Piers forced himself to swallow the nausea and stepped into the hall. In the center, he spotted his sister, her eyes vacant and unfocused, and their father lying motionless on the floor.
Silas' eyes were wide open, bulging as if about to pop out of their sockets. His lifeless, waxy pale face and the gaping hole in his chest, still dripping with blood, stabbed mercilessly into Piers's mind.
His face turned even paler. A chill spread upward from his lower body and he almost vomited. Covering his mouth, he staggered to the side.
The Team Yell members who had followed him reacted fast, rushing forward to steady him. A few others hurried to flip the carpet over and cover the pools of blood and scattered remains.
They wrapped Silas' body in the carpet as well, placing it between two stone pillars in the hall.
It took Piers quite some time to catch his breath. Once he opened his eyes and saw that the floor was clean and his father's body was no longer visible, he breathed a sigh of relief and scanned the room.
When his gaze reached the entrance, he stiffened. A Corviknight stood there like a lifelike statue, blocking the doorway. Under the pale hall light, the sight was even more unsettling.
"Cooor!"
The Pokémon let out a sharp, warning cry.
Piers instinctively stepped back, haunted by his earlier encounter with the bird, and had to be caught by a grunt before he lost his balance.
"What… what's going on!" he demanded, gasping for breath.
Kennya and the others exchanged uncertain looks. The incident had happened while they were inside fetching him, so they had no idea. The Team Yell members gathered near the door came over and each added a piece to the accusation, claiming Shiro had blocked the entrance and stolen their Poké Balls.
"So that blue light just now was his Pokémon's doing!" Kennya clenched her jaw, hatred for Shiro flaring in her chest.
A Pokémon was a person's most basic means of survival, yet he had stolen them outright. How could that be allowed?
"That… Shiro…" one grunt muttered, "couldn't he be the killer?"
Piers looked around. Seeing they all shared the same thought, he regained some strength and walked toward Marnie, who was still kneeling in the center of the hall.
"Where is Shiro?!" he barked.
From the grunts, he'd already learned that his sister had brought Shiro here, and had even helped him escape before. It was always her.
His face flushed unnaturally with anger.
Marnie lifted her hollow eyes, not immediately realizing what he meant.
Piers leaned in, grabbed her collar, and shouted again. "Where is Shiro?! Tell me now!"
Marnie snapped out of it. As she stood, she pushed her brother away, her eyes sharp with fury. "How would I know? We still don't know how dad died!"
"You got him killed!" Piers roared like a madman, his voice spiraling into a frantic stream. "You brought Shiro here. You helped him escape before. If it weren't for you, he wouldn't have come! Dad wouldn't be dead! I wouldn't have lost my Gym Challenge qualification… How did I lose my challenge rights! How did it come to this? I'm the one who should be Spikemuth's—"
Marnie cut him off with a cold snort. "Because you're useless. Not only are you weak, you're pathetic."
"I… I'm useless?" Piers whispered. Then, all at once, he straightened, his face twisted with rage. "I'm useless? You're nothing but trash! A worthless piece of trash for a sister!"
Something in him snapped. Before he even realized, his body moved. A sharp smack rang out. Marnie clutched her cheek in shock, staring at her brother.
Piers froze for a moment, then let out a laugh. Pointing at her, he called out to the others around him. "If she hadn't brought Shiro in, would my father be dead? Isn't that right?"
The Team Yell members, opportunists by nature, understood the shift at once. With Silas dead, Piers was now the highest authority here. And he wasn't wrong. Shiro was definitely the mastermind behind all this, and Marnie, who helped him, was clearly involved.
They reached a silent agreement. Even those who had been sitting down rose to their feet, closing in slowly. Piers stood at the center, and together they pressed toward Marnie.
"You… you all…" Marnie noticed their movement, fear creeping into her voice as she backed away.
She couldn't comprehend how the brother who had given her her first Pokémon had become like this. It was as if he had suddenly turned into someone else. The Team Yell members, once resembling helpful attendants, now felt entirely different.
They reminded her of the children from her youth, those who used to crowd around her, kicking her for fun. Bullying the gym leader's daughter was a great sport for them. Back then, she'd come home covered in mud, and her father would just tell her to stop playing with the street kids. It had been Piers who caught a Pokémon and gave it to her.
But now…
Her hand shot to the pocket at her waist, only to feel nothing. Every Poké Ball had mysteriously vanished. She hadn't even noticed when Drakloak had come and taken them.
'My Poké Balls… they're gone?'
She couldn't believe it. She hastily patted herself down, searching every pocket of her black jacket and dress.
It took just a couple of seconds, but it felt like years.
Confusion and terror turned into tears that slid down her cheeks.
"No... it wasn't me... it wasn't me…" she mumbled in denial, shaking her head, her body hunched. But no one believed her. They moved forward like silent shadows, step by step.
Her legs weakened, trembling as she stepped back. Soon she hit an iron-hard dead end and had nowhere to run, only able to wait as the crowd closed in.
Closing her eyes, she slid down against the steel surface, wrapping her arms around her knees and curling into a trembling ball.
"Coorv!"
Corviknight's crimson eyes glared at the advancing humans. Its cry was sharp and full of menace.
The sound jolted Piers. Only then did he realize he was standing dangerously close to the bird.
Those bloodthirsty, beastly eyes locked onto him as if he were the first target. One more step and it would tear him apart.
"Uh…" He whimpered, stretching out a hand as he staggered backward, his body leaning away while stumbling.
The Team Yell members, who had followed the crowd's momentum before, had thought Piers had the confidence to hold Marnie and break out. Now that he showed fear, they dropped the act and quickly retreated, putting more distance between themselves and the towering bird.
Corviknight was furious.
Led by that skinny weakling... did these people really think they could break through? Without a single Pokémon between them, they dared to provoke it? Did they think it was weak?
Did they look down on it?
Holding back its anger, the bird let out another deep, rasping cry.
"Coorvkniiiight!"
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Hey guys, I posted a new novel. Its a fanfic of Jujutsu Kaisen. Mc is reborn in Zenin clan and becomes Toji's brother. This novel is a bit different as Mc has family and friends and cares about them. But as a Zenin he's still very ruthless and level headed. Anyway, check it out if it interests you.
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Thank you for reading! If you'd like access to extra chapters and want to support my work, you can visit my P@treon:
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