Age of Darkness (18 page)

“I suppose so,” Keimaro muttered, pushing
past the crowds of people. He sighed, stepping onto the massive blue platform,
which was large enough to fit dozens of people. He blinked a few times, not
really sure what was going to happen on this platform. The only thing he was
sure of was that he was going to be surprised. And, sure enough, he was.

As soon as Yuri and Lena were secured on
the platform, there was a flash and Keimaro felt his body being ripped apart.
Well, not exactly ripped, because that sounded too painful. It was more like
being taken apart meticulously. After a single second of blackness, he found
himself standing in a completely different room, which was much smaller. He
looked down to see that he was still on the platform still, and then he
blinked, looking around.

The room looked somewhat like an office
with multiple red leather chairs and a long wooden desk covered with a map of
Bassada. Colorful darts had been slammed down into the piece of parchment. He
watched as Yuri and Lena calmly walked forward and sat down in the leather
seats.

Lena glanced back over the chair at him and
snapped, “Hey, stop standing there gawking. Get over here! We have business to
attend!”

“Uh,” Keimaro said, still confused,
scratching his neck. “How did I get here?”

Z had sat down in a large black leather
chair on the other side of the desk. He had spun around to look out the window,
which took up the entire wall on the far side of the room. It offered a
beautiful view of a lush green plain with a few hills, surrounded by yet
another wall. “You were standing on a teleporter. With the right coordinates,
the platform can disassemble the particles in your body and reassemble them in
a place where another teleporter marker is located.” He spun around in his
chair and leaned his elbow on his desk with his chin against his palm. “You don’t
understand how many trials it took to get that thing to work—and how many
people died in order to test it. Gnome technology, cool, huh?”

Keimaro gulped. He didn’t like the thought
of his body being taken apart and pieced back together. Though, the idea of a
teleporter was rather interesting. He had never read anything about its
existence and had always thought that such a contraption would be much more
futuristic. He assumed that its invention hadn’t been publicized yet.

He walked forward, sat in a leather chair
beside Lena, and sighed, leaning back into the seat.
These guys have a lot
of resources, it seems. Didn’t Gavin say that Z was one of the richest men in
Bassada?

“Now,” Z said, tapping his hand on the map.
“We are eager to get started with your cooperation, Keimaro. If you are
willing, that is. You will be meeting up with Yata later on tonight. He is
currently resting. But, I shall tell you our plan as well as what we know of
the Bounts’ plan.”

Keimaro nodded. “I’ll cooperate.”

“Good,” Z said, leaning back into his chair
and placing his hands on the arms. “Now, you are rather valuable to us. You are
a member of the Hayashi clan and have one of the very rare magical abilities—the
kind that are only given by a meteor, a foreign rock that falls from the sky.
This rock originated from an outside source that isn’t from our planet. Only
two have ever been recorded to hit the earth, and the creator of the Bount
organization harnessed one of them.”

Keimaro frowned. Two had hit the planet in
recorded history? Was Junko the one who harnessed the power, or was someone
else the creator of the Bount organization? And what the hell was causing these
meteors to hit the earth? Where did they get their own power?

“Other magic is known as artificial magic,
which is given through potions that can be created only from components of certain
animals, herbs, or even sometimes humanoids from different continents around
the world. That is why few have obtained magic—it is either extremely expensive
or very dangerous to obtain since one would have to journey around the world in
order to get it. Mastering artificial magic is even harder since it isn’t
natural, but your magic is by far the strongest. Unfortunately, it can also be
the wildest and hardest to control, for it becomes a part of you.”

Keimaro slid his hands into his pockets.
Artificial
magic. So that would be what Noah and Z both have. Users of artificial magic have
limits. But I don’t.
Keimaro smiled.
Perfect
.

“However, that isn’t the only reason you’re
valuable, Keimaro. You are also valuable because of that necklace you wear—the one
with the key.”

Keimaro blinked, looking down at the key
that dangled from his neck. “What does this have to do with anything?”

“It is the key to the chest that will
decide the fate of this continent,” Z said with a slight smile. “I’m not sure
you understand the full story of the Hayashi clan yet, Keimaro. Do you even
know why the Hayashi clan is doomed with these demonic eyes that make others
judge you?”

“I always figured that we were born with it
in our—”

“Members of the Hayashi clan share the same
ancestors as ordinary humans. At a certain point in time, their genes changed,
making the Hayashi clan different from all other humans,” Z said as he pulled
out a cigar and handed it to Keimaro with a smile. “This will be a long story.
Will you light this for me?”

