Chapter 240: Chapter 240- Busan (Part 5)
The rain grew stronger and stronger with each second. The violent gushes of wind swept across the entire resort, shaking it violently.
'Ugh, what the hell is up with this weather?' Covering his face as he ran, Talon looked up. In a few seconds, what was normal weather had turned into the most violent storm he had ever seen.
Up in the atmosphere, thick giant clouds covered the entire sky. Bright flashes of light erupted everywhere as massive lightning bolts struck the entire city, leaving behind deep burn marks and even ignited flames.
Meanwhile, up in the air, Katashi struggled to keep his balance as he flew across the entire resort as fast as he could. His wings were able to resist the downpour somehow but the wair kept sweeping him left and right.
'This is bad. He is right behind me. I need to go higher!'
Seeing how high Talon was leaping with each move, he knew that he would be able to catch him quickly. But, that also came with a lot of risks since the wind was already growing violent to an unbearable degree so the chances of him falling would increase at higher altitudes.
Clenching his teeth, he could only follow his instincts and quickly fly up.
'Oh no, you don't.' With a cold expression, Talon summoned his Aetherial Blades. 'The range isn't close enough! I need to approach him!'
Talon didn't know where his target was going but he had a hunch that he might be aiming for the ocean. If he reached that place, catching him would be damn near impossible. So, in total, he had less than 20 seconds to get his target if he didn't want to lose him.
Channeling every ounce of power in his body, Talon leaped in the air with all his force. Reaching dozens of meters in the air, he immediately launched his blades aimed at Katashi.
The latter looked behind him and his eyes widened in shock.
'Wha!!!' With no time to do anything, he quickly turned around and screeched loudly. The sound waves hit the blades and pushed them back a little. He used that opportunity to start flying again.
'Fuuh, that was close!' Looking behind him, he saw that the blades had already fallen to the ground. For a second there, he thought that he was done for. But, as his eyes trailed the falling weapons, he realized something.
'Where is he?!' Immediately, his eyes started looking around. Using his ability, he could easily scan the entire area in a split second.
However, at that moment, his eyes caught a glimpse of Talon, barely a meter away from him.
"Got you!" Grabbing into his leg, Talon was barely able to reach him.
"Fuck!" Katashi cursed loudly as his body was yanked down. Using all his strength, he tried to balance himself again. Then, he started kicking Talon's hand with all his power.
"What do you want from me?!" He yelled as the two struggled in the air.
"Did you even let me speak?" Grabbing his leg with both hands, Talon gripped as hard as he could till the man's bones started shaking.
"AGHH!! Bastard!!" Turning his head, he channeled his Aetheris and shrieked loudly at Talon's face.
Squinting hard, Talon felt his ears ringing wildly from the sound waves.
'Why does this hurt my ears this much?!'
Each attack made Talon's brain shake and his eyes grow hazy even though it wasn't even physical.
"You… bastard!!" Feeling his anger explode, Talon pulled Katashi's leg as he yanked him down again. Then, he released his hand as he started falling too. But, he aimed his fall to be right on top of his enemy.
*BANG*
Smashing into him, the two started free-falling together. Talon quickly grabbed his collar as he stared at him.
"I got you."
"We are falling!! Are you crazy?!" The man yelled as he looked down with terror on his face.
"Brace for the impact, bastard." Grinning maniacally, Talon made sure that Katashi was beneath him.
'This man is crazy!!' Seeing that look, Katashi felt his heart stop for a second as fear crawled into his very soul. He didn't know why but that single glance from Talon made him lose his mind in a split second.
Something about it felt wrong… Really wrong. He didn't even know who this person was and yet he had already decided that he wasn't someone he wanted to mess with at all. Yet, here he was in a huge problem with him.
*BOOOOOOM*
The two smashed into the ground powerfully. The sound of the impact was quickly muffled by the sound of the storm, rain, and lightning.
"Don't you dare fucking move," Wiping the sand off his face, Talon stared down at the man beneath him.
"Why… Ugh, why… What did I do to?" Katashi asked weakly.
