Edoran looked at the burning city and felt nervous. Soldiers in armor and many reverberators were busy fighting the whale.
Reverberators was the term for people who used the ability granted by killing a savage and using the savage's core for a one-time ability.
A huge chunk of debris fell upon him. He screamed and scrambled to the side to escape it.
He saw that the whale was a bit injured as well. To his shock, some of the people were just standing there with a smile on their face looking up at the whale.
A tall well built man stood at the side covered in grey armor. He was throwing huge chunks of the broken debris at the whale but it burned them before they even reached it.
"You! Get out of here, kid. This monster will be stopped soon. Lady Zora of Destiny Haven is fighting the whale right now."
Destiny Haven was the top competitor for Nova Star in savage management.
The man hurried over to Edoran and pushed him to leave.
"No! My friend is hurt. I have to save him."
"Look. I understand your situation but if you do not leave now, you may die as well."
Edoran gritted his teeth but he knew that the man was right. But instead of heading back, he ducked around the man and ran straight ahead. He had finally spotted a medical center.
The man shouted at him but he did not care.
'I have to save Jake. I cannot let him die after he saved me in the training room back there while risking his life fighting that gorehop.'
As he rushed to the place, he saw that it had no one there.
'Of course. Every medical person will be administering the people in the battle now.'
He broke into the place and searched for some supplies. He finally found bandages and healing salves when the roof caved in.
Edoran was about to be crushed. He used his core and punched the falling roof. It did not break big enough to let him completely out but he was saved.
He sighed in relief while pushing a piece of the ceiling away and looked up. He saw a yellow eye with a deep reddish-white pupil staring at him.
He was suddenly inside a dark room. He recognized it as the lab he was made in.
'Not this place again.'
He saw some scientists looking at multiple cylindrical glass tanks with people inside them.
The people were in the fetal position.
"This one seems to be a failure. The core output is not even 70%."
"We need to create another one like the warmonger with 100% core output."
A younger scientist looked sad. He said, "But these are also people. We have discarded the lives of over a million homunculi in this lab alone."
"Bill. How many times do I tell you that these are just puppets? If you mention this topic one more time, I swear I will fire you!"
Bill winced at the thought of getting fired.
'I cannot lose this job as well.'
He looked at the tanks with pity and sadness but walked away without another word.
The homunculus was removed from the tank and thrown out roughly like it was trash.
Edoran boiled with anger. He looked at piles of bodies with more than millions of homunculi lying there broken and abandoned.
A small homunculus probably around 5-6 years in physical age tried to move. It had not been terminated properly.
His lower body was stuck under a huge pile. Edoran ran towards the child to save him.
"I am here. Don't worry." The boy didn't seem to notice him.
He tried to pull the small child out but his hands just went through his. He scrambled and tried to pull the hands of the boy frantically.
The boy just cried realising his fate.
Edoran felt tears down his eyes as well. Suddenly he was inside the glass tank again.
He saw Harold and Jake grinning outside.
"He is a wonderful specimen, master Harold. You should make him your fighting dog against the savages."
Harold laughed and said, "Yes indeed, Jake. This one would make a good fight."
The scene warped again and he was in a metal cage now. People were jeering and shouting jubilantly outside.
A savage was let into the cage to fight him. He only had a baton in his hand.
"20 bucks says that boy doesn't cross two minutes." A drunk old man said while laughing.
"50 bucks says he will pee his pants." Another chided along.
The mindless tiger-like beast leapt upon Edoran and he swatted at its head.
The baton did not cause any damage as Edoran noticed that his body was that of a small child covered in rags.
The tiger pranced around fiercely and jumped at him again. Edoran tried to move away but got thrown like a ragdoll.
Blood spluttered from his mouth as he felt his ribs crack. He groaned heavily and struggled to get up.
"THIS IS THE DEFENCE! ALL OF YOU ARE ARRESTED FOR ILLEGAL HUMAN-SAVAGE FIGHTS AND BETTINGS!"
An army of men dressed in black uniforms arrested all the men. Edoran was carried by one of them to the hospital.
Finally, the scene shifted again. Edoran realized he was back in the real world. These were illusions caused by the whale.
'Damn it. I looked into its eye.'
His body shivered as remembered the painful memories he just saw. The whale was on the ground now. It seemed that it had finally been vanquished.
Armored vehicles surrounded the corpse with NOVA CORPS written all over them. They had monopolized the corpse.
Edoran remembered Jake and rushed back to Star Wraith Industries.
He sighed in relief as the building was not damaged much.
'Jake should be okay. Homunculi regenerate fast.'
He entered the building and saw Harold kneeling on the ground with a dazed expression.
Jake's head was on his lap.
Edoran screamed. Jake's neck was completely red with a deep gash.
His eyes stared coldly at the ceiling. Harold had tears in his eyes.
A corpse of a savage lay aside. Edoran's hands quivered seeing Jack.
"W-what happened here?" His voice felt shaky as he uttered it.
Harold did not look up. His eyes were still dazed.
"I ASKED YOU WHAT HAPPENED HERE!" Edoran felt his voice come out louder than he wanted it to.
Harold looked up with dried marks of tears upon his face and only uttered a single word. "Savage."
Edoran realized what had happened. They had been attacked by that savage.
'I should have stayed back like Harold had said. I should have protected Jake. Stupid. Stupid.'
He remembered the boy in the visions he saw. Sadness and regret crept up his heart.
"It's not your fault. I should have protected him while you were gone." Harold looked at Edoran with pity while saying that.
Edoran did not reply. He was already lost in grief.
A bunch of people in armor rushed into the building.
"Young master Harold. Thank god, you are safe, and only a homunculus was lost." A man said while sighing in relief.
Edoran exploded. His punch connected straight into the man's face.
He gritted his teeth and looked at the man in absolute frenzy.
"Just a homunculus! Jake was also a living being. He was just a boy!"
The other people looked at him with pity and shock. Harold got up lifting Jake's body.
He did not say a word to the soldiers. "Edoran, come with me. We are leaving."
He placed Jake's body in the backseat of an armored vehicle. Edoran did not say anything either.
They did not speak the entire drive. Edoran wanted to
After around an hour of travel, they reached a garden.
Harold spoke to him finally after stopping in front of the garden gate.
"This is an important place for Jake. He used to often come here."
Harold did not speak anymore. He took Jake's body to a large tree in the middle.
He dug the earth slowly and carefully to not make much sound. His hands were shaking with emotion as he dug a grave for Jake.
Edoran did not move. He felt like it was all a dream.
'If this is a dream, I want to end it. I want to end this wretched life which could not save a single soul.'
They remained there long after they had buried Jake. Harold looked at Edoran and said, "It was all my fault. As your leader, I should have been more careful."
"I didn't check the cages properly. It is entirely my fault. If I had checked, we could have avoided this sabotage."
Soon, Harold's grandfather William came to the garden. He had heard of what had happened to his grandson. Looking at Harold's sad face, he did not say anything.
He just put his hand over Harold's shoulder and Harold cried again.