Chapter 577: A Painful Swear!

Chapter 575

After deciding on what to do, Raze went ahead and helped Bonny, Johnny, and the helicopter pilot over the Wall. Now, the three of them could see the full extent of what had occurred with their own eyes.

The destruction. The dead Aberrant bodies littered across the entire place.

They weren’t rolling, taking shots, or doing anything of the sort. They were simply observing.

Raze had already reported back to the Vanguard Order and even contacted the Aspirant base, requesting that they send over their Aeroglide so the squad could camp inside it while waiting for the Big Four to finally send down the rebuilding teams.

By their calculations, it would take about an hour or two for the Aeroglide to reach them, or perhaps five hours, depending on how slowly the pilot flew.

So, in the meantime, everyone dispersed around the Wall.

Since there was no active threat and all the Aberrants were practically dead, they were free to look around.

Bonny and Johnny stuck together, while the helicopter pilot remained rooted to his spot, simply staring at the dead Aberrants as though anticipating them suddenly jumping back to life and attacking him.

Ray and his friends walked together, while Captain Raze picked a somewhat sheltered spot and lay down.

He removed his robe and draped it over his face before drifting off into the dream world, his battle-axe resting beside him after drinking its fill of Aberrant blood for the day.

As they walked, memories flooded Ray and Van’s minds, and a sense of nostalgia threatened to overwhelm them.

"Ray, do you remember this shop?" Van asked with a grin as they all stared at a ruined structure riddled with massive holes in its walls.

"Yeah. Wasn’t this Uncle Ben’s shop? The place we used to run to for snacks almost all the time," Ray replied, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"I even remember the day we snuck out to get snacks late at night, and your worried mum came looking for us. She whipped the living day—"

"—Ahem! The others don’t need to know about that, fool," Ray interrupted with an embarrassed cough, prompting the others to chuckle.

They moved from one spot to another, slowly and steadily surveying the Wall.

Those who had been unable to walk earlier had been healed by Ray, while Caster’s broken hand had also been restored, allowing them to move around as well as they had before.

However, they were simply too exhausted to fight right now.

As they continued walking, Van kept pointing out different locations, and Ray did the same, sharing memories of the places they had once known. Although everything had been reduced to ruins, with massive footprints still etched into the ground, the memories associated with those locations remained.

At some point, Ray grew quiet while Van continued yapping, enthusiastically trying to show the others around the place.

’Show me my rewards.’

[Rewards for completing your Quest 2 and retaking Wall Rose: +15,000 EXP; +20 free stat points; +1 opportunity to level up any Bloodline skill of yours.]

’Oh, wow. Before I look at those, I want to know more about the Celestial Points from earlier. What do they do?’

[Every Celestial has a condition they must fulfil in life to attain satisfaction. Just as humans eat to satisfy their hunger, Celestials fulfil their conditions to satisfy themselves.

In your case, you need to acquire praise and adoration every month because you possess the Celestial Elyon bloodline.

In the process, you earn Celestial Points, which can be used to power your Celestial transformation, access various perks associated with being a Celestial, and possibly enter the Celestial Realm once you’re strong enough.]

’Uh... okay? How many points do I have?’

[Celestial Points: 500/500]

’Fuck?! How did I amass so many points?’

[Each praise you receive from humans grants you a single point. Note: This doesn’t mean every bit of praise or adoration counts. You must do something noteworthy that attracts attention, such as saving someone or accomplishing something truly extraordinary, and receive praise for it to earn a point.

This isn’t limited to the human race.]

’Wow, wow! Isn’t that amazing? Haha! Show me my status tab.’

[Congratulations: You have leveled up. +1 to all stats.]

====== [Status] ======

[Name: Ray Dawson]

[Age: 16]

[Race: Tribrid Master]

[Level: 49>>>50]

[EXP: 4,300/200,000]

[Celestial Points: 500/500]

[HP: 1,00/1,105]

[MF: 500/500]

[Energy: 500/500]

{Attributes:}

[STR: 130>>>136]

[AGI: 125>>>136]

[INT: 120>>>121]

[PER: 120>>>121]

[END: 125>>>131]

[VIT: 180>>>181]

[Stat points: 30>>>60]

======

’Ah... I feel amaz—’

His thoughts trailed off as they reached a corner that made his eyes widen.

He hadn’t been paying attention to where they were going until they rounded the corner and emerged into a ruined neighbourhood.

There, in one corner, lay a pile of rotten flesh and bones.

But that wasn’t what made Ray pause. It was the fact that he recognised this spot.

His heart pounded violently against his chest as he stared at the scene before him.

A crushed house, slabs of earth scattered around its ruins, and a massive boulder resting atop a skeleton’s head.

Van went quiet almost immediately, turning his head to look at his best friend.

The Tribrid’s eyes welled with tears as memories came rushing back.

