CHAPTER 116: RETURNING [3]

"I’ll kill you," he hissed. "Even if it’s the last thing I do... once we get out of this cursed forest, I’ll definitely kill you."

What the fuck is this smoking?

Those were the only thoughts I had as I saw him saying those words with expressions full of hatred on his face.

Okay, this guy is definitely retarded.

I mean, I was pretty mad before, sure, but I was only planning to take one of his arms. You know, as a little reminder not to swing at me again... and to make sure all that bloodlust he had earlier turned into fear instead.

But now that I’ve seen what’s really in his head... Yeah. I might need to reconsider.

I mean, I wasn’t the protagonist of some draggy novel where the same annoying guy keeps coming back to try and kill the main character, and the protagonist, in all their so-called benevolence, just forgives them every time... even gives them another chance to "grow."

I prefer to nip the bud before it even has a chance to grow or worse, become a threat to me. Naturally... only if that threat can’t be used to my advantage first.

I ran the probabilities in my head, barely two, maybe three scenarios where this guy could be useful and after all that careful consideration, I came to the conclusion. This guy was as useless as they come.

I mean, I could already tell he would never be a threat, even if I left him alive but with my beef with Fate and my ongoing affair with Death... yeah, I can’t exactly trust them not to meddle.

Knowing my luck, they would probably hand this guy some heaven-defying cheat just to take me down.

So, I better be careful than be sorry.

As for hoping this might lead to some miraculous character development, you know, where he finally realizes his friend was wrong and that I actually saved him?

Yeah... the chances of that are basically non-existent.

From what I have seen, this guy is the type blinded by faith and hatred, the kind who does everything to the extreme, logic and proof be damned.

So, I didn’t want to take my chances.

Still, I decided to ask, better to confirm before passing judgment.

"Why do you even hate me so much?" I asked, calm as ever.

It was obvious his hatred ran deeper than the death of his so-called friend. He looked at me, no, glared at me, eyes burning with self-righteous fury.

"You... you bastard dared to sully the reputation of Duke Astravore, deceive Lady Viola and now you’ve even killed my friend... and yet you ask why I hate you?"

Fuck this idiot. Seriously.

I mean, who even reveals everything so easily? I was this close to feeling pity for this poor mess of a human being.

I only asked because I figured he would throw something cryptic at me, you know, just enough for me to piece together his intentions and play along.

But no.

This bastard decided to hand me his whole damn origin story.

Who the hell did this bastard think he was, anyway?

Some anime protagonist who gives death threats to someone who could end him with a flick and still somehow survives because of "plot armor"?

"So, you work for that bastard Astravore, huh?" I muttered, a mischievous grin tugging at my lips. "Well... that explains why you’re so damn stupid."

"You fucker!" Cedric cursed, dragging himself up from the ground. His sword flashed in his hand as he lunged, aiming straight for my neck. "How dare you insult the Duke?"

But before his blade could even graze me, a heavy kick slammed into him mid-air, the impact bursting with a violent shockwave that threw Cedric away.

Cedric’s body hit the wall with a bone-cracking thud.

Bearlo finally moved, sensing danger to me and that was all it took. I didn’t even look at him. My gaze stayed on the idiot struggling to get back on his feet.

He was already injured, drained and mentally shattered. He couldn’t even hold his sword steady, let alone defend himself.

This was his last chance.

My insult to the Duke had been deliberate, a test to see how far his loyalty and stupidity would go and just as I expected, the fool acted without thinking.

Pathetic.

"Kill him," I said quietly.

Bearlo didn’t move immediately but I caught the way Seraphina flinched beside him.

"Do I need to repeat myself, Bearlo?" My tone didn’t rise, but my smile widened for a moment.

"No, my liege," Bearlo murmured, finally moving.

Cedric had failed my last test, so there was no need to think more. If he was someone just blinded by vengeance for his friend, there was a slight chance I would have kept him alive and used him.

But he wasn’t just another idiot.

He was someone trained and probably manipulated by that snake, Astravore.

Which meant that the bastard had found a loophole.

When I made the soul contract, I knew there would be some after all there are no contracts without them.

Every promise, every binding, every "absolute law" has a crack waiting to be exploited.

Hell, I had even expected him to pull something like this but with all my cosmic troubles lately, I must’ve let him slip from my mind.

He probably never even meant to target me directly or indirectly. It was like tossing a rock into a calm lake; the ripples weren’t aimed at me but they reached me anyway.

Unintentional... yet inevitable.

This was the principle behind the loophole he used and I have to hand it to him, if I had still been the same person I was back when I first met Astravore, that idiot Cedric would’ve killed me with ease.

So, in a way... his calculations were correct.

This once again reminded me of the dangers of mortals who dare to mimic gods.

But a smile crept across my lips.

It seems I’ll have to prepare a little surprise for dear Astravore when I return... after all.