Laurence eyed Imawashiki oddly, his wrinkly countenance morphing into a look of befuddlement. Queries rang through the former minister's mind, none of the occurring thoughts seeming plausible.
"How…?" Laurence gasped, unable to formulate a proper sentence.
Imawashiki raised an eyebrow in response. "How did I know of your encounter with Kokoro Kangae?" The fiery abomination asked, his tone shifting slightly. "Well, I'm not sure if you're suffering from dementia, but that man was the fourth king of Furusato. And, My Lord, who happens to have a history with the village, claims that you were the one to end King Kangae's life."
The fourth ruler of the village of Furusato was Kokoro Kangae, a man who had won many battles, purged various bands of rogues, and even supposedly increased Furusato's village ranking and favorability in all of Adonai, making "Furusato" known in Shanti and Zebulun.
A scowl marred Laurence's withered face, his eyes drilling into Imawashiki venomously. "That man destroyed everything I ever took pride in! He razed Tokuni to the ground and even burned all of my hard work! All I could salvage were minuscule projects before the attack even happened!"
"I know the story: you stole from Furusato because you prioritized your 'creations' more than your own village. But what I really want to know is how you killed him. Last time I checked, you weren't that powerful." Imawashiki said, his words striking Laurence with hatred.
Silently, Mizuki fled from Imawashiki's side, rushing over to Gabriel. However, this didn't deter the vessel of Moeru.
Laurence grounded his teeth together, his eyes flaring with malice. "You want to know? Fine! Seeing as how I won't be here much longer, I might as well fess up my act of vengeance…"
XXX
—32 Years Ago—
After hours of traveling, fleeing from their fallen village, Tokuni, Laurence felt immense resentment toward Furusato—more specifically, Kokoro Kangae: Furusato's current king…
…And the same man could be spotted glowering at Laurence in the distance.
"Everybody halt!" Laurence ordered with a shout, throwing his arm to the side hastily.
Kokoro Kangae: a man with short brown hair with a beard concealing the bottom half of his face. The king was bedecked in royal apparel—red robes that clung to his golden collar, and black clothes underneath. His gloved hands were clenched tightly, his glare matching the intensity.
"You!" Kokoro Kangae called out to Laurence, his voice laced with bile
The former employees of the Kyodo facility assumed various stances, brandishing small blades from the satchels or bags that they had been carrying.
Laurence gnashed his teeth. "Rosaline! Grab me my sword!"
Upon hearing these words, the silver-haired lady standing next to Laurence wrapped her hands around the hilt of a sword that she had stored within a sheath strapped around her hips. Then, she handed it to Laurence.
This particular sword had a hilt that was colored black. The blade had a golden outline tracing the length of the blade. But, within the outline, the blade appeared to be made of silver-colored steel.
It was Excalibur.
Kokoro flattened his hands, spreading his legs slightly.
'I'll have to hold back—I can't damage this forest too severely, neighboring villages would account us both as the perpetrators.' Kokoro thought, enabling his Aura Sense to flow within his body.
"Girls!" Laurence hollered, garnering his employees' attention. "Kill Kokoro Kangae!"
At that moment, each of the employees vanished from the ground. In the blink of an eye, they reappeared all around Kokoro, preparing to strike with the intent to kill.
In response, Kokoro clapped his hands, encompassing the area in a massive array of blue light, effectively blinding everyone. Fortunately, the illumination diminished just in time for the fourth king of Furusato to disappear.
Kokoro then emerged from the trees, swiping at the employees with a foot. Kicking one into the other, the king easily subdued two in one move. The brown-haired king glanced over to the rest, grounding his feet.
Then, something glinted in the sunlight. It was Rosaline and her knives, linked by chains.
Kokoro merely swatted the incoming knife with the back of his left hand, allowing a blue Genso-Kyu to conjure in his right hand—*boom!*—and release a small beam, blasting Rosaline backward.
This time, Kokoro was forced to move even faster, vanishing at speeds faster than photons to dodge an incoming swing from Laurence within his Excalibur.
Excalibur shook violently, prompting Laurence to preemptively swing behind him, narrowly missing Kokoro, who went to strike the man from behind. As Kokoro grabbed Laurence's right hand, which wielded Excalibur, the former head of the Kyodo Facility smiled.
"Goodbye, you bastard!"
*KABOOM!*
By restraining Kokoro with his free hand, Laurence forced the king to take the brunt of a powerful explosion emitted from Excalibur. Luckily for Laurence, his power over the sword exempted him from the blast.
However, when the debris softened, revealing the area, Kokoro was gone.
