Chapter 494: Maleatus

Chapter 494: Maleatus

Obligations

Maleatus stood up and walked out of his cell. He didn't know why Ryun Nacht had come to free him, but he wasn't about to question his fortune, he knew just how fleeting it could be. Before he could ask anything, the man tilted his head, and one of his swords pulsed then increased in size so that it was the size of a large tree, it lanced out then cut across far above them in the distance. A moment later, Mal saw a mech tumbling down, cut in two.

"You are suppressed," the man said, and Maleatus nodded touching the collar around his neck. Ryun nodded, and then a platform shaped out of Qi manifested before his feet. Now he recognized the Qi, it was Selia's. He didn't know how he was using it, but he didn't see Selia anywhere around so it had to be him.

Understanding the message Maleatus stepped onto the platform and it started to rise.

"Wait!" A voice called out from the cell next to Mal's. "Free me! I can give you riches beyond what you can imagine! Anything that you want!"

Maleatus grinned at the fool, but the Ryun glanced at him. "Does he deserve freedom?" He asked.

Maleatus shrugged. "No, not really," he heard the gasp of indignation from the King, but he ignored it and continued. "But, releasing him might muddle the waters about what happened here, assuming you left no one else alive. And it will cause problems, he was the King of the Faction that used to rule here."

Maleatus didn't really know Ryun Nacht, not at all really. He had fought for his faction during the war, but that was mostly for his own goals, and because he knew Selia and Erdania. Aside from a short introduction, he had barely exchanged a couple of words with him.

The man looked at the cell door as if his dark eyes could see straight through it and then he waved a hand. The door vanished as some invisible force erased it from existence, and then Maleatus was rising as another platform formed beneath Ryun's feet and he joined him.

He didn't have to wait for long before the conversation he expected happened. They reached a mountainous area in a different territory, and Ryun guided them to the ground. As soon as they landed, the man turned to face him and spoke.

"I need to know the location of the Unchained home base, or any information that might lead me to it," Ryun Nacht said, more like demanded, with no preamble.

Mal raised an eyebrow in surprise, he hadn't expected that. "I do know something about that, yes," he said slowly. He was grateful for the release, but there was still a small matter currently hanging around his neck. He tugged at the collar and spoke. "But first, could you? This thing is getting uncomfortable."

Ryun Nacht narrowed his eyes, his face twitched and rippled in a current of black, silver, and violet that made Mal take a step back. For a moment he thought that he had misjudged things, that he had overplayed his hand, but then the man tilted his head and his eyes grew unfocused. His face returned to its normal shape and he nodded.

"Yes, you're right," he whispered, and Mal wasn't sure if he was speaking to him.

He stepped close and before Mal could even react, he grabbed hold of the collar. "Don't run," the man said.

Mal wasn't planning on it.

For a moment, nothing happened, and then the weight of the collar around his neck was gone, and his power returned to him in a wave. He felt... Everything. The Space around them called to him and he smiled, he had missed this feeling.

"Now," Ryun Nacht's voice interrupted his reunion with his power. "Tell me?"

"Right," Mal grinned. "A deal is a deal."