✦ Chapter 43 — Duel (4) ✦
「Translator — Creator」
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Loki remained unmoved as he watched Lophrey charge toward him with murderous intent. After confirming that the mist had perfectly enshrouded them both, he surged forward with a speed that eclipsed even his rushing opponent.
“Huh?”
Lophrey’s vision, fixed solely on Loki, was suddenly obscured by his opponent’s hand.
‘When did he—’
Before he could grasp the situation, Loki seized his face and slammed it forcefully into the ground.
“Arghhhhh!! I’ll kill you!!”
SLAM—!
SLAM—!
SLAM—!
Without a hint of hesitation, Loki seized the screaming Lophrey’s head and smashed it against the earth, again and again.
“You keep screaming about killing me like a broken record. Seriously, it’s getting on my nerves. Especially since we both know you can’t actually do it.”
Lophrey froze for a moment, startled by Loki’s sudden shift in voice and tone. But then, he began to laugh, a crazed, mocking sound.
“Hahaha! So, this is your real face, huh? You’ve been acting all this time?”
“And what if I have?”
Loki, unfazed, pulled a dagger from his [Subspace] and drove it into Lophrey’s thigh.
No, perhaps ‘stabbed’ isn’t the right word – he impaled it.
“ARGHHHHHH!!!”
Lophrey’s scream tore through the mist as blood spurted from the wound.
“Hey, don’t you know any other screams?”
Loki yanked out the embedded dagger and plunged it in again.
“ARGHHHHHHH!!!!!!”
“Hmm? I asked if you know any other screams. When someone asks you something, you should answer, not just scream.”
How embarrassing for the person asking.
Loki continued the rhythm of pulling out and driving in the dagger.
*Squelch—*
Each time the dagger was withdrawn, blood gushed out like a crimson fountain, painting the ground beneath them.
“Pl-please.”
Lophrey’s voice cracked, trembling with desperation as he pleaded for mercy.
Rage and killing intent had long since fled his heart.
In the face of endless pain, all that remained was the primal instinct to survive.
“Hmm, what should I do?”
Loki twirled the bloodied dagger between his fingers, tilting his head as though he were genuinely pondering the question.
Lophrey, oblivious to Loki’s pretense of deliberation, anxiously awaited his response.
“Ah! I have a brilliant idea.”
Loki suddenly pulled ten daggers from his [Subspace].
*Twitch—*
Lophrey visibly flinched at the sight of daggers, his body trembling uncontrollably.
“Hey, here’s the deal. I’ll stab you with these ten daggers. If you manage to hold back your screams the whole time, I’ll stop. Got it?”
“W-what kind of—”
Ignoring the fear-filled eyes fixed upon him, Loki continued with his proclamation.
“I’ll even count for you. Alright, here’s one!”
*Squelch—!*
“Nnnngh.”
Lophrey clenched his teeth, desperately suppressing his scream.
“Oh! Quite resilient. Okay, here’s two, three, and four!”
This time, Loki drove three daggers simultaneously into Lophrey’s thigh.
“Nnnnghh!!!!”
.
.
.
.
“Nine.”
“Nnnnnghh.”
Loki looked down at Lophrey, who clung desperately to silence, sustained by the faintest hope of survival.
[There was no one there. So you don’t need to go there.]
Because of this bastard’s single lie, Johanna had died.
If only this worm hadn’t lied, Johanna would still be alive.
What made it worse was that the player character hadn’t even been at the academy then – there was nothing that could have been done.
Ten years spent playing Croaka, desperately trying to save Johanna, all in vain.
“One last one remains.”
Lophrey tensed his thigh muscles, clinging to the hope that surviving just one more would mean salvation.
And Loki, who had long anticipated this, plunged the final dagger not into his thigh, but into his stomach.
“ARGHHHHHH!!!!!!”
The unexpected pain in his abdomen shattered Lophrey’s restraint, and a scream tore from his throat.
“How unfortunate to fail at the very end.”
“You fucking bastard!! I’ll kill you!! I’ll use every ounce of the palace’s power to murder you!!”
“Ah, could you shut up with all that noise?”
Loki’s foot crashed down on Lophrey’s face.
*Thud—!*
“ARGHHH!!!”
He kept stomping.
*Thud—!*
“ARGHHH!!!”
“What? You’ll use all the kingdom’s power to kill me?”
*Thud—!*
“ARGHHH!!!”
“Try it. I’m quite confident about fighting an entire kingdom.”
*Thud—!*
There was a distinct difference between stepping on someone’s body and stomping their face.
Most people might be capable of stepping on another’s body, but few can bring themselves to stomp a face with full force.
The sensation beneath one’s foot differs drastically between flesh and face.
Yet Loki never hesitated in his assault.
He stomped on Lophrey’s face as if crushing garbage beneath his heel.
Because of a worm like you, Johanna died.
