Defiance of the Fall

Chapter 185: Reunion

Zac’s plan to adopt a wait-and-see approach was completely thrown into the back of his mind and was quickly being replaced with far more violent solutions. The stands around Zac started to ominously creak as the air around him distorted, prompting those around him to move away with fear in their eyes.

Zac was unable to control his rage after seeing his brutalized sister. The seat he sat at exploded into splinters as Zac pushed forward, catapulting himself down to the field.

“Hey! You can’t go down here!” one of the guards standing along the stands shouted as the whole squad pointed their guns at Zac.

Zac only threw a glance at them as his aura rolled out like a tidal wave, drowning the guards in it. His aura was now empowered by his Dao of Heaviness, which didn’t only empower it, but also allowed him to control its spread.

The huge discrepancy in power between Zac and the guards and the empowerment of the Dao had turned his aura into a proper attack though it wasn’t a skill. The eyes of the guards quickly rolled up in their heads as they slumped down on the ground unconscious.

Chaos erupted on the stands, and a group of guards came running into the arena, but Zac didn’t care. He activated [Loamwalker] and with two instantaneous steps he found himself standing in front of Kenzie, and a storm of emerald leaves started to whirl around the two.

A few soldiers with hair-trigger temperaments fired a few shots at the storm of leaves, but they were immediately neutralized. Furthermore, every attack was met with a stone ripping through the air and turning into deadly projectiles, instantly killing people. In seconds no one dared to attack, and instead turning to their superiors for orders.

Zac’s eyes reddened as he looked down at the marred face of his little sister, but he knew he couldn’t relax just yet. MacKenzie opened her mouth to speak, but with lightning-speed he pushed a few pieces of Springroot into her mouth.

She swallowed the herbs with surprise, and Zac scoured her face and mannerism for anything off as he used his observation skill on her. His sister’s appearance had thoroughly pissed him off, but he had to make sure this wasn’t another situation like the one with Janos.

[MacKenzie Atwood – Human. Level 33 – XXXXX]

Zac’s brows lifted in surprise, both at her level and at the fact that the line showcasing her highest attribute was blocked. Very few people were able to block that attribute from his tests back in Port Atwood, and it likely meant that her Intelligence or Wisdom attributes should be quite high.

Between the fact that she was fine after swallowing the root and the skill he was mostly satisfied, but he needed to make sure.

“Who are you?? What did you feed me?” she hesitantly asked, but was unable to back away due to the leaves whirling around the two. “You need to leave, the guards are coming.”

Zac quickly looked back at the guards who surrounded the two with their guns at the ready, but he didn’t care. He was pushing his [Nature’s Barrier] skill to the limit, and unless powerhouses like the Corpse Lord showed up they could forget about getting through in the short run.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” Zac with sad eyes said as he tousled her hair like he’d done so many times before.

“Zac?” she hesitantly asked, likely having trouble reconciling the familiar voice face with the unfamiliar face.

Zac only nodded, and two tears were quickly pooling in MacKenzieʼs eyes, and she moved forward to hug him. However, she was held at a distance by Zac’s arm, and she looked at him once again with confusion in his eyes.

“What did you draw on the wall beneath my bed when you were four years old?”

“What?” MacKenzie couldn’t help blurt out. “Never mind that, we need to run.”

As if collaborating with that statement a huge slam shook the judge’s table as the judge, a somber woman in her fifties, stood up.

“You are encroaching on a government trial, flaunting the rule of law. Are you making yourself an enemy of the New World Government?”

Zac barely spared the judge a glance, keeping his focus on MacKenzie.

“Perhaps I am, perhaps I’m not. My comings and goings are none of your concern. If you have a problem you can report it to Thomas Fisher,” Zac tersely responded.

Loud murmurs erupted in the stands, and the judge looked enraged. However, Zac ignored all that and refocused on his sister, his eyes slowly hardening.

“Answer the question.”

MacKenzie seemed to suddenly have understood something and quickly responded.

“A talking poop,” she said with a slight blush.

Zac slightly smiled and nodded as he followed up with a few more questions. Kenzie was quickly answering them as she got more and more nervous, her head darting around at the troops that were amassing around them.

