Chapter 288 – Suspension.

Kayaba’s face was hidden by the helm, but the voice through the helm trembled in the confusion Usher could hear.

“Cardinal?”

Even the knight right next to him was embarrassed by his appearance.

“If you’re not feeling well, I will.”
“No, I’m not someone you can deal with.”

Because of this, the knight tried to step in front of them, but the red knight raised his arm and stood in front of him.

“You should also avoid somewhere in the corner.”

Usher listened to Krikaliev and quietly got off his back. He didn’t think he’d help him in the fight at first, but now he felt more like he shouldn’t interfere with his fight. Even the knight quietly retreated in their confrontation, and Kayaba drew his sword first. At first glance, his sword looked like a long sword, but the shape of the cross guard leaned more towards the blade and the leather strap that tied the handle was unfamiliar. Most of all, he seemed to have left his sword hanging from a leather strap without a scabbard.

“You must have died?”
“Well, it was.”
“So you’re saying he came back alive?”
“Isn’t it good enough to see this?”

Quickly, Kayaba gnashed his teeth enough that the sound could be heard from afar.

“…It’s already been 18 years since Gomel made you that way. I heard the news that it was completed that day, but you were nowhere to be found.”

When Gomel panicked and said that he had definitely completed it, he wondered if you might have left this place alone. Still, there was no sign of you leaving, so I thought he was lying to hide the fact that the experiment failed, as Diana said.

“You abandoned us!!”

Kayaba’s sword glowed pale, and Kaang! It is followed by the sound of metal clashing. In an instant he was in front of Krikaliev, sword to sword with him. Kayaba backs away as Krikaliev thrusts his sword back at him, ignoring the pale light that bounces back at him. Barisada tenaciously followed him, but Kayaba rode the ripples with her own sword and let the tip of his sword flow. If a sword as heavy as Barisada went down while striking, there was no way to quickly come back up again.

Kayaba slashed the pale sword at Krikaliev’s gaping head, but Barisada’s hilt rose upward and his sword was blocked by the cross guard. Krikaliev flowed down and lifted the back of Barisada, where the tip of the sword touched the ground, upside down. Barisada, as tall as he was, was enough to block the opponent’s sword. However, Kayaba didn’t care that the sword was blocked and put out the light of the blade. Is it because it suddenly got dark? Where the light disappears, traces of green light remain.

However, unlike Kayaba’s black light trail, he spun on Barisada’s handle and flew aiming for Krikaliev’s head with the thick pom-melo behind his handle, his empty hand trying to grab Barisada’s handle.

“It’s so bloody.”

Krikaliev raised his hand as if to grab the hilt of a sword that was aiming for his own head. Even if Pommel flew at his head, he couldn’t help the grip between them. But before Krikaliev can grasp his handle, Kayaba’s sword comes to a halt and slips away. Kayaba’s hand first grabbed the blade up and down, stopped it, and pulled it. Not only that, but the state of his empty hand holding the barisada’s handle. At this rate, Krikaliev would have been defeated.

“It’s big?!”

Kayaba let go of the handle of the barisada from his grasp, and at the same time he was thrown into the sky by a blunt impact that suddenly lifted him up from below. As Krikaliev kicked the sword face of Barisada, which was standing there, he was hit by the sword face rising upward. Krikaliev grabbed the handle of Barisada, which returned as it spun, and Kayaba’s sword bounced off and floated in the sky. Watching their fight, Usher thought it would end there. If only Kayaba’s sword, which was flying in the sky, hadn’t moved by itself and stuck to the ground.

– Pajik!

With the sound of something exploding, the winding and flashing solid lines connected Kayaba’s armor and the floor, which had been thrown into the sky, and pulled them together. Thanks to that, he quickly regained his balance and came down to the floor, grabbing the sword stuck in the ground. It was as if someone forcibly corrected his posture and moved him.

“If you were still alive, why did you come back now…!”

Beyond his helmet, resentment was still flowing.

“No, what kind of ghost story is it when a dead person suddenly appears and says something? That’s it.”

Krikaliev said bitterly, but it seemed to only fuel Kayaba’s anger.

“Yakaf!!!”

