((Happy New Year My dear readers. As my tiny gift to you all, I will mass release 5 chapter on 5th January 2023. May you receive all the blessings from the god))
Tannatar and Hamon were both in shock after hearing each other's story. Either of them couldn't believe what the other had gone through over the years. Michael believed Tannatar's story as much as he believed Hamon's. While they were silent, staring at each other, Michael punched the wall. The entire wall trembled as dust and pieces of ceiling crumbled down. Tannatar yelled at Michael, but he ignored the elf and continued to punch the wall. The wall was at least two or three-meter in width. Usually, it would take special equipment and runes to penetrate the wall. But to Michael, his fist was more than enough. The vault continued to tremble as dust crumbled down from above.
"Stop!" Tannatar shouted at Michael. As someone who built the walls, Tannatar knew why Michael was punching the wall in that certain place. After punching a hole in the wall, Michael noticed a blue rune glowing within the wall. Michael opened his palm as a stream of dark flames shot to the rune. Under the scorching heat of the dark flame, the rune faded away. As the rune disappeared, the shield around the elven rune flickered. It lost a bit of its glow. Michael scanned the room for more runes. He counted three more.
"Hamon, who the hell is that? You have to tell him to stop," Tannatar yelled at Hamon.
"I can't," Hamon shook his head. Hamon's mind was in a mess. After hearing Tannatar's story, everything he believed turned out to be false. At that moment, Hamon's entire life felt pointless. He couldn't care less about the elven rune. Meanwhile, Michael reached another wall and started punching it like before. The soldiers tried to break the vault door from outside. Michael heard them yell at each other, trying to force their way in using siege machines.
Once again, Michael saw a rune within the wall. He simply destroyed the rune with his dark flames. The shield flickered as its shone dimmer and dimmer. Tannatar struggled against the invisible force binding him to the wall. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't escape. He even tried to cast a spell, only to fail. The force prevented him from completing his spell. Michael, on the other hand, completely ignored Tannatar and Hamon.
When Michael started to punch the wall covering the last rune, Tannatar screamed at him as loud as he could. Michael created a hole deep enough to explode the rune with a couple of punches. His fist turned blood red. Punching still hurt his fist despite covering his fist with the dark flames. If anyone else tried to punch the wall, they would have ended up with a broken hand. The final rune glimmered with a tinge of crimson red. Just like before, Michael destroyed the rune with his dark flames. The black flames coiled around the rune like a snake and vaporized it. At last, the shield covering the golden plate with the elven rune fell down on the ground.
Michael made his way to the golden plate and picked it up from the ground. The golden plate pulsated with strange energy. Suddenly, a powerful blast of grayish energy blasted Michael away. Michael was caught off guard. He flew onto the wall behind him and hit it with a loud thud. His hands went numb. Michael quickly picked himself up to see a strand of purplish flame seep out of the golden plate.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"A primordial flame," The flame glowed brighter and brighter. To Michael's surprise, the flames formed a creepy smiley face in the air. As though the Dark flames had some kind of hostility toward the strange primordial flame, the dark flames shot out of Michael's body. The dark flames produced an otherworldly hissing sound. Michael felt like the two flames wanted to kill each other. He could literally feel the Dark Flames' hatred toward this new primordial flame. Michael dashed at the purple flame to absorb it somehow. However, the purple flames lashed at Michael. He quickly jumped, flipping in the air to avoid the flame waves.
He immediately cast Silenes to slow the time around him. He wanted to catch the purple flame. However, the primordial flame did not get affected by the spell. It shot flew above, penetrating through the ceiling as though it was made of form. Michael landed right above the hole. He looked up at the hole to see nothing but the sky. The primordial flame penetrated through the manor and flew away.
"Damn it system," Michael cursed the system. If it was online, Michael could have absorbed the primordial flames. Since the primordial flames would choose its host as a sentient being, Michael had a feeling the flames were on their way to finding a suitable host.
"What the fuck was a primordial flame doing inside this?" Michael picked up the golden plate with the elven rune on it. After the primordial flame escaped, the elven rune did not pulsate any powerful energy waves. Michael put the elven rune inside his space ring before turning his gaze back at Hamon and Tannatar.
"Did you know what that was?" Michael asked them.
They looked just as confused as Michael. He sighed. He walked toward Hamon.
