Chapter 9: Family Reunites (2)

The shockwave was enough to obliterate the spot Ryu was hovering on. Alex laughed to himself as he observed Ryu flying at incredible speeds. "Things are getting a lot more interesting… A new variable has appeared. Hahaha! The 'Ascension' this time will be a lot more entertaining!."

With a grin, Alex went to Lilia and said his goodbyes. Just like Ryu, wings sprouted from his back, but the aura was a lot more different. Yes, he was different. Rather than a fallen's wings, it was similar to that of a dragon. He then flew off.

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'Mom, Aoi-nee, Hina, I'm coming to see you again!' Ryu focused his mana on his wings, enchanting them with a wind-based spell. His eyes golden irises glowed while his speed became even faster.

Although Ryu hadn't really traveled in the city, he knew the way. When he was using his phone, he took the liberty to memorize the layout of the entire city. They were a bit far from the center of the city, a couple hundred kilometers away. To be exact, about 700 kilometers.

Though it seems far, Ryu can travel that in a few minutes since he can travel at the speed of sound, plus the wind-based enchantment that he used. Not to mention he can still cast more wind spells that can stop air resistance.

Although the speed of sound alone can only travel at about 1238 kilometers per hour, adding all the wind magic he used, 700 kilometers can be traveled in about 10 minutes. Ryu looked disappointed at himself after he finished his calculations. He then said, "Sigh, if only I could use some amount of time magic… My current body still can't handle it."

He just shook his head as he flew towards his destination as fast as he could. He enjoyed the view of the city quite well. He was flying above the tallest buildings, and the cityscape was something that you can't scoff at. "The entire city has been reinforced with magic… Even high-tier magic can't destroy most of the buildings."

Just like that, he finally arrived at his destination. It was a pretty large house, and it looked amazing compared to his home back when they were still with Hiroto. His eyes were quite teary with joy, seeing that they were living well.

Ryu only smiled as he landed near the house. The people around this place looked stunning. None of them were poor after all. Ryu then turned back to where his siblings and mother should be living in. Just then, he heard someone go out the door and a familiar, "Well, Mom, Nee-chan, see you later!"

"Ah! Don't you need a lift? We can go together." Another familiar voice sounded. Ryu held himself back from crying as he went closer to the gate. "Eh, not really. I can just walk there. It's really close!"

"Alright then, I'll see you later!" The figure came running to the gate, and Ryu observed her. That familiar face shook Ryu as her black hair bounced, her purple eyes looking straight at where she was going. As she went out of the gate, she saw Ryu and couldn't help but ask, "Umm! Hello! May I ask what your business may be?"

Ryu didn't say anything and just hugged her, causing Hina to shriek. That loud shriek was enough to cause a commotion as Aoi rushed out of the house and exclaimed, "Hina! What happened!? Who are you!?"

"Umm…?" Hina was getting uncomfortable. Ryu's tears were rolling down from his eyes as he barely whispered to her ear, "Hina… my adorable little sister… I've missed all of you so much!"

Hearing a familiar voice, Hina was taken aback. She was frozen still as she spoke, "E-eh…? That voice… R-Ryu-nii-chan…!?" Her voice was shaking as her eyes got teary as well. Aoi, who rushed out of the gate, was shocked when she heard the name 'Ryu.' She then looked at her little sister hug the unknown man with tears dropping from her eyes as she spoke, "Are you… Ryu-nii-chan…!?"

"Ryu…?" Aoi almost felt nostalgia encompass her. She trembled while Ryu turned his eyes towards her and said, "Aoi-nee!"

That was when it hit her. The person that was in front of her was not just some stranger… It was her brother. With all her might, she rushed towards Ryu and embraced both him and Hina.

"Ryu…! Ryu! I… I…." Aoi couldn't even talk properly as she was overwhelmed with emotions. She couldn't hold the tears and cried while Reika, their mother, came out of the house with frustration, "What's with all the commotion! Aoi, Hina! What…? What's going on?!"

Reika then rushed out to see what was happening since she heard loud sobs. Their neighbors sneered at them for being so noisy, but the three siblings were still crying as they hadn't seen each other for years.

As Ryu saw Reika approaching them, he let go of Hina and Aoi, and without hesitation, Ryu ran towards Reika with arms while exclaiming, "Mom!"

Aoi and Hina just smiled as they wiped off the tears from their eyes. Reika was confused as Ryu hugged her, but she understood everything after seeing her daughters' ecstatic expression. She trembled as she looked at the person hugging her. Her eyes shook as even though the person's figure didn't look familiar, she definitely knew that it was the person she missed the most, her son.

