Free Web NovelChapter 35: Rescue of the Fat King II
The inquisitor went flying into a tree.
CRASH.
The bark exploded.
Leaves fell everywhere.
And for a few seconds, absolutely no one spoke.
Not the inquisitors.
Not Aurelion.
Not Darius.
Not even Malrik.
Everyone watched the man embedded in the trunk.
Unconscious.
With a huge sandal print stamped on his face.
Kael slowly lowered his hand.
"..."
He looked at the energy chain.
Then at the inquisitor.
Then back at the chain.
"I have no idea what just happened."
"Me neither."
Aurelion appeared beside him.
"But it was incredible."
"It wasn’t incredible."
"A giant sandal came out of your magic."
"Exactly."
"That’s why it was incredible."
"That doesn’t make anything better."
Aurelion smiled.
"I disagree."
A few meters away.
The Fat King watched the scene.
Sitting.
With the same superior expression as always.
As if this were completely normal.
As if launching people with supernatural footwear was an everyday activity.
Kael pointed at the cat.
"Do you understand this?"
"Meow."
"I knew asking was useless."
On the other side of the battlefield.
An ice explosion shook the forest.
BOOOOOOM.
Malrik was sent flying several meters.
He spun in the air.
Landed on both feet.
And burst out laughing.
"HAHAHAHA!"
"Magnificent!"
"Truly magnificent!"
In front of him.
Seraphina held several ice lances floating around her body.
Her gaze was still as cold as ever.
But now there was something different.
Annoyance.
Genuine annoyance.
"Give back the Fat King."
Malrik smiled.
"And miss the best opportunity of my life?"
"No.
Give him back."
"No."
Seraphina created another ten lances.
Malrik created a storm.
And they clashed again.
BOOOOOOM.
Kael watched that.
"I think she’s really angry."
"Yes."
"She’s scary."
"Very."
Darius appeared covered in dust.
"For the first time in my life, I’m glad I’m not the target."
"Me too."
"And I’m not even looking at her."
"Exactly."
Another group of inquisitors decided to intervene.
Five men.
All armed.
All experienced.
All clearly more dangerous than any student.
The leader pointed at Kael.
"Capture the Bearer."
"Bearer?"
"Now they’re calling me that?"
"It sounds important."
"I don’t like how it sounds."
The inquisitors charged.
Kael reacted by instinct.
His chains appeared again.
This time the glow was different.
As if the magic was trying to decide what it wanted to be.
"Please don’t do something weird."
GLITCH.
GLITCH.
GLITCH.
"That’s already weird."
The tip of a chain began to warp.
The inquisitors prepared to dodge it.
They didn’t know what it was.
But after the sandal, no one wanted to find out.
Then it appeared.
A giant wooden bat.
Aurelion blinked.
"Is that a bat?"
"I think so."
"Why?"
"I DON’T KNOW!"
Kael swung.
BONK.
The bat appeared over an inquisitor’s head.
The man stood frozen.
Blinked once.
Twice.
Three times.
And then fell face-first to the ground.
Asleep.
Deeply asleep.
Silence.
Darius pointed.
"Did you kill him?"
"No."
"Then?"
"I think I put him to sleep."
"With a bat?"
"It looks like it."
"That’s stupidly useful."
"Thanks."
"That wasn’t a compliment."
Kael decided to ignore him.
The other inquisitors no longer looked so confident.
And it was understandable.
No one trained to face a cosmic sandal and a sleeping bat.
It simply wasn’t part of the curriculum.
One of them gathered mana in both hands.
"Attack from a distance!"
"Good idea!"
"Don’t let him get close!"
Dozens of magical projectiles shot out.
Kael swallowed.
"That does look like a problem."
"It definitely is a problem."
"Thanks for the confirmation."
Aurelion summoned the Celestial Mirage.
But even he looked worried.
The spells were coming from too many angles.
Kael threw another chain.
GLITCH.
GLITCH.
GLITCH.
Reality glitched again.
This time a giant floating phrase appeared.
