Javen ordered the shocked Velica to stay in the house. Raivy's words did not reach the two, despite him shouting out at them. So, he had no choice but to follow them into the forest. They stopped in a place crowded with leaves, vines, and trees, which obscured it from outsiders. Upon agreeing on the place, Vira transformed into his horsenake form.

"I see... so you are the brother of Princess Vimirya," said Javen. "That explains a lot. I expected your kind to come here sooner to protect her, but you were late."

"Remember, I did not come here for her," Vira responded sharply. "It was her choice to leave Metzra, so I did not object. I only came to get a useless thing from Earth to cause wonders in Metzra. But your existence is hindering it."

Me? Hindering it? Javen thought.

After this thought, Javen waited no more as he leaped toward Vira at an inhuman speed. That should surprise him. It always surprised them, Javen thought. Javen aimed to slash into Vira's shoulder as quickly as he could. I will not let this hybrid pollute my son's mind. But the slash could only cut through the air as Vira dodged it. Vira responded by quickly reaching out to grab hold of Javen's neck, but Javen ducked his head in time and retreated.

"You sure you don't want to use any weapon?" asked Javen. "If you don’t you will die in a minute."

Javen spoke to Vira to buy himself some time to think about his next attack. But, Vira did not give him that pleasure, for he dashed toward Javen while extending his head like a snake.

I have not seen this move for a while. I am sorry, Vira, but your venomous fangs can’t reach me that easily, thought Javen.

The trick, Javen knew, was to anticipate the head's movement. So, Javen readied his blue sword to pierce Vira's head as soon as it reached him. I have done it many times, and I can do it again.

A split second before Javen's blue sword was about to connect with Vira's extended head, Vira retracted his head backward.

Dammit. It was a feint, Javen thought.

Vira used his head as a distraction to come closer to Javen, who was then only three feet away from him.

It is fine, I can still dodge, Javen thought.

Vira threw a side punch at Javen's belly, but Javen stepped to the right, evading it.

However, at this instant, Javen's eyes were focused only on Vira's arm—he couldn’t see where the next attack might come from. Javen had to quickly observe the rest of Vira’s body for any surprise attacks, but he was too late. Using his other hand, Vira punched Javen's chest so hard that he flew and collided against a large tree which fell from the impact.

Javen coughed out blood—the force of the punch was so strong that he was left immobilized. His broken ribs were digging into his flesh. It is hard to breathe... The sword that had given Javen his inhuman strength had fallen far, close to Raivy.

"Vira, stop it," said Raivy. "Didn't you promise me not to harm a human without my approval?"

Raivy was about to grab hold of the blue sword, but Vira shouted, "Don't touch it. It will reduce your lifespan." Raivy followed Vira's words and backed off from the blue sword. “Yes," continued Vira. "I will stop, but I did not break the promise. Your father is no longer a human."

"Just... tell me... one thing," said Javen. "Why... are you... with... my son? If you... want to... avenge your race... or the princess... then kill me right away. But please... spare Raivy... he doesn't… know."

"I don't believe in revenge, Javen," replied Vira. "The weak invented it to justify their actions. In any case, there is no need to hide the truth from you. Your son is destined to go to Metzra and unify it. He may not know it, but he has the blood of a horsenake flowing through his veins. I assume you are 'more' than aware of that, considering what you did to his mother."

"You..." said Javen. He did not expect anyone to know his secret that easily. Yet, it did not matter if Vira knew about it—the problem was his son. "Raivy... you also... knew... what happened?"

"Yes," said Raivy. "Why did you kill her? I have never seen you harm a single person in any way except with a reason. Yet... you destroyed my life, yours, and Oran's family. What did she do to deserve that brutal death? She never harmed a single soul."

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"Raivy," said Javen. It was easier for him to breathe now. "I was not aware of her real form. She hid it from me for twenty years... until I saw her starving one day. Yes, starving for food..."

“Raivy, can you imagine sleeping for decades, in the same bed, with a person who feeds on your own kind? Why do you think our neighboring villages, Akarma and Ledarma, were abandoned? Why do you think none of their young men remained alive?"

Javen coughed up more blood, but he continued. "I held myself back for your sake... until you could stand on your feet... But I had to do it. We swore to do it, Oran and I, long ago. Do you know how demeaning it was for me to marry a woman from the race I detested the most? Your mother Arbara was a jewel on the outside, but a devil on the inside."

Did she eat humans? Fed on entire villages? The thoughts echoed in Raivy's head...

