Chapter 55: Ch94. Hollow
As darkness enveloped both Kurt and Zaval, the latter fell silent, not knowing what happened, still trying to understand how that human was capable of showing up right there, out of nowhere.
Even more...
How was he able to display such strength, when he was nothing but a mere human?
Even if he was an awakened one.
He was nothing but a human.
"WHAT ARE YOU?!" Zaval asked, growling as his holographic disguise gave place to his real form.
He was surrounded by a thick layer of darkness that felt to him like cold air.
He couldn’t even hear what was happening outside.
"I thought you already had the answer to that question." Kurt answered, whispering close to Zaval’s ear.
The Ishir moved its clawed hand backwards in a strong punch, hitting nothing but thin air.
The next second, he felt the searing pain of a blade slicing through his wrist.
"The first time we met, I left you with a scalpel stuck on your wrist..." Kurt whispered again, while hearing the beep of the system in his ears.
His [VP] was going down in astounding speed.
Kurt had to finish the Ishir before that, or else he couldn’t know what would happen.
"... But this time..." Zaval heard Kurt’s voice close to him again.
After that, he felt his vital fluids spurting through the newly inflicted wound on his arm.
His hand wasn’t there.
"... I’ll make sure that you don’t leave with your hand. Or your life, for that matter..."
[WARNING]
[VP IS DANGEROUSLY NEARING DEPLETION]
’Shit!’ Kurt thought, biting his lower lip.
He didn’t know what would happen once his [VP] zeroed down, but he started to feel cold all of a sudden, as soon as the system rang the beep.
However, aside from the cold, Kurt felt invincible.
He was silent, and even more. It seemed like while he and the Ishir were inside that darkness bubble created by [LIGHT ABSORPTION], he was capable of almost teleporting to anywhere inside it, as long as there was darkness for him to reach.
He had become so fast with that new skill, that while he was inside the dome of darkness, Kurt felt like nothing could beat him.
Zaval became nothing but a living piece of meat for Kurt’s blade to slice through, and the more he sliced through the Ishir, the less the enemy would scream.
[WARNING]
[VP ZEROED DOWN]
[SKILL IS NOW CONSUMING THE PLAYER’S LIGHT PARTICLES]
"No!" Kurt screamed, still striking his enemy with his dagger. "I need to make it last longer!"
The sensation of finally being able to kill the one who killed his mother overflowed him with joy, but the feeling was just as great as the cold overtaking his limbs.
"No..." He screamed again, urging to make the sensation last longer. "NO, NO, NO, NO!"
But when he felt the cold almost reaching out to his torso, the only thing he could do was turn off the skill, and slit Zaval’s throat open.
The light of the day began pouring through the darkness layer that surrounded Kurt and the Ishir’s dead body, and when the light finally touched Kurt...
He saw his limbs becoming slightly translucent.
Kurt fell to his knees, slamming the grass as he kept stabbing the already dead Ishir.
"NO!" He stabbed.
"NO, NO, NO!" He stabbed again and again.
The group of students just looked at him, jaws dropped and fear overflowing their souls.
The only ones capable of doing something, were Evellyn and Nikolai, running fast towards him and grabbing Kurt by the shoulders.
"Come on, we don’t have much time! I don’t know what happened, but I know you’ll tell us later. Now, just get up and let’s run!"
Evellyn looked at Kurt’s face while Nikolai helped her get him up.
Kurt was crying his eyes out while mumbling unintelligible words.
After the dome of darkness appeared around Kurt and Zaval, there was nothing but silence around the students, trying to understand what had just happened.
And not even a minute later, their holowatches beeped and a holographic window appeared from it.
<THE NEST’S BOSS HAS BEEN KILLED>
<THE NEST’S ENTRANCE WILL CLOSE IN ONE HOUR>
But even after the remaining students watched the warning blinking on the holographic window, all they could do was stare, speechless, at the horrific scene that unfolded several meters from them.
Evellyn ran forward first, followed by Nikolai.
"We don’t have time, Nikolai!" She said, hurrying him, and he ran right after her.
The group reached the Nest’s bubble with little to no time left, even though Caleb had cast a teleportation spell towards the place.
Kurt was unconscious, and his limbs recovered color and tangibility when they crossed the threshold.
One week later, Kurt woke up in the infirmary, with both Evellyn and Nikolai watching over him.
But Kurt sat up on the bed and just stared forward, blankly.
"Kurt?"
He was a hole filled with contradictory emotions, but when he finally woke up, fully, tears streamed down his eyes.
"I had him..." He muttered. "I had him and I could make him suffer the same way he made me suffer..." He cried more. "WHY COULDN’T I HAVE MORE TIME?"
Nikolai just looked at him, without knowing what to do or how to react, but Evellyn, on the other hand, grabbed him in a tight hug.
"I don’t know what happened, but it’s all over now, Kurt. Hush, now. All is well. All is well..."
Kurt cried again, but when he finally stopped crying, Evellyn managed to give him something to eat, and get some intelligible words from him.
Both Evellyn and Nikolai were speechless once he was done telling them what happened inside his skill, and why it all happened that way.
"... And all I wanted was to make Zaval suffer as much as I did... But somehow, I just feel... Hollow."
"I only heard of it in stories that my dad told me." Nikolai finally spoke up. "But from what I’ve heard from him, that’s what revenge feels like, because we can never make other people feel exactly like we did. So we can never really fulfill or dream of avenging someone."
"Why?" Kurt asked, while Evellyn stroke his hair.
"Because they’re different from us, just as we’re different from everybody else..." Nikolai sighed. "Vengeance only leaves us hollow on the inside."
"And why are you two so desperate to get answers about the murders of your parents?" Kurt retorted, sharp and dry.
Nikolai smirked, acknowledging Kurt’s perception.
"We’re in it for revenge, yes, my friend. But we’re going to be helping others by getting answers, because my mom and Evellyn’s dad weren’t the only ones killed."
"But let’s leave it at that, for now. We have more important matters to discuss." Evellyn interrupted.
"Oh, that..." Nikolai sighed again.
"What?" Kurt frowned.
Evellyn and Nikolai looked at him at the same time.
"You killed an Ishir, Kurt. If we don’t think of something, it might be the beginning of a war between humans and aliens."