"He was telling the truth. The flame you saw had powerful energy radiation. Your family spent years in this radiation. So when he took the golden plate with these flames trapped within, the energy radiation disappeared. Your bodies and souls couldn't adapt to living without this energy radiation. Hence, the sickness. Simply put, the real culprit is the flames trapped within the golden plate," Michael explained to Hamon.
However, Hamon's eyes glimmered with doubt. It made sense. After all, Hamon spent his entire life believing Tannatar betrayed him and his family. That kind of hatred wouldn't go away so easily with a few words.
"You lost a family long ago but gained a new one here. There is no reason for you to seek revenge anymore," said Michael. Normally, Michael would avoid giving advice or putting his nose into someone else's business. But Michael lived with Hamon and the Genric family for a year. He had a soft spot for them. Unlike Maxim and his family, Tannatar did no wrong to Hamon. Michael wished Hamon to embrace his new life and let go of the pointless anger. Judging by Tannatar's look in his eyes, he was willing to forget and forgive what Hamon did. The question was will Hamon change?
Michael waved his hands as both Tannatar and Hamon fell from the wall. They breathed heavily. Michael turned his gaze toward Tannatar.
"I will take the elven rune from you," said Michael.
"You can't. Give it back!" Tannatar dashed at Michael without a second thought. Michael simply raised his hand, sending a wave of wind to knock out Tannatar. The gust of wind blasted Tannatar onto the wall. Tannatar growled in pain. He even coughed up blood. If Michael didn't hold back his power, a simple wave of wind could have killed Tannatar. After purifying his body with pills and potions refined by him, his power skyrocketed. It even freaked out Michael. He actually had to hold back most of the time to avoid accidentally killing his foes.
Hamon didn't lift a finger. Michael saw the lingering hatred in Hamon's eyes and sighed inside.
"Don't do anything stupid, Tannatar. I can take this rune and go away peacefully or take it after I slaughter your entire family. The choice is yours," lightning bolts crackled around Michael's wrist. The mere mention of Tannatar's family made him back off.
"This elven rune was a burden for both of you. Be glad I am taking it off your hands. Don't make me kill you all," Michael threatened Tannatar. The aura Michael released made Tannatar tremble in fear. Not a single word escaped the elf's mouth. Meanwhile, Hamon stood there like a statue waiting for the Dark Lord to leave.
"Hamon," Michael turned his head.
He looked at Michael but avoided direct eye contact. Suddenly, Michael grabbed Hamon and lifted him off by his neck. Tannatar's heart skipped a beat. He dashed at Michael,
"Let him go," Tannatar yanked Michael's hands.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Should I kill him for you Hamon?" Michael asked Hamon. When Tannatar heard these words, he stepped back from Mcihael in fear.
Hamon did not answer Michael right away. Instead, he took a few moments and hesitated to say no.
"Some people never let go," Michael threw Hamon away. Michael simply pointed his finger as a golden lightning bolt shot out of his fingertip. In a blink of an eye, the lightning bolt went straight through Hamon's head. Since Hamon was too weak, his entire body exploded into a red mist in the air. The blood splattered across the room, painting the walls and floor red. Tannatar's mind went blank. Not a single piece of flesh hit the ground. Blood slowly trickled down from the ceiling. After the red mist settled down, Tannatar came to his senses.
"Why…why did you kill him?" Tannatar growled at Michael. Before Tannatar could do something stupid, Mcihael flicked his wrist, keeping Tannatar still.
"His hatred for you and your family runs too deep. Sooner or later, he might have flipped and killed you all. I killed him so you won't have to,"
"He could have changed. He just needed time," Tannatar shouted at Michael. His eyes turned blood red due to all the suppressed rage and fury.
"Life is not rainbows and unicorns, Tannatar. If he did change, which I don't believe he would, you would all be a family again. But what if he didn't? What if he still wants to hurt you? Then, you won't have a family to be together with," said Michael.
Tannatar shook his head,
'It wasn't your call. Who are you to decide whether he lives or not? You are not a god!" Tannatar shouted as loud as he could.
"I am," Michael simply said. He didn't bother wasting his time explaining it to Tannatar. The elf may have held a grudge against him, but Michael knew he had done the right thing. Over the past year, The Genric family treated him like he was their own. Michael felt grateful toward them. He just settled his debt by ensuring the Genric family's survival.