THE LAST KEEPER

Chapter 318. A STEP BACK

"Now then, gentlemen. Shall we get this over with?" Sagiri said. His voice was laced with so much ice that even Azir got chills.

Sagiri took one step forward, and the entire chamber recoiled with him. The remaining kidnappers instinctively backed away, weapons rising shakily as the pressure pouring from him became unbearable.

Nokai slowly lifted from his hand and suspended itself in the air behind him. Then the blade split. Once. Twice. Again. Silver metal separated with sharp metallic sounds until dozens of identical dark blades hovered behind Sagiri in a wide circle, each one turning silently until their points aligned with a different man in the chamber.

Nearly two dozen blades. Nearly two dozen targets. The kidnappers froze as the edges hummed faintly in the darkness, waiting only for Sagiri to move a finger. The Archive leaked violently around the room, black lines spreading across the stone floor while cracks crawled along the walls beneath the pressure. Sagiri’s eyes remained fixed on them without emotion. The men had not expected such a turn of events, and their fear was palpable.

"This is the part you beg for your lives, and I pretend to care," Sagiri said, that there were nervous swallows of saliva.

"We were just sent..." One man started to say, but a cold laugh interrupted him.

Sagiri’s cold and chilling laugh filled the chamber. It was humourless and chilling. He laughed for a long while, making the fear of the assassin grow. He looked like a maniac to them, and they were starting to realize he was not going to let them go.

"Let me guess, you were going to say, ’we were just sent here, this is not our fault, or I have a family, or we were just following orders, and we are only doing our job. Or we don’t deserve to die." Sagiri taunted in a cold voice, his lips curled in disgust over his teeth.

"But do you know what I see? A bunch of selfish men who can even kill a child without patting and eyelash just because someone else asked it of you. Doesn’t he have a family? Does his right-hand man, whom you wanted to easily kill, not have a family? Just where do you draw the line? As long as someone is weak, you are willing to do anything you want to them! Is that it?!" Sagiri’s voice rose an octave. "Why are you trembling now that someone stronger stands in front of you? Shouldn’t you be laughing and making fun of the young city lord?!" The blades suspended in the air moved forward, staying only inches away from the men’s throats.

He was genuinely going to kill every person there.

"Now then, I want you to look at me clearly. I am the last N’folu and not easy to kill. I will also rid the world of scum like you." Sagiri said. Even the assassins understood that Sagiri could not be debated with. They had also taken their fair share of lives, and they knew too well that look in his eyes.

Sagiri sighed. He had not wished to shed blood in Thazir, and he had been happy to know he would not have to for a while yet... He lifted his finger and his face, making sure to remember the faces of every one of them.

The men trembled with fear. It was coming. Their end was coming. Just when Sagiri was about to allow Nokai to finish the task, however, a small, strained voice spoke from behind him, suddenly cutting through the tension.

"Big brother... stop." Silence hit the chamber instantly. The floating blades trembled once in the air. Sagiri didn’t move at first.

"Please, Big Brother, don’t kill them," Azir said in an even lower voice now. Barely a whisper

"I can’t. I can’t not kill them. They were willing to kill you and Wibo. Why should I show mercy when they were willing to show you none?" Sagiri said his finger was trembling with the urge to finish the task. There was silence before there was shuffling of feet behind him. He soon felt a hand engulfing his other hand.

"Because big brother, you are kind. You are not like them. I know you hate having to do this, especially since Uncle told me your blade was never meant to kill but protect. Don’t let them stain you. Let’s take them to Uncle, and he can punish them." Azir said, and Sagiri’s finger trembled even more.

"You are in pain... I hate that I am the cause of it this time." Azir added, and Sagiri’s finger finally paused.

He had never wanted or wished to kill, yet each time he had been forced to. Little by little, he had become so used to using his weapon that he did not know another way. It was either him or them, and he had not been given a chance to choose. Yet now...

"You know you do talk too much..." Sagiri said in a strained voice. The blades did not lower for a long moment as Sagiri’s eyes remained set on his target. Then slowly, very slowly, the killing intent in the room loosened just enough to allow everyone to breathe again. Nokai remained suspended above them even so.

Sagiri’s eyes remained on the men while Nokai hovered above them in dozens of suspended blades, each point fixed perfectly against a throat, a chest, or a skull.

Nobody dared move even after his killing intent dissipated. The pressure in the chamber was still unbearable.

Then Sagiri finally spoke. One word.

"Kneel." The word dropped into the place like a weight itself.

The kidnappers hesitated for less than a second before collapsing to their knees almost at once. Some dropped their weapons immediately. Others could barely keep their hands steady. Sagiri watched them coldly until every last one of them had sunk to both their knees.

"Acknowledge him." His gaze shifted slightly toward Azir behind him. "Acknowledge your City Lord."

Silence lingered for a heartbeat before one of the men forced the words out.

"City Lord Azir..."

Another followed quickly. Then the rest joined in desperately.

"City Lord Azir." "City Lord Azir." "City Lord Azir." The chant filled the underground chamber over and over until it became desperate and uneven from fear. Sagiri did not stop them immediately. He stood motionless while the voices repeated the title again and again beneath the hovering blades. Only after the words had filled the room enough times did Nokai finally react.

The suspended blades trembled once before collapsing inward all at once, merging back together into a single black weapon that snapped violently back into Sagiri’s hand. The pressure crushing the chamber loosened instantly, leaving only heavy breathing, fear, and the sound of kneeling men too terrified to lift their heads.

"Now that wasn’t hard, was it?" Sagiri said, and the men kneeling before him shook their heads enough for them to fly off.

"Big Brother, Wibo looks bad..." Azir said from behind Sagiri, forcing him to turn instantly.

"He will be dead in an hour if he doesn’t get treated properly," Sagiri said, and Azir gasped.

"Now who needs a ride?" Sagiri asked with a wicked smile settling on his face.