Where it all began (IV)

[Chapter 73: Where it all began (IV)]

...

"War erupted"

Everyone around the table stiffened slightly when they heard Kayn say that the war ended up happening anyway. And soon, their eyes turned serious as none of them were oblivious to such topics. They had all fought harsh situations comparable, if not worse than a war. But even then, war was not something that could be underestimated in how horrible and devastating it was. Especially for those that don't have the power to protect themselves or their loved ones.

Kayn just ignored their stiffened looks and continued telling his story with a bored expression on his face.

"During all my time at that Kingdom, there was a small family that allowed me to stay at their inn for minimal work and was like the family I never had for six months. I even got my first love there, but whenever I tried to make a move on her, her father could punch me in the head and look at me with scorn"

Suddenly, Kayn's expression turned grim, as he recalled the moment when all began to go downhill.

"After those peaceful months, war broke out, and the city in which I was living was also the first one to get attacked. No one was prepared, and they obliterated the whole city. I was the only one who kept protecting the inn, while the family hid in the basement. It all happened one morning, and even I was surprised about the sudden change in events... After that, the battle continued for many hours, but even though I was vastly stronger than my opponents, there was a limit on how much I could handle at once... I lost one eye during that fight, and some of them even brought grenades that incinerated half of my body when I was not prepared... After that, when I was about to get killed along with that family... He appeared... In a rather peculiar way..."

°

°

°

Flashback

...

"It's over Kayn, surrender and go back home to serve your country as you should have done from the beginning!!" In the middle of an entire army, a woman who seemed to be the one in command looked with a grin at a certain young man who had half of his body charred and burned completely. He was breathing heavily as he looked with an angry expression at the army in front of him, as he grabbed tightly his left eye trying to suppress the pain that was assaulting him.

Kayn, who was now on the verge of falling unconscious due to exhaustion and pain, looked behind him and saw the small trap door that led to where the family that had been taking care of him was hiding. Even She was there, probably crying because of fear... But he wasn't going to allow her to get injured or damaged by the fuckers in front of him, no matter what.

His body had long surpassed its limits. But even then, he continued standing proudly while looking at the soldiers in front of him with a mocking grin. This was pretty effective as all the soldiers surrounding him grabbed tightly their weapons and restrained themselves from going the right way to kill him, as their superiors haven't given the orders yet.

the staff in his hand, which was simply the stick of a broom he had taken out in a hurry due to the situation, was covered in blood and seemed to emit some kind of dangerous aura that made everyone around him hesitant of really attacking. Even if it was a simple broomstick, today it had become one of the deadliest weapons in the whole city, and all the soldiers knew it.

"If you continue spitting bullshit I will stick this broomstick in your ass bitch. Are you gonna come here so that I can kill all of you? I don't have all the fucking day, you know?"

A thick vein appeared on the face of the woman who seemed to be leading the army, and soon, she raised her hand and pointed towards the barely standing inn.

"FINISH THEM!!!"

""Aaaaargh!!!"" The whole army dashed towards Kayn while roaring in anger. This time, they were going to rip him apart and no one was going to stop them!

Except from one person that is...

*Creeaack...*

Suddenly from behind Kayn, one of the doors that led to a room that hadn't been damaged yet opened suddenly, and a man wearing black clothes and a metallic-skull mask appeared from there massaging his head with an exhausted expression on his face.

["I have been a whole week without sleeping... And now that I have finally managed to get some sleep... You fuckers come and ruin it?!! There's a limit on my patience guys... And I don't have much of it right now... Scram right now or I will decapitate everyone of you right now"]

His deep voice echoed around the whole city, surprising everyone around him, and making them widen their eyes in shock.

However, that was only for a moment, before all of them had an enormous smile appear on their faces.

"Ha-"

*Shiiiiing!!!*

But just when one of them released the first laugh, suddenly all the heads of the people there were sent flying, and the whole battlefield turned silent.

["I don't have the patience to perform as an underestimated character right now, sorry"]

Soon, hundreds of bodies fell to the ground like lifeless puppets who had their strings severed, and blood started filling the whole street right away.

