Chapter 404 HE Is Here

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Kagehisa had done his best. He was far too weak now to keep fighting.

His arm shook as he tried to raise his weapon again. He could still hold it, but that was about all he could manage.

Another attack would be too much. And with the soldier recovering so quickly, there was no point pretending he could finish this on his own.

Well, he had wanted to see how far he could go. Now he knew.

And he smiled at the soldier anyway. A tattoo in his hand gleamed with rainbow light as a portal opened in front of him.

"Oh well, I did my best. Greet my master now."

"Huh?!"

The soldier didn’t stop moving. Whatever Kagehisa was trying to do, he wasn’t going to give him the chance! He reached toward him, ready to drag him away from the portal before anyone could come through.

His fingers never reached their target.

The Super Soldier saw a towering figure step through the portal. Riven reached forward with one massive hand and easily caught the soldier by the head.

"E-Eh? W-Wha...?"

His body kept moving for a moment, but his head didn’t. His feet scraped against the ground as he tried to pull back. The hand holding him stayed exactly where it was.

What? He couldn’t even make it move?!

He immediately felt it.

TRUUUM!

Riven’s immense psychic power was overwhelming!

It pressed against him from every direction. He tried to gather his own strength, but something kept interrupting him before he could attack. His newly formed limbs twitched. They still obeyed him, yet moving them suddenly took far more effort than it should.

This wasn’t like fighting Kagehisa at all!

The soldier’s lips trembled.

"W-Who the fuck are you...? Y-You...!"

The soldier roared. His tentacles lashed out at Riven, tearing his clothes a little and... doing nothing else.

"Agh!"

In fact, his tentacles burst on contact. Riven’s body was that tough.

The soldier stared at the torn fabric. He had expected blood, or at least for Riven to pull his hand away. Instead, he was the one in pain, and the man holding him looked more bothered by the damage to his clothes.

He sent another tentacle toward Riven’s wrist. It struck, failed to loosen his grip, and recoiled.

Not even there?! What the hell was he supposed to hit?

"I could use another slave... I mean, subordinate."

"W-What...?! WHO ARE YOU ANYWAY?!"

The soldier thrashed angrily like a kitten being held by the scruff, but Riven didn’t even budge.

That only made him struggle harder. He grabbed Riven’s arm with both hands, trying to pry it away. When that failed, he kicked at him. His legs swung uselessly and Riven let him finish without so much as shifting his feet.

He was being ignored! The bastard was holding him there and having a conversation!

"Hey, Kagehisa, is this the kid giving you trouble?"

"He’s annoyingly strong. Yes, sir. Or rather, his regeneration is the problem."

Kagehisa lowered his weapon at last. He could have added quite a few things about the regeneration and those damned tentacles, but his master had already seen enough to understand the problem.

Besides, he needed a moment to catch his breath. Let the soldier try fighting someone else for a change.

"That so..."

Riven narrowed his eyes as he lifted the soldier and began tightening his grip on his head.

The soldier stopped kicking. His hands were still wrapped around Riven’s wrist, but now he was holding on instead of trying to pull it away. He felt the fingers tighten and waited for Genesis to do something.

Anything!

His body could recover from wounds. That didn’t mean he wanted to find out whether it could recover from whatever this man was about to do!

"I want to end this quickly. Maybe I should just..."

"EEEK! WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!!! DON’T KILL MEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Riven noticed that this guy wasn’t like the other mass-produced soldiers. He wasn’t fully connected to their psychic networks, either.

There was still a connection, but it wasn’t enough to explain everything the soldier was doing. His panic, his attempts to bargain, even the way he kept looking for a chance to escape. This guy could think for himself.

Good. Then he should be able to answer a few questions.

He narrowed his eyes.

"Do you know someone called Zephyrus?"

"H-Huh...? My... my senior? Wait, you mean the War Hero Zephyrus?!"

The name got a reaction immediately. The soldier looked up at him, forgetting to struggle for a moment. Then his eyes went to Riven’s hand, and he seemed to remember exactly what kind of situation he was in.

He had better answer properly!

"War Hero...?"

"Y-Yes! He’s known as a War Hero among Claymore... ugh! H-He single-handedly took down several groups of rebel invaders from the monster clans near Northern City..."

He hurried through the explanation, stumbling over his words. Riven hadn’t asked him to keep talking, but he didn’t dare stop. If knowing Zephyrus was the reason he was still alive, then he wanted to make sure Riven knew he could be useful.

Riven let him talk. The title was interesting enough, even if the soldier sounded far too desperate to give a clear account of anything else.

"Hm..."

Tor Riven, it seemed like this rookie Super Soldier was useful enough.

"Alright, I’ll spare your life."

"Really?"

The soldier’s shoulders dropped. He had heard that correctly, right? Riven was actually going to let him live!

He tried to smile, but his lips were still trembling. He wasn’t about to complain. As long as that hand moved away from his head, he would agree to almost anything.

"But not before I give you a good beating for what you did to my subordinates."

"Huh?!"

He tried to raise his hands, but Riven was already moving. The relief vanished from his face.

Hadn’t he just agreed to spare him?!

Apparently, that didn’t mean he was leaving without punishment. The soldier had been too happy about staying alive to consider that little detail.

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