"Do not disrespect by calling that vile title," the boy huffed after a minute. "I am a ChosenBorn."
He said it like it ant sothing. Capital C, capital B, divine reverb and all.
Kai blinked.
"Uh… cool?"
The boy's blue eyes darkened, just slightly. Dramatic pause. Clearly, he was waiting for the weight of those words to land.
They didn't.
Kai just stared at him.
The boy fidgeted. Then sighed like a disappointed kindergarten teacher.
"You have no idea what I just said, do you?"
"Not even a little."
"…Are you perhaps… chosen by Azrael?"
"Who?"
Wasn't that, like, the angel of death? Was he tied to the Sassy Death he knew about?
A bile threatened to throw out as Kai suddenly rembered the man—his antics, his grin, his god-awful flair. But he just closed his eyes. Kept.
The boy groaned and pald his own face like he'd just discovered his partner in a group project couldn't read.
The fact that he looked disappointed—while being chased by goblins—both baffled and impressed Kai.
"Of course. You're one of his."
He gave Kai a softer look, more pity than annoyance.
"Aww… poor thing. I shouldn't have yelled at you."
Kai's mouth parted, slowly, like his brain was buffering.
"Okay. What the actual hell is happening right now?"
"Nothing. Just follow my lead," the boy said, puffing up again. "This big brother will handle everything. Just keep safe, okay?"
Kai blinked. Then squinted at him like he'd just heard a chicken speak fluent French.
"Big brother? You?"
He scoffed, spat on the ground.
"Thuff! You're built like a paper towel roll in the rain."
The boy waved him off.
"No need for tantrums, baby brother. Just keep running and find an opening to ditch these pesky things."
The nerve on this kid. But to Kai's surprise, he didn't seem like he was on the verge of another sobfest. Maybe the panic had burned off. Or maybe near-death had jumpstarted his sass circuits.
Kai glanced behind them. The goblins were still chasing, but lagging now—arms flailing, legs pumping like toddlers in a sack race.
"They'll tire soon," Kai muttered.
The boy nodded, catching his breath.
"Indeed. Goblins aren't the most athletic. Their strength lies in numbers and chaos. Nimble, pesky, annoyingly persistent—but not very bright."
He paused, then muttered under his breath:
"Kind of like a certain soone…"
"Huh?"
Kai shot him a look.
The boy raised both hands.
"Nothing! Nothing at all. Let's just… find a room."
Kai narrowed his eyes but let it go. No ti for snark fights. They needed a hideout, fast.
Even though every cell in his body scread to interrogate the boy about this ssed-up world, the imdiate priority was finding sowhere—anywhere—to hole up and catch a damn breath.
Preferably without being chewed on by overenthusiastic goblins.
They ran in tense silence, save for the slap of their feet on polished floors and the shrill goblin screeches echoing behind them.
The little bastards weren't fast, but they had stamina—like evil Energizer bunnies with knives.
And now, the boy was starting to slow down again. His breathing ragged, legs wobbly. Great.
Then Kai spotted it—an open doorway up ahead, off to the left. His eyes lit up.
"There! That room's open!"
The boy perked up instantly.
"Finally! So rest— I an, uh… you go ahead and scout it out. Y'know, since… you're stronger and all."
Kai gave him a long, unreadable look.
The kid tried to smile. Failed.
"…Right."
As much as he wanted to throw the boy in first and watch for traps like a proper RPG protagonist, the smarter play was to check it himself.
If the room was bad news, he'd just bolt. No use dragging dead weight in before knowing it was safe.
Either way, going in alone gave him more options.
But hey—having soone around to use as bait was a good thing, right?
But he also couldn't shake his curiosity.
This whole Lady Luck blessing thing… It might actually be useful. If it was real, it could be ga-changing.
'I'll use him as bait later if I have to. For now... I need answers.'
Kai took a deep breath and gave a solemn nod.
"Fine. As you wish, big brother..."
"Eek!"
The boy recoiled instantly, taking a quick sidestep like Kai had just confessed to licking doorknobs for fun. His face twisted in pure revulsion.
Kai ntally noted that the kid wasn't as naive as he looked. Fragile? Sure. Cowardly? Absolutely. But not stupid.
