Reverse Apocalypse: The Devil's Revenge

"I will leave the group!"

Kian's announcement caused everyone to look at him. Even Liam couldn't help but look over at Kian.

He noticed that the young athlete didn't seem to like him a lot. This feeling intensified after Ludwig's death. Despite that, leaving the group meant that Kian would be all by himself.

Kian was not stupid. He knew that countless dangers awaited him in the future. The experiences in the Underground Tower showed this quite clearly.

"I will return to Felix and join his group. At least, I can make sure that I will protect others, rather than watching the people around me die without anyone bothering about his death!" Kian said bitterly, gritting his teeth as if he was holding back his anger.

Liam watched this with a raised eyebrow.

"Do you think you have what it takes to protect the Natives there?" He asked, neither angered nor coldly. In fact, Liam's voice was filled with a trace of interest. He wanted to know what kind of nonsense was going on in Kian's head.

"Even if I don't have what it takes to protect others, I will improve, become stronger and become a person I can be proud of. I will always give my best and grieve every death we will have to face!" Kian said, his voice climbing an octave with every spoken word.

To Liam, this sounded like Kian was trying to convince himself rather than others by raising his voice.

"Keep in mind that you will be blamed for their deaths," Liam said, getting up from the ground. He walked over, picked up his pan, and cleaned it using some Arcane Power to remove the stains and fat before he reattached it to the Keychain of Miniature Items, "If you're not strong enough to protect everyone, you will be blamed. Humans always seek fault in others rather than accepting that they were simply too weak to handle the problems on their own.

Well, it is not only humans but let's leave it at that. Sometimes you will hate your own people, one way or another. Keep that in mind when you leave."

Liam wasn't trying to convince Kian to stay by his side. He would never force anyone to stick to him. Of course, if he didn't want someone to leave him, he would say that out loud. However, at the end of the day, he would never force anyone to be around him.

"What the hell?! Kian…what…why??? We can become much stronger by staying by Liam's side. What the hell do you want to do in Felix's group??" Rex asked, flabbergasted about his best friend's decision.

Rex and Kian had been friends for a decade by now. In fact, they knew each other from the day they were born. Their parents had already been best friends and the two boys had spent most of their free time and time in school together.

That made it even harder for Rex to understand what was going on in Kian's mind.

"I understand that you're feeling a little iffy after Ludwig died…but come on…he was a piece of shit and his arrogance led to his doom, not Liam," Rex pointed out while adding the most crucial point, "He nearly killed Felicia as well!"

Neither Felicia nor Ludwig were their friends, but it was a fact that Ludwig had nearly killed one of his teammates. That was not something Rex could accept. He didn't want to imagine what would have happened if Kian had been the one Ludwig nearly killed, instead of Felicia.

Rex was pretty sure that he would have killed Ludwig with his own hands. The sheer reminder of Ludwig's actions was enough for Rex to fume in anger.

"Is that actually how you think?" Kian asked. He sounded a little sad and disappointed in his best friend and shook his head.

"I just don't think that I am fit to stay in this group. Sooner or later, I would have to go up against my ideals…and I don't want to do that," He mumbled, "You know…he is a Halfling, and many humans will hate him…I don't want to fight other humans, and neither do I want to witness them being torn apart by Liam.

I would never kill another human…not as long as I can talk things out, or prevent it in any possible way…and I believe, that is not something I can do while being in Liam's group…"

Kian didn't even dare to look into Liam's eyes anymore. He thought that Liam was enraged and that he would attack him. Just recall the last time when Liam was enraged and the pressure the halfling exuded caused Kian to shudder and lower his head.

Liam, however, was unfazed. He didn't think that Kian said anything wrong. If he couldn't kill other humans right now, he was better off leaving his group. That was a fact.

However, it was also a fact that Kian would die if he was unwilling to kill other humans. Sooner or later, he would understand that his ideals had to be tweaked or that he had to throw them aside completely.

"I will leave this group," Kian repeated, "...even if you won't come with me, Rex!"

Rex swallowed his saliva at that line. He looked at his best friend while biting his lower lip. Seeing the unbreakable determination and conviction in his eyes, Rex sighed deeply.

He was angry and felt helpless as well. But there was not much for him to say.

Rex looked over to Liam as if he was seeking help from him and putting some sense into his best friend. Yet, upon seeing that Liam didn't even think of saying a word, he realized that it was truly over. There was only a glint in Liam's eyes that seemed to speak volumes.

Rex saw this and he forced a small sad smile on his face.

"You know…you might be a warrior, someone who was born and raised on the battlefield…you're trying to act harsh and cold…but I actually think that you have a soft heart," Rex said quietly, while looking Liam deep in the eyes. "It's just hard for you to open up to others because you lost so many people that were important to you…"

"Thank you for opening up a little. I know we didn't spend a lot of time together, but I can tell that it was not easy for you to share things about your friends and family…"

"...I hope you find peace soon…Revenge will never satisfy you…it was never supposed to satisfy anyone…"