Chapter 141 - "I Deserve Your Anger."

"Y-Yoshiko-nee… Will Kotone-nee be fine?" Ran asks Yoshiko as they arrive at a dense thicket somewhere at the foot of the hill.

"She will be…" Yoshiko nods.

"S-She c-can f-fight that… giant, right?" Taishiro asks, the image of Dominic's turtle etched in his mind.

His words and his terrified state also makes the others tremble.

"Of course, she can. But she and I will fight together her so we can take the enemy down easier." Yoshiko assures.

"…" Akane and Yori however, see that Yoshiko is worried.

They want to help out but they know that they are still weak and powerless. They can barely suppress their fear themselves.

The children are distracted from their fears for now as they see Yoshiko push aside a huge boulder, revealing the entrance to Red's cave. They are also awed by Yoshiko's simple display of a basic fire technique that lights their path.

As they arrive at the cave's main cavern, "Damn…" Yoshiko curses softy.

Akane and Yori hear it.

"Something wrong?" Yori asks in worry.

"This is sensei's… house. But it seems that he left to somewhere." Yoshiko shakes her head, helplessly.

"Anyways. You're all safe here for now. I'll go provide back-up to Kotone." Yoshiko says aloud, assuring the group that the cave is the only safe place they can hide.

"We'll take care of the children." Akane promises. "Okay. The other servants will be here at any moment." Yoshiko nods and with that, she zooms out of everyone's sight.

"Children. Why don't we all cultivate? It's the best we can do for now." Yori tells the children with a convincing smile.

"..okay.." The children know that it is the only thing they can do.

For the next two minutes however, they cannot concentrate as one after another, they feel subtle vibrations coming from above the cave, which they know are the tremors of the Yoshiko and Kotone fighting the giant turtle, making them imagine all sorts of things in their heads.

The next moment, the demon servants then arrive to join them.

"Hello children." Ichiki is the last one to arrive with a huge basket on hand.

"I made you all sweet milk tea." And hands out the contents of his basket.

"How is everything outside?" Akane asks Roku.

"Dangerous." Roku's one word does not assure the group.

"A-are they winning?..." Osamu asks.

"We are too weak to tell." Roku shakes her head.

The cultivators are disappointed and the silence in the cave resumes.

*zzzt*

*dum*

*dum*

Even though the sounds that reach the cave are soft to everyone's ears, it is loud to their hearts. Every vibration, every percussion no matter how small, makes everyone's hearts restless.

Then, "…", the sounds and vibrations suddenly stop and everyone one waits in bated breath.

A few seconds of not hearing anything, "I-it's over?" Chihiro whispers in worry.

"I'll go check it." Hachiyo, one of the demon babysitters, says and heads out.

"Hachiyo-san!" Ran and Chihiro call out in worry, reflecting the rest of the children's sentiments.

They do not want to see another one of their babysitter get taken away from them.

"I'm good at hiding, don't worry everyone." Hachiyo assures.

Before she is about to leave the main cavern however, *whoosh*, a man with flaming feet enters in great speeds.

"…" The cultivators' hearts drop seeing the unconscious and bruised Yoshiko and Kotone being carried by the man at each shoulder.

"*EEK*!"

"*AH*!" All sorts of gasps and exclamations ring out.

"Y-yoshiko-nee.!" Chihiro runs towards Xoz'gekal.

"They're still alive, and they will live." Xoz'gekal assures everyone as he lays the unconscious cultivators down to the ground with care.

The group, seeing Yoshiko and Kotone still breathing, all sigh in relief.

"But they are heavily injured and will probably be unconscious for days." Xoz'gekal sighs.

"N-no…" "uuuuu…." Ran and Chihiro start crying.

Osamu, Taishiro, and Kanon want to cry too but they are suppressing their tears from falling.

"Was the threat dealt with?" Yori's worried question reminds every one of the threat that is still looming. .

"M-" Before Xoz'gekal can answer, *DOOM* *BRRCKK* everyone hears the loudest sound they have heard yet, followed by the cave trembling.

"Kichirou-sama is fighting the enemy now. Thankfully, we arrived just in time." Xoz'gekal says as he looks up, his explanation calming the group down.

"Huuu.." The cultivators all sigh in relief.

*DOOM*

*CRASH*

The noise and the trembling of the cave continues, making everyone wait again in tension.

A few minutes later, "…", the sounds and tremors once again, stop.

The new cultivators, seeing Kotone and Yoshiko's states, are no longer confident in Red's abilities and their worries increase.

"A-are we gonna die?" Taishiro wonders aloud. This increases the tension in the cavern.

"…" Yori and Akane exchange glances. They do not know how Red can possibly beat something so titanic, but they still hope that Red had won the fight.

"Don't be stupid, kid. Kichirou-sama is stronger than you think." Xoz'gekal scoffs.

*Tap*

*tap*

*tap*

The next moment, the group hears footsteps approach from afar.

"…" They look at the direction of the entrance of the cavern in worry and anticipation.

Soon enough, they see Red's figure emerge out of the darkness.

"We're safe now, everyone." Red smiles at everyone.

As he walks closer to the group however, they see that the left sleeve of Red's kimono is soaked with blood. They notice further that something is missing under that sleeve.

"Y-your arm…" Akane's shrieks.

"*!*" The rest of the group also realize and they gasp.

"Yes." Red simply shrugs.