"Nothing personal. You're just someone I have to get rid of as soon as possible." He said coldly.
"You… will regret this…" The man said as he groaned loudly. The hit had broken multiple of his ribs and made his entire body shudder.
"How so?"
"... I'm… Not alone… My people will know… If I die…" He said.
"Oh? They will?" His words piqued Talon's interest as he crouched down. "Explain."
"... Are you terrified now? Of course, you are."
Katashi giggled weakly. He had already figured out that Talon was here specifically because of his mission. His best guess is that this person has some kind of affiliation with Hyun-Ki or has a group of his own.
In either case, it was a problem for him and his mission since that meant their agreement might be broken now.
'I need to trick him somehow…' He thought to himself.
"I have a chip on me that tracks my heart rate… If I die… They will know about it…" He replied as he coughed.
'This is technically true. But, I can use this to my advantage.' He thought to himself as he hid a malicious grin.
"So you came here prepared, huh?" Talon asked as he wiped his face. The rain had already drenched him completely and the wind kept swinging his hair back and forth. "That's quite the problem."
"Yeah… Let's talk instead. I have no intention to fight you or harm you. I came here for another purpose. To establish some kind of connection with this country again. This world is already in shambles. I know you are probably trying to grow your control with this opportunity being present but think about it for a second.
*Cough* *Cough*"
Looking up, Katashi looked rather dejected. "Many innocent people died and our world is completely gone. We are the only ones left to carry the beacon of hope for the future. Why kill each other for no reason? Why can't we just work together? How can we be called humans if we turn into bloodthirsty monsters?"
"..." Talon stared down at him with an unreadable expression.
"Let's pretend nothing happened tonight and move on, brother. I will just consider this a misunderstanding."
"Oh, it is a misunderstanding. Very much a big one." Talon said. "But, it's on your side, not mine."
"Huh?" Katashi was stunned for a second as he looked at Talon.
"You see, I'm not actually as simple as you might think. I have taken control of the human society in Gwangju and killed Hyun-Ki with my own hands. That place is under my control now and so is the rest of South Korea."
"... What?"
"I just came to know that Japan has relations with Hyun-Ki and so I came here to make sure they stay under the illusion that things are going fine." Smiling at him. "I have always been wondering whether other countries are going to let this slide and now he was going to even be. But, I don't really care anymore.
As long as they are still eating whatever I feed them, they're as good as tame pets to me."
Katashi was completely shell-shocked by what he heard. "You… No… You're that man that Hyun-Ki talked briefly about… The one that was in Seoul…?" When the realization hit him, it was like a bombshell dropped on his head.
Suddenly, things were starting to make a lot of sense and what might've been a lie started becoming the truth.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Katashi." Talon shrugged. "I have done a lot of things. But, that's not important now. What's important is that I'm not going to kill you."
'I have captured him so there is no need to kill him when I can use him to keep them under my control.'
Not to mention the fact that Talon could feel the chip that Katashi talked about hidden in his wrist. He knew that he wasn't lying about it at all.
"Here is what you're going to do. You're going to tell them that everything is fine here and that the plan is going perfectly well. Unless you want to die then that's a different matter. I can deliver it quickly."
His cold tone that lacked any sympathy made Katashi shudder. He felt as if he was listening to an emperor delivering his judgment with no room for questions.
"You… Who are you?" Katashi asked.
"We can get to know each other later. For now, I'm going to bring you with me." Saying that, Talon pulled out a set of ropes from his backpack before he tied Katashi up and was about to lift him up.
However, at that moment, he felt something weird as he turned around. In the distance, he noticed a long, thick black line that stretched across the horizon. The line was growing slowly in size as if it were approaching him. Near the shore, the water started moving back a great distance.
"Talon! You need to move right now! It's a problem!" At that moment, Acrypha approached him.
"What is happening, Acrypha?"
"It's the expansion. The second expansion is happening right now!"
Hearing that, Talon was frozen in his place. It took him a second to register what Acrypha said before he slowly turned around and stared at the thing on the horizon.
That's when it hit him.
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