Without another word, he picked up the pace and sprinted toward the open room.
'Pray to your gods you're actually useful, big brother.'
Kai thought, lips twitching.
'Or you're getting promoted to bait in the Church of My Survival.'
He didn't have to put up with this crap—but hey, help was help. Even if it ca dressed like a drowned cat with delusions of grandeur.
Skidding to a stop just outside the room, Kai pressed himself to the wall. From inside ca a chorus of inhuman screeches, guttural goblin curses, and the rhythmic thud-thud of chaos.
'Goblins... and a lot of them.'
The sound was unmistakable. It wasn't a scuffle. It wasn't a skirmish. It was a goddamn massacre.
Kai dared a peek around the doorfra—then imdiately recoiled, gag rising in his throat.
It wasn't a fight.
It was a one-sided murder spree.
A dozen goblin corpses littered the floor.
And they weren't just dead. No, dead would've been rciful.
So had their heads torn clean off. Others had their chests ripped open like wet paper, hearts gouged out with surgical precision. Limbs were scattered around like discarded chicken bones—twisted, snapped, peeled apart.
But the worst part?
The bubbling, red-and-black sli eating through what remained of their torsos. It hissed and sizzled, carving through flesh like acid on skin, releasing a stench that hit Kai like a punch to the gut.
Even compared to his drug runner days, where dismbernt was just part of Tuesday, this was a different level of carnage.
And the perpetrator was still in the room.
Still busy.
A man—if he could be called that—stood among the wreckage. Easily over six feet tall, shirt soaked in blood, arms corded with muscle. Blonde hair slicked back. Calm. Efficient.
At that mont, he was in the middle of pulling an upside-down goblin's legs apart like it was a Thanksgiving wishbone.
If that guy saw him now... Kai had zero doubts he'd be next on the dissection table.
'What kind of monster—'
Kai couldn't finish the thought. Another wave of rot and burnt flesh hit his nose like a war cri, and he gagged—loudly.
Clamping a hand over his mouth, he bolted. No hesitation. No curiosity. Just a survival instinct screaming run, idiot, run.
Whoever—or whatever—that man was, Kai didn't want any smoke.
And he hoped—really hoped—he'd never see that man again
But of course, hope ans nothing in this world. And Kaizen was about to find it out the hard way.
Big Brother was flabbergasted, staring after his new "little brother" who had bolted without a single word of warning—no shout, no glance back, not even a whisper of "don't go in there."
"What the…?"
He crept closer to the door, just enough to peek inside. He wasn't planning to enter—just take a quick look and maybe figure out what freaked the guy out so badly—
"Blergh!"
He doubled over imdiately, gagging, hands on his knees, eyes watering.
Inside the room, the man turned. Slowly. Like a horror movie on half-speed. He was still holding both halves of a goblin—split clean down the middle.
Blood spattered his face. His cold blue eyes locked onto the doorway.
The boy froze.
The man didn't move. Just stared. But those eyes? They scread murder.
The boy looked into the room one more ti, hoping he'd imagined it.
He hadn't.
Those murder-eyes were still fixed on him.
A dark patch spread down the front of his pants.
"Ha ha ha…"
He forced a smile, gave a stiff wave, and scratched the back of his head.
Then he turned and bolted, sprinting down the hall like the devil himself was behind him.
The man didn't follow. He just stood there a mont where Big Brother had been, then went back to work—ripping the next goblin apart.
anwhile, Big Brother was cussing up a storm as he ran, face red, voice shrill.
"You bastard! You left with that thing! I swear, I'll never forgive you!"
Up ahead, Kai looked over his shoulder and smirked—but he didn't stop. He just kept running.
Fate, however, had other ideas.
The goblins chasing Big Brother were close now. One of them scooped up a jagged stone and hurled it.
As much as he wanted to throw the boy in first and watch for traps like a proper RPG protagonist, the smarter play was to check it himself.
If the room was bad news, he'd just bolt. No use dragging dead weight in before knowing it was safe.
Either way, going in alone gave him more options.
But hey—having soone around to use as bait was a good thing, right?
But he also couldn't shake his curiosity.
This whole Lady Luck blessing thing… It might actually be useful. If it was real, it could be ga-changing.
'
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