The Crack In Heaven [A LitRPG Progression Fantasy] Chapter 57: Chapter 57: The Highest Debt?

Read chapter 57 of The Crack In Heaven [A LitRPG Progression Fantasy] by Adamus_Auguste on NovelPedia.

Chapter 57: The Highest Debt? "No... Impossible. Or have we..." Marc's face had always been one of the palest Kael had seen. Now it was as pale as that of a corpse, or of a man who had just learned he had lost everything. The wall-lamps seemed dimmer around him. If Kael felt comfortable joking around earlier, now an itch crawled down his spine, numbing his legs. Whatever Marc understood was bad, no, terrible enough that he felt it in his flesh. A trembling hand found his. He turned to Els. She squeezed his hand and pulled herself closer as if she felt it too. The sound of metal hitting stone echoed, and he snapped his head to Tonio's toppled chair. Whiskers twitching, red beady eyes narrowed, Tonio moved behind him and Els. Even his straight back couldn't hide the twitch in his neck. No! Kael had to disperse the gas before it blew up! He jumped out of his seat. "Everything's fine, Marc. I mean, even if something's not, we can work it out." "Fine?" Marc lifted his face. His mouth... looked wider? Before Kael could tell if it truly stretched, Marc threw his head back. "Hahaha!" The laugh was maniacal, jumping from low to high-pitched. It lasted long enough for Kael to bump against Tonio's chest. Then, Marc wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. And his mouth shrank. Or perhaps Kael had dreamed it all... "Three brats," Marc spoke through random fits of laughter. "Anchored truths without being smitten by the gods. Ridiculous! Hilarious!" He slammed his fist against the table, but between his swaying hair, tears trailed down his cheeks. "So why did we have to pay this much?" Sobs replaced laughter, and Kael observed Marc as if they were strangers. The stuck-up man, who ran in the middle of important discussions for ridiculous reasons. The rich neighbor, whose earnings didn't match his work at the lamp factory. His reading teacher, who hides secrets he has only begun to brush. He looked like none; he looked like another man broken by this pit of despair. While he searched for the right words, Els stomped. The muffled thud froze his breath. Even Marc's sobs paused when she didn't speak softly as she always did, but screamed. "Pull yourself together, Marc! I don't know what you went through, but the only thing we all share is suffering." "Right." Kael stepped forward. "That and the mistakes we make for our dreams. You're older than you let on, maybe old enough to have fought to better the slums. Remember what you fought for. What you achieved. And tell me to my face you regret it." Slowly, Marc straightened himself in his chair. Silence for a heartbeat. Then, a laugh. Hollow. Bitter. "What I achieved..." He held Kael's gaze, his reddened green eyes unwavering, his voice bitterly cold. "Not a day goes by that I don't regret it." A simple dismissive wave of his hand made Kael's stomach churn and Tonio growl. The air around him reeked of blood. "Enough." When his wave ended on the round end of his cane, the scent vanished. "You can't understand how much I lost for so little. I'll carry my regrets to the grave." He pushed himself off his seat and leaned over his cane. Though not a wrinkle etched Marc's face, Kael felt that decades had caught up with the man's back, or perhaps it was his regrets pressing against it... "Pack your things. We're leaving." As Marc walked to the door, Tonio pushed Kael and Els behind him. "Monster." His whisper reverberated in Kael's ear, "Like Silma." "Are you sure?" Els slid behind Tonio's back, and his nod froze Kael. The Marc he had known from before the mines took his father, someone who always lived quietly, if slightly eccentrically, at the end of the street, was as powerful as Silma?! And he had dared to throw him snarky remarks? He staggered for a breath, then a steely glint entered his eyes. What was one more time after years? "Get our things." He gestured toward the stairs for Tonio and Els. They both shook their heads. He didn't give them a second to complain. "If Marc wanted us dead, we'd already