Veilbreaker: Shattering the Veil of Lies-Chapter 25: Weak

Liliana's eyes twitched in fear. All she thought was.

How does someone have this much mental strength?

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What has he been through?

Carleon couldn't fathom the sight before him. It only served to add gasoline to his burning sadistic rage. He tilted his head to Maximus.

"Huh... this thing won't learn its place will it."

For the first time, Maximus began to understand—deep down—why Leon Horton had chosen him. He had spent his life on his knees. Not anymore.

Not that it mattered to him. Kerrigan had stolen his shortcut to greatness—and torched it.

He was Leon Horton's new toy.

He just wanted to break it beyond repair, mumbling.

"Start with his legs. Let's see if he'll stand after that."

Carleon's smile widened.

"Can I join?" A voice rang out.

Maximus tilted his head, his brow raising as he recognized the voice.

"Sure Duke Josiah. You may but wait a moment."

Maximus' eyes caught something. Something comical— he almost laughed. He saw the Regent, beaten to the ground yet her hand still reaching Kerrigan. Liliana didn't let her move; pressing her heel into the Regent's spine

Josiah's golden eyes gleamed. He desperately wanted to put Kerrigan in his place after the shit he pulled earlier in the day.

He still hadn't forgotten when Kerrigan tried to dismiss his authority as Duke.

Maximus sauntered menacingly towards Andrea. She didn't care. All Andrea thought was.

Is he okay...?

Kerrigan, is he okay...?

He's still standing...

That idiot...

Is Corvus okay...?

Please be okay...

Maximus ceased his footsteps right before her crumpled body.

Silence stretched as Maximus stepped forward. His boot pressed beneath Andrea's chin—gentle, almost curious—lifting her head just enough to meet his gaze.

Cold eyes stared into hers.

Andrea didn't care. She just glared. Maximus tilted his head.

A smile curled his lips—one that never reached his eyes.

"Regent Andrea," he said calmly, "I hereby declare war on the Montagues. You sided with filth that humiliated my fiancée."

He tilted his head the other way.

"But abandon him now... and I'll withdraw my claim. Your clan can keep its neutrality."

Andrea's lips moved, only a raspy whisper left her throat.

Maximus knelt down, lifting her head by her hair. Her lips next to his ear.

Her lips moved again.

"F-f-fuck... yourself..."

He let out a dry laugh, sending a chill down the spines of the onlookers. Andrea didn't waver—until Maximus glanced back at Carleon and Josiah.

"You can begin."

Andrea's pretty face paled in horror. The sneering faces of Josiah and Carleon stalked toward the lone, bloodied figure.

"N-n-noo!"

A raspy cry left her throat.

Standing back up, Maximus shoved her head into the dirt like discarded garbage. Her eyes— glassy, pressing her quivering lips together to smother the sob that welled in her throat.

She couldn't allow this.

She didn't love him. Not truly.

Or did she?

She didn't understand what this feeling was. Just that it hurt.

But she cared. More than she ever expected.

His idiocy. His stubbornness. His naïve, reckless courage.

No she couldn't lose that.

Ever.

Instinctively she crawled towards the bloody figure of the one she called her 'boyfriend' in name only. She dragged herself along the grass— her blood staining the green blades.

Her arms trembled. Her ribs screamed. But still—she crawled.

Lilana noticed. Before Andrea got far, the dirty-blond grabbed her roughly by the heel and dragged her by the heel. Holding her head up with her short strands as she whispered.

"Oh you're not going anywhere, let's watch this together... Best friend."

"NO-oo-OO S-top! PLEASE!"

A guttural cry rang out of Andrea's throat.

It fell on deaf ears.

The crowd which fell silent regained its sadistic enthusiasm. Cheers and jeers alike rang out like an alarm.

They wanted blood.

No...

They wanted to see their limbs on the fucking floor.

Carleon didn't even glance at her.

Josiah raised his arm as he began to manifest an air bullet in the centre of his palms.

Aiming at Kerrigan's knees.

A sick smirk grew on their faces. Maximus watched with a smile that didn't reach his eyes— standing next to the restrained Andrea who begged. Liliana watched impassively yet with interest.

Then—

Twitch...

Kerrigan's finger jerked.

Just one.

Josiah's attack faltered— the green orb losing its colour as he was caught off guard.

He wasn't the only one who noticed.

Maximus furrowed his brows.

Then another twitch— his left foot this time. Then his arm. His neck. His slack jaw.

Something was moving beneath his skin. A sick rhythm, like his body had forgotten how to be human. The tremors were too fast. Too wrong.

"K-Kerrigan..." Andrea's breath hitched, rasping like a broken instrument.

His eyelids shot open— red, bloodshot, unfocused.

Blood leaked from the corners— blood trickled like tears.

He stared at the two figures in front of him.

Carleon and Josiah froze.

Kerrigan took an impossibly deep breath.

His lips stretched upward—not in a smile. Not really. Something... mimicking one.

His teeth bared too wide, his cheeks pulled too tight. Like a corpse trying to remember how to grin.

Then he laughed.

"Hahaha... hahahahaha.... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

A long mirthful, insane laugh.

A sound so broken it stopped the world around him. No joy. No glee. Just the scraping echo of a mind snapping in on itself.

He laughed again, louder.

A gurgle of blood choked the sound midway, then it came out stronger—manic, unhinged, cold.

His hands trembled as he clutched his face. Nails dug into his skin as crescent-shaped marks bloomed.

They dug and dug and dug.

Then—

RIP!

Began to scratch. Not like a man trying to wake up. Like he was trying to rip something out of himself.

