Chapter 281: Let’s be civil now
"Sir! Did you-" Karl paused as he saw Carolus on the ground, his arm contorted at a disgusting angle.
"I-Impossible! T-That was his most powerful attack, and it did nothing?" All of this was too much to take in, and Karl collapsed onto the ground.
"Arghhhhh!!" Carolus bellowed in pain as Kai twisted his arm once more, snapping it in many places.
"Still think that you can beat me?" Kai was loving this. He took pleasure in embarrassing his opponents and loved seeing fear on their faces.
’I’m turning into a psychopath.’
’You already are one.’ Leo chimed in.
’Fuck off!’
"Ahem, now that you two know that it’s impossible to beat me, let’s have a chat now." Kai healed them both and took a seat on the ground.
"Oh, sorry about your sword. Here, I’ll get you a new one." Kai entered his status window and bought a mana disruption blade for Karl. It was even more powerful than the one he used before.
"W-What’s going on?" Both of them were confused. One moment, they were trying to kill Kai, and the next, he’s healing them and giving out free weapons.
"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Kai LuForia, I’m the hero of Gracia. I’m here with my companions, one of whom is the hero of Aquaphina."
Both Carolus and Karl’s eyes widened. They knew the names of the two people Kai had listed and were very ashamed of themselves.
"We’re sorry! We didn’t know followers of the gods were in our realm!"
"Please forgive us!"
"Yeah, yeah, stand up. Tell me, what is this place?"
"This is the spirit realm. We’re currently in the land of foxes. Somehow, the demon king made his way into our land and slaughtered most of our people. Those who survived are in hiding or were taken as slaves." Karl clenched his fists.
"We thought your group was scouts to see if there were survivors. After all, your kind was also here. They also ate some pills that made them stronger. We planned on killing a few of you, then taking the rest into questioning."
"I see. Well, I understand your situation. Come, let’s regroup with the others." Kai waved his hand, and they were teleported to the center of the island.
Alongside them, Kai also teleported everyone to the center of the island. All of his crew were perfectly fine, no injuries in sight, and all of the fox spirits were beaten up and bound by rope.
Amaya was still punching the shit out of one poor fox spirit, though.
"Hey! Amaya! Knock it off!" Kai flicked her head.
"Owie!"
"Ughh! P-Please, h-help me."
Kai healed the man and healed all of the other spirits.
Now that everyone was gathered, Kai explained everything he learned and told Karl and Carolus to fill in the rest. After all of the spirits learned that Kai and Barry were Heroes, they got on their hands and knees to apologize.
"If all of you are spirits, then why do you look so similar to us?" Patty wondered. She, too, was a foxkin, but unlike them, she wasn’t a spirit.
"Long ago, spirits decided to leave the spirit world for the outside world, but in order to do so, they needed to relinquish their spirit abilities. They lost the ability to transform completely and couldn’t use spirit energy anymore." Carolus explained.
"You’re kin, basically. Just generations removed, by a lot." Karl dumbed down for everyone.
"No wonder you smell familiar." Amaya thought that being related to spirits was pretty cool.
"Wait. Does this mean that the spirits I’m contracted with live in this realm?" Kyana tried to summon her spirits, but none of them answered her call.
Carolus shook his head. "No. The spirit world is split into many different sections, each of which correlates to the continents of the world. We’re animal spirits, but what you have are nature spirits."
"I see." She wanted to visit the spirit world to see her own spirits in their true form.
"So what’s up with the water? Why is it on fire?" Sasha wondered.
"It’s an illusion. But in this world, illusions become reality. Since you’re not from this world, the properties of the water are normal, but for us, it’s dangerous."
"Where is your base?" Barry asked. "We can help you liberate your realm. With the power of two heroes, there’s nothing that can stop us."
Sasha elbowed Gwen and pointed to Barry with her thumb as if to say, ’Get a load of this guy.’
"Your help will be very much appreciated. Please, come. However, it is a dangerous trek back to our base. It’s close to an outpost belonging to the demons."
"No need to worry about that," Kai reassured them. "Just think about where your base is located and I’ll handle the rest."
Carolus looked at Karl, who just shrugged. So, Carolus just did what Kai asked and waited for him to work his magic.
Kai touched his head, found the location of the base, and then teleported everyone there.
They arrived somewhere underground where there was a community of fox spirits doing all sorts of things. Most were mourning their losses, while others were trying to make the best of the situation.
People were crying, kids were hungry, and the whole place didn’t look its best. It was clear that this underground area was built quickly so everyone could have a place to stay.
"I apologize for the condition of our base, but it’s all we have." Carolus led all of them to where they would be staying for the time being.
Kai felt slightly bad, so he decided to do something good for them. He completely overhauled the base, making it look as grand as a castle. He healed all of the injured and sick, and stocked up on food and water.
Everyone was stunned. They had no idea how the place had changed instantly, but all they knew was that their living situation just got a whole lot better.
"Alright, take us to your leader."