Her first instinct was to hug him tightly, and she followed it. She fell short from the body of Ryu, and she could barely see through his soldiers. 'He… He's my son… He's Ryu! Ryu… has really grown.!' She thought as she cried in his arms.

Ryu smiled as he cried, reminiscing how he missed his mother and siblings. Although Ryuhave gained memories of his past life, it doesn't mean he was heartless. After all, he in his past life also loved his family immensely.

"All of you… let's head inside for a bit," Reika said as she dragged all of them inside the house to the living room.

Although Ryu was certainly emotional state earlier, he quickly recovered from it as he smiled while the four of them faced each other. There was complete silence; none said a word. Though, their faces were filled with joy.

At this moment, Ryu decided to break the ice, "Mom, Aoi, Hina… I'm back!"

The three of them just smiled lightly as they said, "Welcome back, Ryu!"

After that, there was another gap of silence. No one knew what to say or how to respond to anything. Ryu decided to s[eak up, "Six years have already passed… I bet you want to know what really happened."

Ryu decided to tell them everything. But, he excluded the fact that he could retain his past life's memories, body, and many more. "This past six years, I really didn't know where I was… Ahh! Where do I even begin? Well, I became a Fallen Angel. And in this past six years, I met people who helped me and treated me well."

"Umm, Ryu, I know this might be rude, but can I ask how your face changed from something that isn't very appealing to this?" Aoi asked, her eyes shining. She wanted to become really beautiful and Ryu's current face… It looked as if it was chiseled to become the most perfect thing in the world!

"Uhh… It's because I became a fallen! Yes!" Ryu couldn't think of any excuse and jumped to the easiest route. Aoi looked disappointed, but she erased that as she smiled. With a teasing voice, she said, "Hehe! Keep your secrets! I can find out about them any day!"

After that, she sighed as her voice became a bit depressed, "I missed this… Although we were constantly getting hurt by that bastard father of ours, our conversations made me feel like there's nothing to care about… I just missed it so much…! *sob*."

Aoi started tearing up while the other two were also seemingly having a hard time controlling their tears. Ryu couldn't help but stand and walk towards Aoi to embrace her, "I missed it too."

Ryu decided to continue what he wanted to say next, sitting down beside Aoi. "But before that… I want to tell you the truth of what happened when that yakuza leader took me away."

When he reached that part, their faces were depressed as they remembered what happened as it was clearly etched in their minds. The time when their family was separated.

"This might sound really bad, so… Hina, I think you should cover your ears," Ryu spoke in a low voice. Hina shook her head as she said, "Even if I'm still your little sister, I am an adult now… I want to hear everything!"

Ryu just smiled bitterly as he started to narrate what happened after the separation. "I was tortured…."

Their faces contorted as it turned dark. Reika was trembling as she heard that. Hina was frozen in shock. And Aoi, her face was stricken with anger at herself. "I was mutilated by him every day for no reason, but he injured me to the point that I became mindless. He made sure I didn't die and broke all my limbs so that I couldn't kill myself."

"Thinking of you guys, I made a decision that no matter what, I will survive. He fed me rotten food and manure, gouged out my eyes, and persevered. To be honest… I'm glad that I didn't die because if I did, I wouldn't have a chance to meet you guys again."

That was all true, but the only lie on all of those sentences was that he didn't die. He died; in fact, he died multiple times. Something kept bringing him back to life. The meteor was the final kill to himself. That's the time when hope shone to him, a new chance to be able to see his family again. A new chance… for revenge.

Just then, Aoi stood up as she turned her body towards Ryu. Tears flooded from her eyes as she looked at him. Even Reika and Hina had dark faces as tears fell through. "It's all my fault! If I had not contacted the yakuza… You wouldn't have had to experience all of those! A little beating is much better than being tortured! It's all my fault! It's my fault!"

Not only Aoi but even Reika and Hina blamed themselves, especially Aoi. She trembled as she kneeled in front of Ryu, holding his hand as she cried on his lap. "I'm sorry…! I'm really sorry, Ryu! If it wasn't for me!"

Ryu pulled her into an embrace, shocking Aoi, "It's not your fault, sis. You did nothing wrong. I'm just glad that you guys lived a great life in these past six years. If it wasn't for what happened, I would never have had an opportunity to change myself for the better, to stop being a coward that can't even do anything."

Aoi just cried continuously while Ryu looked at the other two. "Mom, Hina, it's not your fault too. Don't blame yourselves or anybody. Um… do you guys want an embrace?"

They stood up as the four hugged each other tightly. At this moment, Ryu looked up and thought to himself, 'Don't blame yourselves. It's not your fault. The one at fault is those people. Hiroto… the yakuza leader… and Chaos. You better prepare yourselves; I won't give you an easy death!'

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