Chapter 29: Something Hidden, Something Taken

Zayn put on a good, convincing smile as he stared into the furious, glowing, yellow eyes of Corad. Truth be told, he was shaken like never before and he couldn't help but think, 'What would've happened if the lizard *had* been stronger… If he had been able to—'

But that didn't matter anymore. Zayn was away from that beast… and, as much as it pained him to admit it, he was relieved. He WOULD kill Corad, and he'd do it now. Ending his and Rutigorn's miserable lives for good.

What about his 'most precious memory'? Zayn didn't have such a thing… The lizard had to be bluffing…

"ZAYN!—" roared Zeff, his low and terrible voice uncomfortably similar to Rutigorn's. "If you won't come to me, I'll come to you!!" He exploded towards Zayn with inhuman fury, a trail of red smoke following after him.

Zayn smiled wryly as Corad closed the distance in an instant. He wouldn't have to even break a sweat to kill this slab. He had sought to fight that d*mned lizard before, but he was done playing games. He would end this in an instant.

Zeff couldn't have known but there was still a very obvious chink in his armor, and Zayn was about to exploit it.

But as Corad drew closer, something odd happened to Zayn. It wasn't an event, but a feeling. A very unfamiliar sensation. Like an emptiness. An unrealized expectation.

Time seemed to slow as Corad drew his fist back, preparing to strike Zayn with all of his power.

'Wait a second…' Zayn thought. 'What's—'

*PADOWM* Zeff's fist connected cleanly with Zayn's face, causing Zayn to drop his gun and dagger as he was sent flying back several meters into the highway guardrail with a crash. Luckily, by sheer reflex, he had jumped backwards at the last second, lessening the strength of the blow, but the damage was done, and it was substantial. His face and front teeth were throbbing with pain.

But none of the pain mattered. The only thing Zayn could think about was—

"Is it true? Is my father…" Came a deep, dragon-like voice that sounded somber, even sorrowful.

Already standing directly in front of him despite the fact that Zayn had just flown several meters away, was Zeff. His eyes were still glowing and smoke still rising from his body so that he looked like a demon come straight from hell with a frightening expression to match.

His expression was the face one might make when attending the funeral of their worst enemy or when squashing an ant that just bit them between their fingers. It was a face filled with both hatred and contemptuous indifference.

Only one person had looked at Zayn like that in his whole life…

A shiver danced up Zayn's spine.

But there was an even more frightful reality at play, Zayn realized with a shock. 'I can't see his thoughts!' In a panic, he attempted to concentrate with all his focus until, reaching out with his mind as he had done innumerable times before, until—

*Buzz-bu-buzz!* Images flashed through his head. However, the images he saw were all from Sylvan, Petticoat, and some of the officers who were still, or just barely, conscious. There was nothing from Corad. 'Could this be… the lizard's doing?' he thought as his heart began to quicken.

Corad's voice suddenly cut through the turmoil that was filling Zayn's mind, "I don't know whether you were telling the truth about my father, or not." he said. "But, either way—" Fast as a viper, Corad's left hand shot forward taking Zayn by the neck and lifting him off of the ground. "—I'm gonna make you pay."

The following seconds were a nearly compete blur of pain for Zayn.

Zayn had no idea what exactly was happening. He had always relied on his gift to avoid danger, but now that it didn't seem to be working on Corad, he found himself utterly disoriented and unsure about how to protect himself. The only thing he could be sure of was the fact that Corad was pulling no punches. One after another, blow after savage blow, Zayn was struck again and again in the face and gut by Zeff's right hand, while Zeff's other hand never left Zayn's throat.

From the punch earlier, Zayn knew without a single doubt that just one of Corad's punches would be enough to end his life. Yet, despite several punches, he was still alive. 'H-How?!' Zayn thought as his vision began to blur and blood began to stain the ground around him.

As if reading his mind, Zeff suddenly spoke up in his dragon-voice, "Did you really think-" *Punch* "-that I would let you die-" *Punch-splat* "-that easily?" *Punch-Splat!* and then, after a short pause, Zeff added with a low growl, "Little rabbit…"

Though Zayn could barely see out of his left eye from the swelling and blood, he could just make out Zeff's face with his right eye.

His heart did a somersault in his chest as two shining slit pupils, like that of a reptile, stared back at him.

Zeff wound up, preparing to strike Zayn again when, all of a sudden, someone grabbed his fist from behind.

"That's enough." came a deep voice.

