Chapter 188: Predecessor: The Damned Drunkard
“You are not what I was expecting.”
“Didn’t expect the chiseled jawline?”
“Funny way of saying jawbone, but sure.”
“Hah!”
Sitting across from Zhen Liu, on the other side of a long, ebony meeting table, was a skeleton dressed in an ancient soldier’s uniform. Before the skeleton was a wine gourd that looked surprisingly dense and a clean glass. The uniform itself looked unusually pristine, while the skeleton had an obvious hole in it’s head.
“So you’re the guy who found my old club huh?,”the skeleton mused while pouring himself a cup of wine.
“Yeah, I…wait, it’s not made from one of your bones, is it? Do you need it back?”
“Oh no, it ain’t. Thanks for asking though,” the skeleton laughed as he waved a bony hand. Zhen Liu couldn’t help but notice the skeletal hand seemed to have a familiar energy imprint on its palm, one that wasn’t of this world, naturally or otherwise.
After laughing off the question, the skeleton soldier threw back the glass of wine and drank it in one gulp. Surprisingly, there was no splash or spill. The wine just…disappeared down his non-existent gullet.
“Apologies from bailing out on you after making a call all those months ago, Little Liu. But I had to try and persevere as much of energy as possible until you got back here,” the skeleton explained while pouring himself another cup of wine to drink.”So you’re probably wondering who this old bag of bones is by now, right?”
“Yes…but something tells me you’re not gonna tell me right away,” Zhen Liu observed, “but I can at least guess that you’re probably one of my predecessors. Someone who once held the title of ‘Kaijin Lord’.”
The skeleton paused from taking another drink, intrigued by the statement.
“You’re right about that,” the skeleton conceded, “but what gave it away?”
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‘Shit, he called me out on my bluff. Quick man, think of something…try his personality!’
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“For starters, your demeanor. You give off the vibes of someone who lives an easy-going lifestyle, as it were, or at least you developed that kind of personality.The kind that finds amusement in the little things in life, even simple guessing games due to…reasons.”
“Really?,” the skeleton asked with slightly sarcastic tone, “maybe I learned how to chill out in my afterlife.”
“Perhaps, but the ease in which you move suggests otherwise.”
“Hmmm. Not bad, but what else about me made you think that?”
“Two other things.”
“Oh?”
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‘Fucking damnit! Why did I say that?! Come on…think…what about his clothes?’
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“Aside from you demeanor, your clothes is what gave me that idea. They don’t suit you.”
“You don’t think I’m a soldier?,”the skeleton asked Ina slightly agitated tone. Apparently, Zhen Liu had struck a nerve with that comment.
“You misunderstand, ” Zhen Liu said in a smooth manner, “you are clearly a soldier, through and through, but the uniform you’re wearing isn’t yours. There’s no damage or wear and tear, but you move like you know how this uniform should be moved in.”
“Oh…not bad noticing.”
As those words left his teeth, the skeleton’s uniform suddenly became a lot more tattered and worn. Obvious marks of weapon damage, arts damage and everything in-between could be seen marking his clothes.
“This is much more my speed, good eye.”
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‘Holy shit I was right.’
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“And what was the last thing that tipped you off?,” the soldier asked as he downed another glass.
“Isn’t it obvious? You have a mark of [Chaos] on your left hand. A mirror of the seal on my left as well,” Zhen Liu answered, actually confident in his answer this time around.
The soldier looked at his left palm, surprised at forgetting such a detail himself.
“Huh. Guess those old foxes weren’t kidding about it leaving an imprint on my very existence,” the skeleton mused as he stared at his palm.
He turned to face Zhen Liu, making direct eyesocket to eye contact.
“Alright then, new inheritor, if you can figure all that out. Then who am I?”
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‘Oh great, a history quiz on someone who’s name was probably struck from the records…hold up…’
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“Apologies, but my knowledge on my predecessors is rather shallow. I just received the seal only recently, and hadn’t had the chance to review who the previous owners might have been.”
“You don’t say?,” the skeleton repeated while preparing to drink again, turning away from Zhen Liu for effect.
“But I did run into a man who knew them somewhat, well their songs anyways, is it safe to assume that you’re the reason for…The ‘Drunkard’s Ballad’?”
The skeleton paused as he heard the name of the song, a pensive look on his face. Several seconds passed as neither said a word.
Zhen Liu thought for a moment he had gotten it wrong and was about to get a scolding, when the skeleton spoke up to finally break the silence.
“They forgot the important half.”
“Huh?”
“[The Drunkard’s Ballad] is missing half of my full title,” the skeleton explained as he placed the glass of wine back down and made eye contact with Zhen Liu once more.
“My full title is [The Damned Drunkard],” the skeleton explained, “But you can call me Anton. The previous Kaijin Lord.”
As soon as Anton had made this statement, a portrait suddenly appeared on the wall directly behind him, showing a middle-aged veteran covered in scars, accompanied by a squad of kaijin that reminded Zhen Liu of undead soldiers from across the ages.
(Un)surprisingly, Anton suddenly changed from skeleton to clearly battle damaged human in the same moment the portrait appeared.
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Kaijin Lord: Anton the Damned Drunkard.
Specialities: Undead type kaijin.
Description:
Born to a soldiering family, Anton took up his family mantle and fought in the name of the ¥°=¢{™¥ Empire. However, as time marched on and the bodies piled up all around him, Anton learned two important things.
First, that the Empire he was fighting for was not a symbol of hope and peace as he was taught, but a cruel tyrant that was trying to place the entire world under his boot heel. That he was just another cog in a war machine he now learned was wrong.
Second, that life was too short to be wasting on things such as war, death was too final to throw it away on a battlefield and that the ambition of the “one” shouldn’t define the meaning of the “many”.
It was for these reasons, that Anton decided that if the tyrants and kings above won’t listen to the cries of the living, then they will be deafened by the rallying screams of the dead.
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“In life we fought one another in the name of gods who wouldn’t hear our prayers, ideologies that no one ever followed and tyrants who blamed others for the problems they caused…but no more! All shall eventually die, but we shouldn’t fear it and we shouldn’t be marching towards it!
We should have lived long and happy lives and then die peacefully in the arms of those who loved us, and be celebrated not because how we died, but for how we had lived! So come, my brothers in the arms of death, let’s show them how we riot!”
“WOOOOO!”