Keimaro snapped his fingers, lighting the
end of Z’s cigar with a flicker of flame. He leaned back into his seat, waiting
for the elder to begin speaking.

“I am an extremely old man; that is a
given. Whether or not my looks may deceive you, I am one of the three immortals
that dwell on this world. My name isn’t really just Z. It is Zylon. I am four-hundred
years old due to a journey long ago when I sipped from the Fountain of Youth.
Now I am blessed and cursed with eternal life until killed by unnatural forces.
This means that I was around when the Hayashi clan was first created and
separated from the rest of humanity.

“It may be hard to believe, but long ago
dragons were common. They would fly in the sky and lay eggs on the highest
peaks of mountains. They would swallow humans whole—and for an age, humanity
despised the beasts and sought to obliterate their existence from this world.
Humanity had gathered so much hate for the majestic creatures because of their
ability to take everything away from a human in a single instant. Humanity’s
pain drove the creation of the Hayashi clan.

“Skytera was a flourishing, massive island
that was embedded with ancient runes that allowed the chunk of land to float in
the air. These runes were created by the dragons themselves, and thus the
majestic beasts found a place that they could finally call home. Soon they
created a huge chain of islands that floated in the sky and hosted most of the
dragon population. There, they would mate and bear their children out of the
reach of any human. Dragons, the superior race, continued to grow in strength,
safe in their haven above the clouds.

“Humanity searched for decades to find a
way to the clouds so they could destroy the dragons for good. But they never
could. So, the dragons slept safely above the clouds and rained jets of flame
down on human cities during the day, pillaging and obliterating all in their
path. They drowned themselves in their favorite ore in the world, gold, and
continued to destroy kingdoms in search for more.

“That was when the first human conquered a
dragon.

“The first human who ever mastered magic
was Kuro, the creator of the Hayashi clan. Kuro had obtained his power from a
meteor that fell from the sky. Using his newfound abilities, he conquered one
of the strongest dragons at the peak of the highest mountain in the world,
battling him with the most advanced magic known to exist even to this day.
Mountains were crushed; the continent quaked with fear as the two forces
battled for dominance. A single human against a dragon, it was unheard of. And
Kuro won. He defeated the dragon and chained it up.

“The king of dragons demanded that Kuro
release their brethren, but the man insisted that there be an exchange. In
exchange for the dragon’s release, he was to obtain the all-seeing eyes of a
demon to become dominant over humanity. Kuro was granted his wish and betrayed
the deal. With his newfound power, he looked into the eyes of the dragon that
he had captured and began to control it. Using his power and the strength of
this dragon, he was able to fight the entire race of dragons and defeat them.
Thousands of dragons were massacred, and the rest transformed into impenetrable
statues to avoid being killed off by Kuro. The statues were left at Skytera to
rot for eternity.

“I met Kuro myself. Together, we were the
first ones to arrive at the Fountain of Youth and take a sip, obtaining eternal
life. Over time, Kuro’s demonic genes began to spread to other humans through
his offspring. Generations passed, and eventually people noticed the difference
in the eyes of humans with Kuro’s genes. They began to be categorized as a clan
known as the Hayashi.

“The gods supposedly didn’t favor Kuro, for
he had obtained his power from luck that was out of their control. Finally,
seventeen years ago, the time for the purge had come. The High Priests, the
only humans who can communicate with the gods, ordered that every human empire
in existence must purge their population of members from the Hayashi clan. And,
thus, the Hayashi clan massacre began.

“Kuro himself watched as the gods destroyed
members of his family. They were killed off one by one before his eyes,
executed by the humans that he had always found to be his brethren through his
centuries of survival. It was then that he developed a hatred for humanity. In
fact, he developed a hatred for the gods as well. He declared war upon the
world two years into the Hayashi clan massacre. He promised the world that he
would be the one to destroy everything that the gods had ever created and that
he would then rule the world in place of the gods. That would be their punishment
for destroying his family without any true purpose. And so, he created an
organization known as the Bounts. He formed the organization in order to destroy
humanity.”

“Destroy humanity?” Keimaro exclaimed with
disbelief, slamming his hands on the table. “What? The creator of the Bounts is
a member of the Hayashi clan? I’m related to him?” A bead of sweat began to
form on his brow.