NO U.
Everyone stared.
"What does that mean?"
"No idea."
Then it happened.
The projectiles turned.
All of them.
At the same time.
And flew back toward those who had launched them.
BOOOOOOM.
The explosion shook half the forest.
Several inquisitors were sent flying.
One ended up hanging from a tree.
Another fell into a bush.
A third landed face-down in the mud.
Kael’s eyes went wide.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Aurelion was just as shocked.
"That was incredible."
"That was terrifying."
"Both things can be true."
"Fair point."
Meanwhile.
The Fat King kept watching.
And for the first time.
He didn’t look bored.
His eyes followed Kael’s movements.
Every decision.
Every improvisation.
Every bit of madness.
As if he were evaluating him.
As if he were judging him.
As if he were trying to decide something.
Kael noticed.
And for some reason, he got nervous.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Meow."
"That doesn’t help either."
The fight continued.
The inquisitors began to retreat.
Because it was impossible to predict what the hell he would do next.
And that made things worse.
Malrik understood quickly.
And that began to worry him.
While exchanging attacks with Seraphina, he watched the battlefield.
And saw something he didn’t like.
Kael was changing.
Until now.
The boy had always depended on the cat.
But not anymore.
Now he improvised.
Exactly like the Chaos creatures described in the forbidden texts.
Malrik frowned.
"That’s a problem."
Seraphina took advantage of the distraction.
CRASH.
An ice lance exploded against his shoulder.
Malrik went flying.
Rolled several times.
And ended up embedded in a rock.
"Ouch."
"Give back the Fat King."
"You’re still obsessed with that."
"Yes."
"I noticed."
The answer came with another lance.
Malrik decided to dodge it.
For survival reasons.
A few meters away.
An inquisitor managed to circle behind Kael.
Silent.
Fast.
Precise.
Dagger in hand.
Aurelion saw it too late.
Darius was busy.
Seraphina was too far away.
The blow descended.
Straight at his back.
Kael hadn’t even noticed.
And then it happened.
Meow.
A small sound.
Soft.
Almost innocent.
The Fat King disappeared.
One instant he was sitting.
The next he wasn’t.
The inquisitor froze.
Because the cat appeared in front of him.
Just appeared.
No explosions.
No effects.
No warnings.
He was just there.
Staring at him.
Nothing more.
The man tried to move.
He couldn’t.
Tried to breathe.
He couldn’t either.
Because suddenly he felt something.
Something impossible to describe.
Something so absurd.
So incomprehensible.
So completely beyond all logic.
That his brain simply decided to give up.
His legs gave way.
The dagger fell.
And so did he.
THUD.
Unconscious.
The entire battle stopped.
Again.
Kael looked at the cat.
The cat looked at the inquisitor.
Then back at Kael.
And then sat down.
As if nothing had happened.
"..."
Kael blinked.
"Did you help me?"
The Fat King turned his head.
Ignoring him.
Completely. ƒrēewebnovel.com
Aurelion burst out laughing.
"That means yes."
"Shut up."
"It definitely means yes."
For the first time since he had summoned him.
Kael felt something strange.
As if the Fat King had decided that he was worth keeping alive.
And coming from him...
That probably amounted to a declaration of friendship.
Or a promotion.
It was hard to tell.
Because he was still a weird cat.
Very weird.
Malrik watched the entire scene from a distance.
And for the first time.
He wasn’t smiling.
Because he had just realized something dangerous.
The problem had never been only the Fat King.
The real problem...
Was that the Fat King was starting to acknowledge Kael.
And if that continued...
If the bond between them kept growing...
Then the Church of Order would have a much bigger problem than they imagined.
Because a Chaos creature was dangerous.
But a Chaos creature that chose to stay with someone...
Was infinitely worse.
The wind blew through the trees.
Malrik’s storms continued crashing against Seraphina’s ice.
The inquisitors kept retreating.
And behind Kael.
The Fat King sat down again calmly.
Tail swishing.
Watching him.
