Taking Part in a Survival Game with My Brother

262  The thread of fate

This man had been hiding his power until now.

That was the guess Kairen made after witnessing the things that were going on and being reminded of the past events that he had ignored. But that was his limit. He couldn't think about why the man had done that or how could he be so strong. His mind was a mess on its own, he didn't have the energy to think about anything else.

RUMBLEEE

THUD THUD THUD

The boulders kept crashing with the red snake and falling apart. Smaller stone pieces were scattered everywhere and the whole area was a mess. It was as if a bomb had exploded here.

FLOAT FLOAT

All of the stone debris that got scattered in the area started to float in the air. The broken boulders, the soil, the stones, everything floated in the air before they suddenly started to move in specific directions.

Half of the stones gathered in front of Kairen and the man holding him, compressed and created a wall-like barrier.

The other half got scattered all around instead. The small pebbles then moved towards the white-haired man at a high speed.

"Oh?"

The man jumped back a little bit and raised one hand.

CRACKLE

ZZZZZZZ

Small electric currents danced around his hand before they shot up towards each and every one of the pebbles rushing at him

Bom

Bom

Bom

The stones exploded one by one the moment they came into contact with the electric currents.

RUMBLEEE

B-BAAAAAAANNGGGG

A huge explosion rang out when the red snake and the stone wall collided. The ground shook even more and dust and debris scattered all around.

"Cough."

Kairen coughed after breathing in a huge amount of dust. The debris that was moving his way never hit him as the man controlling them changed their direction, or shielded Kairen with his body from them. That allowed Kairen to focus on something else instead.

CRACKLE

CRACKLE

The silver-golden cracks that had been filling the area since the white-haired man's first attack slowly started to move towards the stone barrier. As they moved, some more golden-silver cracks appeared in the air. The new cracks that appeared looked faint and fragile, as if they would turn to dust in an instant.

"Ugh, cough."

Drip Drip

More blood oozed out of Kairen's mouth and nose.

"Kairen, stop!"

The man slightly shook his limp body.

"Cough!"

Kairen didn't listen to him.

'What do you mean by stop? We will turn into ashes if that thing hits us.'

All of the boulders and stones that had blocked the red electric snake so far had weakened the attack pretty much, but that was still not enough to defend themselves. They had to block it completely before jumping into the portal.

"Gasp."

Kairen grabbed his brother's clothes as he gasped and trembled. Most of the damage he had taken after the white-haired man hit him with the red thunderbolt was not because of the thunderbolt, but because of his own power, which exploded in an instant and drew all of his energy, damaging his inner organs as a huge amount of power was activated in an instant. The wound on his shoulder and the small scratches on his body were the only damages done by the thunderbolt.

CRACKLE

CRACKLE

Now a barrier made out of silver-golden cracks was floating in the air right behind the stone barrier that was still blocking the red electric snake.

'This won't be enough...'

Kairen knew that for sure. He knew that despite using all of his power and his brother doing everything he could to block this attack, they wouldn't be able to block this attack. It was because he could sense how strong that red electric snake was. It was even stronger than that thunderbolt from before. He wasn't sure if his brother could feel the pressure coming from that man or that red snake as well or not, but he, who could, was sure that it was impossible to block it with their powers.

'Tch!'

He clicked his tongue inwardly.

'Why did he jump in here? Damn it!'

He cursed his brother. He will get killed at this rate. Who would jump into such a place like this? Has he lost his mind?

"...Go..."

He mumbled that again while clenching his brother's clothes with all his might.

"Leave..."

This white-haired man was after him. He said he wanted to find things out. He was curious about Kairen's power. If that was the case, wasn't there a chance that he wouldn't really kill Kairen? If he wanted to find out something about him, wouldn't it be better to keep Kairen alive?

There was a chance that Karien wouldn't die. Even if it was a slight chance, there still was some hope.

But that hope was only for him, not for his brother. He had meddled with things. Kairen didn't think that this white-haired enemy would let his brother live, even if he didn't kill Kairen.

"Get away from here..."

Kairen pleaded. He was scared. He didn't want to be left alone. But he was even more scared of this man, who was toughly holding him in his embrace, getting hurt. Not after he had found him after so much time. Not after witnessing his new family members getting hurt and dying. He was scared.

"Shut up."

He got the same answer again.

RUMBLEEE

B-BAAAANNNNNNGGG

Finally, the stone wall that his brother had created exploded to pieces and the head of the red electric snake became visible through the scattering debris.

BAAAAAAANGGG

And then, the head of the snake slammed against the barrier of cracks.

"Ugh-"

Kairen coughed a mouthful of blood. He could feel the strength leaving his body and his body getting cold.

'Damn, I will die at this rate even if this man doesn't kill me...'

His sight was so blurry that he could only see some shades and faint lights. The noises kept getting louder and quieter repeatedly as if someone was playing with the volume bottom of his ears.

CRACK

ZZZZZ

CRACK

His barrier was slowly disappearing.

'Please...'

He pulled on his brother's clothes.

'Please...'

A miracle. Something. Please, save his brother. Please.

He pleaded desperately.

-Then, don't get hurt...

He was suddenly reminded of a kid's words. A kid he had talked to not even 24 hours ago.

RUMBLEEEEE

B-BOOOOMMMMMM

His crack barrier shattered to pieces. It got destroyed easier than he expected. Probably because he had used most of his power blocking the first thunderbolt, the second barrier was weaker than what it was supposed to be.

Kairen could see a red light moving towards them.

-Uncle won't get hurt!

Kairen was reminded of the kid's words. The words that he had said while his dark gray eyes were glowing like stars.

-Uncle won't get hurt!

ZAAAAAPPPP

The red head of the snake was just a few inches away from the two people.

SHHHHHH

But then, something strange happened.

SHHHHH

In his blurry vision, Kairen saw a thin thread. A thin gray thread appeared in the air. The thread danced in the air like silk and swirled around. It was moving so slowly and elegantly that Kairen thought that the time must've stopped for a moment.

'Huh?'

No, the time really stopped for a moment.

The movements around him, the snake, the debris, everything had stopped moving. Everything except for the thin thread that was moving elegantly and whirling around Kairen and his brother. The thread, which seemed to not have an end, moved around them a few times before moving towards the red electric snake, that seemed to be frozen in the air. It then whirled around that thing a few times.

ZAAAAAAAPPPPP

And then, everything snapped.

It all happened so fast that Kairen couldn't see it properly. The time stopped and then went back to normal. It happened so fast and at the same time so slowly that Kairen wondered if he just imagined things.

But he was sure that he hadn't.

ZAAAAAPPPP

It was because of the red snake.

The red snake, that was heading straight towards the two of them, was now magically moving in another direction.

"What?"

"Huh?"

He heard the white-haired man and his brother's confused voices at the same time.

ZAAAAAAPPP

"Ugh-"

Kairen felt something graze past his skin and cut it like a blade. It was hot, it was sharp. Kairen knew this feeling. It felt like this the first time he got hit by the man's attack and his shoulder got wounded.

"Argh."

He didn't need to think much about what just happened. The snake that magically changed directions, grazed past him and went in another direction after injuring his side.

And that made Kairen realize something else.

'We are alive...'

He felt his body go numb.

'We are both alive.'

"REN!"

'What the hell! How in the world did we survive?'

He felt his numb body getting dragged somewhere. He soon could hear the noise made by the portal that Claire created getting closer and closer.

"The thread of fate?"

He also heard the white-haired man's words, which were spat out in a tone that seemed the man couldn't believe what he just said.

"Ren!"

And that was the last thing he heard before closing his eyes and letting his brother move him to the portal.