Zac felt it might be time to finish up as well, and finished with one last question.

“When did mom die?”

“Mom isn’t dead! She’s missing!” she angrily retorted as if by reflex, her head snapping back toward Zac with an angry scowl.

Zac was finally satisfied, and with deft movement put the defensive bracelet on Kenzie’s arm.

“This is a defensive item that can protect you for a bit,” he quickly explained.

“What are you going to do?” she nervously asked back. “We’re completely surrounded.”

“Well, that’s up to them,” Zac said with a shrug as he turned back to the enraged Judge as he stepped forward, his face turning back to normal.

“I am Zachary Atwood, also known as the Super Brother-Man,” he said, completely unleashing his aura.

Shouts erupted in the stadium, and multiple guards fell over or backed away from the billowing power Zac emitted. Frowns of anger or worry could be seen on the government officials as they seemed unsure what to do.

“I am taking my sister with me away from here,” Zac said, disappearing in the next second.

The guards barely had time to react before Zac was back again. This time holding a squealing Harold by his neck. The old man was desperately trying to get free, his face quickly turning red.

Zac wasnʼt planning on doing anything to the old man just yet, but he saw him trying to slink away through an emergency exit during the commotion. He couldnʼt let that man get away after what heʼd found out about him during the past two days.

“Let me go! I am the mayor of Kingsbury,” Harold wheezed out, as he pleadingly looked at the judge who seemed to have found her bearing once again.

“Everywhere I go I find that the justice and rule of law The New World Government rattle on about is relative. The rich and powerful can do whatever they want, no matter how disgusting or morally corrupt, all while the government looks the other way,” Zac said as he threw Harold down on the ground, stomping down on one of his legs.

A sickening crunch erupted as the old man screamed in pain, unable or afraid to get back up again. He only tried to slowly crawl away from Zac toward the judgeʼs table.

“I’ve only been in the area for a short time, yet it has been impossible for me to not learn about Haroldʼs crimes against humanity. Yet he doesn’t stand shackled to be judged, but rather gets a promotion from you people. I’ll give you one chance to set things right,” Zac said, giving the judge an even stare.

“We are aware of the reports but have found them unsubstantiated. While many women live at Mayor Harold’s residence they have willingly moved there. We have ascertained that after an exhaustive round of interviews. The government works by facts, not by malignant rumors. Since the government doesn’t yet have a stance on polygamy, Mayor Harold has committed no crime,” the judge answered tersely.

Snickers and murmurs erupted on the stands, and even a few of the braver souls boo’d at the judge until a few of the soldiers turned their attention to the troublemakers. Zac only shook his head in disappointment. He had a strong feeling this would happen, but it was still a let-down.

“Your government still hasn’t closed a single Incursion, but you have time to shield scum like this pile of garbage. You are truly disappointing,” Zac said as reality cracked like a mirror above him.

The gargantuan hand wrought out of wood emerged as it had a few times before, radiating power and finality. Shouts could be heard from all over, as both soldiers and spectators looked at the skill with horror, hurriedly moving away from it.

“Stop him!” the judge frantically shouted, her strict demeanor blown away by the terrifying power the hand emitted.

Various attacks pelted the hand, both guns and skills of magical nature. However, the attacks were as ants trying to bite an elephant to death, and the hand was barely affected. Zac simply held his hand outward, and swung it down as he gave Harold a look devoid of emotion.

“No!” the old man shouted as cosmic energy gathered around him.

However, it was to no avail as the hand slammed down into the ground like slapping a mosquito. The slam created a huge shockwave that blew most of the soldiers off their feet, and even the spectators in the stands had to take cover.

The attack contained almost boundless force, as this time the hand wasn’t imbued with the Dao of Trees, but rather the Dao of Heaviness. The whole stadium shook as an enormous rumble was heard. The hand soon disappeared, leaving only a crater that made it look like a meteor had slammed right into the stadium floor.

As for the old mayor, there was not one piece of him remaining intact since the slam had completely disintegrated him. At least Zac could tell the man died due to the surge of Cosmic Energy entering his body.