The only one who was still standing was Kayn, who was only looking mesmerized at the scene with his only eye left widening in shock and his mouth hanging enormously. However, now that the battle had finally ended, his mind and body collapsed on the ground, and soon he lost consciousness.

The man just looked at the unconscious body of Kayn for a moment, before he then sighed exhausted and massaged his forehead repeatedly in exasperation.

["Surgeon Sid must work once again, I guess..."]

...

Flashback end

°

°

°

"When I woke up, he told me that he moved the family towards a more safe place, and placed them under his protection so that nothing bad happened to them ever again. After that, he invited me to join, and I accepted rather easily. I needed strength to protect those people in the future, and I knew boss could give it to me"

Everyone nodded with a smile on their faces, while Kuina just smiled wryly imagining that situation. Kuent on the other part was trying to imagine the majestic and graceful Thanatos say something like that but failed to do so. So deep in his heart, he just thought that Kayn must have been exaggerating things to make it more interesting for everyone.

As for Yasu...

"Gahahaha!! He did not even allow them to laugh, talk about being hurried!!"

...He was already drunk to the core.

Soon, however, the whole crew's attention gathered in him, and everyone's eyes became sharper while looking at him.

"Then... Yasu, it's your turn to talk about how you met the Boss..." Kuent, who was trying his best not to punch Yasu in order to make him sober, asked with a raised eyebrow curious about how did the last member of the crew actually meet their boss.

Yasu's gaze, which had been happy and cheerful until now, suddenly turned melancholic and sad.

"Yes... I remember it very well..."

°

°

°

Flashback...

...

In the middle of a bar, Yasu was drinking like crazy while dancing like an idiot and laughing cheerfully as if he was in a party. Even though he was the last client in the store.

"Hey, bartender! Give me another round!!"

"Oi Yasu, you have already drunk too much tonight. Stop right now and go home..."

"I said I want another round!!!"

*Sigh...*

"Whatever... Here you are" The bartender just shook his head briefly before he handed him another beer glass, and watched him dance like an idiot once again.

Soon, besides Yasu suddenly appeared a man of black robes and red shining eyes, that grabbed his shoulder and stopped him from dancing any longer.

"What's with you...?! Do you want to fight?" Yasu raised his voice and made a thug like expression while looking at the man beside him

["Do you want to join my crew?"] The mysterious man asked with a monotone tone.

"Sure, why not?" Yasu shrugged and continued dancing.

...

Flashback end...

°

°

°

"And since I'm a man loyal to my promises, I joined"

"..."

Everyone looked speechlessly at Yasu, as if waiting for him to continue, but unfortunately for them, that was all the story there was.

Soon, after noticing that Yasu had finished, Kuina narrowed his eyes and asked with a dubious expression on her face.

"Weren't you about to die like us? Did you really get recruited in a bar just like that?"

"Hmm... Now that you mention it... I think I omitted the part where the bartender told me I was going to die intoxicated because of Alcohol excess... But after that, boss gave me a strange-looking pill and I suddenly felt better... Hmm... I guess I was also in a life and death situation like you guys, we are so similar!"

Everyone just swallowed their desire to punch him, and then sighed exhaustingly after realizing everyone had finally finished telling their stories.

However, before they could even get the chance to rest, an enormous explosion happened above the water surface and startled everyone at the table immediately.

"What happened?" Tom immediately dashed towards the panel control to check what was happening above him and became awestruck at the image on the screen.

["Open the ship, I've finished my business already"]

Kicking the air to stay above the water, Sid in his Thanatos costume could be seen floating above the ship while carrying an enormous gold pillar that had a similar size to a rather big ship on his shoulder, and a shopping bag in his hand.

Kuina on the other hand was just massaging her eyebrows while looking at the screen with an exasperated face...

"Why can't you just go shopping normally? Why the heck are you carrying a gold pillar that is bigger than my house on your shoulder?' Was everything going around Kuina's mind right now.

Everyone in the crew had similar thoughts tho.

-----------------------------

A/N:

And the backstory arc is finished... Somewhat. Now it's time to go back to the action!

Anyways, that's all for today.

Goodbye!