Multiverse: by Nick Venomz (best books to read for beginners .txt) 📕

The swings caught Holocene’s hands, creating a large gash in it. However, it was nowhere near enough to stop her. She turned around and sprinted towards the kitchen knives, grabbing one and turning around. Fortunately, though, Kiran had caught up to her, ramming the sword into her gut. He twisted the blade before pulling it out. He then thrust the sword deeper into her gut, staining the blade with her entrails and blood. 

He whispered, “Scream about a ghost, maybe someone will believe you.” Into her ears, grinning. He ripped the sword out before stabbing her in the eye, killing her instantly.

With her dead, he turned around and focused his sights on Toraku. “You betrayed me. For a girl?”

Toraku’s eyes were as wide as they could get. “K-K-Kane?” He blurted out.

Kiran shook his head, smirking. He loved the expressions of permanent fear on both Holocene and Toraku’s faces. Holocene carried the expression blatantly on her face even while dead.

“No longer Kane. I’m Kiran now. Kiran Salvatore.” He approached Toraku, who took several steps backward and held out his arms as if he could’ve blocked the sword swings. “Don’t worry, you don’t need those anymore.” Kiran cleanly sliced through one of Toraku’s arms before getting the other. Now armless, Toraku collapsed to the ground, looking up at his ex-best friend. 

Kiran grinned devilishly, esthetic to fulfill his revenge. “Goodbye, my exes.” He said before piercing Toraku’s neck without mercy. He tilted the sword, digging it deeper and widening the gash in his neck. 

Toraku fell to the ground dead, his blood puddling around him without a second thought. Kiran stared at the corpses with a large smile. “

“You may return to heaven for you have finished your mission.” The words echoed in Kiran’s mind, seemingly coming from Achilles.

Kiran nodded. “I want to leave, there’s nothing else for me to do,” He said. He was granted his wish, slowly fading away as if he was made of dust. The evidence that could’ve connected him to the murders faded away, but the memories of him never did. The murder of Holocene was committed by Toraku according to the police. The reports also stated that he committed suicide after the murder. The name ‘Kiran Salavator’ never appeared in any of the investigations as the name was never registered, a so-called “ghost” in all aspects. As for his other name of Kane, his body was never found and his case turned cold. Everything was forgotten as if it was a piece of paper being thrown into water.

***

“He’s gone. I can tell that.” Vulcan remarked, polishing a sword. “He must’ve completed his revenge. I pray that he makes it to Heaven as his cards weren’t in his favor, but I’m sure he’s in Hell alongside Holocene and Toraku. Actually, I’m sure he would like that better. He could torment them for eternity.” He thought out loud. “Goodbye, Kiran… Wait, will I ever get my sword back?

***

“Please, can I get any response from the beings overlooking this world? I want to save my mother, please.” Tracy remarked, sobbing in front of a bowl of blood. “Please, Godly beings!”

“Pity. An emotion that grants mercy. I will grant you mercy. As long as you complete a mission, I’ll save your mother. What is your choice?” Achilles’ voice echoed in her mind.

Tracy shot up, now sobbing happy tears. “I-I’ll do it! P-Please, I’ll do i-it!” She declared.

“The fourth and final round will be between Lucas’ Triple Headed Dragon against Chase. Will the conditions remain the same for this round or will there be any changes?” Ejak asked.

“Uh…” Chase muttered, glancing at Lucas. “No bets for this round.”

“No bets?” Ejak questioned. Chase nodded his head. “Okay, then. Are both sides ready?” He asked, looking at Lucas and Ashanti. Both of them nodded. “The final match of the fourth round will commence shortly. This match dictates the winner of the tournament and the person to receive the Jagged Edge Blade, a mysterious blade. Not much is known about the blade.” Ejak said before an alarm blared, signaling the beginning of the duel. 

Chase sprinted forward, hoping to get the first strike. He had little knowledge about Lucas’s summon and even less about why he joined. He had been preparing Chase for the battle without ever saying that he was part of the tournament.

With no tricks prepared for the dragon, he hoped to deal quick damage using a hit-and-run tactic. Without it, he would be destroyed immediately.

There are no dragons on Earth. I could deal with dogs, cats, and foxes, but a literal dragon? He thought to himself as he neared the dragon, throwing a knife at it. It bounced off its skin, landing off to the side. He threw a few more before backing away as the dragon opened its mouth, unleashing a wave of fire that nicked him. Damn, there’s nothing else I could do! There’s no catnip for dragons!

The dragon pressed forward, not utilizing its wings, and sprayed more fire at him. Chase glanced at Lucas, who grinned smugly. Damn you, Lucas! He thought as a wave of fire nicked him again.

He flung more and more knives at the dragon, but they all bounced off. He aimed at the heads and managed to hit one, not causing much damage, but the other two heads immediately took up the burden left by the wounded one. They were sharing the workload, taking turns spraying fire at him as if he was nobody to worry about.

