Grand Ascension-Chapter 129: Out of Character

The room went still.

Ray’s smile died, while Sarah stopped breathing. What had the rookie just done.

Danielle stared at Makun, her eye twitching.

"What did you just say?"

Her voice was quiet, quieter than what it had been earlier. It felt as if she was restraining herself in order not to explode.

But Makun could feel it, he felt her Ashe shift. It was different from most warriors he had encountered till now, it felt pure.

This was an adept, someone who had a domain and he had just spat in her face.

He did not care.

"I said I do not fucking care about your orders."

Danielle moved.

One moment she was standing across the room, the next she was in front of him, her hand gripping his collar, lifting him off the couch like he weighed nothing.

"You want to repeat that?" Her voice was ice.

Makun’s legs screamed in protest, the injuries Sarah had patched flared, but he grabbed her wrist, his own Ashe surging, red and chaotic.

"Let go of me."

Their energies clashed, the air between them crackling.

Maybe he was not her match, he did not care, he had to put up a fight.

But before anything could happen.

"Whoa whoa whoa." Ray stepped in hands raised, his usual grin replaced by something cautious. "Let us all just take a breath here, yeah? Rookie almost died, Leader is stressed, we are all tired, how about we—"

"Stay out of this, Ray." Danielle’s voice cut through like a blade.

Makun could see it in her eyes, She had been pissed since earlier. This was not just about him, this was about everything

First of all, Makun went to the kid’s room without her command, secondly Ray who asked all of them to separate on the rookie’s first day, thirdly Makun went back to the Joneses and followed them.

Then he noticed something this big and ventured in, alone.

He failed to notify them.

It was fine because nothing happened, because he had survived. If something happened, she would be held accountable.

She would be severely punished.

That is why, she had to discipline him.

Her hand twitched, her finger twitched even more, he had to know the hierarchy here, now.

"Leader." Sarah called out carefully. "He needs rest: He has exerted too much pressure on his route core and spiritual veins, they are unstable." She stepped forward, joining Ray "Whatever this is, it can wait. If you push him now, his body might not recover properly. I am asking you, as your healer, please let it go, for now."

She dropped him.

Makun almost fell, his legs were burning, but he steadied himself and walked toward the door.

"Where do you think you are going. You need rest." Sarah reminded.

"Away from her."

He did not look back, he could feel their eyes on him, Ray’s confusion, Sarah’s worry and Danielle’s fury, but he did not care.

He had been stressed out the last two weeks and had not rested at all, he could not be bothered.

The door slammed behind him.

The cold morning air hit his face, and for the first time in hours, days, or even weeks, he could breathe.

But that was before he saw it.

Nine bodies in front of him, lined up on the gravel like discarded luggage. It seemed that the team had dragged them here while waiting for MIO’s arrival, they had even searched the perimeter and found Xavier, Barry and Gaspar.

Under daylight, Makun could see what he had done.

One had a hole punched clean through his belly, intestines spilling onto the dirt. Another, Mike, had his neck twisted at an unnatural angle, eyes still open, frozen in surprise.

The rest were not much better, broken bones jutting through skin, limbs bent the wrong way, blood pooled beneath them in dark sticky patches.

Did I really do this?

He stared at his own hands.

Was I the one who killed them like this?

Then it came back to him, the memories of when he had killed the Blade Dancer.

After the elbow to the skull, the Blade Dancer was done, but Makun had not let him go, he had thumped on him, again and again and again until his brain matter spilled grotesquely on the chequerboard.

He did not feel guilt, they deserved death, but it had not been long since his first kill, he should not be murdering people in such a fashion.

Something is wrong! Makun was sure of it.

He looked at the corpses in complete silence, torturing his brain for a solution.

Berserk!

After a while, he came to a conclusion, it was his berserk nature, it was affecting him and how he acted.

His Ashe was chaotic, the information contained in it was full of entropy, chaos and destruction. As someone who interacted with it, with his body full of it, it was normal for him to be influenced by it to some extent.

Even earlier, in the chalet with Danielle, Makun knew there was something wrong, that answer he had given her, it was abrupt, out of order and most importantly out of character.

Yes, he did not like being walked on, he got annoyed when that happened, however he never reacted on emotions, he was someone logical, sharp and paranoid to some extent.

He always thought before acting. He had learned that lesson long before mysticism and even on his last mundane job, with his boss Marcus who had pissed him off.

Makun had defied him in a logical manner, providing logical excuses and not giving him the satisfaction of turning back when he left.

But here, this time, with Danielle, he had acted on impulse.

She had pissed him off, but his logical answer was going to be waiting, upgrading his rank, then retorting.

However that had not gone to plan, no, a whole lot of chaos came into play.

That made him question; all these deaths, all the rage he felt at the slightest annoyance, all the anger he felt towards the world, all the joy he felt from fighting, all the joy he felt from destroying his enemies, how much of it was him, and how much of it was his subroute?

And how was it going to affect him?