When they had a family dinner, Kai suddenly dropped a bomb. "Actually, I'm planning to leave for a year."
Clang.
Her mother's spoon fell to the plate as she stared at her son. "A year?"
"Yes." Kai nodded with a serious expression. "Although I can't say this to the public, I can surely talk it out with all of you. The previous battle is nothing but a warm-up. The real one will come after a year."
"What do you mean?" She furrowed her eyebrows and looked at Kai worriedly.
"I know what you want to say, mom. But this one is the last." Kai made a gentle smile, assuring his mother. "There won't be anything like this anymore in the future. Just for this one, please trust me. I will end everything here."
"Why you? You have been tortured by your ears since you were a baby. However, even after overcoming this hurdle, you need to sacrifice your life like this… I just want you to live a normal life… I just can't bear the world to torture you anymore."
Kai shook his head helplessly. "The only way to avoid problems is not living. As long as we are alive, we will keep facing problems on a daily basis. Some are big, some are not. I think I can guarantee you that this is the biggest one in my life.
"I know how you feel, but I wish you could support me this one time. Trust me. I won't do something reckless anymore." Kai smiled and looked his mother in the eyes.
They all knew what happened to Kai back when he was a baby since his mother told them nonstop.
When he was just born, Kai had been crying nonstop to the point because of the uniqueness of his ears.
Only when he went to a soundproof room did the situation become a bit better. Still, Kai's ears were too powerful.
For a normal person, this room could stop all the noises coming from outside, but Kai was still tormented by it. Only the sound intensity got lessened a bit.
Every day he would cry for a few hours.
His father used all the fortune he had to create noise-canceling headphones for him. Only then Kai regained a little bit more of his peace.
It might come like a blessing, but the torment had indeed strengthened Kai and made him a strong kid that wanted to continue living despite the pain in his ears.
Of course, it was all due to his parents wanting to support him with everything they had, Kai gained such a strong will to live. If not because of them using their money and giving all their support, Kai wouldn't live past one year.
They even went into debt just to create an environment that could lessen Kai's burden. Kai always wanted to repay them in his life.
That was when he met Michelle for the first time. Michelle once mentioned Ria Ross at that time, telling him there was a genius professor that might be able to do something about his situation.
It gave him the will to solve his problem before repaying all his parents had done to him.
It was fate that United Asia was hit by a wave of monsters that almost took his life. It was also a turn of fate that Ria happened to be there and rescued him.
If not because of his will, Kai wouldn't survive after Ria turned him into a Zodiac.
After that, he soon learned Ria's identity and became her student.
At first, they were using each other. Kai wanted to solve his problem, while Ria just wanted to escape from reality by teaching him.
However, they soon became attracted to each other. Ria found the meaning of her life back and dedicated her life to herself, her fallen comrades and Kai. That was also when she gave him the new noise-canceling headphones.
Although the experience struck deep in his heart, Kai was grateful to Ria. After all, with his current power, he could begin to do something more for his parents.
He often sneaked out and gained some money, using it to repay his parents' debts before meeting Tasha.
Life just continued to get better because of it.
That was why Kai always put his parents as the top priority. He just couldn't thank them enough.
Remembering it, Kai smiled again at his mother. "Mom, trust me."
Seeing such a genuine expression, his mother couldn't help but close her eyes. "I understand. I will trust you."
"Thank you." Kai nodded as they continued their dinner. Kai spent more time with his mother before gathering the girls in his room.
"My king…" Leah looked at him worriedly because she knew Kai's plan.
Kai chuckled and faced the girls with a serious expression. "Within this one year, I am going to another place to gain the power to kill their king. I don't know if it will be successful, but this is the only way for humanity to survive. I don't care much about strangers, but they, by no means, are unimportant.
"We still need society, so our children can have a life like this." Kai smiled. "Anyway, I have accepted my status and power…"
They all heard from Leah that a race protector had the power of half God. And there was a chance that Kai would become a threat to the whole world. That might scare most people because Kai was like a walking disaster.
Living in that kind of situation, they would also face the same problem.
That was why Kai felt a bit too adamant in getting and using that power.
However, Michelle hugged him while closing her eyes. Her lips curved a little bit as she said, "There is nothing wrong with the word to fear the unknown. If you can live with only one person who can trust you and see for who you are instead of what you are, then I will walk alongside you forever."
"Wait, what do you mean by one person?! That one person is me, right?" Tasha grabbed her shoulder and glared at Michelle.
"Of course, it's me." Michelle stuck her tongue out as the two started another argument, changing the mood inside the room.
It was then Ayaka approached him and said, "Either way, if you didn't save me, I wouldn't have survived. Even my family wouldn't see the present. That's why I will do the same. If you are a monster, then I will also be a monster, so you are not alone."
"That's true. You should also add my ability, Mimicry, to the equation. There is at least another one in this world." Sofia chuckled while pointing at herself. "Besides, it's not like we can't do anything about it… Right?"
Leah placed her hand on top of her chest as if pointing at herself. "If you don't mind me staying by your side, I can always place an illusion to transform you into another person. No one will recognize you other than us."
Kai smiled. "Sorry… And thank you…"
He spent the rest of the night talking about his plans to show that he had thought every detail. And since he might need it, Tasha told him to keep the Sealing Magic for the time being since he could teleport to anywhere in the world.
It wasn't like she had a hard time with her Magic Power reserve anymore, considering she had increased it due to Leah's training.
Kai then spent one week with his family because he didn't know where he would come back.
******
Author's Note: I need to be hospitalized for a few days. Sorry , can't update chapters.