Chapter 642: Family of Liars

In that split second before death, Kody remembered his life. It was a routine and monotonous life where he lived under the shadow of his family to make it through school without troubles or danger. He never raided dungeons before meeting Master Melania and Oren, giving him the confidence to risk his life.

"I have not lived… yet…" muttered Kody with lifeless eyes as the bald man punched toward him. A vortex appeared around the man's fist, sucking everything into it. "Even for… just a bit longer… I want to survive…."

His mana exploded, and Kody met the man's fist with his own, pushing every mana he had in his body to etherealize his enemy. Of course, the difference in body constitution made it impossible for Kody to turn the bald man into the ether. However, it was barely enough to act as a shock absorber, and Kody watched his hand indent inward, with every bone breaking. The attack did not stop and kept traveling toward his chest.

The knuckles of the bald man connected with his chest, producing a resounding cracking sound in the destroyed street. Kody could not feel a thing anymore as he was sent flying. His chest caved into itself. His blood leaked from his lips as he flew faster than he could perceive and crashed into the far walls of the building, room after room, and eventually entered the street behind it.

In the end, Kody crashed into a stall of fruits before falling to the ground, and his back leaned on the destroyed stall. His chest caved in, blood leaking out in large amounts. The more blood he saw leaving his body, the more Kody felt the imminent approach of death.

As the blood pooled below him, Kody lost his vision. The blood he lost was too much for his brain to work correctly anymore, and all he could hear was the sound of footsteps coming his way.

"You are still alive…" muttered the voice of his attacker with surprise. "I did not expect… such resilience from a brat. If this has been our glorious kingdom, I would have taken you as a disciple. Unfortunately, however, the circumstance demand that I kill you."

Kody could feel that he would die even without the man attacking him. However, he was not afraid or regretful, nor did he hate his fate. On the contrary, a smile appeared on his face as his blind green eyes stared at death.

"I regret… nothing."

"An indomitable spirit!" exclaimed the bald man in surprise. "You are worthy of respect, and therefore, I will end you with the strength my Queen has bestowed me. Heaven's Mantra, Final Gate…!"

Kody could feel the crushing pressure from the man trying to squeeze what little life he had left. However, this was not the end. This was merely the preparation of what had come. At that moment, Kody realized this was indeed the end of his life.

He was nothing but a nuisance, a failure, and a loser all of his life. However, there was one thing that he was proud of, and that was his little sister, who was a genius at everything she learned. Selena was bound to upturn the world one day, and he was now proud that his life was sacrificed to rescue her.

"In the end, my life had meaning."

Then, the crushing mountain pressed against his body, flattening him against the wooden stand, which broke, and Kody was pushed against the wall. The mere pressure from the incoming attack was enough to flatten him, and Kody closed his eyes.

As he was surrendering to death, his body jerked with pain as he was pushed to the side and trembled to the ground. His broken ribs pierced his insides, making him wheeze in pain and gasp for air. Then, he heard an explosion that shook the world.

"Who are you?" asked the voice of the bald soldier, looking confused. "Are you one of Amelio's soldiers? Unfortunately, however, that cannot be. I have never seen you with that man."

Kody could hear the man talking to himself, but there was no answer from the other side. Then, as he flipped himself to lie on his back, Kody could hear someone coming his way but not see them.

"Is someone… there…?" asked Kody with a bated breath, but no one answered him. The lack of a response terrified him more because he could hear the faint breathing of someone. "Answer… me…"

***

Oren turned the handle of his SkyBeam, increasing his speed. His eyes turned with worry toward the end of the street, where Kody was fighting against the soldiers. He could see the dust cloud that Kody had created even from here.

"…Oren," his telecom lit up with a notification as Maryam called him. "Are you there? I am monitoring the battle from afar. The soldiers are pursuing you except for their captain. You need to find a way!"

"How long would it take them to catch me?"

"A few minutes, at this rate!"

Oren gritted his teeth as he realized that even with the SkyBeam, his speed was far inferior to those of the soldiers. However, at least now, he saved his mother and Selena.

"Ugh," his mother groaned behind him and opened her eyes. Then, as they focused on the surrounding, Oren placed his hand on her back to stabilize her over the SkyBeam. "Oren…?" she turned her head toward him.

"You are safe now, mom," smiled Oren without turning. "I will take us to a safe place, just don't move as you might fall."

His mind was working through countless solutions as he tried to sound calm. The soldiers will soon catch up to them, but Oren had no idea how to outrun them.

"I can move now," muttered his mother while adjusting her seating over the SkyBeam, pushing his hand away. "More importantly, what happened to your hair?"

"Oh, my hair?" muttered Oren as he touched the right side of his head. The rest did not notice it, but his mother was different. A small portion of his hair had turned white, but it was masked beneath the dust that covered him. "I got a new style."

There was no way for him to tell his mother what happened, especially how Lancelot took half of his soul to form a contract. His nose sniffed as he finished telling his lie, and he turned to see his mother lighting a cigarette.

"…mom? You smoke?" his eyes turned round at the revelation, and his mother looked at him with tired eyes as she blew the smoke.

"There is no need to be surprised since we are a family of liars," her words stabbed into his heart, proving that she knew he was lying. "We lie to protect each other from the truth. So are we a good family or a bad one?"

"A bit too late to decide…" muttered Oren as he turned back from her and turned the SkyBeam into an alley. "We lived all of our lives like this."

"Twenty years of marriage and nineteen as a mother," muttered his mother behind him while inhaling her acidic smoke. "I, too, lived a lie with your father, but lies hurt less."

"Until we know the truth," said Oren as the engine raved. "This is not the time, mom. The soldiers who kidnapped you are behind us."

"Take the next left alley, and go forward."

"That place would be…" muttered Oren with confusion before his eyes lit up. "The abandoned sewers!"

The SkyBeam took a left, and Oren could see the trench in front of them. These sewers were used to drainage the city before Kera installed a new system that relied on space and teleportation runes as a sewage system.

"I used to work there before, as monsters began to infest that place," muttered his mother. "We should be able to lose them in the underground labyrinth."

Oren nodded and increased his speed, riding his SkyBeam over the edge of the sewers. The trench blew him was empty, filled with giant metallic gates used to release the gases.

"We… used to play in this place a lot," said Oren as their SkyBeam soared through the sky. "Arthur and I had no one but ourselves at that time, but we acted as if we owned the world."

"It is not too late to do that since he is here too," said his mother. Oren toward her with a blank expression, not knowing whether he should tell her about Arthur's injuries. Then, he decided to do what they, as a family, had done until now.

Lie.

"You are right," smiled Oren before turning away, and the SkyBeam began to descend. "He should get here soon, too."

As the SkyBeam headed toward one of the gates, the flames surrounded the front tires. Oren glared at the gate, and he saw how clouds suddenly appeared in front of them. Then, in a heartbeat, Oren twisted the handle and turned toward the side, climbing the walls of the sewages.

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