Chapter 545 – Chaos Core

Shooting a Chaoshound in the eye with my gun while slicing apart another with my katana and watching as they faded away into the air like fog, I battled my way through the beasts and made my way over to Nael, who was still struggling on the ground with the first Chaoshound from before. Even a terrifyingly strong demon like him had trouble overpowering the beast in brute strength, but finally, I ended his struggle with a single bullet to the head.

“Look out, Kai Kai!” My father suddenly yelled. I immediately spun around only to see another Chaoshound attempting to execute a sneak attack from behind me, but Eve was quicker. She launched a purple blast of Psychic Element energy at the beast to thwart its path – and although it did actually do any damage, it was more than enough to buy the time I needed to turn around and end the beast’s life myself.

“… You saved me again,” I muttered, and she shot me a wink.

“Don’t worry about it, hubby~”

I had several things to say about her calling me that, but now was not the time. The battle against the Chaoshounds waged on as my father and I cut down the beasts one after another, filling the air with horrid screams of death and pain. 

Soon, however, we realized this could not continue. No matter how many we took down, they just dispersed into fog when they died, and reformed themselves using the Chaos air all around us. There was an endless horde of them, and we weren’t going to take all of them down anytime soon.

“Tch… they just keep coming!” My father roared. “We can’t beat them like this—plan B: run for it!”

None of us spoke up against this plan, and instead focused our energy into our feet. Making sure to stay close to one another, we charged forward amidst the fog away from the Chaoshounds. I used my instacasting abilities to create a quick water barrier for us, but it wouldn’t last long against the hounds’ relentless attacks. As such, we had to run and gun it, though with my father it was more like run and sword. I was the only one with an actual gun.

The wolves, as expected, chased us down like hungry predators on the hunt, clawing at us with their sharp paws and trying to bite our heads off. I tried my best to blast their heads open with my gun, but due to the fact that I was running plus how fast and agile they were, landing shots was difficult.

I really wish I brought Mei Gui along.

That was the only thought I had as we ran through the Chaos fog, lost and at a loss for what to do. We were just blindly running, hoping this was the right direction to get away from the wolves.

But then, like an angel descended from the sky, a voice spoke to me as I felt a presence by my side.

“Did you call, Master?”

Instantly, all four of us stopped running, and my eyes widened at who the newcomer was.

“Mei Gui…?”

A smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she held her Chaosforged spear in her hand, and instantly, she disappeared, dashing and cutting through all the Chaoshounds with ease. Their bodies were cut in two before they even realized it, and by the time they finally realized what just happened, most were already dead. They didn’t stand a chance against her, and in a split second, all of them were killed. Not only that, but they also didn’t respawn from the fog, and all we could hear were a couple of sad whimpers that faded quieter and quieter.

It would seem the wolves were too scared of Mei Gui to emerge again after that utter massacre.

Seeing that the threat had been cleared, Mei Gui let out a deep breath, and dematerialized her spear before turning around and bowing at my feet.

“My deepest apologies, Master. I arrived late. I am willing to accept any punishment you give m-“

“No no, stand up,” I quickly said, raising her to her feet and hugging her. “How did you even get here… actually, how did you know we were going to be here? Yami couldn’t have been that quick…”

“He was not,” Mei Gui replied. “However, Lorelei was able to sense his urgency, and thus headed off to meet with him. Because I was curious, I followed her on my own, and thus learned where Master was from him. To think the Chaos Realm is here, though… I did faintly sense something unusual yet familiar in the air upon our first arrival in this place, but…”

“I see… well, either way, thank god you’re here,” I muttered. “Otherwise, I don’t know if we would’ve been able to live…”

“Kai Kai, this girl… she’s…”

“This is Mei Gui,” I said. “I’ve never really introduced her to you, but she’s… a being of pure Chaos, born from the stone pendant mother gave me. She’s the same girl you tried to get rid of with your antimagic bullshit, basically.”

“H-Huh?” My father blinked, then quickly cleared his throat. “I-I mean, I have no idea what he is talking about. This is slander. Slander, I say! How could I ever want to get rid of such a cute little girl?”

“… If you were not Master’s father, I would strike you dead right now,” Mei Gui stated coldly, glaring at my father. “Only Master is allowed to call me cute. No one else.”

“Ah… haha… my bad…” My father laughed awkwardly, but the utter terror was evident on his face. He too was scared of what Mei Gui was capable of, but I only chuckled and patted her head.

“That’s my girl. Now… can you lead the way closer to the core, the origin point of all this fog?” I asked, and Mei Gui nodded.

“Before, I was too away to be able to pinpoint anything, but within this fog, the direction we have to go in is clear. However…”

She turned to Eve, Nael, and my father. “Those three will not make it.”

“… What?” Nael asked. “I am strong enough to-“

“Don’t be a fool,” Mei Gui cut in harshly. “No matter how strong you are, you cannot bypass the rules of the Chaos Realm. That is how it is, and that is how it will always be. The same applies to you… succubus queen.”

“Fufu… I see. That is fine,” Eve said. “But… what about Xuan Kai’s father? He has the power of Chaos as well, does he not? That’s how he was able to fight against those wolves, at least slightly. Why can he not enter this… Chaos Realm?”

“That is simple,” Mei Gui stated, turning to my father. “He is too weak.”

“Ouch,” I muttered, as my father faked being shot in the heart with a bullet.

“… Little girl, you’re very harsh with your words. I’ll have you know I was holding back against your precious ‘mast-“

“Do not mock Master,” Mei Gui interrupted, red eyes gleaming in the dark fog all around us and contrasting with her beautiful long silver hair. “Also… by ‘weak’, I mean the Chaos inside your body is too weak. In other words, you were merely a vessel to pass on the power to Master, who will be the one to use it to its full potential. As such, although your current understanding of Chaos is greater than Master’s due to experience, you have already maxed out your potential. Master still has infinite in front of him.”

“… Alright, fine, fine, I get it,” my father said with a sigh. “As much as I hate to admit it, what you said is true. So… going forward, it’ll just be you and Kai Kai, eh? Good luck.”

“I am both glad and surprised you understood so quickly,” Mei Gui stated, closing her eyes. “As expected of the father of Master.”

“Usually, it’d be the other way around, but…” My father stepped closer to me, and placed a hand on my shoulder. “… Bring your mother back home safely, Kai Kai. I know she’s still alive in there, somewhere. And I also know you can do it—because if you can’t, no one else can. You are, after all, her son.”

My father’s expression was serious, rigid. I could see how much he wanted to go along with me in his eyes, but he knew this was for the better anyway. So, he sacrificed his own wants, and let me take his place in this quest. Of course, part of the reason must also be he was scared my mother wouldn’t want to see him at all, given how the two had opposite opinions about whether or not to let me control Chaos. In the end, my mother went through with his plan, but changed her mind at the last moment and gave me the stone pendant. To meet again… that would be awkward.

As such, nodding firmly, I met my father’s gaze and spoke.

“… Don’t worry.. I’ll bring mother back, for sure.”