[Psychokinetic] Eyeball Pulling - Chapter 234:

Overload: Anger has ended.

| You cannot use mana for two hours.

All Astrid knew at the minute was pain. It took over her senses entirely. Her vision blurred. A deep ringing scratched at her eardrums. She felt queasy.

Astrid stood rooted to the spot as enormous saw blades skipped over the water, splitting the scrap metal that covered the ocean like a scalpel. The fact that the Great No-Eyed One had arrived along with Kreka didn’t register.

Leena supported her while fending off the deadly glares from the surviving Wayfarers. She had killed one of their own. They had fought side by side. They had almost made it out alive, yet Astrid was the one to kill the man in the end.

Clutching at her head in agony, she gazed at the scrap clothing from the man she had killed. She tried to stop it. She tried… Astrid bit her lip as she tore her vision away from what was left of the man.

With the combined support of her psycho and kobold army, along with reinforcements from Rebirth, they made quick work of the incredibly spawn numbers. But even with their help, they were never ending.

Astrid and the others quickly made their way onto Seabreaker. The moment they had boarded the ship, the engine roared. It spat fumes from the back, turned, then blasted back to their home. The spawn followed.

Astrid leaned against the battered and split walls of Seabreaker. The glares of the Wayfarers never left. Their eyes stuck to her like wrathful glue.

Kreka, flying with a strange metal contraption strapped to his back alongside his kobold army, was busy throwing those strange spiked-bombs from the air as they followed Astrid back to Rebirth. After only five minutes, the spawn turned tail. They returned their path to the bubble. Most likely to help the Leviathan. But it wasn’t a battle Astrid could join.

The Wayfarer… Astrid clenched her toes at the sudden image. His panicked face was branded into her mind. Although she had lost control, she was well aware of what she was doing. Worse yet, is that panic he had shown was toward the spawn. Never could he have imagined that it would be Astrid that would slay him.

Astrid broke free from Leena’s support. She wasn’t a victim. If the others witnessed that she needed the support of her friend, then their looks would only get worse.

Brett sauntered over. His eyes were as cold as ice. His expression too. He leaned against the wall with a bottle of alcohol in his hand. He cocked his head back and slammed the drink down the hatch. The full bottle emptied in a couple seconds.

“Phew,” Brett said, wiping the dripping liquid from his lips. He looked over at the Wayfarers, nudging his head in their direction. “Nothing like a good drink of spirit after balancing our lives on the line, huh?”

“It isn’t over yet,” Astrid said. Her expression was as blank as Bretts. “If the Grand Elders can’t defeat their forces here, then Rebirth is their next target.”

“Aye, true,” Brett continued. “You know, you don’t need to feel bad about your little mishap. Shit happens. Would hardly be the first time someone has accidentally killed one of their team members on a mission. Besides, you saved us there.”

The Wayfarers looked even more angry.

“You say that with such ease.”

“Ah, it’s the drawback of my ability. The more time I spend in the shadows, the more my mind turns cold. It’s helpful for murder. Not so much when I’ve gotta talk.”

“Sounds like a pain in the ass.”

“Oh it is,” Brett said. Mana flared from his ring and another bottle appeared in his hands. “Just like yours. You know how my parents died?”

Astrid turned her head to Brett. A small smile crept up onto his lips, but it was of the cold, unfeeling type. It was eerie coming from the trained assassin.

Of course she had heard about it. They were on a mission in a town. Spawn infested the land from out of nowhere and surrounded her father and his team in an instant. Overrun, only her father got out of there alive. It was a disaster for Rebirth, losing so many geniuses all at once.

“It was the spawn,” Astrid said.

“It was,” Brett agreed. “But it isn’t the whole truth. I managed to catch a glimpse of the mission report one day when I was snooping around.”

Astrid’s eyebrows rose.

Brett coughed. “I was just stretching my legs. Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is that it wasn’t wholly the spawn. Lord Sinwen finished my parents off.”

“What?” Astrid raised her back off the wall, shocked.

“Lord Sinwen killed them,” Brett said simply.

“What?” Astrid repeated. “How? Why?”

“He had to,” Brett said. “If he hadn’t, everyone would have died down there. The mighty Lord Sinwen. Even he had to sacrifice my parents in order to make it out alive. Answer me this, would Rebirth still be standing without Lord Sinwen manning the helm?”

Astrid didn’t know.

