Inverse System

Chapter 68 - Cursed King (4)

Luther twirled his glaive over his head and charged at King and Lance, Rein jumping in front of him to block his attack. He crossed his swords over each other to collide with the stick of Luther's glaive, sending them both bouncing back, sliding across the grass.

"Now, Reggie!" Rein yelled as he stopped sliding, Reggie appearing from behind Lance and launching a barrage of punches, which Luther reacted to and jumped back.

"Pfft, were you even trying to hit me there?" Luther remarked as Reggie ran back to Lance, helping him protect King.

Rein charged at Luther again and relentlessly attacked him, using some new sword techniques he conjured up while training with Clyde and Chloe. His attacks were able to make Luther go on the defensive for a moment, which gave Rein the opportunity to throw his sword at Luther, which he easily dodged.

"Man, you guys are missing a lot," Luther spoke, unimpressed.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of metal colliding as he looked back at the sword that flew past his head, seeing it flying straight back at him.

"The hell? Nothing's behind me, where'd it bounce off of?" Luther thought in his mind as he instinctively activated his intangibility, with the intention of jumping into the floor.

"Oh no you don't," Rein sliced the ground under Luther with both of his swords, causing a gaping hole to instantly appear under him, Lance and Reggie moving King out of the way as they stood at the edges of the plaza.

"The hell's that..?" Luther mumbled as he lay eyes on King's room, his view gaping at it.

"You let your guard down," Rein used his free hand to palm Luther's chest, deactivating his intangibility.

The sword flying to Luther stabbed into his shoulder and stuck there. Rein used the opportunity to try and extend the metal of the sword, but he was unable to. Luther's shoulder was too sturdy, so Rein couldn't extend the sword through it. Rein retracted the earth under them and hopped back, Luther carelessly spitting out a clot of blood, cracking his neck to loosen his joints. He took the sword out from his shoulder, cleaned the blood off of it, and threw it back to Rein.

"What's this for?" Rein asked, confused as to why he threw the sword back at him.

Something looked different in Luther's eyes after, as if he was now not having fun, which Rein found to be out of character for him.

"Hey, I'm seriously gonna need that kid now," Luther's eyes turned red and his hair a golden yellow. Rein gasped and turned around before Luther even made an action.

"Shit! Hey, watch out!" As he looked back, he saw Luther flying to the right of Lance, Rein instantly activating STO and running full speed at Luther, but he knew he wouldn't make it in time.

Luther was right on top of Lance, Reggie, and most importantly, King.

"Fuck, I could really use memory flip right now… If Luther touches King, that bitch will be one step closer to her goal. I can't let that happen, no matter what!" Rein cried in his mind, as he saw Lance's gaze stiffen, reacting to Luther's attack.

Lance extended his shield and parried against Luther, knocking him back for an extra split second, giving Rein enough time to swoop in and grab King, with the intention of escape.

But before he could get away, Luther surrounded the plaza with clones, cornering Rein into a standstill in the middle of the grassy field. Two of the clones restrained Lance and Reggie, preventing them from talking or moving as they held their mouths against the wall.

"Well? What do you intend to do now Rein?" Luther sternly asked, the usual innocent tone in his voice having disappeared.

"Tch…" Rein continued to look for a point of exit, relentlessly darting his eyes around the area.

"It's no use. My clones have surrounded the area completely. Now, hand over the kid."

"That's the last thing I'm doing," Rein remarked in desperation as he held the bewildered boy, who felt no fear in this situation.

"You've got no other exits. Whatever you do, I'm taking his Spring... Ah, actually, I just thought of a way out for you. Kill the boy," Luther unamusedly suggested, which made Rein freeze up.

"If you kill him here, another kid will take the curse and we'd have to go looking for it all over again. I can already see the look on your aunt's face, she'd be livid with anger," he continued to provoke him.

"Kill… him?" When Rein uttered those words, he could see the sorrow in Lance's eyes as he struggled through Luther's restraints, screaming through the mouth on his hand, making muffled noises of a distressed man.

"The last thing you'd do is hand him over to me, right? If that's the case, you should have no problem killing him. I even heard you telling your friend earlier to not let me lay a finger on him, no matter what. Well? Where's that resolve now?"

Rein trembled as he set King down from his arms and stood there, staring at him, Rein's red eyes filled with turmoil.

"Will it really stop her from progressing..?"

"My patience is running out here. I'm giving you a chance, if you don't take it, then that's on you," Luther's voice continued in its serious tone, which changed after he saw King's dungeon after Rein carved out the ground.

Rein reluctantly summoned his swords as they trembled vigorously in his hands. Lance continued to struggle, his muffled cries increasing in volume as Rein's swords were summoned. As Rein stared at his jittering swords, he could hear nothing in his head. It was clear, empty, no sign of Versys in sight. This made it easier to hear his own voice as he turmoiled over his predicament in his mind.

"Why am I hesitating..?" He thought as he tightened his grip on his swords, still shaking from the nerves.

"I've killed handfuls of people before this… This boy… should be no different. It's all for the sole purpose of fulfilling my goal... so why am I hesitating? I need to do it… I need to kill him… I can't let my aunt progress anymore… This is part of my revenge… My vindication… That's right… No matter what, I have to do it," Rein turned his eyes off of his swords as he gripped them harder and laid his eyes on King, who stood there, staring at Rein with a blank expression.

"Are you going to kill me, mister?" King asked, which made Rein physically twitch.

"It's okay. My mom is already dead, and I heard that you go to a really great place after you die. I want to meet mom… So it's okay if you kill me… I don't want to suffer anymore," the boy emotionlessly spoke to Rein, putting his small, bruised hand on Rein's trembling swords.

To Rein's bewilderment, he felt liquid streaming out of his eyes and down his face as he continued looking at King, his vision being obscured by the strange, salty droplets pouring out of his eyes. His hair returned to normal, and his wet red eyes returned to a yellow hue, which reflected an orange light as the sun began to set. He dropped his swords and collapsed on the ground.

"I can't do it… I'm sorry sis… I'd be just like them…" He struggled to speak as he wept through his breath, his tears dropping on the ground under him as rain began to fall, which poured down around them as the sun's light was all but visible.

He suddenly felt a presence approach in front of him as Luther dashed at him, putting his hand on King's head, looking down at Rein in pity.

"Maybe I went too far," he uttered as Lance began squirming even louder, King turning his head to face the grey-haired man whose hand rested on his head.

"Will you be the one to do it, mister? Your grip feels the same as his," King claimed, pointing at the white-haired boy on the ground in front of them.

"Heh, dunno why but stealing a cursed Spring erases the user. Sorry kid, but I'll make it painless, " Luther warmly smiled as Rein sniffled in front of them, powerless to stop him, Lance continuing to squirm loudly.

"No! Please don't do it!" Lagurin came charging through the entrance to the plaza, breathing heavily.