The Crack In Heaven [A LitRPG Progression Fantasy] Chapter 44: Chapter 44: We'll Stay Together

Read chapter 44 of The Crack In Heaven [A LitRPG Progression Fantasy] by Adamus_Auguste on NovelPedia.

Chapter 44: We'll Stay Together A bestial howl shattered the haze. "TONIO BREAK! NOT WANT TO LIVE! DIE. FAST DIE!" His broken nose didn't hammer the pavement, and the darkness edging on his consciousness retreated. So did the torn, spinning lines that filled his vision. At least, enough to look at Joss' still hand around his hair. The man glared at Tonio. Turning his neck toward the rat-man was a torture of popping joints and groaning bones. They were on the brink of shattering. No, they would have if his truth of endurance hadn't held them together. Or would his face have caved in first? The cold of death already slithered into his limbs, trying to stiffen them before he drew his last breath. When his gaze finally found Tonio through the curtain of blood that turned his vision red, the rat-man clawed the ground. Nail marks criss-crossed the pavement. He had tried to lift himself all along, but the machetes' hilts pinning his wrists to the ground barely trembled. The enlarged wound squeezed Kael's chest. Tonio tried to slide his hands free, even if they would have been cut in half. But the edges of the blade reflected his furry face, while the blunt side pressed against his wounds. What had Tonio said? Kael's hazy mind strained to piece together the words. Joss spread his palms, dangling Kael's head. "Die? No, no, no. No one cares if you're broken. Garrick wants you alive, so sit tight and watch me break the dumb brat's head. Then you can enjoy your new life, while I enjoy mine." His lips curled into a smirk that oozed blood from his wounded left cheek. "Well, enjoys is a big word for what that bastard will do to you, or anyone he uses for that matter, but the slums and him will hardly concern me anymore." "FASTER! TONIO DIE NOW!" Tonio didn't answer. All he watched was Kael. Tears were gone from his red eyes, and a glint Kael had never seen shone in their places. No... he had seen that glint in Giovanni's eyes. Right in front of the facility in the sewers. Don't want to live. Die. Break... Kael gasped, air hissing down his tight windpipe. His eyes widened, and even pain couldn't stop him from screaming back. "Don't do it! Stop talking!" Joss jerked his head like a toy, but Kael continued in a voice as torn as his face. "It won't work. Els! Use it. Take Tonio and run!" "B-But—" Still gripping her right arm, Els stammered. Kael interrupted her, his voice so urgent that even Joss' scowl arched. "No buts! Get out before that fool breaks his anchor!" With two hilt-deep machetes pinning Tonio to the ground, breaking his anchor to swell like Giovanni must have been the best idea Tonio's limited mind came up with. A terrible one that sent tremors across Kael's agonising body. With how fast Tonio stressed his anchor, the break would be more violent than Giovanni's. An anchor-ghast would form. And if it did, losing himself wouldn't be the most terrifying. It would be to kill those he tried to save with his own hands. He would become a monster for nothing! Kael wouldn't allow it. Joss wouldn't either. His grey eyes widened as fast as he hurled Kael against the wall. "You mad creature! You'll doom us all!" Shivering for the first time, he ran towards Tonio, who continued to scream that he wanted to die. But Kael focused on someone else. Across from him, in the corner of the room, Els rose. Shadows pooled around her, clinging to her darkened shirt, pants, and auburn hair until only the green glint of her eyes filtered through. It was eerie enough for Kael to hold his breath as she moved. The shadows melded into her skin, bringing back her grey-and-green dress down to the last patched rag. She bent, her right arm falling before rising, one of the arrows he had scavenged clutched in her hand. The pain was gone, replaced by terror. The same one she felt that night. But it was the terror of what would happen to her, to Tonio, and likely to him, that made her lock on Joss despite her shivers. He would reach Tonio first, head lowered, while she