23 Hozora Kingdom (11)

'What happened?'.

I pushed the fallen walls off me and as I stood up. A massive amount of mana was emanating from the kid, but there was something different.

His hair.

The black hair was replaced with bright white hair, as if he had put on a wig.

Sh*t.

But there was no doubt in my mind about what happened.

Kieran.

The protagonist of 'Resurrection of the Demon God'.

The poor area and the worn-down house were not because of the metoer, but rather because of the poor quality. I was in the slums of the kingdom.

The kid, who had an aura so strong that dirt and debris were flying around him, looked at me.

'Does he want to fight?'.

The flying dirt and debris fell on the ground, and the immense mana that I felt coming from him disappeared, and he suddenly fell to the ground.

I approached Kieran, who was lying lifelessly on the ground.

'Did he pass out?' and as I looked at the rock, surrounded by blood.

"He said that his parents died because of me.".

But if I remember correctly, Kieran was supposed to be an orphan with no parents.

So how was it possible that he had parents?

Maybe Rylan Ashencroft wasn't supposed to meet Kieran yet.

Which meant that his parents would have been killed by the metoers, which made him an orphan.

I could have changed the future, but even with me here, his parents still died.

The only thing that changed is that the protagonist, Kieran, now hates Rylan Ashencroft.

A person in white clothes approached me, and on his back was a symbol of one flaming circle.

'Flaming Star'.

He looked at the rock next to the unconscious kid.

"Close family?"

I nodded. "His parents.".

He made a sigh and said, "Poor kid, losing your parents isn't easy.".

He couched down, grabbing the kid, and looked at the rock.

"At least his parents will be happy that their son survived.".

He looked around to see the crashed walls.

"But what happened here?"

I pointed at the kid.

"I see," he said as he looked at the kid. "He probably awakened his insignia because of the trauma.".

"Well, I will leave now." He made a small salute and dashed away.

"That's how I crashed into the walls, because of his insignia.".

'And it was probably also the reason why his hair changed colors'.

I didn't think he would awaken his insignia because of me. Was that how it was supposed to happen?

No.

I know for a fact that the story was not supposed to go that way. Because of me, he awakened the insignia out of hatred for me.

The trauma from the meteors killing his parents would have been enough. And with the timing of the Flaming Star member, I had a rough idea of what was really supposed to happen.

The kid would ask why his parents died, and the Flaming Star member would explain that monsters killed his parents.

And from there, he would awaken his insignia to kill all the monsters. But this was only a guess and what I assumed would happen based on my knowledge of novels.

I looked at the walls that I crashed into. 

"The story has completely changed.".

Now he had awakened his insignia because I had indirectly killed his parents. 

'Which isn't wrong?" I did kill his parents by releasing my barrier.

Sigh.

I sat down on the cold cobblestone street, the raindrops pelting my face; each one hit me as if the skies were crying.

A small barrier appeared out of thin air, blocking the rain.

I remember him asking me 'why'.

"Why did this happen to you?" 

"Because you are the main character.".

Those things happen, and many more will come.

Even though I was here to stop the meteors, because I was afraid of pain, I didn't.

I don't know if it was fate, but in the end, the same result was produced.

Kieran awakened his insignia.

I am not even sure if he was supposed to awaken it this early, but I could only assume.

"I am feeling horrible.".

Guilt, anger, and a small headache.

All of these combined gave me a horrible sensation.

"There should still be some S-rank monsters left. Maybe those can help lift my mood.".

*****

Around 5000 meters away from the kingdom, one giant serpent and a scorpion the size of a house were standing right in front of me.

"Aren't you going to attack? What is with you, monsters?". I said with a mocking tone.

The monsters, as if they were frozen, didn't move a single step.

"You invade our kingdom, but as soon as you see a strong person, you freeze. What is with that resolve?".

I shook my head.

"Since you don't want to attack, I will be merciful and give you a chance.".

My smile widened. "Fight to the death, and I will let the winner leave.".

The serpent and scorpion looked at each other, and suddenly both their manas clashed against each other.

The serpent tried to bite the scorpion, but as it bit the hard shell of the scorpion, its teeth broke.

Interesting.

"Even between S-rank monsters, there is still a difference in strength.".

The scorpion tried to attack with its sharp stinger, but the serpent barely avoided it.

As the serpent widened the space between them, it suddenly spit out a green liquid at the scorpion.

The green liquid melted the scorpion's shell, revealing its flesh.

It made a loud screeching noise in pain.

"Stop screaming; it's annoying. Or I will kill you both.".

They both stopped their actions immediately.

The screeching sound the scorpion made irritated me a little, but that shouldn't stop them from fighting.

A small chair made out of wood was formed from the ground.

As I sat on it, "Go on, fight again. We still need a winner.".

The scorpion quickly rushed at the serpent, and after fighting for a while, the scorpion barely won. It was filled with injuries, showing its soft tissue behind its exoskeleton.

I clapped from the chair I was sitting on.

"Well done. You can leave.".

The scorpion looked at me in doubt.

"I understand your worries, but don't worry; I won't move or use any magic. In fact, I will only sit in this chair until you are gone from my view.".

The scorpion still looked at me suspiciously.

My face darkened. "What's wrong? You don't want to leave?".

The scorpion quickly turned around, using all of its energy to escape.

'That's more like it; run as fast as you can'.

As I was sitting on the chair, four faint figures quickly rushed past me.

The dracanis were sprinting towards the scorpion, quickly getting closer and closer.

'Technically, I didn't leave my spot, and using Insignia doesn't count as magic'.

Soon, the dracanis attacked the injured scorpion, quickly ending its life.

I stood up from my chair made from earth, and I turned around to walk towards the kingdom.

"That should be the last S-rank monster".