"Vira, could you kill me, please?" Javen pleaded. "The guilt of slaying countless Metzerians has put me in constant agony, even in my dreams. And the sword has already consumed much of my lifespan."

"Agony? How many Metzerians did you kill?" asked Vira, ignoring the request.

"Two hundred. Most of them were antigers,” replied Javen. “They all blended with humans. Those who were the toughest to kill were the ones who did nothing wrong. Rather, they helped improve many of the cities and villages I have come across. So, we ran away from this responsibility, Oran and I, to these two villages, far from all the madness. We were part of the Magus Association for twenty years. After that, we got a chance to live in selected villages like this one."

"Vira," said Raivy, "do horsenakes need to eat humans to survive?"

"No," replied Vira. "But we need to eat fresh meat at least once a week. I know where you are heading. You see, most royalties, regardless of whether they are from Earth or Metzra, have a hard time forgetting the taste of luxury. Your mother—princess Vimirya—was among them, it seems."

Raivy stayed still for a while, lamenting over the past actions of his parents. The headache... not again. Raivy's exhausted heart was being torn into two—half was siding with his mother and the other with his father... There is no way I can pick one over the other.

"So, both of you are corrupt... and since she is already dead, only you are left to be punished," Raivy said.

Raivy walked toward his father while reaching for his hidden knife. "Vira, you don't have to kill my father. Instead, it is more appropriate if I do the job."

"Raivy... you...," said the surprised father.

The knife made a sharp, metallic sound as it left its scabbard.

"Goodbye," said Raivy. "You have been the best father one could have... until now."

Raivy shoved the knife into his father's heart without hesitation, blood splattering all over his face and hands. Despite being fatally injured, Javen looked at Raivy, locking his eyes on him, and uttered, "Failure..."

Javen closed his eyes, then, after a while, his soul ceased to exist.

"Vira, could you bury him?" asked Raivy. "I can't bear to do so."

"Certainly," said Vira, revealing a wide smile. "You are truly the king I was looking for."

"Is that so?" responded Raivy. One is calling me a failure and the other a king...

"A true king does not hesitate to dole out justice, Even if the person is from his own kin. But, this logic can only be applied in peaceful times where murder is rare—to maintain order. But in Metzra, everyone is a murderer. You will have to accept this ugly fact peacefully. To them, the word ‘murder’ has neither weight nor guilt to it."

"But what’s wrong with punishing those who murder in Metzra?"

"Raivy, if you killed every murderer in Metzra, I doubt that anyone would remain."

"I see. Anyway, I am not in the mood to argue this further. We still have to go back and discuss Itara’s death with Oran..."

“He still has the nerve to talk to Oran after killing his own father?” Vira whispered to himself.

"Wait," said Vira, now talking to Raivy, "we still have to take Eklatos, the blue jewel in Javen's sword. It is dangerous for humans, but a great asset for us horsenakes."

"But, won't it reduce your lifespan?"

"No," replied Vira, walking toward the blue sword. "This happens only when another race uses an artifact that the Dragans did not gift them."

Vira picked up the sword, forced the jewel out of its grip, and placed it in his pocket. Once he did so, the blue color of the sword dissipated, revealing corrosion all over the blade.

“Eklatos has two abilities," said Vira. "First, any non-organic object it touches becomes unbreakable. This is why despite being covered with rust, the sword was indestructible. Second, it strengthens the ability of whoever wields the non-organic object touching the jewel. So, when your father was holding the sword, a single mistake would have been enough to cut my body into two. And I did not want to waste the extra life I had from the amulet. At any rate, these are just precautions—it is not like anyone can stop me on Earth.”

This horse is so arrogant. "I see. But do you know how my father got his hands on Eklatos?"

"He did not receive it from the Magus Association for certain. I suppose you are not aware of it, but this secret Association exists solely for killing Metzerians. Your father and Oran were core members in it for years. But it would make no sense for them to give a retired hunter such an extraordinary artifact. Yet Eklatos was in Metzra thirty years ago. I saw it myself. Princess of the horsenakes, Vimirya, took it before she ran to Earth... Do you know what this means, Raivy?"

"Of course... Now I understand how Father got hold of it. Anyway, let us not waste time. It will be night by the time we meet Oran."

While the two were walking to Oran's house in Medres, Vira wondered to himself. How did he recover that fast? His tone no longer bears any sense of sadness... Or, does he have a natural ability for hiding his emotions? The boy is interesting, Vimirya... your sacrifice was well worth it.