"One forearm for one S-Class Superioris? I'm lucky." He explains.

"S-Class…" Everyone shivers at the word.

They have heard of S-Class Superiori and how elusive and legendary they are, but never really had the slightest idea of how powerful one really is.

Even A-Class superiori's fights are rare to see.

But with the colossal thing they have seen earlier, the feeling of insignificance standing before it, and how Yoshiko, Kotone, and Red ended up, they now have a clearer image of what an S-Class superioris really is.

"A-are you alright?" Kanon asks.

She cannot believe that Red who she deemed like a deity just a few hours ago, is now injured like this.

"I'm alright, my dear. Don't worry." Red walks to the girl and ruffles her hair.

"But Yoshiko and Kotone are not." He adds.

"Rekka." Red addresses Xoz'gekal.

"Yes, sir."

"Please take everyone outside. I will treat Yoshiko and Kotone's injuries." Red orders.

"As you wish." Xoz'gekal nods and leads everyone out.

The group soon exit the entrance of the cave and Xoz'gekal also seals the entrance once again with the boulder.

"My goodness." Akane cannot help but gasp, seeing the once beautiful hillside has become muddy and the trees uprooted.

"Are we really safe now?" Yori cannot help but ask.

"We are." Xoz'gekal nods as he summons a huge flame vulture.

"Hop in."

The group ascend once again.

.

.

"Haaa.a…" Xoz'gekal sighs and stops the bird to fly stationary as they gain enough height to look at entire size of the hill.

"…" The cultivators cannot help but become silent seeing that the hill has car sized holes spread throughout. Half of the bamboo wall is wiped out alongside with half of the gardens. There are also landslides that has changed the shape of the hill itself.

"We're lucky." Xoz'gekal shakes his head, interrupting the silence.

"The turtle was bigger than the hill. We're lucky that our hill wasn't destroyed, and you weren't buried under it." He adds.

"…" Everyone is stunned.

"B-But… It was smaller when we saw it." Yori asks wide-eyed.

"It was? Huh. It must have gotten bigger." Xoz'gekal shrugs.

The children all ponder in horror, trying to imagine the turtle's size.

"But… Why were we attacked? We didn't do anything wrong…" Taishiro asks aloud in indignation.

"This was my fault, children. I'm sorry." Xoz'gekal says, receiving strange and inquiring gazes.

"I took revenge on Nana-san's killer. But I didn't know that the killer knew an S-Class Superioris." He says with an apologetic face.

"Nana-san's killer." Taishiro is taken aback.

The children are reminded of that peaceful morning. Nana's beautiful smile, her hair dancing behind her as she ran. Her figure being shined upon by the sun. A peaceful morning that ended in tragedy with their beautiful babysitter being taken away from them suddenly.

"You took revenge…" Osamu looks at Xoz'gekal. Not knowing if he should admire the demon for doing what he himself always wished to do, or blame the demon for nearly causing another tragedy.

"Yes." Xoz'gekal nods.

"Kichirou-sama asked me to let it go, but I didn't. Now this happened. Yoshiko and Kotone are in a coma. Kichirou-sama lost an arm. It's all my fault." Tears start flowing down his cheeks.

"It's okay… It's okay…" Kanon grabs the hem of Xoz'gekal's shirt and consoles the demon.

"No…" Xoz'gekal falls to his knees.

"I wish I was stronger. I wish I could have helped Kichirou-sama. I'm such a weakling." He starts sobbing weakly.

"Rekka-san…" Hachiyo calls out.

"You are a high-tier A-Class superioris. You are strong…" She stands in front of Xoz'gekal.

"A-class. High tier…" Despite Hachiyo's casual words, the cultivators' jaws almost drop at the information.

They rarely met Xoz'gekal, or Rekka as they know him. Although they know that the demon is strong because they always see him fly beyond the gate every time he visits the hill, they did not know that he is a high-tier A-Class superioris.

Before any of them can raise the issue, they cannot as "We were just unlucky. That's all." Hachiyo continues to console Xoz'gekal.

"Still. This wouldn't have happened if I listened to him." Xoz'gekal shakes his head.

"I understand. But at this time, crying will not help. What will help is you assisting Kichirou-sama while he heals." Hachiyo says.

"Assist him…" Xoz'gekal nods, and he stops crying.

"Yes. So stop dwelling for now, and follow his orders perfectly." Hachiyo smiles.

"Alright." Xoz'gekal look consoled.

"*sniff* Alright. Let's bring you away for a few days." He then controls his vulture to fly away from the hill.

During the silent flight, Xoz'gekal notices that the cultivators are stealing glances at him. "Again, I'm sorry, everyone." He says.

"I deserve your anger."

"W-we're not angry!" Chihiro says in panic.

"I-it's not like that, Rekka-san." Akane follows.

"They're just interested in you, Rekka-san." Ichiki says, despite knowing that Xoz'gekal knows.

"Interested? Me? Why?" Xoz'gekal asks.

"Y-you're a high-tier A-Class… I heard that some clan heads are just B-Class." Yori says.

"You're stronger than the top 3 pro hero!" Chihiro adds.

"Yes. So? My strength is not enough. I'm still weak... Let's stop talking about me now, please." Xoz'gekal shuts down the issue.

"Weak…" The cultivators are confused at why Xoz'gekal thinks that he is weak.. And it turn, makes them feel powerless.