The Rejected Family

Chapter 12

Reject danger

"You've found a pretty cool guy, huh?" Saul raves in front of the dangerous man.

After a failed attempt to take Honda's life, Pac is unable to move his arm, which is attached to the victim's body.

Honda criticizes her husband, "You despicable brute... look what you've put me through. Hurry up and get me out of here!"

"Of course! But you're making it easy; I don't like it."

"You don't have to like anything."

Pac interrupts the couple's discussion, "My arm..."

Still on top of the pile of corpses, the guy tries to pull his limb out of Honda's body but can't. The woman continues to restrict his movement. 

He comments, "No, that's not good. Mr. Xilo will be a beast if I waste more time here."

"Just get it over with, Saul! I'm giving my life for your fight!"

"Oh, knock it off. You're fine! I refuse your help."

"You what?"

Saul advances towards Pac, positioning himself next to Honda. With overwhelming force, Saul pulls on his wife's body, forcibly removing it from the enemy's arm.

In the process, part of Honda's body is torn away. She falls to the ground, badly injured, with a massive hole in her chest.

"ARGH!"

After moving his limb freely, Pac thanks him, "Thank you. That will save me a lot of time."

The woman slowly begins to regenerate her wounds while Saul attacks the enemy, who responds in the same way.

Their punches collide. The impact causes Pac to sink into the pile of bodies, which crumbles completely.

"You're pretty tough!" Muro's uncle praises his opponent.

"As a repeller, I expected more."

Saul directs his words to his wife.

"Hey, Honda. I thought of a way to make it up to you for all your suffering."

"Huh?" She doesn't understand the situation.

"You can rest over there in the corner. Hehehe."

In another area of the cave, Lev walks alone. Walking through tunnels that seem like endless corridors, the boy is mentally exhausted, repeatedly going through the same scenario.

Stopping in front of a wall, he faces a dead end. There is no sign of life around him.

"Ah, another wall," he mutters to himself.

Lev continues his journey in long, heavy strides, returning to the path he came from to go in another direction.

This trial is one of the most boring things I've ever witnessed. It seemed so nice. His interest in the event is undermined by exhaustion.

Faced with a bifurcation, he chooses another destination.

His mind no longer recognizes where he's going. If I keep going like this, I will lose the ability to think.

Again, there is no way out. Another wall stands in the way of Lev's journey.

Am I paying for some sin? I don't even know if I'm really in the trial. I haven't met anyone yet, so I am not sure. If I carry on at this rate, without knowing anything... he loses himself in thought while scratching his face restlessly.

The boy falls to his knees. After hours of loneliness, he loses hope.

I need to find someone soon, or I'll go mad!

At a run, Lev disappears from where he is. He runs through countless tunnels in the cave in under a second at superhuman speed. 

In a relentless search for any sign of life, the boy's sanity seems to fade with every empty corridor he visits. Suddenly, Lev is propelled backward.

As someone barely paying attention to where he was running, he is slow to understand the latest development. After the impact that pushes him backward, another human is seen before him.

"Ah, I found it," he realizes his discovery.

"Ah! What the hell is that? You want to scare me to death, child!" A thick but frightened voice, Seki is startled.

The man is pale-faced, with a person accompanying him trailing behind. 

"That kid..." A familiar face, Xilo, is the second man standing in Lev's way. 

Lev is lost in his emotions, "They're real humans."

"What the hell did you do? I couldn't even see! Mr. Xilo, did you understand anything?" Seki questions his superior.

"Hey, I've seen you before," Lev interrupts the pair, recognizing the enemy leader's face.

"Seki, I had already realized that, but my rejection doesn't work on this guy."

"Huh? Then he must be from that family of weirdos."

"Well, that gives me one more reason not to waste time here."

"After all, our real target is that bastard."

"Seki, can I leave him with you? There's still someone I need to find before things finally take shape."

"That boy won't get past here."

"Good, we’re going now."

Lev questions the others, "We?"

Xilo heads towards an empty corridor in the opposite direction of the other two. Like a wall blocking any movement, Seki stands in Lev's way.

The boy questions his opponent, "Your team stole food earlier, didn’t it?"

"Mr. Xilo was hungry. Then he saw those wimps full of food and thought: what a waste."

The contempt on a young man's face. Lev's eyes are fixed on the enemy, even though he immediately wants to turn his attention away.