He was again charging at Krikaliev with a pale light on his sword. The swords of the two collided again, and the pale light scattered more intensely. The light, which seemed to be intricately intertwined with numerous light threads, burned the place it touched black whenever it was scattered, but it did not affect even Krikaliev. However, it was doubtful whether he would be able to see properly in the void of light created by the sudden fading of the intense light, which was difficult to see with open eyes.

– Kaang!

However, even in the pale light, their swords did not become disheveled. Rather, the swords perform a precarious dance that makes it hard to see them falling on each other’s blades and bodies. The balance of the swords, which would tilt death to one side at the slightest mistake, could not come to an end, and the light shone more and more intensely, dyeing the room.

“What do you care?”

The boy glared at the man holding his hand. He was an upstairs man anyway. Doesn’t he know what he’s doing?

“Whatever it is, won’t you try to stop what you’re doing?”

She took the stone in his hand and threw it away, causing the boy to burst into flames.

“Don’t be a dog! The humans upstairs are always like that!”

They are given food that is no different from garbage, but they don’t even give it properly. Even so, they talked about it as if it was a big deal and wanted them to act according to their will. If you don’t comply, you can’t even eat the food they distribute, so there’s no way to refuse. He knew to himself that he had been good to him for a man upstairs. But that doesn’t mean you can be reassured.

“You talk like you’re showing great mercy, judging us as you please and wanting to act as you please!”

It was boring now. The humans upstairs talk as if they will accept all the wanderers downstairs, but they only talk and want them to do more. If you don’t listen to the request, the food will decrease, and even if you barely do, the food that comes back is the same. Because of his sister, he had to give himself up to them. To them, she was just something that could be used and replaced at any time.

“What are you doing talking to me like this?!

Didn’t he share the food because he wanted something from himself?

“I can take care of you a little while we meet. What grandiose reason do you want? And it’s the first time I know you have an older sister, man.”

Eventually the boy shut his mouth. Come to think of it, it was natural that he didn’t know. Because he never told me anything about himself. He just realized that he could get food if he ran into him and he only went to meet him.

“So what happened? You tried to become a eunuch?”
“You’re not going to help.”
“That’s right. We’ve been wanting to meet for a long time, or are we supposed to be close friends? I don’t even know what’s going on.”

Yes, I could understand if it was something like that. Because I could understand his thoughts more than those who like to interfere but do nothing.

“Then let it go.”

But for some reason he didn’t let go of his hand. So when I looked up at him, he opened his mouth.

“But if there is a price, it’s a different story.”
“Cost?”

The boy asked. Somehow his words were unfamiliar. Because the people upstairs were always asking for it. It certainly wouldn’t be different.

“Will you be my disciple?”
“…If you do that, you’ll save your sister?”
“First of all, tell me what happened. Then we will think about whether to help or not.”

At that time, the boy did not know what being a disciple meant. Actually, it was a good story regardless of whether it was painful or harsh. If only he could save his sister.

“Sister!”

So the boy was able to save his sister from the other children with his help. It could have been natural since the opponents were children, but he easily subdued the children and the guy who took his sister ran away. He wanted to catch him and beat him, but now his sister was important.

“Kaya, bar?”

She was a mess as if she had been being violated in the meantime. She burst into tears when she saw her sister calling him in disbelief.

“Why do we have to do this?”

Why is it that not only the humans upstairs, but also the children downstairs are anxious because they can’t eat themselves? I know that other children’s circumstances are no different, but I still couldn’t control my unfair heart. I’ve heard that upstairs is a place of abundance. Even downstairs, children with parents never go hungry. Why were they not given parents, a cozy home, food, and the strength to fend for themselves?

“Why are we the only ones who have to go through this!
“Kayaba.”

At his scream, his sister just stroked his head bitterly. But it’s too sad consolation to stop the tears.

“If you want to get out of here, why don’t you go see the stars with me?”

What came to the boy was the words of his sister’s man to go see the stars, which he had heard only in fairy tales his sister had told him. A promise he thought was ridiculous but eventually kept.

“To you, we! I! What the hell was that!!!”

However, an incomplete promise that made it impossible to be together. Kayaba resented him for not returning to them even though he was alive. However, after many years, the answer that came back from him shattered his sword.

“I am a proud disciple.”

The sword bounced off Barisada rolls on the floor and makes a loud noise. Kayaba could have summoned the sword back into his hand, but he did not.

“Don’t be shy and ask me. Would you like to hear the story with Diana?”