The Rise Of A Porter

Meanwhile, Devon was still holed up inside the base. He was intently watching the intense battle raging outside. He had hoped to discover a weakness by watching Arnold fight. Sadly, Arnold wasn't anything like he had expected. Devon thought he knew Arnold but the person in front of him was not at all like he thought. Arnold was simply way too strong for them to handle on their own. At the moment Devon wasn't even sure if they were fighting against a human at all!

No matter what his 'loyal' soldiers did, Arnold would immediately tear them apart. Devon had thought even if they couldn't defeat Arnold, at least they'll be able to tire him out. But Arnold was wrecking even that train of thought as they fought on. The worst part of it all? Arnold was smiling like a maniac while ripping his enemies apart. 

"What kind of monster... Is he?" Devon mumbled and immediately ran towards his son's room, "We can't delay it any longer. He has to leave now!"

Loud metallic noises could be heard everywhere. People were equipping themselves with mech suits. Devon didn't care whether they were trying to leave or to go out and fight. He just had to reach his son.

Devon himself was wearing one such suit but it was better than everyone else's. Devon wasn't a warrior, his intelligence was the most frightening weapon he had. Even so, with his armour, he could easily deal with up to three hundred lizardmen on his own.

Initially, he had thought his armour alone would be sufficient to take care of the syndicate or at least stall them till Gary was safe. But after seeing the bloodlust on Arnold's face, he was sure of one thing: no one can stop him. 

If Devon was asked to name the world's most dangerous man then, without a doubt he'd choose Arnold. Before all this, he had already resigned himself to death but now when death was knocking on his door, he wasn't so sure about dying. He thought when the time would come, he would embrace death like an old friend but now, embracing death was the last thought on his mind. 

Despite all this, he wasn't a bit remorseful of his actions. Why would he repent for something that brought his son back to life? He did what any father would do, given the means to do so. The only thing he was repenting on was ever crossing Arnold's path. If he could turn back time, he wouldn't change a thing apart from one thing... Never setting his eyes on Arnold's sister, Nicole.

That's where all the trouble began for him. That's where everything went wrong. Had he known what would come to haunt him years after doing a certain deed, he wouldn't have done that. But how was he to know that a nobody would gain such strength out of nowhere? 

Had he known about Arnold's true strength, he would've recruited him. Hell, he would even help in the treatment of Nicole. But, alas, it was too late to think about such trivial 'what ifs' now. The least he could do now was to ensure Gary's safety. After that, he would die happily and join the rest of his people in hell. 

Devon soon arrived at Gary's room. Thankfully he was okay. Next to him were the two people he had been looking for: Gary's caretaker and Alex. They were already finished the necessary preparation to leave and were waiting for Devon to give his final instructions to them. Gary was fast asleep in his wheelchair, as usual. 

Just looking at his sleepy face, made the fear of death leave Devon's mind. At that moment he knew he had made the right decision. Alex saw his leader and gave him a courteous salute like he always did. But deep down he knew, it was the last time he'll salute his leader.

Whether Alex wanted to admit it or not, it was true that anyone who stayed behind would be killed mercilessly. And Devon had set his mind on dying that day because if he didn't, then Arnold would keep looking for him. He wouldn't rest till Devon's head was six feet below the ground.

If Devon ran away with them, he would only cause trouble for Gary and he wanted his son to live his second life in peace. Without any worries.

Thus, Alex had given up on persuading Devon to do otherwise. Instead, he wanted to focus on the final orders given to him by Devon: to protect his son and live a happy life on his own.

Alex wasn't sure about fulfilling the latter part of Devon's orders but he was dead set on protecting Gary till his last breath. 

"Looks like this is it." Devon broke the awkward silence while squatting in front of Gary, "I hope I could have had a peaceful sleep like that in the last ten years."

Devon set his helmet aside and planted a kiss on his son's forehead, "I now know what I did was selfish. But even so, I don't regret my choices. In the end, I'll get to die before you. Like it should've been. Who knows maybe in the afterlife, I'll get to meet your lovely mother too? But I'm not hopeful. Someone as kind as her belongs in the heavens... A place someone like me could only dream about."

Alex and the caretaker stood in silence. They knew it was the last time a father was going to have a chat with his son and wanted to respect that. Even Gary's caretaker, who despised Devon for his poor choices couldn't help but feel pity for him. As someone who had seen both, Devon's rise to greatness as well as his fall, she in some way had a bit of respect for him too. After all, he was giving his life away to give his son a second chance. She knew her prayers wouldn't be heard by the gods but she hoped Devon would get one last chance to see the madame for the last time. 

After a heart filled talk with his sleeping son, Devon stood up. His helmet once again covering his face. He turned towards the two who were going to take care of his son from then onwards and giving them his thanks and unexpectedly apologising to them for everything he had done. It felt as if Devon was trying to do as much good as he could in the short time he had left with him.

Maybe he was trying to balance out some karma, maybe he could finally feel the weight of his wrongdoings on his shoulder... No one will ever know what was going inside his head. But they all knew one thing, his love for his son was unwavering.