Forcing himself to face Seki, the boy's pupils dilate as he hears more words that intensify his anger.

"But don't worry, that old man was expendable. Haven't you ever heard the stories about him? Anyone who's ever been through a trial must have seen something like that. That loser is here year after year, and no one has killed him. It must be out of pity."

A look that directly threatens his enemy's soul, the young man's anger is masked by his mockery, "Oh, so you've been on other trials? You're pretty lucky because this is my first."

Advancing with all his speed, the boy lunges at Seki. In milliseconds, the attacker is almost instantly propelled back to where he came from.

The threatened man remains still but is taken aback, "Oh, stop scaring me like that, man! You always do that out of the blue."

Lev searches for answers; again, I can't get close to it. Besides, it seems to be something unconscious.

Another lunge from the boy, who is once again supernaturally pushed away before he reaches his target. 

His opponent is startled again, pale with surprise, "Ah! Right, that's enough! Stay away from me!"

"Tsk, so that's how things will have to be."

An endless cycle. Lev accelerates more and more, advancing against Seki incessantly. Push after push, he continues to be prevented from getting any closer. The battle is prolonged.

Another fight takes place simultaneously. Even more profoundly, Muro and Kuna engage in an intense battle in the cave.

Faced with a body that doesn't respect human limits, the boy dodges his opponent's arms, which stretch out with a goo-like physique. 

Kuna's uninterrupted attacks make her limbs resemble ropes, swinging repeatedly around the place, leaving no room for the boy's attacks.

One watches from afar, "This is crazy, Muro. This thing doesn't follow any logic."

Amid countless blows that didn't connect, a single punch from Kuna hits the boy straight on, opening an unexpected sequence.

Dozens of consecutive punches and kicks hit Muro's body as Kuna continues to compress and stretch her limbs to increase her combat speed.

"That's bad; I have to run and get help. You'll never get near her," the spectator makes up his mind.

Nearby, in the confusion, the scream of a little girl is heard. Toki runs for her life, fleeing from an intimidating presence.

"AHHHHHH! Hey, that's not fair! There are no animals here to protect me! Attack without your powers!"

"My ears are straining. Your screams are formidable, brat," the dry voice of a woman. Phoena pursues the child.

A streak of fire flows towards the girl, who throws herself to the ground, rolling quickly to dodge the attack.

Toki gasps in despair, "Cheater! That's cheating!"

The woman creates flames with her hands, launching another offensive. A curtain of fire targets the child. 

The girl jumps behind a rock, using it as a shield to defend herself from the powers.

"Ah!"

The victim remains undamaged after the attack, not being hit. 

When the fire subsides, a tearful scream follows her moment of terror, "buaaaah! I'm going to die!"

She comes out from behind the rock and keeps going when she comes across a corridor already occupied by other competitors.

The siblings' paths cross. One — who was distancing himself from Muro — spots Toki and Phoena. 

"I'm dying! Sorry, Nico! I didn't brush your feathers before I died, buaaaah!"

"Toki?" 

"One? I'm already hallucinating!"

The flames produced by the girl's pursuer frighten One, who returns the way he came.

"Hey, where are you going? Save me, One! My hallucination is betraying me!"

"You've brought an even worse enemy than the one before! I only have stupid siblings!"

The runaway follows the boy. The two groups meet: Muro, One, Toki, Kuna, and Phoena gather in the same place.

Toki notices his older brother lying on the ground, "Muro! Are you dead?"

"Toki? You've come at a good time. Your brother is about to win a fight."

"You were going to lose by a lot," One brings the boy back to reality.

Phoena's eyes meet Kuna's, "you—"

A complete change of focus. With a blast using both hands, Phoena's fire targets her new opponent.

Kuna stretches her arms towards the ceiling, grabbing the cave's stalactites. She then pulls the rest of her body up, dodging the heat attack.

"Looks like someone decided to intrude."

The burning woman declares her target, "Your team is dangerous; that makes you my priority."

The two competitors engage in combat.

One warns his brothers, "Guys, let's seize the opportunity to escape."

The boy notices that his appeal has not been answered as expected. He looks at Muro, trying to understand the situation.

The summoned boy is sweating, indicating his excitement while emphasizing his fear. He can't take his eyes off the imminent fight.

One takes a step back, away from the competitors.

Muro steps forward.

Toki asks the brothers, "Which of you has gone mad?"