Standing on a tree branch above, Kokoro panted from excessive adrenaline. He had been fast enough to prevent dying from the explosion—but being momentarily restrained by Laurence made the king feel the impact of the explosion the moment it occurred.
"Take it slow… heal as you go." Kokoro voiced to himself, eyeing the ground below.
*SWISH!*
Kokoro hopped from the tree branch as a sword chopped it in half. An employee had discovered the king in hiding.
"Shit!" Kokoro cursed, flying through the air from a jump.
*BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!*
Three beams shot from employees appeared. Kokoro immediately barricaded himself with a blue shield made from his Aura Sense, tanking each of the bursts.
Sadly, the explosion reached the sky in power, blowing away several, if not all, of the trees in the forest they resided in.
Falling to the ground, surrounded by ash and drifting debris, Kokoro looked on at the employees, as well as Laurence and Rosaline, who stood side-by-side.
'These people are borderline high-class warriors… I could easily wipe them out if I go a bit harder—but then this fight would go beyond the forest's parameters.' Kokoro mentally noted, his eyes darting through his enemies. 'But, I won't kill them, either. At least not the minions. They don't seem like actual, cognitive people.'
Suddenly, an idea struck Kokoro as he said:
"If I can't use my surroundings, I'll have to make do with the air itself!"
Laurence narrowed his eyes at Kokoro Kangae, raising his hand. "Kill him!"
Every employee rushed to Kokoro at once, only to end up being too slow and watching as the king jumped to the sky. But, weirdly, Kokoro's hands illuminated every few seconds. Once the king landed, he jumped once more, seemingly placing something in the air above.
As Kokoro touched down, his gaze hardened. He ran at exceptional speeds once more, subduing each of the employees with a barrier in one rapid motion, taking advantage of their grouping and trapping them. Soon after, the barrier let forth tiny beams that simultaneously knocked out the workers.
"Nice and easy…" Kokoro muttered, glad at the simplicity of their take-down.
Kokoro's senses suddenly fizzed—*swish!*—warning the king to jump over an incoming slice from Rosaline. Kokoro then craned his head to the side to avoid having his head lopped off by Laurence with Excalibur, who happened to be behind him.
"Damn you, Kangae!" Laurence cried, swinging repeatedly.
Kokoro had to stay collected, dodging and maneuvering around several slices and swings from both Rosaline and Laurence.
With one swift move, Kokoro clutched onto a chain from Rosaline's linked knives, pulling the silver-haired woman in and knocking her out with a solid blow to the head with his knee. Then, in an attempt to defeat Laurence, he spun around and conjured another Genso-Kyu, thrusting his arm outward and proceeding to unleash a blue beam.
But it didn't go as planned…
*VROOM!*
Kokoro's Genso-Kyu was absorbed into Laurence's left palm, which was now traced with blue markings.
Laurence, using his new power, caught Kokoro off guard, taking that moment to impale the king with Excalibur, the tip of the blade protruding out of Kokoro's back, blood seeping from the wound.
"Grahh!" Kokoro howled, spitting saliva and blood.
Laurence grinned. "You should've never held back, king. Your death is due to your arrogance!"
Slowly, Kokoro raised one hand to his side, his hand opened flatly. A smirk formed on his bearded face.
"You're right… I suppose I shouldn't have held back too much… But I hope that my parting gift will leave you with a reminder of this fight." Kokoro said ominously, confusing Laurence.
Without warning, Kokoro clamped his hand into a fist, enabling several blue lights to glow in the sky.
Laurence snapped his head to the lights, his eyes wide as he witnessed a plethora of bursts emerge from the Genso-Kyu's that flooded the sky with light.
*KABOOM!*
A blast that grew to the size of multiple massive villages erupted the moment each blast struck Laurence. A giant bubble of blue could be seen for hundreds of miles, ravaging every tree in its way.
It took several minutes for the explosion to dissipate, leaving nothing but smoke in its place. On the ground, a massive crater dented into the ground appeared. The crater could fit a village or two relatively easily.
In that crater, however, a set of people remained. Laurence, Rosaline, and the employees—who were saved by Kokoro's barrier.
Standing up from the ground, Laurence rubbed his head to placate the pain he felt. Gradually, he trekked over to the lifeless body of Kokoro, glaring down at the king.
Laurence's right arm felt severely injured, practically unable to feel the limb itself.
"I told you, Kangae: you shouldn't have held back."
XXX
Hey! I'm ending this chapter here. It seems like a good resting point, and my neighbors are staring at me creepily—so here's the newest chapter! We finally got to see how Kokoro died, and what went down between him and Laurence. This encounter started in VOLUME 2!! However, stay tuned for more!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_