Seed of Titan-Chapter 223: A Dry Grief

Danny panted as he tried his best to dodge Drai’s hand swing with his now much slower movements. The fight hadn’t even lasted five minutes, but his arms were already sore and his grip was faltering. But how could they not be? Each time he landed a clean strike on any part of Drai’s body, it felt like he was striking a lump of dense metal.

Eventually, Drai’s fist managed to graze Danny’s chest, causing him to wince as his footwork halted, and this brief opening was all it took for Drai’s kick to land on his ribs.

Danny was sent tumbling through the shallow puddle before stopping not too far from the unconscious Frost. Amid his immense pain and exhaustion, his eyes shifted to Drai, who only took a split-second glance at him before rushing toward the exit.

’Fucking monster...’ Danny thought before passing out, a barely visible smirk lingering on his face.

In contrast, the leader was smiling wide as she gazed at Drai’s back. And after he smashed the door and disappeared from view, she finally dismissed the bubble shielding her and walked to her three captives who were now busy attacking their bubbles, seemingly without any results.

"Don’t bother," the woman advised with an amused look. "Your young friend there couldn’t even leave a dent, and I doubt any of you pack a heavier punch than him—though if it’s the belly we’re talking about, one of you clearly carries a lot more weight."

"Bitch!" Beachball squeaked as he intensified his assault on the trapping bubble with his flesh marbles. He really wanted to get out and beat up the woman black and blue since no one had fat-shamed him in a long time after he made an example out of one of his habitual mockers.

The woman simply shrunk her bubbles in reply, leaving no room for the three soldiers to move around. Their breathing also rapidly strained since the woman intentionally kept the bubbles airtight.

"Fight me fairly, bitch!" Beachball blurted frantically. Due to his hefty mass, he was most at risk of asphyxiation.

Just then, there was a loud commotion from outside. Following that, they could feel the floor trembling.

’Looks like they’ve started,’ the woman mused before addressing Beachball.

"Sorry, fatty, but I have to refuse. You all look like you’ve served in the army for quite some time, which means I have no use for you. But that boy is different. You saw how he reacted poorly to your leader’s orders? Well, that’s how someone would normally react when they haven’t been force-fed with a load of propaganda. He’s a potential recruit for sure, especially since he’s that powerful. Too bad he’s a bit too young. If it were several years ago, he might just grow into a leading figure, but he won’t have time to do so now. Anyway, does any of you know if he or his family has ever been wronged by the government? If that’s the case, it will be a matter of time before he joins our cause."

None of the three replied, not because they refused to or didn’t know anything about it, but because they were struggling to breathe. Beachball’s face had even started to change colors.

Seeing the state her captives were in, the woman sighed and snapped her fingers, conjuring microscopic holes on the bubbles.

’As much as I want to avenge the others, I don’t think the boy will ever want to hear me out if I outright kill his teammates...’

Just then, the woman flinched as she felt a faint breeze pass by her. Alas, she wasn’t quick enough to avoid a strike to her neck. And as her body limped, her bubbles burst.

Mandy and Cubes breathed deeply, relishing the abundant oxygen, whereas Beachball instantly toppled onto the wet floor while gasping for air.

"Thanks, Ghost," Mandy said after steadying her breathing.

On the other hand, Cubes whined, "What took you so damn long?! We almost died!"

Without a word, Ghost stomped his feet. The result was a large splash that soaked Beachball and also silenced Cubes.

Meanwhile, Mandy ignored them and instead rushed toward their two comrades across the room who were still lying motionless. After inspecting them, she pulled out several flasks and poured out their contents, both onto their bodies and into their mouths.

"They’re not dead, right?" Cubes asked after arriving there with the other two.

"Thankfully, no," Mandy replied as she stood up. "Looks like Drai managed to hold back. Honestly, I thought he really lost all composure earlier."

"Well, he’s probably venting his anger to the poor souls outside," Cubes mentioned, causing all of them to gaze at the exit, from which muffled shouts and rumbles could still be heard.

