Chapter 178: Chapter 178- Envy
The sky swarmed with wings. Blades flashed, bullets cracked, and the air reeked of burnt chitin. Rea’s voice cut through the noise, sharp with worry. "Belle shouldn’t be out there alone. If the power flow was severed, it’s not safe to send her by herself."
Sebas parried his anxiety with the same composure he carried into every crisis. "Belle can handle herself. Trust her abilities. Worry will only cloud your focus."
Kevin clenched his fists, jaw tight. "Then I’ll follow her. If something happens—"
"Kevin," Sebas snapped, his tone sharper than usual. "Stay here. You’ll only divide our strength further."
Kevin bit down on his frustration, shoulders trembling, but didn’t move.
Meanwhile, Lucy tore through the air, her talons rending capwings apart with merciless precision. Blood streaked her feathers as she glanced at the sky with a cruel grin. "The sky-whale sends us more toys."
Cindy, still pale but bandaged, gripped her pistol with both hands. Her breath hitched, tears clinging to her lashes as she aimed at the next swarm. "It doesn’t end... it just doesn’t end..." She squeezed the trigger, shots echoing between her sobs.
The swarm pressed in like a storm cloud, wings whirring, jaws snapping. Kevin’s chest heaved, anger and helplessness boiling together until it broke loose.
"Damn it!" he roared, his body erupting in a flare of white-gold light that burned the shadows around him. The nearest capwings shrieked as their wings crisped in the sudden blaze, bodies crashing lifelessly to the deck.
He swung his blade, a weapon of pure radiance, carving a crescent of light through the swarm. Chitin split and scattered like glass. But Kevin wasn’t finished. His frustration demanded more.
Lifting his hand, he summoned fragments of his fury into dozens of small, searing orbs. They floated for an instant around him, then streaked outward in a deadly constellation. Each sphere struck a capwing, exploding in bursts of white flame. The swarm staggered, shredded by precision and rage.
But Kevin wasn’t content to let the light do all the work. He surged forward, his sword of light elongating as he swung it with both hands. The blade howled as it cleaved through one insect after another, bodies split clean in half, sparks of light trailing his every strike.
The deck shook under his rampage. Every swing, every orb, every thrust carried his frustration, his fury at being left behind while Belle risked herself, his rage at being told to wait. The swarm of capwings fell in waves before him, their numbers thinning, their screeches drowned out by the roar of his blade and the glow of his wrath.
Rea kept slashing at the swarm, blades flashing. "This is the first time I’ve ever seen Kevin like that," he muttered between swings.
Sebas, calmly watching the chaos through the monitor, adjusted his glasses. "Perhaps it’s the stress he’s been carrying all this time."
Lucy, perched in her avian form, didn’t respond, her piercing eyes only followed Kevin’s rampage with a detached and analytical gaze.
Meanwhile, Belle hurried down the dim corridor that fed into the power flow chamber. The deeper she went, the heavier the air became. Her boots splashed against something wet, and when she glanced down, the faint glow of the emergency lights revealed blood trailing along the floor. The stench of iron filled her lungs.
She rounded the corner. Bodies of the guards lay sprawled against the walls, throats cut, armor cracked. The chamber that should have hummed with steady energy was eerily silent.
Belle’s eyes narrowed. "This is..."
Her instincts screamed danger, and she broke into a run, pushing into the core room, only to freeze. Someone stood there, half-shrouded in the pulsing shadows of broken conduits. Recognition struck her instantly, though part of her had already guessed.
A cold voice greeted her. "I didn’t expect you to be the one checking this place, Belle."
Belle exhaled slowly, forcing a calm smile as she drew her weapon just slightly. "I had a feeling it would turn out like this. I was prepared for you... Nia."
Nia leaned casually against the console, her lips curling into a faint smirk. "Always so composed, Belle. I wonder, do you ever get tired of pretending nothing rattles you?"
Belle stepped closer, her hand never leaving the grip of her weapon. "Pretending? You give me too much credit. I stopped being rattled by you a long time ago."
Nia tilted her head, feigning offense. "Ouch. After everything we’ve shared, that’s a cruel thing to say."
Belle’s eyes hardened. "Shared? Don’t twist the past into some excuse. You chose your side the moment you turned your back on us."
Nia laughed softly, the sound echoing eerily in the ruined chamber. "Turned my back? No, Belle. I simply saw what the others were too blind to notice."
Belle’s tone sharpened. "Freedom built on blood. On betrayal."
Nia’s smirk deepened. "Funny. You call it betrayal, but in truth, you envy me. Don’t you?."
Belle’s grip tightened, but her voice remained steady. "You don’t know me anymore, Nia. Whatever you think I envy, you’re wrong. I only feel sorry... because I know how this ends for you."
Nia’s eyes glimmered, a flash of something dangerous behind them. "Then come prove it."
Belle narrowed her eyes, her voice calm but laced with steel. "Do you even realize, Nia... you’re still alive because of Kevin. And instead of gratitude, you repay him with this?"
Nia’s smirk faltered for a split second, but she quickly masked it with a scoff. "Gratitude? Don’t make me laugh. I didn’t ask to be saved. Kevin just couldn’t accept reality, he needed someone to justify his ideals. I was convenient."
Belle took another step forward, her hand steady on her dagger. "That’s not true. We welcomed you into Lightdown. We fought side by side. He believed in you when no one else would. And you know it."
Nia’s expression darkened, her voice edged with bitterness. "Belief is nothing but a chain. Kevin’s ’faith,’ your loyalty, this whole group, it was all just a cage painted in gold."