That would explain why Tobimaru is in
the organization. But what’s all this talk about dragons? How could dragons
give someone the eyes of a devil? Were they really that powerful that they
could grant wishes like that?

Z nodded. “Kuro Hayashi is currently the
most dangerous person on the planet. The only reason that he hasn’t destroyed
humanity is that he is currently in a slumber due to an event that happened six
years ago. He is strong enough to obliterate humanity already, but with every
day that he sleeps, he becomes stronger. No one is quite ready to wake him in
order to finally put an end to him. Humanity would rather just wait in hopes
that he will never wake up.”

“What does this all have to do with the
chest?”

“Within that chest is a single whistle.
That whistle will awaken the strongest dragon in existence that was controlled
by Kuro. Did you ever wonder why the Forbidden Forest has its name? Did you
ever wonder why there are so many monsters in that forest or why it’s
pitch-black in there? The ominous aura of the most evil beast in history
slumbers underneath that forest. The dragon will awaken along with Kuro, and
that will signal not only the end of the continent or humanity, but the world,”
Z said, leaning back into his chair. “So, that’s quite an important key you’ve
got there. The king of Bassada has gotten his hands on your chest. But, as long
as you have the key, it won’t be possible for the dragon to awaken. The Bounts
know this, which is why they are beginning to take matters into their own
hands.”

“What do you mean by that?”

With his arms crossed over his chest and
his eyes closed, Yuri began to speak. “It means that the Bounts are going to
try to take over the Faar Empire so that they have access to the largest army on
the entire continent. Then they will use their army to find you, kill you, and
take the key to awaken Kuro,” he said simply. “That’s their current plan, from
the looks of it. Once Kuro is awakened, it’s over, so you need to keep that
thing safe. But, at the same time, you are the only one with foreign magic. So,
we can’t let someone as strong as you just sit around and lounge, doing
nothing. We still need your help to stop them, so that’s why we ask to take
your key—”

“No.”

“What?”

Keimaro touched the key with his hand,
feeling the bronze against his skin. “This is a memento from my father. It
reminds me of his death. It reminds me of my mother’s death, and the
destruction of Bakaara and my clan. It reminds me of my pain. I won’t let you
have it.”

Yuri stood up from his chair, towering over
Keimaro with an annoyed look on his face. “Look, you stubborn bastard! This is
more than just you! Stop being selfish for two freaking seconds and think about
the world! Your goals aren’t the only things that matter here!”

Keimaro’s eyes glowed red with the Shokugan,
and he glared at Yuri. “Yeah? Why would I trust some random strangers that I
just met with a key that I treasure more than anything else?” He stood up with
his face inches from Yuri’s. “My existence is formed from my goals. The only
reason I haven’t killed myself to end my pain is that I want revenge. I want
the Bounts to suffer as I have. And I want the king of Faar dead at my feet.”

“Not exactly the
hero
type, wouldn’t
you say?” Lena said with a roll of her eyes, leaning back in her chair and
looking away with a scoff, tapping the leather arm impatiently with her index
finger.

“I’m not here to become a hero,” Keimaro
muttered, “nor am I here to satisfy anyone else but myself. I am here to
obliterate all of
my
enemies. So? If the Bounts get their hands on me,
it’s the end of the world. Interesting. What are you going to do with me then?
Lock me up? Attempt to take this key from me?”

“Neither,” Z said simply. “We are merely
going to cut down the government slowly. There are many political leaders as
well as military leaders that need to be brushed off. You seem to have no
problem with killing others. In that case, we will have you cut down all of the
king’s supporters. If we kill the king straight away, the power will only go to
someone else with the same intentions as the previous king. We need to cut down
anyone who supports the king.”

“In other words,” Keimaro said, leaning
forward in his seat, “you want me to become an assassin to fulfill your little
deeds and do whatever you want? Huh, I came here to kill the Bounts and the
king, not kill his henchmen.” He was tired of arguing. He just wanted to rest. His
eyes were heavy, and he could feel his head going completely blank. At this
point, he didn’t even know what words were coming out of his mouth. He could
hear Z speaking, but the words passed straight through him as he felt
exhaustion finally hitting him. Before he knew it, he was asleep, leaning back in
his chair with his eyes shut.

Z was about to continue talking and smiled
when he saw that Keimaro was asleep. “He must be exhausted. Yuri, Lena, make
sure that Keimaro is escorted to his room safely. Be sure to be careful; we
wouldn’t want to disturb his sleep.”