A Wanderer's Lies

Chapter 58: Losing Control [3]

"We came as soon as we could."

In a large forest, a long fence with countless caution signs separated Ravenwood and Spawn.

A singular shed lay before the fence, seeming as though they were touching as countless suited individuals could be seen standing outside it.

"Thank you. I'm sorry to have disturbed you, Mr Adams, however, I didn't have any other choice."

A familiar old man in a Janitor's suit held a tablet as he stood before a small team of men wearing black suits.

The old man glanced at each individual before him, his glance hanging on the individual named Adams for the longest.

"And who better to deal with something like this than the Second Division Captain of the Hearts Guild."

A particular tall, blonde-haired man with a ponytail and cigarette in his mouth, an unfriendly scowl painted across his face, stood before them all.

"Well with a case this severe, I don't blame you. How is it looking?" Adams asked in a hoarse voice, puffing smoke as he did.

With a nod, the old man turned the tablet he held, showing a map of Ravenwood. However, Adams was able to notice the red dots that grew in size in each location.

"How is that possible?" Adams asked, furrowing his eyebrows as he glared at the screen.

"I'm still working on it myself. Compared to what it is now, it started as quite the tame incident, a simple Terror from the Yellow Zone trespassing into the Green Zone."

The old man spoke, tracing his fingers across the screen as he showed the green zone.

"However, a spontaneous eruption of energy occurred in the same area. Like it had just appeared from thin air."

As the old man said these last words, he changed the position of his finger, until it paused on the Red Zone.

"The energy from the Green Zone then disappeared. For some time, I wasn't able to locate where it had disappeared to, however, not too long ago, a different energy signature erupted from within the Red Zone."

Adams stared at the red dot, bigger and darker in colour than any other on the screen.

"That…I've never seen an indicator that severe." Adams commented, to which the old man nodded in agreement.

"Neither have I. It seems upon this sudden power spike, countless others appeared, although, not nearly as strong."

"At this moment, I've come to two conclusions. The first is the Terror in the Red Zone have engaged in some sort of war. The reason behind this is unclear."

The old man paused as Adams looked up, meeting his line of sight.

"And the second?"

"...Something far more terrifying has appeared in Ravenwood, and even the Terrors are fighting for dear survival."

Silence enveloped the area as Adams stood up straight, puffing smoke into the air.

"Interesting. Dear Survival, huh? I'm wondering if an A+ Rank like myself will be good enough."

Tossing his cigarette on the ground and stomping on it, Adams glanced behind him.

"The S.A. should already be aware of what's happening here. Hell, they're probably on their way. Let's get this over with before they can steal our thunder, huh?"

Adams passed the old man as his team followed from behind, his low and rough voice making his words seem authoritative.

"Look sharp, boys. We got our work cut out for us."

***

-BOOM

-CRACKLE

What was once a lush and vibrant forest, now lay in ruins as countless trees were sticking out from the ground and destroyed, bushes and plant life were burnt to a crisp and the landscape changed.

In the middle of it all, a small boy could be seen, blitzing around the battlefield.

It was hard to tell if it was speed or simple teleportation, however, his figure continued to blur as he ignored the countless corpses.

Countless creatures lay on the ground, some burnt to a crisp, some with countless punctured holes and some simply unmoving, as if their soul had left their body.

Currently, the Thing held a small creature that resembled a boy with horns and long blond hair.

Not too far from the two was Jayne, in her Devil form as she hid behind a few Terrors.

'He's killed every single Terror that has come at him.'

It had been hours, at least, Jayne thought so. Yet, they still weren't able to tire him out, much less hurt him.

Jayne stared.

Despite her being a literal devil and standing before an army of Terrors, she was starting to wonder who the real monster here was.

As she thought this, she witnessed another Terror's leap at the Thing.

Turning its head, the Thing simply nibbled on its arm, watching as the Terror approached him.

