Adopted Soldier

"Why did you do that?! Why?!" Alex couldn’t help but scream at the person he held . Alex’s eyes teared up as he started crying . The person in question then lifted his hands and wiped away Alex’s tears . He couldn’t help but smile when he saw Alex’s tears .

"There’s no need to cry . I did . . . What needed to be done . " His voice was calm as his body was eroding . It was an unknown response but the body of the victim of the final technique Richter used was turning into ashes from the hole made from the strike, which started from the belly and was slowly spreading . No blood came out of the hole instead it was like his body was slowly cracking while turning into dust .

"No! You didn’t need to do that! You didn’t need to do that!" Alex held onto the hand of the person who saved him numerous times and continued to cry .

"Of course I did, after all, you are my son . . . " Carlo smiled weakly at Alex who was crying so much . This was a pleasant surprise for him since this was the first time Alex has shown so much emotion . This was another sign of his growth as a person, which made Carlo happy .

"Dad! Please survive! If it’s you, I know you could do it!" Even though the outcome was already determined, Alex refused to accept it .

"Of course! Who do you think I am? . . . I’m the messenger of death, of course, my boss would never take me . . . So no need to cry Alex, this old man of yours will live long enough to see you get married . . . That reminds me, I have some great news, your mother Michel gave birth to twins . Their names are Yuuki and Mirai . "

Alex hearing the calm tone of his father, felt a bit relieved but then he saw Carlo’s body was continuing to turn to ash, making him unable to stop crying . He was no fool, he knew what was about to happen, but he still couldn’t accept it and he will never accept it!

"Really, mother gave birth? So I have two new siblings . . . Our family is getting bigger and bigger . " Alex who was refusing to accept the truth before him held on tightly to his father’s hand and continued to talk to him as if nothing was happening as they catch up .

"Yeah, I’m sure the two of them will love you . Lilitth has been missing you so much . Now that I was finally able to save you, I’m sure we’ll get to see her true smile again . "

"It’s been a hard year for all of us hasn’t it? . . . "

"Yeah . . . " Alex and Carlo then started to talk about random things, they talked about what Alex had to go through for the past year, they talked about what Carlo did to find him . They talked about how Lilitth was improving in battle techniques . Anything they could think off they talked about it .

"Hey, how about once we get home, let’s have a family trip . We can go around city to city exploring new places, we can even go head to different countries that aren’t affected by the war and taste different kinds of food . "

"Of course dad, we can do all of that together . We can even have an updated family picture that includes the twins . . . " Alex who was saying this while holding onto Carlo’s hands, finally felt the hand of his father turned to ash . Alex didn’t look downward and only focused on Carlo’s head . He wanted to believe that as long as he couldn’t see it happening it wasn’t truly happening . Carlo’s hand might’ve slipped because he was tired .

"Alex . . . If Lilitth ever brings home a guy, can you please tell him that he would never replace me, and put the fear of God into him . Tell him that if he ever makes my little girl cry I would drag him to hell . Can you do the same when Mirai grows up . . . Can you tell Yuuki stories about me, telling him how great I was . Tell him that there was no man manlier than his dad . Also please make sure Michel is never lonely, what am I talking about, of course, she would never be lonely she has all of you . . . Please tell them . . . Tell them that I love them . . . "

Alex gritted his teeth and shouted at his father while tears continued to flow down his cheeks .

"You can tell them yourself! You can tell all of that yourself! You need to be there, for this to work! You need to be there when Lilitth gets married, you need to walk her down the aisle! You need to do the same for Mirai! You need to show Yuuki the ropes on how to be a man, the same way you did for me . You got to be there for mom, she needs you! I, need you!!! I need you to be there until I finally fulfill the final mission you gave me!"

Alex’s face was full of snot and tears as he continued to scream at his father, who simply smiled a sad and lonely smile .

"Alex, I . . . " Before Carlo could say more, Alex violently shook his head .

"No, please, no . . . Please dad, even if it is a lie, please tell me, assure me that everything is going to be alright . Please tell me that you can handle it, same as you always did . . . Please . . . I need you . . . "

Richter who no longer had arms to gently hug his son, felt a lot of pain as he watched his son who loved him so much act this way . He truly wanted to assure him that everything will be alright, but he knew that wasn’t what needed to be said at this point .

"Alex, do you remember the first time we met?" Alex nodded his head .

"Do you remember what you ask of me, you said you wanted to gain strength . I have given you that strength, and look at what you have accomplished . . . My mission is already over, but yours isn’t, is it?"

Alex didn’t want to answer as he bit his lower lip .

"Of all the things I did and have accomplished throughout my life, raising you was the greatest thing I have ever done . Meeting you on that day and making you my son, did not just save you, it saved me as well . . . For that I thank you, and . . . I’m . . . proud . . . of . . . you . "

Carlo who only had his head left was now truly at the end of his line . Alex who saw this wanted to grab hold of the head, but stopped scared that the moment he touched it, Carlo would disappear forever . Carlo looked at Alex with a smile on his face, all of his worries were gone and he felt at peace .

"You . . . Alex were my pride . . . and . . . joy . . . I . . . love . . . y-" Carlo couldn’t finish his sentence as his head turned to ash . When Alex saw Carlo turn into ash, he started panicking and tried to collect all of the ashes before they disappear into the wind . Yet he was unable to do anything as the ashes scattered . Alex’s face distorted with pain as he bellowed in sorrow and grief .

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Thus ended the life of the messenger of death .