Chapter 129- Origin Vow
If one was asked: What's the most important moment in your life? The answers would vary greatly. Some would say that it's the day they're born. Some others would say that it's the moment they learn their first word, the day they start walking, the day they get married, or the day they have kids.
There is no one single answer as people's lives are different from one another and what someone might deem the most important, another would find it not that relevant. However, Kai disagreed with that. In his opinion, there is only one single moment in one's life that's more important than anything else they did or will do.
It's a moment where they are presented with a 2-way choice. A choice that will change their lives forever in both cases. It's that one decision that will be the highlight of their lives. That's where a human is at their lowest and also their highest. It's at that moment that they either go toward greatness or live a life of mediocrity.
Kai was certain that this moment was happening right in front of him and in a not-so-rare case, he was the catalyst that triggered that life-changing decision. The target was one of the Archangels, Lola.
Being the strongest hitman in the world, Kai had to give this choice a thousand times over in many missions. He had seen how people get completely crushed when they were met with that decision and that's why, he is able to naturally invoke those emotions into people as if it was nothing.
"I… I don't… Like, it's…" Lola tried to speak but all she said were words that made no sense.
"I doubt doing this mission would be less risky than protecting your family, Miss. Lola. You are already at risk simply for being an Archangel. So, why don't you consider this mission as another day at work?" Kai decreased his cold tone a little bit and even pretended to sound sympathetic.
"..."
"So, what is it? Are you going to accept or refuse?"
A few seconds of silence passed as Lola conflicted herself again and again. Even as an Archangel, Lola tried to avoid doing anything overly risky simply so she doesn't end up dying and leaving her only family, her little brother alone.
Since the moment her parents died in a car accident, Lola had taken it upon herself to take care of her little brother and fend off the cruel world they lived in. She made them rise from the poor slums of a small country to a happy and calm life. However, that came at the price of joining Divinity as a newbie ascender.
Luckily for her, she was able to quickly get stronger because of her talent and hard work and now, she was a renowned Archangel and a woman that many ascenders looked up to.
'I must protect him… I must protect him at all costs.' That's her goal and what pushes her to work hard every day.
Now, when presented with this underlying threat to her dear brother, she has no choice but to accept. The Black Phantom wasn't someone she can mess with.
"I… accept." She said with difficulty.
"Good. That was a wise choice." Kai said as he shifted his gaze away from the Archangels to Mikayla.
"Now, the vow, Mr. Raullot," Kai said.
'He really did it. I guess this was expected.' Mikayla stopped himself from sighing for being naive.
Mikayla then pulled out two small objects from his pocket and threw one of them to Kai.
"You know how to do it, right?"
Kai nodded his head as he looked down at the object.
The object was dark in color and the size of Kai's thumb. It had a rectangular shape with a pointy end that seemed sharp. Other than that, it didn't have anything worth mentioning about it.
Kai then put his index finger on the pointy end before he pushed it in, letting the object pierce his skin. Blood leaked out from the injury and trailed down the object, coating it fully in blood.
Kai's aura appeared again around him, bright orange in color as he said the words.
"Here and now, for the present and future, for the blessed and cursed, for the dead and alive, and for the compassionate and cruel, I take the Origin Vow. Origin shall deem what I shall say as worthy of punishment or not, a punishment of death. I vow that I do not have any intentions to target Divinity in any way, shape, or form and that this plan I'm suggesting is but a collaboration to take down a common enemy. If this vow is broken in any case, the punishment shall be death and death alone." He said as the black object started shifting.
Black smoke started rising from it as it oddly melted into Kai's hand and vanished slowly. By the time he finished his words, the object vanished.
Kai felt the foreign object enter his finger, running through his body till it stops near his main seal, ready to take him down in case he broke the vow.
"Now, your turn, Mr. Raullot." He said as he closed the injury and made his blood vanish.
The latter seemed quite surprised at first, but he then nodded his head and did what Kai did.
"Here and now, for the present and future, for the blessed and cursed, for the dead and alive, and for the compassionate and cruel, I take the Origin Vow. Origin shall deem what I shall say as worthy of punishment or not, a punishment of death. I vow that I accept the offer and that the Archangels, the five of them, are going to go through with this plan according to the Black Phantom's instructions. If this vow is broken in any case, the punishment shall be death and death alone to me and to these five Archangels."
Seeing the black object start vanishing, everyone in the room knew that it was now over and sealed. Nobody can run away from this. They are all bound to it and whether things go south or not, they had to sail with the boat till the end.
"My matter here is over. Thank you for your cooperation, ladies and gentlemen." Kai said as he walked toward the door.
Passing beside Mikayla, the old man whispered to him.
"I will watch what will happen with great interest. Don't disappoint me, brat."
Kai halted for a second before he continued walking.
"I don't need to prove anything to you, Mr. Raullot."
After that, Kai vanished from their sight along with his aura and traces. Even if they tried to follow him now, they would've not been able to.
"We're really going to fight the Guild. I never thought this day will come so soon." Taylor said as she crossed her arms.
"I'm a little excited and scared," Arthur said with an awkward chuckle. "More than anything, I'm happy that I will be able to work with all of you toge-"
"Are you still not going to drop that act yet, Arthur? Not cool at all, man." Elvi asked with a cold tone. "He already left."
Silence took over the room as Elvi and Arthur looked at each other silently. Arthur's smile was still the same but something about his eyes changed for a split second.
"Hm? I don't know what you're talking about, Elvi. But, it's great that we're able to come to an agreement and work together after so long."
"Oi, oi! Fuck that! I ain't working with you morons! I do my shit alone!! Especially this mission!! I will take down all those idiots myself!! Hahahahaha!" Zero yelled.
The only one that remained silent was Lola. Her mind was too occupied to even care what her colleagues were saying.