Ryuma grabbed his head. It felt like it was going to split in two with the migraine he had. He almost lost that one and this time, the punishment would be far more than just expulsion. They were aiming to kill him and bag him to the Skylands for profit.
He still can't believe he won that by the hair on his arms.
"But… how?" Peko asked in bewilderment. He was holding on to his stomach as it profusely bled. He struggled to lean up.
{He's still alive…}
"I'm pretty sure I hit your katana. You should be a putrid mess by now," Peko grumbled.
Ryuma inched towards him. "You did hit my weapon. I wasn't holding it in the moment you hit it though," He started using his katana as a makeshift cane.
Peko backed up. His face was wracked with fear, and he tried as hard as he could to scramble away. "That doesn't make sense! How did you know!?"
Even though he was trying to get away, Ryuma was catching up with ease. His walking speed, despite how slow it was, easily trumped Peko's crawling speed.
"It's simple. If it was the sound that was causing it, then there was no need to hit my own weapon with yours to cause its effect. You would just hit the rocks and do the same thing. If that was the case, then why didn't you hit the surrounding stalagmites to cause the same effect? And if that wasn't all, you could have hit the broken blade if contact wasn't necessary,"
Peko's eyes were stuck wide open. It's clear he never thought about the limitations of his own weapon. "Screw you kid! I'm not dying here to a brat like you!"
Still holding his midriff, he forced himself to stand and pointed his katana at him. With only one hand on the blade, Ryuma hardly saw him as a threat. Even with the danger of his weapon effect…
It took only three swings once Peko closed that distance. None of Ryuma's swings connected with Peko's katana. He was too fast for the man's body to even keep up with his movement. He collapsed instantly. His body so still afterwards, Ryuma could only conclude that he was finally dead. Still, he'd rather not leave anything to chance and decided to plunge his katana through the man's heart to be sure. Once he saw that there was no reaction he pulled out.
"Shit this hurts," Ryuma complained.
He never been in this much pain, even fighting against his classmates. With all their weapons, none of them added much spirit energy and so breaking skin never was a thing.
This time, it was neither training nor a test. Everyone here present had the intent to kill.
He looked around and saw the body of Arvent. He was lifeless, and unblinking. Ryuma scanned his surrounding even more. Where was Geneo?
Looking at their original area, there was a trail of blood dragging in one direction. He followed it over a hill where he saw Geneo Taku, desperately trying to crawl to safety.
Despite who the man was, what he knew him to be, Ryuma still managed to feel a little guilt. Even as a young kid Mr. Taku was there to greet him with a smile and was like a dear uncle to him. He was always a jolly of a man. What happened to him to have become this? Was he always this way?
The fact that he was still crawling and never got up… There was a chance that Ryuma stabbed through his vertebrae. If so, even if he lived, he'd never walk again.
Well… he managed to give the old man his retirement.
Ryuma started limping his way towards him. Geneo turned around in panic. "No way! You actually beat those two?"
Ryuma limped ever closer without saying a word.
"Ryuma wait! Let's talk about this!" Geneo threw his hands up defensively. Ryuma ignored him and continued limping forward. "If this is about me selling you out to the Skylands, you didn't really think I was going to go through with it do you?"
He finally stopped his trek forward. His face scrunched. A mix of anger and bewilderment etched onto it. This man…
Ryuma didn't realize it, but his hesitation created a pause. "That's right… all that stuff you heard earlier. That was for them. If you think about it, I could be on your team. Your inside man. I'd never let the edicts find you. You were like a nephew to me,"
Ryuma halted all advancement. This man… was such a piece of shit. He's never seen a feckless coward such as this. His face scrunched in disgust.
"You understand now, don't you? With my help, the Skylands would never find you. I know the lower world like the back of my hands,"
This man was in such denial, he wasn't even paying attention to Ryuma's body language. He went so far as to bare his teeth. "Geneo… How much of you was a lie? Or would it be faster for you to tell me how much of you was the truth?"