Fingernails tore through the bruises. Then the skin. Then the blood came, and he didn't stop.

His nails tore through flesh—skin, blood, meat clung beneath them like trophies.

"I'm weak," he giggled. "So weak—how dare I think I could stop them? How dare I think I could destroy Araca—I'm a joke. A punchline with a heartbeat—HAHAHAHA!"

The courtyard watched in silence.

Even the wind refused to move.

The sound of fingernails peeling away skin was soft—wet, sticky. Like peeling fruit that had been left in the sun too long.

Everyone's blood froze. They weren't looking at a boy anymore. No. They didn't know what they were looking at.

His choked laughs bellowed as tears began to form in his eyes— mixing with the blood that leaked alongside it.

"So weak... so pathetic... so fucking stupid—HAHAHAHA!"

His grin split too wide, too long. His cheeks cracked at the corners. Blood pooled like drool.

"What the fuck! You psycho!" Josiah roared in terror.

He couldn't understand why... Why was he trembling? Why was he terrified? Why did he want to run?

All Josiah wanted to do was shut kerrigan up.

"SHUT UP!" He screeched as his eyes widened in panic.

Kerrigan stopped.

Stopped laughing.

Stopped scratching.

His hands— which were tightly clutched to his face slowly fell.

His head was downcast.

Slowly he raised his head to look at Josiah.

Andrea couldn't breathe from the sight she witnessed. Her eyes widened— heart raced. Terror filled her mind.

Josiah couldn't move. His legs trembled— he wanted to kill Kerrigan. Right here. Right Now. But... he couldn't move.

Kerrigan's marred face quietly glared at him. Strips of exposed muscle and flesh decorating his face. There was no smile. Not anything.

"Richard...?"

A croak escaped from his throat.

Josiah's eyes widened as he thought.

WHO THE FUCK IS RICHARD?!

"I'm not no fucking Richard, I'm going to kill you Nameless."

Kerrigan innocently tilted his head.

Before bursting out into a psychotic giggle.

"Richard, why're you here...?" he muttered again, louder. "I thought I killed you. Your neck went—CREEK!"

A sharp giggle cracked out of him.

"You... killed someone." Josiah mumbled in abject horror.

"Well—I'll just keep killing you till you disappear—HAHAHAHAHA!"

Kerrigan chortled as he fully faced him, muttering something quietly.

Josiah, shaken, stepped toward him. "Enough of this freaksh—"

BANG!

Kerrigan flung towards Josiah at break-neck speeds.

One headbutt—bone-cracking.

Josiah's face caved in at the nose and teeth. He didn't even scream—just collapsed, choking on blood and shattered enamel.

Kerrigan wasn't done.

Mounting on Josiah's crumpled body— barely clinging to consciousness.

He fell on him with fists. One. Two. Ten savage, messy punches, bones crunching beneath each one. He laughed through the whole thing.

Josiah's skull cracked grotesquely with every strike.

Kerrigan's smile grew wider.

"I'll kill you Richard! Die! Die for me! HAHAHAHA!"

Blood mixed with blood.

Impossible to tell whose was whose anymore.

Then—finally—Kerrigan stopped.

He slumped sideways, breath still hitching, a manic smile plastered across his mutilated face. Unconscious.

Not a word. No one moved. Not Carleon. Not Liliana. Not even Maximus. The silence screamed.

Andrea watched in shock horror. Her amethyst eyes only gazed at his psychotic smile.

Her lips quivered.

"He was unconscious... the whole time..."

Andrea couldn't hold on anymore— her vision going dark as she slipped unconscious.

Without hesitating Maximus sautered to Kerrigan's limp body. His hand slowly generated an intense crimson flame.

"I'll cripple you myse—"

"That's enough."

A voice cut Maximus off.

An overbearing force crumpled everyone to their knees— some laying some, some unconscious.

Tap.

Tap.

Maximus' breathing quickened as his eyes widened. He felt heavier— as if he weighed 10 times heavier.

Carleon? On his knees—gasping for air like a fish out of water. And Maximus? Maximus didn't move. He didn't breathe.

He knew who this was.

He was terrified.

But he couldn't back down.

The figure's footsteps stopped before Maximus' kneeling posture.

"Oi Maximus, was this why you had me bloody teleported across the academy."

Maximus grit his teeth as he glared the individual in the eye.

"Yeah, Bodhi Campbell— this doesn't concern you."

The air around Bodhi twisted violently. The gravity spiked. Liliana vomited instantly. Carleon fainted. The weaker students passed out like dominoes.

Bodhi wasn't smiling.

"None of my concern?"

His eyes burned an emerald green. The earth beneath him cratered with each step forward. The courtyard began to warp—tilt. As if the planet itself was leaning toward him.

"You just mutilated my friend— and his girlfriend and knocked out his familiar."

"I think by all accounts... this concerns me."

With a flick of his wrist, the bodies of Kerrigan, Andrea and Corvus levitated in the air. He began to walk— the bodies floating behind him as they did.

Bodhi looked back— a vein bulging on his neck. The sky above darkened. Clouds twisted into a spiraling vortex.

"They're under my protection. If you ever... I mean ever pull this shit of again for your fucking war..."

"I'll condense you into a 1x1 meat cube."

Blip!

All three of them.

Gone.

Maximus glared at where Bodhi stood.

"I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU KERRIGAN, I'LL KILL YOU CAMPBELL! I'LL FUCKING KILL ANYONE WHO STANDS IN MY WAY!"

Maximus roared at the empty space, his voice reverberating through the bones of students nearby. His mana placed a tremendous pressure on his surroundings as his eyes were set ablaze with a malevolent crimson flame.