Chapter 72- The Executioners (Part 1)
The atmosphere tensed up as Eva kept listening to the phone silently. Neither she nor Kai made even the smallest of sounds.
Although Kia wasn't interested at first, he found himself listening to whatever Markus was saying on the phone.
"Eva… I don't have much time so listen quietly and don't say anything. The Guild… They betrayed us! They have some shady plans that I'm scared will destroy this very world we live in and those plans for some reason require you. They asked me to either give you to them or they will kill all of us!!"
Reaching that point, Kai's face turned even colder. What Markus was saying was completely shocking and Mind-Blowing. He already was aware that Eva was being targeted by a High-Officer but for the Guild to go this far to acquire her was very odd. However, he couldn't really come to conclusions yet.
"I obviously refused. But, they weren't intending to accept that answer either way! Listen to me, daughter. You need to run, now! You can't stay there! They already sent a group of 'Executioners' after you!!"
Although he didn't give it much thought at first, Kai noticed that Markus' voice was weak and exhausted as if he was struggling against something.
'So, they got him, huh.' Kai's eyes flashed with a weird glint. The Guild was serious about this and they were ready to destroy one of their strongest families just to get it.
When the call ended, Eva's face was as pale as a sheet of paper. Kai could see the visible confusion and fear in her eyes. It was understandable considering this sudden news.
"Get yourself together. You heard your father. Executioners are coming here and they don't seem to have any peaceful intentions." He said as he snapped his fingers near Eva's face to wake her from her trance.
"Kai… What is happening? Why am I being targeted? Why is the guild doing all of this?" She asked with a scared tone.
"I don't know. But, it's certainly not something normal. They must've noticed something peculiar about you."
"What peculiar thing, Kai? I'm normal… I-I don't have anything special about me from other people." Her voice was getting more and more urgent as she looked around.
"Now is not the time for such things, Eva. We need to leave this place first and we can talk lat-" Before Kai could even finish his sentence, his body moved like a flash as he grabbed Eva and visibly teleported a distance away from where they were.
It wasn't teleportation but because Kai used almost 80% of his speed for a split second, it appeared like he just vanished and reappeared somewhere else for the naked eye.
His mask was already back on when he appeared again to hide his identity. Looking where they were standing before, a person was there. It was a middle-aged woman in a traditional colorful Yukata with a small umbrella in her hand that she was using to hide herself from the sun.
Her skin was so pale it almost looks like snow and she had light make-up on her face that accentuated her rather mature beauty.
"Ara ara~ Who are you, Cat-san? To be able to react to my attack. I didn't meet such a foe in a while, didn't I? Fufufufu~" She said as she rolled the umbrella in her hand. Her voice was soft and gentle like the spring breeze but deep within it laid an ominous tone to it that Kai didn't like.
'Exectuoner X.' Kai recognized the lady immediately. She was one of the executioners and one of the strongest ones at that. Her nickname was 'The Flower of Death' for her rather traditional beauty and extremely high speed. She was in fact the fastest member of the Guild for the longest time.
'Tsk, she already reached this place before I could even sense her presence approaching.' Kai thought as he looked at Eva. The latter was still in her shocked state so she can't fight yet.
"Hmm?~ Are you perhaps worried for the girl? Don't worry, just give her to me. I will make sure she's well taken care of~" The Flower of Death said in a light tone.
However, Kai didn't reply and merely scooped Eva up again and vanished.
"Ara ara~ I can't let you escape, can I, young man?" X murmured before she vanished too.
Crossing tens of meters in a split second, Kai jumped from one building to another as he moved farther and farther away from the school. His face looked serious.
"Kai…" Eva murmured as she looked at him. Seeing how focused he was, her heart felt extremely happy and sad at the same time. Happy because her beloved was showing clear signs that he was trying to protect her and sad because she had dragged him into this mess without even knowing.
'I need to hold myself together. What is wrong with me?!' Slapping her cheeks, Eva looked behind Kai.
The Flower of Death was following them at breakneck speed. Her face had its usual gentle smile and her eyes were closed as if she didn't need them to locate the duo.
"Sword Heaven!" Using her Talent, Eva created multiple swords in the air as she aimed them at X.
The swords immediately flew toward the target, piercing the air with a loud clinging sound.
"Hmm?~ Runic domain? So, the rumors were true. You are indeed a very peculiar young bud, Eva-san. However, you are still far from a blooming flower." With that, X's neck tilted as she dodged one sword before she vanished, appearing on another building to dodge another and then on another building to dodge the rest.
She did all of that without losing too much distance between them. Still, Kai was still significantly faster than she was.
"Sword Heaven!" Eva used her power again.
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
The Flower of Death easily dodged all of them, leaving behind trails of destruction. Each sword had enough power to easily pierce concrete and iron.
"Fufufufu~ That's really a handful to deal with, Eva-san."
Minutes passed until they reached the outskirts of the city where populations decreased. As Kai was about to jump one last time to land on one of the few buildings left there, he felt the ground shake.
"HORRAA!!! BITCH!!" A loud, hoarse voice echoed in the area as the whole place was suddenly blasted out of existence.
The ground exploded and rocks evaporated from the sheer strength of the earthquake. Kai found himself right in the middle of it.
Eva's eyes widened as she instinctively hugged Kai's neck.
"Hold on." He murmured as he pointed his hand down. "Reverse." The moment he said that the whole phenomenon was screeched to a halt.
Silence took over the whole place. Using Momentum Talent, Kai reversed the momentum of the earthquake to happen all under the surface of the ground. It wasn't visible nor audible but tens of meters beneath the ground, it was turning into the inside of a blender.
When that happened, a silhouette pierced through the ground and jumped into the air.
"WHAT THE FUCK?! I ALMOST FUCKING DIED!!" A rough, muscular-looking man with a menacing crazy expression appeared.
'Tsk, Z too. Did they send all the Executioners?'
The situation was getting more and more annoying. Kai wasn't worried about fighting the executioners but about the consequences of such a fight happening.
If powers of that caliber were to clash, there was no guarantee that an area of tens or even hundreds of kilometers won't be decimated.
"As loud as ever, Z~," The Flower of Death said as she landed beside the ragged man.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP, X!! THAT BASTARD ALMOST KILLED ME!!" He yelled.
"Fufufufu~ How did he do that, I wonder? That earthquake should've been impossible to stop. But, that boy did just that effortlessly. It was almost as if... he reversed the effect of the earthquake."
"WHAT KIND OF HARD WORDS ARE THOSE, X?!!! SPEAK IN A LANGUAGE I CAN UNDERSTAND!!" Z yelled with a confused expression.
"I think that boy… is someone we might've been looking for a while. Five years to be exact~"
"5 YEARS?!! DO YOU MEAN THE BLACK PHANTOM?!!! ARE YOU SAYING THAT CAT BITCH IS THE BLACK PHANTOM?! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!"
"Fufufufu~ This is getting more and more fun. Who thought we will meet our boogeyman right here and now~ Is this perhaps fate?" X murmured as she slicked her lips. Her closed eyes opened for a second, revealing a weird glint before it vanished again as she closed her eyelids.