Geneo looked at him with confusion. "What are you talking about lad?"
"I'm wondering about the real you. Is what I see before me the real Geneo Taku?"
"Of course this is me boy. Let's just get this all sorted out,"
"Get this sorted out? Was this to be before, or after you raped my mother?" His question was a little more demanding than he intended, but otherwise it came out perfect.
"Shoko? Ryuma, you know I'd never hurt her. You and your mother were dear to me," Geneo pleaded.
"Oh would you just shut up you fat son-of-a-bitch! I saw everything! I had front row seats to what you did to Castor's wife!" Ryuma said.
"Castor's wife? You're mad at me over something as stupid as that?" His injuries be damned, Ryuma instantly closed the gap and swiftly cut off his hand. "AAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!"
The scream Geneo made echoed throughout the mountains. Any remorse Ryuma might have had for him had been lost. This was no longer the man he grew up with. No… he was never the man he grew up with. It was all a façade.
Geneo held the stump that was formerly his hand. His breathing was heavy, and his eyes bloodshot. "You stubborn little bastard! You don't get how it works down here! We are the edicts in the eyes of these worms! Why can't you see that!? We're gods to them! We take what we want! I could have taught you that!"
Ryuma glared at him with emotionless eyes. "You don't get it Geneo. Everything you saw of me was genuine. I never wanted to be a tithe collector because my focus was on helping the people in the lower world survive the threat of the demons,"
Geneo's chest started bouncing. It was hard to see his face as he held on to his stump. Upon looking closer he realized that he was chuckling. "Muhahahahahaahah! I get it now! You may be strong for your age, but you're still a naïve child when it comes down to it,"
Ryuma raised an eyebrow.
"How many younglings come into the order with thoughts of heroism and glory, only to realize that the system can't be changed and that the only way to survive it, is to make the most of it. All those heroic little fools never lasted long. The first ones to always go in, and the last ones to always come out. You think selflessness and heroism motivates a soldier forever. Look around you kid. We risk our lives, just so the edicts could get whatever they want, whenever they want it. You have yet to know about the terror of the demons and the burden placed on us priest,"
"THAT DOESN'T GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO DESTROY PEOPLES LIVELYHOODS! IF YOU DIDN'T WANT THE JOB, THEN DON'T TAKE IT!"
"And do what? Live amongst them? Live an honest life toiling on the ground, begging for a taste of the Skylands every festival. That's right Ryuma. You've seen it. Where do you think the stalls from those festivals came from? Surely it wasn't from people who lived up there,"
Ryuma held his blade up to his neck. "You speak as if being evil was your only option in life. You had options Geneo. You didn't even try to find any. No… you wanted to come to this answer,"
Geneo smiled. It was a crazed, sadistic smile showing all his teeth. "If that's what you believe then do it. C'mon Ryuma, take my life. Show me how much different you are then us by killing a defenseless man,"
Ryuma gripped his katana to the point it started shaking. Did he really want to do this? No, he didn't have a choice. Changing the Skylands in the traditional sense wasn't an option to him. Not while he was a fugitive.
"That's what I thought. You don't have the…" With nothing more Ryuma needed to hear, he slashed Geneo's throat with little hesitation.
His hand finally left the stump of his other hand and by instinct covered his own neck. The blood leaked out profusely and he desperately choked for whatever air he grasped for. Ryuma stared as he tried to crawl anywhere away from where Ryuma was standing in one last attempt for survival. His strength was leaving him, and his crawl was getting weaker. In one last final breath, he dropped. His body motionless.
Ryuma stayed silent. He looked at all the bodies. The scene looked like the stuff of nightmares. There was blood everywhere. Red was painted all over the mountains, around the bodies, and even on Ryuma's pure white clothes. They were stained red with the blood of his and his enemies alike.
Ryuma stared at the underside of his wrist. "It's starting to sink in… the gravity of going against the Skylands,"