Chapter 199: Compromise
"Do you seriously expect us to trust you!? After everything you've done!? After all the people you've hurt in the pursuit of your twisted ambition...!?" exclaimed Nanachi, his yellow eyes blazing with fury as he thought about all the terrible things Bondrewd had coerced him into doing—the years he had spent wishing he were dead.
"I suppose I can understand why you're angry..." affirmed Bondrewd, ensuring that Prushka remained between him and Nanachi as he asked, "But what of my beloved daughter? Even if you expose everything I've done, she has never known me as anything but a source of compassion and warmth. Presuming you could kill me, do you believe she would simply forgive and accompany you on your journey? And if she doesn't, what then? She may be able to survive for a time within the Ido Front, but without my careful guidance and the Umbra Hands, she would inevitably perish—alone, starving, and full of resentment toward the ones who stole her happiness away from her..."
"Just how terrible can one person be...?" asked Mitty, tears in the corners of her pale red eyes and an indignant, furious, teeth-clenched expression adorning her face. She had also become fast friends with the friendly and naive Prushka, but while her resentment wasn't as deep as Nanachi's, she couldn't forgive the masked man for misleading them with honeyed words and murdering all their friends...
"It doesn't matter anymore..." remarked Riko, causing a wave of confusion to wash over everyone present before Bondrewd, feeling a hand clasp his left shoulder, became stiff as a statue.
"End of the line..." said Vahn, his usually aquamarine eyes glistening with a fiery golden hue as he casually indented the metal plating encompassing Bondrewd's shoulder by tensing the fingers of his right hand.
"Dragon God Vahn, I presume...?" asked Bonedrewd, peering back at Vahn over his left shoulder, surprised to find that the Deity he had been looking forward to meeting was some boy. His physique and general appearance were certainly exceptional, but there was nothing particularly godly about him.
"I will state it plainly..." said Vahn, his grip tightening as he expressed, "The only reasons you're still breathing is because Nanachi and Mitty deserved a chance to handle you themselves. Your Umbra Hands also contribute to the overall safety of the Abyss, so if you wish to continue your research in a limited capacity and see the Dawn for yourself, you will play the good father to Prushka one final time and release her to pursue a path you forsook the moment you abandoned your humanity..."
Though he doubted it would work, Bondrewd responded to Vahn's words by activating the Sparagmos in his left elbow, causing a cerulean blue and gold, laser-like blade with the ability to cut through all known substances to ignite from the back end of his gauntlet. The fact it activated surprised him, but not nearly as much as the deadpan, unamused expression Vahn adopted in response.
"Vahn!" exclaimed Riko, unable to prevent herself from panicking at least a little after seeing a blade of light pierce his diaphragm, forming a nearly 10cm-wide void through his body.
"Are you done...?" asked Vahn, prompting Bondrewd to silently deactivate his Sparagmos, followed by the hole in his body filling with golden flames before his condition was perfectly restored.
"I will comply with your demands..." stated Bondrewd, seeing no way out of the situation other than compliance. His urge to dissect, inspect, and claim Vahn's body as his own was overwhelming, but after Vahn casually closed his hand, tearing every muscle and breaking every bone in his left shoulder, he understood his next attempt on the godly entity's life would assuredly be his last...