Interestingly, no one bothered to go out and help. Maybe they completely believed in their newbie, or maybe they were just afraid of him. After all, they’ve all gone through their teenage years and were aware of how volatile that phase could be. If Drai were to lose control, there was no guarantee that any of them could really stop him. Thus, they simply waited while keeping an eye on the passed-out duo.

Before long, Danny finally regained consciousness, followed by Frost shortly after.

Despite his headache and painful shoulder, Frost immediately scanned the room and saw the smugglers’ leader lying on the floor not too far from them. He then flicked his finger and encased the woman in ice, leaving only her face exposed.

At the same time, Danny also looked around before asking, "Where’s Drai?"

The other three collectively gestured toward the exit. The commotion had steadily subsided along their wait, leaving only the occasional shouts and rumbling.

Following that, Mandy and Ghost helped Frost stand up, whereas Danny had recovered enough to stand up on his own.

"Let’s go," Frost then ordered, his artificial voice still devoid of emotion, his expression unreadable.

As the squad warily emerged from the room, they were immediately stunned by what they saw.

It was as if they had just accidentally stumbled into a slaughterhouse, the only difference being the meat source, as countless human body parts littered the floor and splattered the walls. With how gruesome the hall had become, it could serve as a fantastic set for a horror film.

Among the carnage, fear-stricken individuals were plopped on the floor. From how malnourished and unkempt they looked, it was clear that they were the hostages mentioned by Gramps earlier. Most of them were middle-aged, but some were children.

And in the center of it all was Drai who was kneeling on both knees. His back was facing the squad, but it was clear that he was staring straight down. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

While the others were too shocked to move, Frost slowly approached his youngest squadmember. It was after he arrived there that he saw what had possibly caused this whole bloodbath.

"Drai... Let’s go home," Frost whispered, his hand gently patting Drai’s shoulder.

It took a while before Drai raised his head and looked at his squad leader. True to how his name sounded, there weren’t any tears on Drai’s face. Yet, anyone who saw him now would instantly notice his sorrow, for after unleashing his wrath, he was now left with an empty grief.

Frost silently nodded, acknowledging the youngster’s feelings. However, his gaze couldn’t help but drift toward Drai’s lap.

Propped there was a little girl’s severed head. The bloodied ribbon that Drai wore earlier now nestled silently on her auburn hair.

***

In the most prominent office in the Central Command’s main building, Alancho was sitting at his desk, working on some documents on his VC.

Alancho never told anyone, but he actually hated personally dealing with tech, especially since he had claws for nails that he didn’t dare clip, that’s why he often clicked his tongue or grumbled whenever he had to type something. He wasn’t a Luddite though since he fully embraced the tech boom, even going as far as equipping his house and underground arena with the latest technology he could access and afford.

The general also had several personal connections to rather notable figures in the Viridian Technocracy. But to this day, he still couldn’t establish ties with the person he wanted to affiliate with the most, Quincinitra Baset a.k.a. Key Quincy.

While he was grumbling about a report of a failed deal with a weapon producer, he heard knocking on the door. He instantly sighed in relief as he found a justifiable reason to take a break.

"Come in."

Ailem immediately entered and stood before the desk.

Alancho was a bit surprised to see her—not because of her visit, as there were only a handful of people that dared to meet him without any appointment—but because she was visibly stressed, which was a rare occurrence.

"You need to see this," the captain said while handing him a VPad.

As he received the device that the military often used to pass sensitive documents, since it was the specially commissioned, completely offline and highly secure version, Alancho wondered if the matter he was about to read was related to his trusted subordinate’s poor expression.

His question was soon answered. Not only was the content of the report disturbing, it also contained alarming matters in which he had a personal stake.

With a deep frown, he put down the VPad and turned to Ailem.

"Are you free now?"

"Yes."

"Good. Let’s visit the rascal. I want to know what really happened and how it came to this."

***