If Zayn lifted a trembling hand to his eyes to guard them from the light. For standing behind Zeff, as bright an ember pulled from the furnace, was the shining form of Special Agent Petticoat.

*****

You are reading story The Dracophage Skill Tree at novel35.com

Zeff's mind was presently a tangle of emotions and fears.

If not for his rage, he might have realized that Sylvan was lying face-down in a crater several meters away. If not for his rage, he might have seen that his crimson smoke was being absorbed by Petticoat and shook himself free of the man's grasp. If not for his rage, he might have been stunned by the man's brightness. If not for his rage, he would certainly have tried to run…

But instead, he released his grip on Zayn, turning on a dime and throwing wild elbow straight at Petticoat's face with a ferocious yell.

Had he been asked, Zeff would have said that he had expected to instantly knock the man out. Which was why, as his elbow struck Petticoat clean on the nose, he was surprised to see that it did absolutely no damage.

In fact, Petticoat didn't even flinch.

Zeff, still controlled by his rage, squared up and, with all of his might and rage, kicked Petticoat right between the legs.

'Oh, sh*t…' Zeff thought, only too late realizing he should have run in the first place…

He had accidentally killed a man with a punch to the gut at 'Physical Enhancement I'. But this was a kick... at 'Physical Enhancement II'! And one to the groin, at that! Despite that fact, just like before, Petticoat seemed utterly unaffected as he smiled and said, to himself as much as to Zeff, "I finally have power… Power to make the wrongs of this world right…"

Zeff couldn't be sure what happened next. Both due to the speed at which it occurred and Petticoat's nearly blinding light. All he knew was that one moment he had been looking Petticoat in the face, and the next, he was flying through the air.

*Crash!* He collided with a police cruiser, becoming embedded in it and bending its metal frame around his body like it was a bean-bag chair.

"Zeff-boy…" Rasped Sylvan as he clambered toward Zeff, blood dripping down his face.

"Doc… W-what happened? I—" drawled Zeff.

"You need to calm down boy… That smoke, or whatever it is, is making him stronger, somehow. He's absorbing it!"

Zeff already felt perceptibly calmer, but, sure enough, crimson smoke was still rising from his body.

"I-I have to teach Zayn a lesson…" Zeff began groggily while struggling to dislodge himself from the side of the police cruiser. "He said… he killed my dad… "

Sylvan was at once shocked to hear that, but reassured Zeff. "There's no way that's possible, Zeff. Trust me. He's lying."

"How do you know? He knew what my dad looked like. He even knew his name!"

Sylvan stood to his feet with a grimace. Across the way as Zayn, face bloody and swollen, was picking up his pistol and his dagger from the ground as Petticoat waited patiently nearby, his eyes ever fixed in their direction. The two were speaking, though Sylvan couldn't hear what they were saying. Then, after a second more, Zayn and Petticoat began to walk side by side in Zeff and Sylvan's direction. Their faces grim and determined.

Sylvan didn't waste a moment more. He sprang up and ripped Zeff out of the car as best as he could. "Foolish boy. He read your mind!"

Zeff was taken aback at the obviousness of it all as tears started to well up in his eyes. "Really?! How can you be s—"

"Zeff!! We don't have time for this!" Sylvan interjected, his eyes trained on Zayn and Petticoat who getting closer every second. "Remember Rule number four, boy? You have to calm down. Control your emotions or we are both about to die."

Zeff finally seemed to have a fire in his eyes again. He rubbed his misty eyes, inhaled deeply and, at once, his eyes ceased their glowing and the red smoke stopped flowing from his body.

Sylvan could see no immediate change in Petticoat's 'aura', but he assumed it would take some time, though perhaps not enough…

"Listen, Zeff. Don't let Petticoat touch you. He's slower than me but somehow stronger. And be careful of his punches. They poison the air, somehow…"

"Doc…" began Zeff apprehensively as he saw the two men approaching, "Why don't we just run now?"

"I could probably get away easily enough. But I don't think you could outrun Petticoat at your current level. We have to fight and look for a moment to get away. And we have to do it all before their reinforcements get here…"

Zeff nodded as a bead of cold sweat ran down the side of his face. "Okay, Doc. I'll follow your lead." he replied, getting himself into fighting stance. "Let's dance."

You can find story with these keywords: The Dracophage Skill Tree, Read The Dracophage Skill Tree, The Dracophage Skill Tree novel, The Dracophage Skill Tree book, The Dracophage Skill Tree story, The Dracophage Skill Tree full, The Dracophage Skill Tree Latest Chapter