Chapter 139

Chapter 139: The End of the Matter

After Johann left, Fade restrained the rampaging Shin and knocked him out. Now the only people left conscious were him and a beaten-up Michael. Fade saw that Michael suddenly knelt on the ground unmoving.

“It seems that every time we meet you’re always beaten up.” Fade looked at the kneeling Michael who had his head looking down.

“Why?” Michael’s voice was soft, but there was so much emotion in that one word that it felt so powerful even when spoken softly it echoed in Fade’s ears.

“Huh?”

“Why did you let that monster go?! If it was you, surely you could’ve done something!” Michael looked up and glared at Fade, this was the first time Fade had seen Michael with so much rage. The rage Michael was feeling was so strong, that it felt similar to killing intent.

“I had no obligation to do so.”

“No obligation?! So you let that monster go because of such an absurd reason!?” Michael charged at Fade trying to tackle him, but Fade evaded by sidestepping making Michael fall forward. “Why?... I thought that you were on the side of justice? If you truly are someone that claims to fight for what is right then why won’t you go and punish him?”

.....

Michael then started crying, seeing him like that made Fade sigh in his mind. Fade then sat beside Michael and patted his head.

“It seems that you are misunderstanding something here. Punishing someone with little knowledge of a person is not the way I do things. There is also the fact, that I never said I was on the side of justice. Also even if I did truly want to capture him, it would’ve been pretty difficult. Didn’t you notice? Even with both of his hands being disabled that Alchemist seems to be quite confident. In my experience, those types of people have many trump cards hidden. I cannot afford to take that gamble as my top priority at the moment isn’t to catch the Alchemist but to protect the Fletchers. Based on what I have seen there is a good chance the moment I give chase and leave the Fletchers’ side that Alchemist might have someone waiting somewhere near and would use that opportunity to kidnap Mollie Fletcher.”

When Michael heard what Fade said he was finally able to calm down. It felt like he was drenched by a bucket of cold water as he realized that his rage had gotten the better of him. There were so many factors in Fade’s decision that he hadn’t considered. He now felt ashamed that he got so mad at Fade.

“... I’m sorry, I almost forgot that we were here to protect the Fletchers... I just wanted that guy to be punished.” Michael was wiping away his tears as he spoke.

“If you really want to do something about it, then you must get stronger than you are now.”

“But, that would take too long.”

“If you’re in such a hurry and your individual strength is not enough, don’t you have allies that can help you?”

Michael was about to say something more but as he lifted his head but Fade was no longer there. Then out of nowhere a group of uniformed men entered the restaurant. Michael had seen that uniform before, it was the uniform of the Elite Dragon Brigade.

“There’s a conscious civilian inside.”

...

Johann who had escaped from Fade was now quite a distance away from the restaurant. Once he was sure that Fade wasn’t following him he hid in an alleyway and sat down. He then started to assess the current state of his body.

‘Both of my arms are unusable they aren’t responding at all, these needles that are stuck on my arms seem to be imbued with the world’s energy. Wait, what is this?’

Johann was looking at his chest when he finally noticed that the armor he was wearing hidden under his shirt had been destroyed.

‘But when?’

Johann thought about the battle he had with Fade, but no matter how he tried he could not remember when he was hit in the chest. Johann then started laughing out loud making the people walking look at him weirdly.

‘Fade... You really are something else.’

He could not help it as he felt extremely excited. There were many things he was curious about when it came to Fade. One thing was the way Fade fought which was unlike the others who used the world’s energy.

‘In fact, the way he fought was similar to those barbarians that call themselves martial artists. Though there are those in the Magus Tower that also fight that way, that is only if they have no other option. There’s also the way he imbues the world’s energy into objects as if they were part of his body, that something I haven’t seen before. I wonder where in the world he learned how to do that? There is so much mystery hidden in that mask of his, I want to rip it off and find the truth!’

As Johann was getting excited he started coughing out blood.

‘Damn, there’s internal damage that I haven’t noticed. I need to get back to my lab and recuperate.’

...

While Johann was limping towards his lab, Fade was now inside his room, and as he was removing his gear he felt dizzy. Fade felt like he was going to fall down, as his body was aching all over. It was taking everything he had just to stay awake. After he hid his work clothes in the usual spot, Fade staggered towards his bed.

Once he was near the bed he fell onto the mattress. As he lay on his bed, Loki felt extremely exhausted. His mana was completely drained, even his inner energy was nearly depleted, and his body was aching all over.

The fight with The Elegant Scorpion, then the Alchemist was more exhausting than he initially thought. Loki’s thoughts started to become hazy and his breathing was weak. Loki wanted to assess the state of his body but his consciousness was fading, and before he knew it he was already fast asleep.