[Terrors: Son of the Devil]

[Inherited Characters: Yukio Okumura]

[Verse: Blue Exorcist]

A skeleton figure with…glasses, or maybe simple lenses over his eye sockets, with a wave of blue flames erupting from it.

-SHHHIII

These flames were far greater than that of the Thing as evidenced by the Thing's skin started to slowly melt, as he started to resemble a melting mannequin.

However, as the Thing reached out for the Terror, the skeleton disappeared.

It wasn't stupid. It had seen everything that had happened to its comrades.

Therefore, it disappeared from its position, reappearing behind the Thing.

Although the Thing far exceeded the skeleton in speed, it stayed unmoving.

Instead, its hand presented a dark glow.

Simultaneously, the skeleton somehow reappeared before him, as if he was on rewind.

-SHUUUUU

Once again, the Thing's hand glowed and this time, the blue flames disappeared from the skeleton, leaving him powerless, allowing the Thing to easily grab its skull, the skeleton's bones quickly being reduced to ash.

As this happened, hints of blue specs could be seen dancing amongst the Thing's massive Aura, its previous heat increasing tenfold.

"Nothing…NOTHING IS WORKING!" Jayne screamed.

As it stood, she and the three Terrors before her were all that were left of the Red Zone, excluding the Terrors who fled into what remained of the forest.

It seems the Thing noticed this too, as it set its eyes on Jayne, its gaze never faltering.

As it did, Jayne felt her heart drop.

"ATTACK HIM!"

As the three Terror's kicked off the ground as Jayne screamed, it was futile.

The Thing had already raised its hand, a dark aura emanating from it as the seconds passed.

-SHUUU

In the next second, a ball of energy appeared before the Thing's hand.

Meanwhile, Jayne bit her lip.

The energy.

The feeling.

She knew it well, but never had she seen it as strong as this.

She could only gawk at the fact that Thing could release this technique to such calibre after just copying it.

"Spirit Wave…"

Jayne didn't bother calling back her minions. Instead, countless layers of blood were stacked before her, acting as an impenetrable wall.

On the other side of the wall, the Terrors neared the Thing.

However, it was too late.

-BOOM

The energy exploded from the Thing's palm as the laser of an attack tore through the forest reaching for miles as it destroyed the landscape, much less the Terrors which instantly turned to dust.

As the beam of energy started to shrink, soon disappearing, chaos was left in its wake as the ground changed form due to the power of the attack, resembling lava.

Amongst this all, Jayne lay on the ground, the lower right half of her body completely obliterated.

She groaned, unable to comment on the situation anything further, only her mind going over and over the events, trying to figure out when everything changed for the worse.

'That boy…it all started with that boy. No, that is no boy…'

Jayne looked up, the Thing standing over her as it groaned. She hadn't realised when it had come so close.

"You're a monster."

Jayne's comment fell onto deaf ears, as the Thing prepared to reach out for her.

"Zombie Boy."

The Thing paused as a rock was smashed over its head.

Behind it, a large and muscular man with a simple T-shirt, jet-black hair and a large greatsword in his hand stood.

However, contrary to the man's usual scowl, he now presented a more neutral expression as he stared at the Thing.

"W-Wayne."

Jayne muttered, seeing a familiar face.

"Yes, Wayne! Save me! Execute this monster!" Jayne pleaded as if she were a damsel in distress.

Wayne stayed silent as the Thing turned its head, facing Wayne as it ingested a chunk of its forearm.

No words were spoken, as the two stared at each other. The breeze that previously couldn't be felt due to the dense and countless trees and plantlife, now caused the Thing's messy hair to dance on its forehead.

After a few seconds, Wayne took a step forward, walking toward the Thing.

The Thing stayed still as Wayne's footsteps gradually grew quicker.

It wasn't long until Wayne was leaping toward the Thing, taking long strides like a gazelle as he carried his sword, quickly coming face to face with the Thing.

The Thing simply raised its arm, ready to grab on. And it did.

