I am the Only Son of Nyx

Chapter 181: The Bet

Kai looked at the woman on the other side, and the woman looked at him.

Fire burned behind their eyes like the glinting killing intent of a stalking predator.

It was Barbara.

Just last night, he had dealt the finishing blow—almost splitting her torso completely from the shoulder, and yet she was now standing on the other side. One of her arms was still wrapped in a bandage all the way up to her shoulder, but she survived.

"Is she a cockroach or what?" Bryan muttered inwardly and spat, "The Gods are on her side."

"Sstt!" Dorian pressed a finger against his lips. "Keep your fucking voice down."

On the side, Bree looked at the side of Kai’s face with concern.

She knew what he was feeling right now.

"Kai..." She called and held his hand that was already balled into a fist. "Don’t be stupid."

Hearing what she said only made Kai clench his fists even harder.

Heat rose from his neck and turned his face red from restrained anger that swelled inside.

Barbara was supposed to be dead, so this is a problem.

More than that, he was still angry at her for thinking that she could claim his life—as if it was automatically her own. She was clearly siding with the System, and he’s not going to show a glimpse of mercy to people like that.

Nothing could quench this rage other than her death.

Since she survived, that rage came back.

"W-What...?" Kai looked down and stuttered breathlessly. "What are you talking about?"

"Your window to kill her is gone," Bree whispered silently. "She will be ready for you the next time, and she might already tell other students about what happened. Don’t even try to attack her again. Just let it go; it’s not worth it."

"Let it go?" Kai snorted in contempt.

"Yes, let it go."

"After what she did to me, you asked me to let it go?"

"Since this involved the group, why don’t we ask the others?"

Knowing that it would be hard for her to dissuade Kai from doing something stupid, she turned to the others for help. "Dorian," She poked his back with a finger. "What do you think about finishing her?’

"Huh?" Dorian glanced at Bree and saw her looking at him sternly.

Her eyes were signaling him to say something against going to kill Barbara again.

"Maybe we should lay low. She didn’t have proof of what happened, so let’s keep it that way."

"Right? Going against her again would only hand the proof over to her."

Before Bree could continue, Kai already massaged his forehead and looked at Bryan.

"What about you, Bryan? What do you say about this?"

"Err... I guess since she survived, the Gods are on her side. We can’t deny the Gods."

"Yes, we can’t!" Bree chuckled nervously, but her hand naturally stroked Kai’s back, making use of anything she could to stop Kai from going against Barbara again. He won only because of the Pyre Overload, so it’s still dangerous. "The Gods have spoken, and we should heed it."

"What’s going on?" Matilda finally voiced out.

She only missed last night, and yet it seemed like many things had happened.

Dorian scooted over and whispered to her what had happened last night from start to finish.

From being chased by the Ichor Legion, the encounter with a Star Beast, and then stumbling across Barbara. He made sure that she knew everything she needed to understand what was going on.

Matilda paused for a second and then shrugged, "I say we finish the deed."

All three of them had their eyes twitch at Matilda’s answer.

Right now, they were supposed to be dissuading Kai from attacking Barbara, not encouraging him to do it. Too much is going on, and another powerful enemy is not something they need. Not in the slightest.

"Regardless, it’s three against two," Bree leaned forward to check on Kai’s face. "It’s decided, okay?"

Kai looked up and stared at her in the eyes, "You said as the leader, I can do whatever I want."

"Did I...?"

"Yes, you did. All of you did."

"I-I guess we did say that, but we did not mean it liter—" Bree stopped, she could already tell that whatever excuse she came up with would only sound stupid. "Okay, I don’t want you to do this, Kai."

"..."

"Let me talk to her so things will end peacefully."

"End things peacefully?"

"Yes! I’ll be the one to apologize to her on your behalf, and then break it off with her for good. It was my fault that you got into trouble with her anyway, so let me deal with it. Just give me a chance, and I’ll make it go away. You don’t need to do anything!"

Kai’s breaths became ragged instantly as even the thought of apologizing made him furious.

If anything, the one who was supposed to be apologizing is Barbara, not him.

He was minding his own business; have no intention to bother the Auric Cabal at all. His only intention was to hunt and gather usable exp, and then leave without making a ruckus. Even when Barbara was hostile, he remained passive.

Made sure to look as unthreatening as he could.

Kept his posture submissive, like being small in front of a male gorilla, to avoid confrontation.

But she attacked him with killing intent either way, and that’s unforgivable.

