SSS-Rank Extra: I Got a Chaos System-Chapter 34: Sacred Leaf Roulette

Elder's words lingered in the air, wisping with the smoke.

Kazuki looked at his arm—the right arm with inky black veins, he almost forgot about it.

Until now.

"...Well, crap," he muttered

Grumbling inwardly. Now we've come full circle.

That begs the question...

HUH

His eyes went wide open, he spoke in urgency. "Where..." Eyes with heavy weight spoke. "Where is Lillan?"

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Elder's eyes narrowed at the sudden shift.

Kazuki's voice trembled slightly.

"Where is she?" he asked again, louder this time.

A murmur rippled through the tribe. Glancing at each other.

"She was with me when I got knocked out," Kazuki added. "We—

The elder raised the stick, to silent him.

"She is with us," His voice calm but there was something odd with his expression. He had a scrunched-up face.

Kazuki blinked. "Where?"

Instead of answering he stared at him heavily. "We don't need to answer you. You are our prisoner not a guest."

Kazuki's reeled, mouth hung open for a second. I'm mean he is not wrong.

He opened his mouth to argue—but the elder raised the stick again, silencing him with a sharp gesture.

"You speak too much for one in chains," the elder said, voice firm, "and too little sense as a monkey."

Other Elves around bonfire cringed, the fish bone elf spit on the ground as if disgusted.

Kazuki blinked. Monkey?

He wasn't sure whether to be offended or impressed by the creativity.

Kazuki's jaw clenched. His mind raced.

He took a slow breath through his nose. Stay calm. Think.

He looked the elder dead in the eyes. "I need to see her."

The elder didn't blink. "You need nothing."

"I do if she's in danger."

A long pause.

The elder leaned slightly on his staff, he stared with deep shadows under his eyes. "Same with you."

Kazuki's heart dropped.

The elder tapped the end of his staff on the boulder. Once. Twice.

"You are marked, by the corruption." the elder said gravely.

Kazuki instinctively glanced at his right arm. The dark veins pulsed faintly.

The elder said. "You... met the abyass gurdian didn't you..."

Kazuki blinked.

"...Abyss Guardian?"

The elder's gaze sharpened. "This is the cost of seeing things, what you shouldn't."

He raised his staff slowly."Now you have two choices, monkey."

The elves leaned in as one, holding their breaths.

"We either amputate your arm," the elder said, pointing his stick at Kazuki's corrupted right limb.

OR—

we sacrifice you to the Forest Spirit."

He clasped his hands together in solemn prayer.

The wind hushed, as if in eerie agreement.

Then all hell broke loose.

The elves exploded into a frenzy—leaping into the air, screeching bizarre cries.

"HOHA! HOHA!"

One elf began somersaulting around the bonfire. Another just started slapping their thighs rhythmically. A third jumped into a bush and never came out.

Kazuki froze, jaw slackened.

"...This feels personal."

The elder merely nodded. "This is tradition."

He continued, stopping the other elf's mid-ritualistic chaos with a thump of his staff."Your fate will be decided by this..."

He held a something greenish brown, Kazuki squinted his eyes.

"Is that a leaf...?"

The elder raised the object high with reverence. It fluttered slightly in the breeze."A sacred leaf,"

Kazuki stared, flabbergasted.

"You are going to decide my fate through a leaf? Like, what?" Kazuki said, deadpan. "That's your big ancient tradition? Leaf roulette?"

The elder didn't even flinch. "The Sacred Leaf speaks the voice of Forest Spirit."

Kazuki pointed at it. "It has a hole. And bite marks. That's not sacred, that's lunch."

Gasps erupted from the crowd.

The fishbone elf threw his hands up in horror.

Another elf began frantically painting his face with dirt.

Kazuki groaned, yanking slightly at his bindings. "I swear if one more forest dude screams at me over a plant—"

"SILENCE!" the elder thundered, staff raised again. "A monkey's brain wouldn't be able to comprehend Leaf's wisdom. The forest chose the leaf, and the leaf chose... your fate."

There was a dramatic pause. Drums began. No one knew who started them.

Kazuki looked around, bewildered, as elves began forming a circle.

The elder stepped into the circle, holding the leaf high above his head like it was Excalibur.

The elder took a deep, deliberate breath—his lungs filling with the sacred air of spirits and smoke

All eyes were on him. Even the fire seemed to lean in.

He raised the leaf higher, reverent and shaking with the drama of it all.

Kazuki squinted. The leaf really did have bite marks.

"By root and branch... by fang and feather..." the elder chanted.

A hush fell.

"...may the Sacred Leaf reveal this monkey's fate!"

With the dramatic intensity of a stage actor on his final monologue, the elder exhaled sharply and hurled the leaf.

It floated.

It twirled.

Kazuki's eyes locked onto it like it was a falling guillotine. The elves leaned in, holding their breath, eager to see the monkey's fate.

It descended...

Slowly.

Too slowly.

Kazuki anxiously spoke, watching it spin midair. "Why the hell is it so slow?"

The elder held his staff like a relic. The crowd trembled in anticipation.

Then—

Just before it could land...

A gust of wind blew.

A big one.

The kind of wind that felt personal.

Kazuki's eyes widened. "Oh no—"

The leaf twitched... rose... and took off.

The wind spun, Kazuki's eyes widen with panic, same with elder and other elves.

The leaf danced in the wind, free, untouchable.

The elder scratched his head with his staff, still staring upward.

Turning around, he found the others watching him.

He coughed.

Paused.

Then, with as much dramatic weight as he could muster, he declared, "The Forest Spirit... has spoken!"

"Nope! That leaf's on vacation!" Kazuki shouted.

The elves broke into a panicked frenzy.

One of the elf which followed elder asked. "What is this monkey's fate...?"

One of the elder's followers leaned in and asked nervously, "What is this monkey's fate...?"

The elder cleaned some dirt from his ear, waved his hand lazily, and replied with a shrug—

"Cook him."