Brett answered for her. “Lord Sinwen has done much more than you realise. It was he who united the pirate kings. It was he who made Noah the pirate king of kings. Noah is loyal to him. It is Lord Sinwen who has glued the noble houses together. Although that has recently changed as you well know. If it wasn’t for Lord Sinwen, this entire world would look a lot different. It would be broiled in a never ending blazing war. Everyone wants a piece to call their own. It was all because he survived that day.”

“But still–”

“Still confused why I feel no malice toward your father?” Brett asked. Astrid nodded.

Brett took out a small letter from his ring. He smiled. Even through his cold mask from overusing his Skills, it was a warm smile. Our parents left Lord Sinwen a note.

“All of us.” Rachelle approached along with all the others. They all held notes. They were folded in half and the edges had long tore. It was evident how much they had opened it to read their words. The words of their deceased, but not forgotten parents.

Strangely, Losefs was the only one that had little wear and tear.

“It was their idea,” Brett said. “Sacrifice is needed for the bigger picture. You aren’t some Wayfarer scraping at the bottom of the ranking barrel. Every action you make is weighed in blood. If you hadn’t overtaxed yourself and lost control, we’d be dead before reinforcements arrived. Your mother would be dead. Leena would be dead. We’d be dead. You’d be dead. You may not know it yet, but with the speed of your Levelling, you’re more important than a Wayfarer clinging to his life. You’re a fucking Sinwen, so start acting like it.”

Brett slammed down the bottle in his hand, then sauntered to the back of the ship. On his way, he passed the Wayfarers, and spat, “You’re all Wayfarers. Get your head out the fucking dirt and realise the position we’re all in. Losers.”

Then Brett vanished. Hiding somewhere within the dark recesses of Seabreaker.

Astrid shook her head. She noticed her mother tending to her wounds at the front decking of the ship. Astrid said to Leena that she was okay, then made her way over to her mother. Seeing the arm missing, a lump formed in Astrid’s throat.

“How is it?” Astrid asked, eyes locked at her mother’s stumpy arm. “Is it painful?”

“No,” Eli said with a gentle smile. With her only arm, she wrapped it around Astrid’s back and pulled her in for a hug. Her grip was weak. She was still recovering from the intense war. “What Brett said was correct. You are worth more than a single Wayfarer. It might be cruel, or insensitive, but it’s the truth. We have the blood of the Firsts within us. Because of our rare Classes, we travel further than anyone else. And you… Well, whatever Class you have is obviously more special than even us.”

“I know,” Astrid said, shaking her head. “But it’s not the warrior I wish to be. If I was stronger. If I had more control over my Skills, I wouldn’t have killed that man. I swear mother, it won’t happen again.”

“You do need more time,” her mother agreed. “It’s been one event after the other, hasn’t it?”

“You can say that again.” Astrid sighed. Honestly, she was utterly exhausted. Ever since she had awakened, she wasn’t given a single day’s rest. After defeating the Leviathan. After she has annihilated the Order. Only then would she be able to truly rest for a while.

But now wasn’t that time.

“Do you think Father can defeat them?” Astrid asked.

“Have faith,” her mother said. Her grip tightened. “But it’s the Great Migrators I worry about. I don’t know what their objective is. Or why they have returned after so long.”

Astrid shook her head. She didn’t know either. All she knew was that they were after something.

“What’s the plan for when we return?” Astrid changed the subject.

“If our enemies decide to move their attack to Rebirth, then we need to be certain we aren’t here when they surface,” Eli continued. “Time is of the essence. As soon as we reach Rebirth, we will set a path to a place where even the Order wouldn’t dare travel.”

Astrid tried to think of a location, but her mind turned blank. Where would the Order not dare to travel… She looked at her mother in shock.

“The Dead Seas?” Astrid asked. “The Dead Seas?” She repeated.

Her mother nodded. “The Dead Seas. If they dare chase us, they will be wiped out. If they haven’t already.”

Although Astrid was curious as to how they would survive themselves, or even how they would get there in the first place, she just decided to thrust her mother. Obviously she had a plan in mind.

Soon, the enormous image of Rebirth entered Astrid’s view. There was no more smoke from the invasion of the corrupted and the Order. The builders were always quick workers.

There was always an indescribable feeling whenever she returned. It was the sight of home.

But it was to never last. The Leviathan screamed. It was so loud Astrid could see the ripples on the water. They had travelled at least fifty nautical miles. Yet it was as if she was right next to the primordial scream.

Deep down in the bubbled city of Apocrypha, something truly terrible had happened.