God of creation system : The apocalypse

Chapter 17 : unequal rights.

Nathaniel caught the attention of the cat-woman, Nyabu, causing her to stop kicking, but his continuous meddling only made her even angrier.

"You're still here, you little pest."

"I am running out of patience, and I'm serious about finishing you off right here, so please stop causing trouble and just leave!" she angrily snapped.

Nathaniel did not back down. He clarified once more that they could not do this to a creature who had committed no crime against the law, promising he would leave only if they let Suwi go as well.

However, Nyabu refused, cutting straight to the point that it didn't matter if Suwi was innocent of any crimes. To her, a soul eater would remain a soul eater for life, no matter how good they might have been to others.

"Wait, are you saying you're going to kill her just because she belongs to the soul eater race?"

Nyabu did not answer the question; instead, she walked closer to Nathaniel.

"Don't you think that's wrong?"

"No matter how you look at it, it isn't fair," Nathaniel added.

As Nyabu approached, she suddenly grabbed Nathaniel's shoulder and told him:

"Well, you're right, it isn't fair."

"But it has to happen," she added.

Face-to-face, she stated that she had to do this because she believed it was for the greater good, even if it meant bending the rules of the Escapa.

Nathaniel refused to let it slide. He objected again, lecturing her about the Escapa's rules regarding arrests and sentencing.

Exasperated by Nathaniel's persistence—especially since he wouldn't stop preaching about what they ought to do—Nyabu snapped.

Without warning, she kneed him in the stomach to shut him up, causing him to drop to his knees on the ground.

Writhing in pain, Nathaniel was completely helpless against what Nyabu had done to him.

"I don't need the opinion of someone like you to know what is the right thing to do."

To her, she was doing this to prevent any tragedy that a soul eater might cause.

She warned Nathaniel not to interfere with their work anymore, or else he might suffer a prison sentence simply for protecting a creature considered a plague.

Amidst all this, Suwi regained consciousness and slowly tried to get up.

"What happened?"

"I can't believe I passed out from that attack," she muttered.

Suwi knew she was in danger and had no time to waste, because the moment she was captured, she could face death.

She forced her aching body to move through the pain, but before she could fully stand, Toto lunged down from above.

With a massive downward stomp, his feet slammed heavily into Suwi's back, forcing her flat against the pavement and leaving her nearly embedded in the road.

Suwi's energy was steadily running out, leaving her body weak and struggling to move.

"My body is giving out."

Not content, Toto grabbed Suwi's head with his giant hand and hoisted her up.

"I don't have enough internal energy left to reinforce my protection," she thought to herself.

Nyabu glanced at Toto and reminded him not to keep the soul eater lingering for too long, as she might attempt to drain his soul.

Nathaniel refused to stay silent upon hearing that, insisting that Suwi was incapable of doing such a thing, even though no one was listening to him.

"That is what powers their bodies, so how can you say they aren't capable of it?" Nyabu countered.

Consuming the souls of living beings was one of the primary ways a soul eater gathered energy for battle, which was why Nyabu refused to believe Suwi wouldn't attempt to eat their souls in a fight.

"Because I know her much better than anyone else does, so I know she is incapable of doing what you're saying," he shot back.

Nyabu merely sighed, looking utterly disappointed in Nathaniel's behavior, feeling that he was just wasting their time with pointless arguments.

Meanwhile, Toto tossed Suwi aside, sliding her across the ground close to Nathaniel.

"Listen up, you little pest, so you can understand this once and for all."

She reiterated to Nathaniel that his opinion didn't matter, and it didn't matter if Suwi had been kind to him; they were fully determined to hunt down and eliminate every single soul eater in Endoryo.

Nathaniel fell silent as he looked at Suwi, who was now sprawled out on the pavement.

He realized they wouldn't listen to him because he was just an ordinary human, and he understood they had their reasons for hating soul eaters.

Even so, he knew Suwi was simply caught in the crossfire of the evil committed by others of her kind, which is why he still wanted to help her.

"Suwi's body is too weak, so I doubt she can get out of this situation on her own," he muttered to himself.

He realized he couldn't expect any help from Xxv, who was currently away in another area.

At that point, he had no choice but to test Nyabu's standing as an Escapa soldier.

He told her that Suwi needed to go through the proper legal process, noting that according to the laws regarding suspected criminals, only Sei had the authority to sentence someone to death.

He further warned that if they harmed Suwi, he would report them to the higher-ups of the Escapa.

Hearing this pushed Nyabu over the edge. Enraged, she grabbed him by the collar.

"Hey, you little pest, are you really testing my patience?" she snarled angrily.

Unable to contain herself, she channeled energy into her hands as her sharp claws elongated, looking ready to slash him.

"If you want to die so badly, I'll gladly grant your wish."

She raised her hand to slice Nathaniel's throat, but before she could follow through, someone grabbed Nyabu's arm.

"Please, Nyabu, don't do what you're planning to that person," Ataparag pleaded.

"Leader!"

Ataparag shook his head, trying to calm Nyabu down so she wouldn't violate their code of conduct.

"We cannot harm a civilian."

He urged her to let Nathaniel go and let him leave so the problem wouldn't escalate further, but Nyabu strongly disagreed.

"I've been telling him to leave for a while now, but he keeps protecting that plague."

Ataparag understood the situation and Nyabu's reasoning, but from his perspective, Nathaniel had a point regarding the restriction against executing beings who weren't on their official wanted list.

"Please, Nyabu, let him go," he requested gently.

"But Team Leader!" Nyabu protested.

The two stared at each other for a moment. Knowing she had to obey Ataparag as her leader, Nyabu finally released Nathaniel.

"This guy is way too suspicious; for all we know, he's an accomplice of the soul eater with evil plans for our town."

Nyabu argued her side, emphasizing the need for vigilance and preventing tragedies that could happen if a soul eater was allowed to remain in their town.

She grew even stricter, insisting that because a plague was in their midst, it was far better for a single soul eater to perish than for hundreds of innocent lives to be consumed.

"I understand what you're saying, Nyabu."

"However, if we happen to be wrong in our judgment of them, we might end up killing an innocent creature," he replied.

"Innocent? She's a soul eater, Leader—they are the enemy here!" she angrily argued.

"Nyabu, please," he said softly, almost begging her to listen to him.

Nyabu couldn't believe Ataparag actually wanted to spare the soul eater they had captured.

"Don't tell me you're actually listening to this idiot?"

She argued that no soul eater could control themselves once hunger for a soul took over.

"I know all about them, but my point is that it isn't our place to decide her ultimate sentence," Ataparag answered.

While the two were arguing, Nathaniel suddenly chimed in.

"I told you, Suwi doesn't eat the souls of other creatures."

Frustration was clearly etched across Nyabu's face, especially since her leader wasn't taking her side, so she vented her remaining frustration entirely on Nathaniel.

"Shut up!" she screamed.

She suddenly kicked the young man hard, sending him crashing down and causing him to instantly lose consciousness.

Shocked by what happened, Ataparag cried out in panic.

"What did you do? Why did you kick him that hard?"

Nyabu sighed and shook her head.

She ordered Toto to carry both the unconscious Suwi and Nathaniel.

"Come on, Toto, carry him along with her so we can investigate," she snapped dismissively.

Ataparag hurried over to Nyabu and tapped her arm in reprimand.

"I told you not to hurt civilians! I'm the one who's going to get in trouble for what you did."

"Don't worry, he's not dead yet. He just fell asleep," she replied sarcastically.

Nyabu turned and started walking away from the area to escape Ataparag's endless scolding.

"Nyabu! Why won't you ever listen to my orders?!"