"Ho... Ho... Honey!"
"Wait! Stop! Please!" wailed Eric.
At this point, he had caught up to his wife and child, but two men, who also wore cloaks similar to the man he had just defeated, were holding both of them at knifepoint. Kuzan was unconscious, but his wife Elisa was awake.
"He must have defeated Rev to be able to get here, and we didn't even get to see his S-rank summon," said one man, turning to the other.
The man holding Kuzan at knifepoint reached for his side and pulled out another blade.
"Here," he said, throwing it in front of Eric.
Kyle was heading home when he heard metal clink on the floor. He immediately hid at a corner to see what was going on. It was dark, so he could only see the silhouettes of the people speaking. But he listened in on the conversation.
"Kill yourself... in exchange, we'll let them go," said the man holding Kuzan captive.
"No, Eric, don't do that!" Elisa retorted.
That voice was familiar to Kyle. He had heard it several times and was sure of it. He turned to look more closely and saw his mother, father, and younger brother. All sorts of thoughts began to go through his mind, also remembering the burnt corpse he saw at the Link Hall.
"How did this happen? Why did this happen?"
He had to do something, but what could he do? After all, he was a weakling who had no summon and sub-par fighting skills. All he had was his knowledge of summons.
"I know you're there, boy! Do not come out no matter what!" Eric shouted.
Kyle's eyes became wild and frantic, filled with overwhelming fear. His dad already knew he was there. But to tell him to stay still and watch him end his life?
"So there's another one. Interesting... Now make your choice!" remarked one of the cloaked men.
"Dad! Mom! Kuzan!" Kyle didn't know what moved him to come out; all he knew was that he started running toward his father. But suddenly he stopped. He looked back and saw a summon, a dog-looking summon that belonged to his dad, holding him back and pinning him down.
"Daaaddddd!" "Eriiicc!!!"
Kyle and his mom called out concurrently.
"So this is how I meet my end, huh... at least I was able to protect my family," Eric thought, smiling at both of them, as he slit his throat with the blade...
Immediately, blood spewed out from his neck region as his body fell to the ground. In no time at all, he was covered in a pool of blood. The summon that pinned Kyle also began to disappear, loosening its grip on Kyle.
Elisa immediately dropped to her knees in agony, tears filling her eyes as she just witnessed the death of her husband. Kyle looked at the sky and screamed in pain. It was too much for him to bear. He screamed and screamed; it was almost as if he went insane.
"Hey, hey there, Kyle," a familiar voice could be heard.
Kyle turned to look. The figure of the person was covered by shadows but was revealed as he came closer.
"Un... cle... Finn?"
"You fought well, but in the end, your stupid family was your weakness," he said, kicking Eric and making his body lie on its back.
"Why?" Elisa immediately spoke.
"Finn!! Wh–"
She was immediately interrupted by a slap on her cheek. Another one followed, proceeded by a kick to her gut, making her fall to the ground in pain.
"You're annoying!" Finn hollered.
Kyle was confused. He trusted Finn and regarded him as an uncle, a very good friend of his dad's. He pinched himself to check if he was dreaming. Of course, he wished he was. Waking up from this nightmare was the best thing that could happen to him now.
Finn turned to Kyle and let out a twisted and wicked smile. "I wonder what's going through your mind now, Kyle."
"You really thought you, a nobody, could get a summon, right?"
"Now, let's make this more interesting," he said, grabbing Elisa by her hair.
"Please! Leave her, Uncle Finn!" Kyle cried out.
"You're still calling me your uncle!!" yelled Finn, simultaneously stabbing Elisa with a knife in her chest.
"Arrrrgggghhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Kyle let out a scream and ran toward Finn, but was intercepted by one of the cloaked men, who grabbed him by his arm and broke it.
Kyle screamed a second time in agonizing pain and fell to the floor.
"Finn, what should we do with this one?" the man holding Kuzan asked.
"Do nothing. Just leave him there. He will have a powerful summon but will pose no threat to us," Finn replied.
"And what about this one?" asked the second man who had just broken Kyle's arm.
"Hehehe, I have plans in store for this one..."
Kyle could still hear everything that was going on, but his vision became blurred from the tears still clouding his sight.
"Thud!" he felt at the back of his head, and immediately his ears started ringing. He blacked out from the cloaked man's attack.
********
"Kyle! Kyle!" a voice called out from somewhere in the darkness.
It was pitch dark until the voice called again. Suddenly, everything turned white, revealing a beautiful blonde woman.
"Mom, I'm sorry!" Kyle said, tears streaming down his face.
"It's not your fault, Kyle," she answered, hugging him tightly.
"But it is! I couldn't protect you guys."
"Stop whining, boy!" another voice called out to him.
"Dad, I..."
"Kyle! Remember I told you that we would not always be there for you?"
"Now you have to grow strong and protect your little brother."
"But I don't have a summon and I'm pretty much useless," Kyle replied, still sobbing.
"My son, your mother and I have to leave... You will find the strength to protect what is important to you."
"Goodbye, Kyle. Make sure when we see you and your brother over here, you have become old, strong, and powerful men," his mother added.
"Don't go! Mom! Dad!!" Kyle reached out his hands toward them.
In that instant, they became silhouettes that faded into the darkness that took over once again.