Chapter 15: Roh

Roh heard the clanks of metal blades, crushing stones, and maniac laughs, and the grounds were shaking. Damn it. Xienora usually convinced people with a snap of a finger. But now, she was taking longer than expected.

He kept himself in the ceiling of the third-floor hallway, pushing his feet against the narrow walls. Xienorra said her fight would be part of the show so he shouldn't bother her and just set up the stage.

Now the kid with brown spiky hair got out from the door, alerted to hearing the fights. It had been an hour since they were playing hide and seek when Roh was just above him all this time. People really didn't know how to look up so they kept searching in circles. Xienorra told him to keep this child away from the fight. Since Efran was safe on the day they met then, his friend might have been slain by the soldiers and this kid would have now loathed their faces. It would be harder to convince their leader with a negative opinion towards them.

The boy now ran to the stairs and he won't let him bother the show. He released his grip on the wall and landed his feet silently in front of the boy, who stopped running by surprise.

"Hello, pretty boy? Have you won your chick's heart without my help?"

The boy clenched his fist. "Anastasya was killed because of you! I won't let my other friends die without my help again! I won't get easy on you this time!"

Roh felt a spike pierced in his heart. These kids were the same as his sister. They were easily to whimper, crave sweets, complain about the world, and think life was how they perceived it with their idealistic mind–easy to be brainwashed. He wished to comfort him. He knew how it felt to lose someone. But he didn't know how to or if he was supposed to.

Sympathy creates weaknesses. He must remind himself over and over that this was how he lost Kiara. He can't believe he chose other people than his loved ones. If only he could turn back the time, or turn back the dead from alive, he would do anything for Kiara this time.

Roh yanked the dagger from his black sheath, and nails pulled up through between his fingers. "I know how hard it was to lose someone. But don't you feel pity for the soldiers too? Your friend was just one, and those soldiers have families to feed!"

Kizo loaded his slingshot with stone. "They sold their life for gold! They let themselves become replaceable pawns by this corrupt government! They just met their purpose!"

Roh gripped tightly his dagger in irritation. "And your friend doesn't?"

"We pledge our life to fix this world without gaining anything! We're helping people whose kingdom never bothered to lay their eyes on! We're the true ones who are serving Flostania!" Kizo screamed as he released his slingshot and charged quickly as the stone launched into the air.

Roh blocked both the projectile and tail blade of the kid's slingshot.

"But you're doing crimes! You steal what you give help–" Roh suddenly widened his eyes with his own words. He did the same for his sister. He killed thugs, orphan brothers and sisters, the servers who were just doing what they were asked to, and even killed the priest, and even soldiers–it was all to protect his sister and sustain their lives. He was no different from this child.

He started to question the sense of all these fights. For the invisible client?

"The kingdom is the one who's stealing it! Those golds are taxes–made from the blood and sweat of the people of Flostania. That is supposed to help people in need! We're just here to claim it and do its purpose!"

He has a point. These guys weren't evil from the start. But Roh had enough saving other people before her sister. He might let the majority live, but her sister suffered, and he suffered every day in regrets and conscience. Only the invisible king gave him hope to live–his promising reward that even millions of gold couldn't ever afford. The chance to fix his mistakes. It's not true that he was just paying Xienorra for his freedom. An eagle sent him a letter in the jail just before Xienorra came. He was better in the dungeon if he had no reason to continue living. But now that he had his final chance, he wouldn't let it pass just for the sympathy for this brat.

Kizo threw three stones in a row. The one clanked out his blade and the other two pierced the walls. Roh was shocked about the holes in the walls while exchanging attacks with Kizo.

"So, you're a Razuha all this time?"

"Of course I am! I can increase or reduce the mass and velocity of anything I throw! I control the momentum! And it's frustrating how you block it effortlessly with your blades and nails!"

"But you're still tough without a Razua! How could Merya–"

"You don't have to mention her name!"

Kizo charged his blade in fury, making it easier for Roh to block, and flew his slingshot away, clanking on the ground. Without thinking, the kid arched down to wrap himself below Roh's chest and rushed to push themselves to the window. The glass shattered into pieces, shimmering through the moonlight as they fell in the air. Down them were flying ice shards, smashed by the lance and the fragments splashed like glasses stealing reflections from the starry skies.

Roh quickly twisted his body while in the air, grabbing Kizo's back with one arm, and the other landed on the grass like a spring, without his arms flinching, but his muscles and veins flexed to absorb the impact without cracking his bones.

Roh was only supposed to switch their position and make this kid his landing net. But why did he save him?

His body suddenly fell as he vomited blood. He began feeling a burning sensation in the side of his stomach, a deep wound. Kizo pushed him away to get out of his weighted body and stood up with a bloody nail in his hand. Roh didn't realize the kid's hand slipped from his sheathes at that fast moment in the air. And now his own stolen weapon tried to steal his life.

Roh used all his strength to stand up, pressing pressure on his wound with his palm. His nail might have caused him internal bleeding, aching with every slight move, but he was used to this. This was no comparison to what he had been through in the orphanage and once they escaped outside. But what shattered his heart was the kid's burning stare just after he hesitated to kill him and even saved him by instinct–he was seeing himself and he was at his exact age when he went on that raging phase.

After his sister died, he hated the world and every person he passed by. He used to steal and kill to satisfy himself because he blamed it on everybody who didn't help his sister. When he was used to it, he started to enjoy his sins and used them as a distraction to forget his sister, until he lost his will to live and let his own feet dragged himself into the dungeon.

But this kid in front of him has a good reason to fight. He only kills criminals like him and did all of this for the sake of the country.

Kizo gripped the nail and charged at him. But Roh was still frozen. He didn't feel like fighting anymore. But when the kid was about to near him, a lance was thrown in front of Roh, making Kizo flip back to dodge.

Then the wind suddenly flew, and turquoise feathers filled in the air like snow. They both looked at where the gust came from–from the lone civil guard wearing a feathered mask whose clothes were ripped apart by the huge vibrant turquoise wings, revealing its massive tanned body. Through his wings, he jumped like a bolt, surprising the priest girl in her front, and slapped his wings against her, throwing away and rolling her on the ground.

Roh's eyes widened out of realization. He saw this man earlier and he tried to snatch some piloncitos from him while tapping his shoulder for distraction. But this was a penniless man, not to mention that he didn't see any special on its newbie rank. But he looked strong. Or maybe the girl was just a weak one that was easy to handle by his own. But why is he alone and fighting with them?

"Allane!" Kizo shrieked and he was just about to run when the winged man was already in front of the girl called Allane. The tanned big hands wrapped around her neck and rose her in the air. She tried her best to breathe and scratch his arms like a strangling cat.

Kizo forgot about Roh as he threw the nail into the scene. But the winged man easily sensed the presence of the piercing in the air so he used Allan to shield himself. Kizo cried when he saw the moment his thrown nail penetrated through his alliance's stomach, slipped through the soldier's as well, onto the three layers of the trees until it drifted on the ground. They both fell on the floor.

Kizo rushed to Allane, immediately stripping clothes to wrap around her wounds and stop the bleeding.

"The package..." Allane said struggling, "It can't be handle to the wrong person or this country will–"

"Shut your mouth and just rest!" Kizo complained as he finished bandaging. "Teleport to the nearest hospital. We'll get the package."

"I still can help."

"Don't use your Razua much! Just go to the hospital yourself!"

"No one will go anywhere," a deep voice of a man growled. The soldier was already standing up with deep breaths, and the bleeding was already gone–a regeneration ability. What kind of a monster was he?

Kirovah IchorThe Rogue KnightMVCabusas | The Invisible King