Johanna, who risked her life to protect others, died because of your single lie.
At some point, Lophrey had fallen silent, his screams dying in his throat.
“Finally, some peace and quiet.”
Loki ceased his assault, looking down at the unconscious form beneath him.
Lophrey was a ruined canvas of violence.
True, he had been in shambles even before the mist enclosed them, courtesy of various traps.
But then, his face had remained largely untouched. Now, several teeth were missing, his nose broken, and his face painted in crimson streams of his own blood.
This state would undoubtedly invite trouble once they emerged.
Though the last scene others witnessed was the worm’s charge, sparing him major consequences, some would surely still seek conflict over this.
“Hey, wake up.”
Loki nudged Lophrey’s form with his foot, the gesture almost casual in its cruelty.
Lophrey, however, remained unresponsive, lost in unconsciousness.
“You’re not dead yet. Get up.”
With a sigh, Loki retrieved the water-spewing frog from his [Subspace].
The creature showered Lophrey’s face with its deluge.
“Pffft, puah, *cough*!”
The sudden cascade jolted him back to consciousness.
“Open your mouth.”
Loki produced a vial of black liquid from his [Subscape].
Though Lophrey sensed the ominous nature of the substance and resisted…
“Won’t open?”
The sight of Loki drawing his dagger made Lophrey’s trembling lips part.
He then poured the black liquid down Lophrey’s throat – a potion of his own creation. While it healed far more swiftly than ordinary potions, it carried a terrible price.
“ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!”
The healing process inflicted pain many times more intense than the original wounds, as new flesh knit itself together.
“Hey, shut up. You’re too loud.”
“ARGHHH!!”
Annoyed by the continued screaming, Loki impulsively stabbed him with the dagger.
“Ah, my mistake. Sorry, but let’s have one more.”
“Nnnghhhh.”
He moved to administer another black potion, but Lophrey thrashed his head in desperate resistance.
*Slap—!*
Loki seized Lophrey’s head with one hand and struck him with the other.
“Stop being picky about your medicine and just swallow it.”
And then forced the black potion down Lophrey’s throat.
“ARGHHHHHHH!!!!!!”
“Damn it, we’re running out of time.”
By now, those outside would be trying to penetrate the mist.
“One final thing, I promise.”
This was one of the techniques the Duke of Adellion had forbidden him to use.
Said it could leave someone a broken shell.
But what did he care if this bastard ended up broken?
“Watch carefully and remember this feeling. And never show your face before me again.”
The cleanup would fall to Jorden or the Emperor, surely.
.
.
.
.
While Loki was enjoying his “pleasant time” with Lophrey within the mist, those outside were desperately trying to penetrate its veil.
Professor Gedra attempted to cleave through the mist with his blade, but the severed fog merely knit itself back together, refusing to yield its secrets.
Jorden watched this futile display from the spectator stands, a knowing shadow crossing his features.
‘Could he be planning to use that?’
He turned to the swiftest student among the student council members and spoke with quiet urgency.
“Bring the highest-ranking priest in the academy. Now.”
“Yes, sir.”
The council member moved without question, understanding the gravity in Jorden’s voice.
“Let me offer you all a piece of advice,” Jorden addressed the remaining council members, his words heavy with sincerity. “Never become Loki’s enemy. As long as you don’t do anything particularly egregious to him, there’s no reason you should.”
The students exchanged uneasy glances, the gravity of Jorden’s words sinking in.
“President, do you know what’s happening inside that mist?” One of the council members couldn’t contain their curiosity.
Jorden’s gaze shifted, his eyes narrowing slightly.
“I’ve never experienced it myself, but I’ve seen it before. And do you know what I felt back then?”
The student council members were taken aback. Jorden, renowned for his cold and composed demeanor, was rarely associated with feelings.
They waited, breath held, for his next words.
“Fear,” Jorden’s voice barely above a whisper. “What I felt then was pure, primal fear.”
The memory surfaced in his mind like a dark tide. Anyone who witnessed that would feel the same terror, regardless of whether they were stronger or weaker than Loki.
“Look, the mist is dissipating!”
True to the council member’s words, the fog began to thin, drawing every eye to its gradual retreat. As the last wisps faded, they revealed a trembling Lophrey hunched on the ground and Loki standing perfectly composed.
“What in the world happened in there?”
“How should I know?”
Loki approached the quivering Lophrey, his steps measured and deliberate.
“Oh my, you’ve fallen. Here, take my hand and stand up.”
“Eek! St-stay away! Pl-please spare me!”
Lophrey crawled backward, tears and mucus streaming down his face, his body wracked with terror.
The spectators stood frozen, words dying in their throats at the shocking scene before them.
As Lophrey continued his desperate retreat, his trembling intensified until consciousness finally fled, leaving him collapsed on the arena floor.
END of CHAPTER
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