Zac surveyed the destruction wrought by [Nature’s Punishment], satisfied with the result. He didn’t only do it for shock-and-awe, but also to destroy any subterranean levels of the stadium. The government had tried to be sneaky by placing the Teleportation Array somewhere hidden in the underground levels beneath the stadium, perhaps to be able to bring quick reinforcements.

However, they likely hadn’t expected the level of damage he could bring with a single attack. The force between [Nature’s Punishment] and the Dao of Heaviness was even above Zac’s expectations. It would likely take hours to dig out the array, stopping any reinforcements from interfering.

Apart from the mayor everyone was largely fine, except for some broken bones and scrapes. The soldiers were scrambling to their feet, their eyes widely daring around, until they hesitantly turned to Zac who stood rooted like a tall tree, his robes still swinging by the winds his attack created. No one said a word, waiting with trepidation at Zac’s next move.

Killing the mayor had alleviated much of Zac’s fury, and he felt there was no need to keep the killing going. He knew that most of these soldiers were just normal people following orders. They weren’t aware of the shady dealings of the people at the top, or of the threat of the shapeshifters.

He was just about to announce him leaving when an extreme sense of unease filled his heart, and he unhesitantly reactivated his defensive skill as he quickly looked around for any threat. An extremely loud gunshot that was extremely familiar to Zac could suddenly be heard from the other side of the stadium.

Zac almost instinctively activated his defensive shield on his gear, but his brows rose in horror when he realized that he wasn’t the recipient of the attack. He immediately activated [Loamwalker] to get back to his sister’s side, but it was too late.

The bullet from the sniper rifle slammed into the shield from the bracelet, and the shield proved insufficient as it cracked, allowing the bullet to proceed toward his sister. The brief time the shield held at least provided MacKenzie with a brief time to react, and she repositioned herself with surprising speed.

However, she didn’t have time to completely dodge the attack, and the bullet slammed into her shoulder with much of its power remaining. A fountain of blood erupted from the wound, and she fell together with a wail.

The next instant Zac flashed in front of his sister, rage filling his face. His axe was already In mid-swing, and as the edge ripped through the air a gigantic blade formed upon it. The fractal edge grew to ten meters in an instant, and it flew toward the area the sound came from with the speed of a missile.

The attack completely destroyed a large section of the arena, blowing a hole in the ceiling. In a hidden alcove in the corner a man suddenly fell down with a scream, a huge sniper rifle falling with him. The man was bleeding profusely, the huge blade likely having at least partly hit him.

The wound seemed fatal, but there was still no surge of energy after the man slammed into the ground with a wet thud. Since he looked largely incapacitated Zac instead bent down to his wounded sister.

“Ouch that hurts,” she said with a groan, but Zac was relieved to see that the wound wasnʼt too bad.

It looked like the bullet had punched straight through, and while it bled profusely it would likely heal quickly with some help. He quickly fed Kenzie one of his strongest healing pills as he replaced the crystal on the defensive bracelet before he once again focused on the man with murder in his eyes.

A few of the soldiers hesitantly aimed their gun at him, but a look from Zac quickly quashed any thoughts of resistance from the others.

“That man is not from the government!” the judge quickly shouted, perhaps afraid that they would be implicated by his actions.

Zac only snorted and flashed over to the dying man’s side, his axe at the ready. Something was off with this assailant, and Zac’s gut told him it was a shapeshifter trying to sow discord between himself and the government. He wanted to expose his identity to the world, which hopefully would be a wake-up call for everyone.

“For the Red,” the man coughed with hatred in his eyes as he looked up at Zac, and cosmic energy gathered in his body.

Zac knew what those gathering energies meant and realized his plan was for naught, so he unhesitantly moved to destroy the shapeshifter’s head before he could explode. However, his axe hit nothing as the man disintegrated into a pool of goop. However, Zac knew something was wrong when he didn’t gain any cosmic energy. He looked back at his sister and found a bloody monstrosity reform closer to his sister.

It looked like a skinned human that had been left to bloat in the sun for weeks, and cosmic energy churned around it in ominous ways.

“Run!” was all Zac had time to shout as he tried to get back, but it was too late as the monster exploded, golden flames blanketing the whole arena.