Chapter 32: Beast Attack
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Every single pair of eyes in the hall was on me now, and Keyra's smug little voice was still ringing in my ears like a goddamn war drum.
"You're the one who killed the Goblin Chief and started this whole mess," she said again, like she hadn't just detonated a nuke over my life.
My jaw clenched so tight it could've cracked diamonds. I didn't move. I didn't blink. I didn't give them the satisfaction of a reaction.
Kaku stepped forward, towering over the crowd with that smug beast grin. "Not just that," he rumbled, tail flicking lazily behind him, "when the beasts attacked Ronta Vro, you didn't even lift a fucking finger to help."
My fingers twitched under the table.
Trent joined in, voice sharper than his blade. "People died, Kaizen. And where were you? Nowhere. Useless."
Fuck you. Fuck all of you.
Freya's voice cut through the air like a sword scraping from its sheath. "You? Defeat a Goblin Chief?" She laughed, actually laughed. "That's a B-rank magic beast. Half the adventurers in this hall couldn't manage it, but somehow a rookie like you pulled it off? Right."
The laughter that rippled through the hall after that was salt on an open wound.
Trent kept going, dragging our first meeting into the light like it was some kind of trial. "When we found him, I didn't believe it either. No mana, no experience… but the girls he saved swore it was him. They wouldn't shut up about it. I figured maybe he got lucky. Now?" He shook his head. "I'm starting to think it was just dumb luck and a lot of hot air."
My blood was boiling so hot I could feel my pulse in my teeth.
I still didn't speak. I just sat there, burning, every muscle in my body begging me to break someone's nose.
But I didn't.
Not yet. The air in the guild hall was thick enough to choke on.
"Say something!" someone barked from the crowd.
Another voice joined in, sharper, angrier: "Yeah, don't just sit there! Tell us what the fuck happened!"
Hands were already sliding towards weapon hilts. A couple of steel blades caught the torchlight, glinting like teeth.
My own hand drifted to my sword, knuckles white as I gripped the hilt.
If one of these bastards took a step too close…
"Enough!"
It wasn't me. It was Rulo, his voice shaking but loud enough to cut through the tension. "The creatures are coming. They'll be here by late afternoon tomorrow. At least a thousand magic beasts will hit the city."
A thousand. That number landed like a rock in the gut of every person in the hall. The noise dropped instantly to a low, uneasy murmur.
Maya stepped forward beside him. "We don't have time for this," she said, looking from me to Keyra to the others. "This isn't about blame. Not anymore."
Kaku's tail lashed once, slow and deliberate. Then he turned, his voice booming with the weight of command. "Enough," he growled. "Back off. All of you."
It wasn't just the words. The way he said it carried a weight that made the air itself feel heavy. Even the loudmouths in the back went silent.
But me? My hand stayed on my sword. I didn't move. I didn't breathe. I just stared at him.
Kaku turned that beast-like gaze on me.
"Kaizen will be helping us this time, won't he?"
Then it hit, an aura like nothing I'd ever felt before. Dark and blue flames seemed to coil off his body, warping the air. The pressure slammed into me, crushing my chest, pinning my legs. My knees buckled and hit the floor with a dull thud.
It felt like the gravity in the room had just multiplied by ten. My vision blurred, sweat running down my face. I could barely lift my head to glare at him.
And then… it was gone.
Just like that.
Kaku smirked, turning his back on me as if I wasn't even worth the trouble. His Iron Fang squad followed him, laughing among themselves.
They moved past the crowd, straight to the reception desks where Freya had been arguing earlier. "We need to talk to the Guild Master," Kaku said flatly.
The guild official, the same one who'd been giving Freya a hard time before, didn't argue. He just nodded stiffly and led them past the counters and up the stairs.
I stayed there on the floor a moment longer, my hands trembling from the aftershock. It felt like I'd just run a goddamn marathon… uphill… carrying a mountain.
And all I could think was: I'm gonna kill that smug son of a bitch one day.