Chapter 229: Staring you from the dark

Under the heavy rain, Vali, whose body was riddled with wounds, stared at the scene before him with coldness in his heart. His body was full of pain, yet all of that was incomparable to the cry of the three figures in the distance. His heart was wretched, and he had never thought that everything would become like this.

"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHHHH!"

"Vali..."

Albion could sense how desolate that was in Vali's heart. "Vali... you should rest. With your current situation, you might die." After that fight, Vali didn't seem to care about anything, and he just flew into Italy to see his family, ignoring his wounded body that needed a rest.

However, Vali ignored that reminder as there was something that he needed to do. He needed to check and protect his family, yet everything was too late.

Nevertheless, the one who died wasn't his mother or stepsiblings. Instead, it was the man who married his mother after she lost her memory.

Watching how his mother and stepsiblings cried in the rain, huddled weakly together, like an animal that needed a sense of security during the weak moment, Vali felt that his pain was nothing compared to the one that he had caused to his family.

"Why?! Why?! Why?!"

Vali cried as he fell to the ground, ignoring the dirty mud on his body and rained body. He wished to die and atoned for everything, but he knew the reason why that person only killed his stepfather was to tell him that he could give misery to his mother and stepsiblings.

"It's my fault..."

"No, it's your fault, Vali! You shouldn't blame yourselves! If I didn't tell you about my original attack and incite you to attack him... then... then, this... wouldn't happen..."

Albion regretted his arrogance as he thought he was above everyone else. If he didn't give Vali false hope and also instigated Vali to aggravate that "man" further, then would this happen?

However, there was no medicine for regret.

Vali knew that at this moment, the only thing he could do was to become his tool obediently.

"Vali!"

However, suddenly, he heard a familiar voice.

His consciousness was hazy due to the pain and exhaustion, but when he thought about how his family died, he forced himself to go far away to Italy. It was also because of this he wished to be alone. He didn't want to involve anyone with him. He didn't want to feel this sadness anymore!

"Stay away from me!"

They should stay away from him!

At this moment, Azazel, the members of the Slash Dog, and all the members of Vali's team saw the miserable appearance of Vali. The proud descendant and the host of the White Dragon Emperor was no longer there. What appeared to be a broken young man who could fall anytime.

Their hearts were filled with sadness as they came too late.

However, Vali didn't intend to talk with them and just left by forcing himself to fly away, but the others wouldn't let him go.

"No, you need to recuperate! Your wounds are too serious! You even lose your left leg now!"

"Vali, do you want to die?"

"Vali, please rely on us."

They all huddled into him, trying to stop him from flying.

Vali, who was weak, was unable to move and could only cry. "No... stay away from me... as long as you are with me, you are going to die... I don't want you all to die."

"Haha... we're not weak, Vali. Have you forgotten how we fought together a few years ago? Not only have you become stronger, I have become stronger too!"

Samejima Kouki laughed, telling Vali to have confidence in them.

"Yes, as long as we are together, we can do anything!"

"Vali, don't be scared. We will be here with you."

"Share your burden with us."

"...you want to fight with me?"

"Yes, if you believe in us, we can defeat this enemy together!"

"DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!"

Suddenly, something snapped within Vali's mind as he roared at everyone in this place. "Fighting that person? Have you become stronger? You can't even protect my stepfather, even with this many people! How laughable!

"You don't even come when I need someone's help the most! Even if you are all gathered together, you are nothing but a small fry in front of him! Facing him, all of you are meaningless!

"To be honest, you are all a burden to me!

"Just fucking leave me alone!"

Facing those words, they were unable to say anything. Even if they had become powerful, they couldn't even protect Vali's stepfather and could only come late as they watched his stepfather die just like that.

Vali didn't care about their silence and just left as he didn't want to involve them, but suddenly, he felt sleepy before he was caught by someone.

"Just rest."

Vali wanted to resist but couldn't as he fell asleep due to a magic spell.

Azazel, who had caught Vali, felt his heart was filled with fury and sadness as he was unable to do anything, and he wished to kill the person who had caused this misery to Vali. He had always thought of Vali as his own son, so when he saw Vali was treated like this, how could he remain calm?!

"Thank you, Governor Azazel. But you should be careful as that "person" might be able to listen to our conversation."

"You don't need to worry. I have placed a barrier around us. It would be impossible for anyone to eavesdrop on our conversation."

"If that's the case, I feel relief..."

Somehow, Albion couldn't shake the feeling of restlessness in his heart.

"Governor, I want to kill the bastard who had done this to Vali!"

"Me too!"

"We can't let this person torment Vali like this!"

"...I want to, but we still need to know who our opponent is." Azazel also felt anger, but unlike the youngsters around him, he still needed to know who their opponent was. "Albion, who is this person? Who was the one who caused Vali to be in this state?"

Everyone fell in silence as they waited for Albion's answer, but—

"I don't know."

"...what?"

Everyone frowned as this wasn't the answer they expected.

"Are you sure, Albion?"

"I don't know. I don't know who this person is, but I don't think anyone in this world can defeat him..."

Albion's voice was filled with fear and trembling without him even realizing it, causing all of them to feel tense, realizing their opponents were scarier than they had imagined.

"...while I don't want to say this, the moment you came in contact with Vali, you had become the target of this person."

"There's no way, right?"

One of the girls suddenly said with a light laugh, trying to lighten the mood, but Albion could only apologize.

"I am sorry."

All of them felt a shudder on their skin as if they could feel an existence observing them from behind, yet when they turned, they could see nothing. The fear came from an unknown. They didn't even know who their enemies were, so how could they anticipate his attack?

However—

"Even so, I won't let Vali bear this alone. Like how he helped me before, this time, I will be the one who will help him."

Tobio Ikuse made the determination clear.

His words also resonated with everyone's heart, and they swore that they were going to protect Vali.

---

At this moment, Riser was staring at the street in the Akita as he sipped his coffee.

"Eleven people, huh?"

Riser closed his eyes for a moment, then erased some of his memories inside his head before he decided to enjoy his trip.