’s more than enough.)

***

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