Chapter 134 - Vanishing Of A Friend

"Err. So, that is basically what transpired while you were asleep. I would like to apologize once more, Yin. I was only using like ten percent of my strength to slam the sword against you, of course, I trusted that you had enough fight in you to not get hit!" Artorias said to Yin.

"The High Council does not know who Thanatos is, huh? Well, neither do I, whether that is a good thing or a bad thing, only time will tell…" Yin thought to himself as he began loosening up. He understood that the Specter and the Basilisk Slayer only did what they had to because of the High Council compromising them. "Still, it has been the second time in which they threatened my life now…"

"Also, I suggest you all to not tell Luken of this, I am sure he is going to storm in the Grand Castle himself out of anger and have his Commander title revoked by the Emperor because of how reckless he is." The Specter said with a sigh.

"Yeah. That is precisely how he would react!" Artorias Khalil exclaimed and laughed shortly after. "But you do understand why I had to swing my sword at my fellow Slayer, right, Yin?" he was worried that he might have scared the white haired Slayer too much.

"I mean it is better than being killed altogether, I would take a beating over that." Yin finally cracked a smile.

They soared through the starry skies above and were astonished at the sheer heights they were elevating towards.

Zachary broke the silence by turning towards Yin and asking him a specific question. "Are you really on our side?" His question had no animosity or bitterness behind it, however. Zach was legitimately curious. "I do not know much about how you got your powers and you yourself have already told us that it just happened randomly. But I choose to believe that my comrade is not a traitor for the Angels and for the Reaper.

Yin Sohaya grinned "I bet my life on it." He replied back. Gavin smiled and had a sigh of relief. "There are still many things that we do not know about this world and its secrets. But to fight for your comrades and for the people back home…it is a noble cause to arm yourself and brave the outside world, isn't that right, Dad?" The Serpent Summoner asked his father in his thoughts.

"When I asked you what you would do if you had met Adam Rosa, you already saw what happened to them and their mission outside, Art?" Gavin asked his brother.

"Yeah. Of course. It took everything in me to prevent myself from revealing myself. I wanted to wipe that smug face through the ground with my own sword. But I knew that there would be a better time for this soon enough." The Basilisk Slayer said.

"To be honest, I still do not know what had gone through his mind back when he did the deed. The news came to me while I was still asleep. It sent the entire kingdom of Niflheim in a state of chaos. The number one ranked Slayer, the SSS Ranked Reaper had just murdered three members of the Six Blades and was seen being assisted out of the Outer Gates by Angels who took the guards by surprise and hacked them into pieces. That was how it was read in the newspaper delivered by my carrier pigeon. It felt like a bad dream, some sort of sick joke that the ones who were publishing it might have been playing. But unluckily, it was real." A melancholic shine was on the Basilisk Slayer's pupils as he said that.

"T-Then what did you do?" Zachary was curious. "It is useless, Zach, he is never going to tell people about what happened after that, he is not the type to open up to others that easily." Gavin thought to himself.

With a sip of booze straight from the bottle which he took out of his backpack, the Basilisk Slayer smiled with the same sad emotions exuded by his eyes. "I could not believe it if I had not seen it with my own eyes – the place where he supposedly did the deed." He watched the stars up above for a quick glance and continued on with his story. 

Gavin was surprised that he kept on going, but it was not a bad thing at all. "You are finally starting to open up, brother, although it is a bit late, better now than never, right? You only ever used to talk with your heart worn on your shoulders when you were with Adam."

He chugged down the booze in a hurry. Almost like he would not even be able to say this story if not for intoxicating himself enough with beer. "I woke Amara up and told her about it. We flew into some area outside the Outer Gates where Adam reportedly killed Luken Regalia's sister and two other members. The Emperor's investigative team as already in on it, analyzing every little thing, every drop of blood, footprint, you name it. Yet I still asked them to leave the scene for five minutes, only for me to take it all in. They did exactly that and I began to do my own investigation into the situation."

While the Basilisk Slayer was catching his breath, Yin asked the Serpent Summoner. "Where were you during this, Gavin?" 

"Me and Luken were the ones to report what had just happened to the Emperor himself. I carried the lifeless bodies of my two fellow Six Blades while Luken carried his sister. So, by that time, we were in the Emperor's chambers, telling him everything." Gavin said.

"I know I have always dodged this conversation for quite long now, Gav, it is not because I am in denial. The bodies were evidence of what he had done already. It is just that that was the night I lost my best friend, Adam. After what he did, and who he is right now, I have disassociated the version of Adam I saw yesterday as some kind of separate person from the Adam Rosa which I used to fight side by side with back in the days. But slowly, I just accepted it. I examined the deceased body of Luken Regalia's sister and studied her wounds, as well as the bodies of the other two. And they all matched. There was no doubt about it, those wounds were inflicted by Adam Rosa's rapier." The Basilisk Slayer laughed it out, as if to cope with the severity of the situation.

"But mark my words, when our blades meet outside the battlefield, I will only play the role of the Basilisk Slayer, the number one ranked Slayer in the Slayer Corps. And he who is before me shall only be known as the traitorous Reaper who shall fall by my blade." Artorias clenched his jaw in anger.

The whole mood was soured and had turned grim. But such was the nature of their occupation. Slayers were the soldiers of mankind. Fighting against the winged harbingers with their blades and affinities, just exactly why a Slayer of Adam Rosa's caliber turned traitor and decided to join the Angels and how the winged creatures even let him in on their ranks is still a mystery.

A mystery that will not be one for long, once Artorias Khalil sets out on doing something, he will not stop. Such is the tenacity of the Basilisk Slayer. Not even the Specter had heard of Art being this emotional and open towards talking about his feelings and stories from the dire past.

He apologized once again to Yin Sohaya for what just happened, Yin kept insisting that an apology was not necessary. "If you had not offered to only interrogate me as some sort of compromise with the High Council, I am sure my head would be rolling down on the ground right about now. No need to apologize, sir Art." Yin smiled. 

"You are a good kid, Yin. And I cannot wait to fight alongside you and Zachary here." With that, he dropped both of them off to their rooms in the Grand Castle and flew off with Gavin and Vale still on board.

"N-No way…did he just say that? Did he really just say what I think I heard?!" Zachary could not keep his excitement in check.

"Yeah. It does not seem like you were only imagining it. We are paving our own paths, Zach. Even the number one ranked Slayer is eager to fight with us!" Yin reciprocated the same emotions as his fellow Six Blades brother did.

"But you really ought to watch your back, Yin. I know now that these old, cunning, and manipulative High Council members hold such a great hold on Niflheim and the Slayer Corps that not even the Basilisk Slayer nor the Commander despising them has turned their public image sour.." Zachary said.