They weren’t entirely off.

Chase continued to attack, but he was quickly exhausting his throwing knives. He was left with five knives, some of them laced with normal poison. He threw one as he neared the edge of the arena, circling it in an attempt to flank the dragon. However, one of its heads tracked Chase, launching more fire at him. 

“Come on, Chase!” Ashanti shouted from her position above him on the safety pillar. “You got this!” She said before looking at Lucas. “Why are you even here?” 

Lucas took his attention off the fight. “I have to be here, sis.” He bluntly said. “Otherwise, it’ll be taken away by somebody else.”

Ashanti shook her head, looking away from him. “You just came here to mock me, right? And why did Chase erase the bet? What are you two planning?”

Lucas chuckled. “Man, we both changed, huh?”

Ashanti spun her head to face him with an expression of disgust. “I had to change,” she said matter-of-factly, “because I was forced to. I didn’t have a choice whether or not I could change. People made me change.”

“And I was one of those people. Believe me, I know.” He said, still looking at her. “I made my mistakes, I understand that. There’s nothing more I can say to make you forgive me.”

“You do not deserve forgiveness.” She spat.

Lucas nodded in agreement. “I will never deserve it. That’s why I ask for your mercy. Well, I won’t get that either, which makes sense. I’ve done many cruel things - which I regret. Anyways, as for why the bet was put off? I have no clue. Chase decided that on his own.”

Ashanti looked away from him, crossing her arms. What is Chase doing? He took care of the bullies without asking me and now he refused the bet against Lucas? Is he giving him… mercy or is it something else? Man, I wish I knew what was going on in his brain. If only.

Meanwhile, in the arena, Chase had done his best dodging the fire waves. He ducked under many of the waves and even managed to gain a few inches towards the dragon. However, he couldn’t move any farther as the heat was applying pressure on him. The arena had gotten too heated and Chase was sweating profusely. The heat wasn't normal as it came out of a dragon’s mouth. It was as if he stood by the opening of a volcano.

The dragon has no weaknesses that I can see, he thought. He was down to two knives, holding one each in both hands. He was being kept at a distance by the dragon’s fire. Although he looked to be out of options, Chase noticed one thing in particular about the dragon. The fire wasn’t endless as there was a few-second interval between when the fire ended and started up again. The heads were communicating with each other, but their bodies didn’t respond as quickly as their minds did. This allowed for a few seconds of opportunity, not enough to launch an attack but enough to gain a few feet if timed correctly.

Chase decided to use the few seconds to his advantage, gaining feet instead of inches. He repeated this trick again and again, gaining positive attention from the audience and Lucas. “Woah, that’s smart. I didn’t even think about the interval between the fire waves.” He remarked. 

Ashanti didn’t say anything, simply staring at Chase.

Chase, who was getting closer to the dragon, waited for the next interval before sprinting towards the beast. He lowered his knives, not extending his arms as if to attack. The dragon wasn’t an enormous beast, a juvenile dragon. It was eight feet tall, giving Chase enough space to slide under the beast and flank it immediately. All three heads turned around while the body failed to react as quickly - slowly moving to the position indicated by the heads. 

However, the heads were too late to fend off Chase’s first attack. He slashed at the dragon’s belly, hoping that it wasn’t as well-defended as the rest of its body was. The audience gasped as he went for the attack, some believing he would land a solid hit. Unfortunately, his hopes were dashed. The belly was as defended as its skin. It was covered entirely in a thick layer of natural armor. Chase was done for.

The heads charged up their attack before opening their mouths wide and preparing to launch the attack. Chase closed his eyes, caught at point-blank range. He raised his arms to shield his face, preparing himself mentally and physically for the fire. 

Fortunately, before the fire could be unleashed, Lucas called out to stop the attack. “Divert flames!” He ordered. The dragon understood his order, pointing the flames elsewhere. Chase was left unscorched and still in one piece. 

“Surrender now, Chase,” Lucas told him.

Chase lowered his arms, nodding. “I… I surrender.”

“Chase has surrendered. Lucas and his beast have won the tournament!” He announced. “The winner of the annual Uncaged Beasts tournament is Lucas Min!”

Chase and Ashanti were then quickly ushered off the battlefield while Lucas and his beast went up to receive their prize. Once outside the arena, Ashanti turned to Chase. “Why did you refuse the bet? Did you think you'd lose?” She asked.

Chase shrugged his shoulders. “Because… he’s not one of the girls who bullied you.”

“He’s not, but he isn’t any better than any of them.” She spoke bluntly.

Chase nodded. “Well… Getting second place isn’t that bad for my first time.” He said, switching topics.

Ashanti recognized the topic switch but didn’t challenge it. She let out a deep sigh before speaking. “Yeah, I’m really surprised… and