His mother, trapped beneath a heavy slab of earth, her legs crushed.

And his sister...

His sister, her face crushed beneath a massive boulder.

Tak. Tak. Tak.

Ray slowly walked towards the boulder resting on the skeleton’s head.

With every step he took, another tear slid down his face. By the time he reached the area, his cheeks were drenched, and his entire body trembled uncontrollably. His legs finally gave way, and he collapsed onto his knees.

"A-A-Amy? I-I’M sorry. I’m so sorry!" he wailed, lowering his head onto the skeleton.

Tears streamed freely down his face as he gently wrapped his arms around the remains.

Despite the insects and maggots crawling through the remnants of flesh still clinging to the skeleton, Ray didn’t care.

His sister’s dress had almost completely disintegrated, yet fragments of it still clung to her body’s frame.

"I-I... wait, I will free you now." Ray hurriedly uttered before placing his hands against the boulder. With a firm push, he sent the massive rock flying away.

Part of the boulder crumbled into pieces, a testament to the strength he now possessed.

Laid before him was a shattered skull, dried blood smeared across its surface.

"AMYYYYYY!"

Ray released a piercing scream of pain as the memories of that dreadful day came crashing back into his mind.

He had left the house annoyed with his little sister, only to return and find her crushed beneath the ruins.

And now, he regretted it.

He regretted that his last memory of her had been one of shouting at her, of getting pissed off over something that no longer mattered.

Pulling the skeleton closer, he sobbed quietly, his gaze shifting towards the slab of earth lying nearby—the very same slab that had crushed his mother’s legs that day.

If only... if only he had been as strong as he was now, he might have been able to save her.

She wouldn’t have met such a gruesome end.

If only.

His heart ached, and his head spun as he continued hugging the skeleton, refusing to let go even as maggots crawled across his skin.

Van sniffed, and so did Chloe, tears falling freely from their eyes.

Trisha turned her head away, unwilling to watch Ray break down the way he did.

Ever since they had started walking around the ruined neighbourhood, they had come across rotten bodies scattered here and there.

It was clear that the Aberrants hadn’t even possessed the decency to consider burying the dead. They had simply left the bodies to rot in the streets, as though the lives they had taken meant absolutely nothing.

Felix’s hands tightened into fists.

’Ho-how? How didn’t the werewolves know what humanity was facing? How-how didn’t we come to help? Just why? Why did we have to remain hidden? Di-Did they kn—? Of course the Alpha should surely know.’

He ground his teeth in disappointment as he watched Ray kiss the crushed skull.

At some point, Caster exhaled and walked forward.

Placing a hand on the Tribrid’s shoulder, he spoke quietly.

"Ray, you need to put her to rest. She has been in agony for long enough. Lay her to rest now."

Ray didn’t act as though he had heard him, but he did eventually lift his head and look around.

Soon, his gaze settled on a patch of soft soil.

Gently gathering his sister’s remains, he walked towards the spot, which was close to their destroyed home, and bent down.

Without even thinking about it, his hands shifted into claws, which he plunged into the earth.

He began digging.

And digging.

And digging like a madman, tears falling freely down his face as he scooped the soil away with his claws.

Felix wanted to move forward and help, but Ray shook his head, refusing any assistance.

So, he dug and dug until the hole was wide enough. Then, with trembling hands, he gently lowered his sister’s remains into the grave.

Reaching into his inventory, he pulled out a dress—his mother’s dress.

He stared at it for a moment before bringing it closer to his face and pressing a kiss against the fabric.

His tears fell onto the dress, soaking it as he struggled to hold himself together.

"Ac-accompany your daughter. I-I will miss you both. I-I-I love you both," he muttered before letting the dress fall into the grave, where it settled over part of his sister’s remains.

Then, with lightning speed, he began using his hands to push the soil back into the grave.

Van walked over, sliding a beast core into his mech equipment and summoning his mechanical hands. They transformed into a pair of shovels, and he immediately joined Ray, helping him push the soil back over the grave.

Tears dripped from Van’s chin as he worked silently beside his best friend.

After about two minutes, they were done.

But Ray wasn’t finished.

He looked around before walking towards the boulder he had pushed away earlier.

His hands curled into fists, and he hammered them against the rock, shattering it into pieces.

Grabbing one of the larger fragments, he began carving words into its surface with his sharpened claws.

He worked in silence, etching each letter into the stone until he was finally done.

Then he returned to the grave and carefully positioned the stone, managing to push it into the ground until it stood firmly in place.

The words carved into the rock read:

<Here lays Mrs Dawson and Amy Dawson.

A beloved mother and sister to Ray Dawson.

Died on February 25th 2256.

Rest well, beauties.>

’I will avenge you both by eliminating all Aberrants in this universe, I swear it. I swear it on your graves.’

His claws pierced deep into his palms, and blood trickled down his arms.

’I swear.’