Chapter 10- Devil (Part 4)
Heaving up and down, Kamine glared at Akio with a wide smile. His expression was clearly satisfied with what he said as if he finally lifted a weight off his shoulders that he had for years.
That was what Kamine truly believed. All his life, he had struggled greatly and suffered all kinds of hardships that made him wonder whether all of this was really just fate ostracizing him or if he was getting tested.
Life was really cruel that Kamine had no choice but to find excuses for its cruelty and what better excuse than all of this being a test for him?
'I will definitely exceed the expectations of Holem and make it finally accept me.' Years ago was the time he resolved himself to pass this test. But, days passed, then weeks, then months, then years and nothing happened.
Because of that, Kamine found himself on the verge of insanity where his only solace could only be found in those pills… The Holem Mist. It was his only link to that dream world that kept him from utterly losing it.
However, even that didn't quench his thirst and yearning for Holem. It only made it subside a little bit while also destroying his brain from the inside slowly. With time, without Kamine knowing, he found himself degrading into an insane, twisted person that would do anything, even killing his own blood, just to show Holem how capable and worthy he was.
Yet, nothing occurred and everything ended up getting worse and worse until this exact point where he's standing in front of Akio. His heart was uncertain, overwhelmed with a sense of fear, a strong desire to become what he dreamt of becoming, and also a faint hope that the day had finally come.
Seeing all of those feelings flash through his father's eyes, Akio felt an urge… a strong urge to smile. He didn't know why but he just wanted to crack a wide grin. One of hate, disdain, and a little bit of pity. He pitied this fool in front of him.
Then, he opened his mouth and said.
"I have no dreams. That's true. I find dreams quite pointless actually. I mean, why should we dream?" He asked.
Kamine flashed a weird look at Akio as if he doesn't get what was happening.
"I hate dreaming! It's the most stupid, incomprehensible thing I have ever seen. Why should the lowest of scums like us dream? Why should we think that we have the chance to become something great? It's all uncertain, and unpredictable. Everything can evaporate in a moment and we would only be able to watch as that happens. The only certain things in this world are fear and death. That's the only thing that we share in common with the other humans." Akio added as he pointed toward the high walls of the inner city.
"Shut up…" Kamine murmured as his hands started shuddering visibly.
"You are better than us? Tsk, what load of crap…" Clicking his tongue, Akio grinned twistedly as if he was a vengeful spirit glaring at its target.
"Shut up." He repeated with a higher tone.
"You are merely another one of the hundreds of idiots that thought dreams would save them from this hell. But, we are all here for a reason and that reason is…"
"The world didn't accept us… Holem didn't accept us."
"I SAID SHUT UP!!!!"
Clearly affected by Akio's words, Kamine charged toward Akio like a madman. His eyes had lost any sane light from them. His bigger frame soon covered Akio and his arms extended to grab the boy by the neck and strangle him to death. However, at the last second, Akio smiled.
"Watch your steps." His voice was cold, quiet, and eerily calm.
"Huh?" Kamine made a weird sound as he found himself smashing into the ground. Since the start, Akio had set up a trap for Kamine. He tied a rope between two houses and waited.
Because the time was night, the rope was very hard to notice especially when it was covered by the dark shadows of the houses around them. Coupled with the fact that Kamine wasn't in his sane mind, he ended up walking right into the trap.
"W-What?!" Before he could even try to stand up, Akio quickly pulled out a knife from somewhere, and then, with little to no hesitation, he plunged it into Kamine's back.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHH!!!" A blood-curdling screech of pain that shook the whole place left Kamine's mouth. Luckily, the monster didn't seem to have noticed that scream as it was still busy catching the left humans inside the house.
The knife had struck somewhere near his spinal cord. It didn't pierce it directly but still inflicted an injury on it that made Kamine unable to move or resist. He became completely motionless or in other words… completely crippled.
"AGGGH!! Y-You... Fucking…" Tears fell down his face as he glared at Akio with deep hatred. His face was twisted with pain and anger.
On the other hand, Akio bent down and looked at his father's eyes with a deep coldness.
"Tricking you was easy… All I had to do was say everything that makes you angry and you will turn into a blind bull ready to charge at anyone you consider an enemy. Setting up this trap was a simple plan I came up with to lure you here."
"L-Lure… W-What… What do you…" Finding great difficulty in talking because of the knife plunged into his back, Kamine could only say a few, incoherent words.
"Yes, lure you here. Creating that hole in the wall did somehow work. I thought that giant thing would be able to kill you but it seems your tenacity is still as strong as ever." Akio said as he casually looked at the monster on the horizon. From what he can see, it had a few minutes at best before it finally noticed their presence and came after them.
"Well, either way, I intended to see your end today."
"Wha… What… I don't…" Spit came out of Kamine's mouth as he tried to comprehend what happened.
But, a few seconds later, it finally hit him, a huge realization. His tired and hazy eyes widened in deep, carnal shock.
"No… Y-You didn't…"
"Luring that monster toward the shelter was quite hard and dangerous. But, I was sure that it would work. Actually, old man Tin was the one who was aware of the presence of such a monster in the slums. It seems that thing is the leader of the pack. It has the privilege of eating the most humans and also hunting down the biggest group of monsters. It was all a matter of waiting until it was finished with all the human groups in the slums before it comes to this place."
Sighing, Akio frowned a little bit before he continued.
"When it was close enough to the area, we were able to find a way to leave the house. All the other monsters left and allowed it to do its thing."
Hearing each word, Kamine felt the blood drain out of his body. A cold, chilling feeling overwhelmed him.
"So… You… used that time… to escape…" He completed Akio's words with his deductions.
"Pretty much. I had a hunch that you aren't going to be caught by that monster knowing your tenacity. So, I made sure to leave an escape route for you in case that happened and well, here you are."
"Y-You did all… of that… Devil… you are a devil!! COUGH! COUGH! BLURGH!!" Spitting out blood, Kamine looked at Akio, horrified.
"It's true, I'm not a good person. I was the reason for the death of all of those survivors and I will also be the reason for your death. But, as I said before, dreams are quite pointless. Look at you, did your dreams guide you? No, they didn't. Instead, here you are, on the ground, your life ticking down quickly."
Looking up, Akio muttered.
"The only thing that could be truly real is death. Everything else is bound to fate. The ones who will survive at the end are the ones who were destined to be alive."
Then, Akio stood up and grabbed the handle of the knife that was still plunged into Kamine's back.
"W-Wait! No…. please… don't… kill me…" Kamine begged as tears streamed from his eyes endlessly. He looked like a broken baby, begging his mother to save him.
"I don't… want to die… Holem is… Holem is waiting for me!"
Akio's cold eyes looked at Kamine and then unhesitantly, he said in a low, slow tone.
"Holem doesn't wait for trash…"
*Swish*
He pulled out the knife and started walking away.
"Huh…" Kamine was shocked at first, as he blinked a few times. He thought Akio decided not to kill him in the end. However, he couldn't be any farther from wrong.
*BOMP* *BOMP*
Behind him, an earth-shaking sound started approaching him. His eyes widened as he finally realized the origin of it.
'T-The monster…' His eyes widened as his mind instinctively tried to make him move. But, Kamine was now incapable of controlling any part of his body, he was completely paralyzed from the neck down.
It was over.