Letting this go would only make him look like a pushover, weak, and he had already made a promise to Bella that he would no longer be like that.

"I’ll cut her fucking tongue out, how about that?" Kai rose to his feet in anger and crossed the distance between him and Barbara with wide strides. Bree and the others stared at him in utter shock, tried to stop him by calling his name, but failed.

He locked eyes with Barbara as he approached.

Some of the students looked at him, but the sparring sessions hadn’t started.

For some reason, the professor hadn’t come to address them yet, so it’s still rather loud with students busy with their own groups. Once he arrived near the Auric Cabal, the students near Barbara glared at him.

One of them, a muscular man with slanted eyes, wanted to speak, but Barbara stopped him.

She signaled for him and the others to make way.

Kai took this invitation and sat down right beside Barbara; their eyes remained forward.

"My group voted for me to apologize to you and put this all behind us," Kai said flatly.

"Hmm," Barbara nodded lightly. "Are you here to apologize?"

"No. I’m here to tell you that the next time, you won’t be as lucky. I’ll make sure you’re dead for good."

"You came here to my group to tell me that? You’re quite daring, Lesser Angel."

"Consider this courtesy. Make amends to your family, to your friends, to every single person who might cry at your funeral. Your days... are numbered."

His words were outrageous.

Every single member of the Auric Cabal who was sitting around and heard what he said was taken aback. For a Lesser Angel to threaten a High Angel like this should warrant excruciating punishment; perhaps torture that ends up in public execution is fitting.

And some of them, especially the muscular man with slanted eyes, wanted to say something.

Nobody can talk like that to Barbara.

But none of them did.

Alex has told them about what happened when Kai confronted him, about what he said, and now they know that a High Angel who was humiliated by a Lesser Angel would be punished by death, including their family.

Despite the anger at Kai’s arrogance.

Despite the heat that swelled inside their chests at Kai’s condescending words.

Despite the humiliating rage that made them grit their teeth so hard they tasted blood, the entire Auric Cabal didn’t say anything. Kept their lips sealed. It was for Barbara, so they didn’t say a word.

Kai rose to his feet again and swept his dark eyes to the others.

His gaze settled on Alex—trembling between two glaring students, then swept slowly across the rest of the group. "This applies to all of you," Kai added, his voice low and dripping with warning. "I never wanted this. I never wanted to resort to violence. But your leader brought it up to me. So do not stand in my way unless you wish your fate to be bound to hers."

And with that, he turned away and headed back to the others.

In the distance, Bree, Dorian, and Bryan look exhausted already.

On one side, they understand why Kai was acting like this, as they would also feel the same if they were in his position. But on the other hand, they were still dealing with the Ichor Legion and Chester. Adding another enemy on top of them wouldn’t be too much.

But since Kai had already gone to confront Barbara, it was already done.

Especially seeing the faces of the students from Auric Cabal that were already contorted in anger.

"I could say the same thing to you."

Kai stopped mid-track and looked over his shoulder.

Behind, Barbara also already rose to her feet—her eyes flashed with the same killing intent.

"You got the better of me because I underestimated you, and you’re also bolstered by the Pyre Overload. Next time, that won’t be the case," Her brows dipped sharply—depicting the sheer seriousness of what she was saying. "You won’t be as lucky.

"Since we’re both so eager to fight, why don’t we do that in the appropriate place?"

"What are you suggesting?"

"You created your group to participate in the Dragon Ring, yes? Let’s settle this there."

Frankly, Kai wanted to believe that Barbara was suggesting this because she knew him.

Knew him from the rumours circulating around that he’s the Phantom of Ixos.

Someone who could sneak past detection and kill without being noticed.

Accepting this would only be crippling Kai in what he was strongest.

And not to mention, the Dragon Ring might have a no-kill rule, which would be a problem, as he wouldn’t be able to kill Barbara then. But it doesn’t matter. He wanted to win fairly against Barbara, so it’s fine.

If he won, he could kill her after the tournament, too.

"I have no qualms."

"And how about a bet?"

"A bet?"

"If I win, you will kneel to me and kiss my feet. Becoming my attack-dog for the rest of your lives. And, you will hand Bree back. You also need to convince her to be willing to be a part of the Auric Cabal again."

"And if I win," Kai pivoted his body sideways. "I want the entire Auric Cabal to make a Soul Oath to Zeus that none of them would get in my way ever again. Also, I want you to apologize to me for what you did, and then after... you’d kill yourself."