Wayne thrusted his greatsword into the heart of the Thing, as his head also entered the Thing's grasp.

As usual, it wouldn't be long until Wayne was reduced to a pile of ash.

However, as the seconds passed, nothing happened.

Silence.

Even the breeze had halted as if the world itself stopped time in anticipation.

For those who listened carefully, a single gulp could be heard.

Jayne watched, so sure that Wayne was done for as she tried to make a run for it, using this as a distraction, however, she could not help but pause and stare.

As this happened, Wayne was the first to move, removing his hand from the Thing's mouth.

Simultaneously, the Thing…no, the boy's darkened face started to show hints of colour. Slowly, the darkness was being reduced, the amber returning to his eyes and the immense aura surrounding him severely lessening.

It was because of this that the boy dropped to the ground, unmoving as if he were dead.

Crouching, Wayne sneakily placed a familiar bracelet belonging to the boy under his body, hiding it.

As he did, he was distracted by low cackling as he turned his head back.

"Brilliant…BRILLIANT, WAYNE!"

Jayne erupted in applause, but seeing as she found it challenging in her Devil form, she resorted to verbal cheers.

"I knew it! I knew you had something special about you!"

The question of how or what Wayne had just done seemed irrelevant to Jayne, as she bathed in the wave of emotions she was feeling.

Relief, joy, and most notably, vengeance.

"Step aside, Wayne. I'll make this little brat…"

"There's no need."

Wayne stood between the boy and Jayne, as the devil couldn't help but be taken aback by Wayne's sudden interference.

She'd built the idea of Wayne being a submissive and obedient pet. It was why she felt pleasure in ordering him to do things.

No matter what she said, he'd do.

However, a thought occurred to her.

Remembering how Wayne had spent all that time with the boy, and how it looked as though he was fiddling with his corpse, this was only a partial reason for why Jayne had come to her conclusion.

The biggest reason for her assumption came from remembering who Wayne was.

Who his Character was.

"Step aside, Wayne. How dare you…"

-BANG

Before Jayne could finish, Wayne raised his greatsword, swinging it downward as it smashed into the ground, creating a small crater.

Additionally, a shower of blood sprayed on Wayne as Jayne's head lay severed in two, hanging off her neck.

Yet, despite this injury, she still seemed to be alive.

Leaping back, Jayne's head started to slowly heal as she cackled.

"I knew it! I'll admit, you had me fooled. But there was a part of me who always knew you didn't have it in you, Traitor!" Jayne screamed a hint of rage and mostly excitement oozed from her words.

However, Wayne stayed silent.

-SCREEEEE

Jayne let out a blood-curdling screech, and simultaneously, a few eyes peered from what was left of the Red Zone.

It seemed the sudden disappearance of the deathly aura gave the Terrors some peace of mind.

Meanwhile, Wayne's dimensional space, in the form of a ring, hummed as in an instant, Wayne's body was encased in what seemed to be armour.

However, it was far more than that.

It was a sleek black armour with a dark cloak behind it, its mask covering Wayne's entire skull, only leaving a small crevice where the eyes were as two red dots glowed from within it.

"Control your emotions, my foot! Don't pretend like the only reason you are who you are isn't because of the power that comes from your unyielding rage!"

The Terrors drew closer as Wayne raised his greatsword.

"You are simply a man among gods, but still a man! So come at me, Way…no."

Jayne's eyes threatened to pop out from her skull to the intensity she spoke with, however, she didn't care.

Her fear from a few minutes ago had disappeared, replaced with crazed excitement.

"SHOW ME WHAT A HUMAN IS CAPABLE OF, BLACK SWORDSMAN!"

[Name: Wayne]

[Inherited Character: Guts]

[Verse: Berserk]

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Next chapter title: Aftermath [1]

Holy crap, we're doing it. Top 10.

Let's keep it going, lads.

Gimme...

Dem...

POWERSTONESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!