[First POV]
Within the academy grounds, the sound of sothing heavy being dragged echoed through the air as a boy, completely drenched in blood from head to toe, walked forward.
His body was riddled with injuries, so of them still gushing freely, yet he wore a crazed smile.
And who else could it be, if not the glorious .
As for what I was dragging behind … yeah. It was the limbless body of the guy I had so painfully made suffer.
Now, trust , I don't actually enjoy inflicting this kind of pain. I would have much rather killed the poor bastard outright.
But this was necessary.
And honestly, anyone in my position, after being pushed this far… to the point where even I wasn't sure I would make it out alive, would have done the sa.
"Hey, man… are you still alive?" I asked politely. After all, I couldn't have him dying before he got to see that spineless bastard.
And who knows… if this guy survives long enough, I might even reward him a little for all his trouble.
After nearly half an hour of dragging this guy around, I realized that when I ca up with this plan, I was still slightly affected by the lingering insanity.
I an, there were a few other ways to achieve the exact sa result without chopping off his limbs… but oh well.
He kind of deserved it.
And man, I have to say, I was way too cool back then.
"Hey, don't you think I was cool?" I asked again.
After all, the second-year dorms were an hour away from mine with my bruised state and I had barely crossed half the distance.
So, I needed soone to talk to, even if it was the half-dead body I was dragging behind .
Arza followed from a distance, hidden properly, just like I had instructed. So, I couldn't exactly talk to her either.
The guy, whose na turned out to be Rex, sothing I learned from the wallet in his pocket, let out a weak grunt.
"Huarggh."
Yeah. That was the language of the poor guy after being thrashed by … but I understood it imdiately.
He obviously ant, "Yes, sir. You were extrely glorious."
After all, I couldn't see anyone else around to reject my interpretation.
"Good boy."
Tsk… What the hell am I even doing?
I shook my head imdiately.
I didn't know what kind of inner masochist that fight had awakened in but it brought a shit ton of instability with it and I was still having trouble keeping it under control.
I really needed to look into whatever the fuck that was. Useful as it might have been to ignore pain… it made far too loose.
All the masks I wore had shattered and it felt like I was dancing naked without any sha and that was a feeling I would rather never experience again.
So, to keep my inner madness in check, I stayed silent and continued walking quietly the rest of the way.
As I neared the second-year dorms, I ran into a few academy staff mbers. Every single one of them ignored as if they weren't paid enough to deal with this.
Still, they would definitely inform the student council.
That ant I didn't have much ti left.
The staff weren't the only ones I encountered. The deeper I moved into the second-year dorm area, the more students began coming out of their rooms, drawn by the commotion. They started following toward the center, circling from a distance.
Even so, I kept my heart calm.
If only I had managed to control my madness before chopping off this guy's limbs, I would have planned sothing else.
But… I only got it under control afterward.
So throwing away the opportunity felt like a waste and I took the gamble.
I deliberately kept my breathing rough as I walked forward and once I reached the central area, where the main villas of the high-rankers were located, I stopped.
Then I scread, pouring every last bit of air from my lungs into it.
"VAREK!!! YOU SON OF A BITCH, CO OUT IF YOU DRANK YOUR MOTHER'S MILK."
The scream caught his attention almost imdiately. He stepped out of his room onto the connected balcony.
His eyes locked onto mine and I curled my lips into a grin.
"You spineless bastard," I scread again. "You sent a fucking D-Rank against , an E-Rank. Real bold move and it really shows what a pussy you are."
The students gathered around began to mutter, whispers spreading through the air like wildfire but I wasn't done.
"See what happened to the one you sent," I said, pointing at Rex. "Even he couldn't defeat ."
Then I raised my voice even higher.
"DID YOU REALLY THINK WE HUMANS ARE EASY PREY TO BE TRAMPLED JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE SO SUCCESSOR OF DEMON KING?"
I was saying all of this deliberately.
After Rio told how afraid the human students were of Varek, I hadn't thought much of it back then but now that a perfect opportunity had presented itself, with standing at the center of it all… who was I to deny it?
"BUT NO MORE," I shouted. "I WILL STAND AGAINST YOU. AND NO MATTER HOW MANY GOONS YOU SEND, I WILL STAND TALL AND DEFEAT EVERY ONE OF THEM."
Then I lowered my voice.
"And rember this. Whoever wishes to go against … this is just the trailer. I won't hesitate to recreate your worst nightmares."
That was my threat.
I was making an example out of Rex and from the sharp gasps echoing around , I could tell it was working.
I was weaving a narrative of how a weak first year student barged into the palace of the King of Second year and spat on his face in front of his own subjects.
I scanned the students surrounding one last ti, deliberately letting my gaze linger. Every ti I t the eyes of a human student, I put on a look of disappointnt.
I wanted them to understand just how pathetic they were.
So that one day… I could turn that self-loathing into embers of revolt against Varek.
Then I looked at Varek once again.
"I challenge you to a duel of succession, according to Demon Realm laws."
"The duel will take place in two months. That's how much ti I'll need to defeat a pathetic bastard like you."
"And do try to kill again with backhanded thods if you can't defeat face to face."
This was bait.
Honestly, I had no intention of letting this bastard survive for two whole months but I needed ti… Ti to make sure he couldn't pull anything funny in the anti.
This was my insurance.
If he tried to kill during those two months, he would be admitting to everything I accused him of.
And for people like Varek…
That kind of humiliation was worse than death.
Varek's face was practically a volcano of emotions as he stared down at .
"You filthy human." He spat. "Fine. You want a duel? You'll get a duel."
He had no idea how much effect those words had but then again, this bastard was never very smart when anger clouded his judgnt.
He stord back inside after saying that much and my smile widened.
I had achieved everything I wanted, so… I should have left as well, right?
But well, I had promised this guy a reward, didn't I?
I turned toward Rex, who was still lying on the ground and slowly walked over. The crowd surrounding didn't disperse either, probably curious to see what I was about to do.
Honestly, leaving him like this would have been enough but there was a better option.
I had already turned the humans into my supporters and if I could pull this off… even the demons would follow .
I knelt beside Rex's broken body and poured a red-colored potion into him.
Red ones were epic-rank potions.
At Rex's current rank, he could barely handle rare potions at best. Taking an epic potion would either restore his body completely… or cause it to explode into pieces.
A fifty-fifty gamble.
That uncertainty was exactly why people never used potions above what their bodies could endure.
At least I would never use sothing like that on my own body but Rex was different.
If he healed, I could claim I was a benevolent guy who didn't like making pawns suffer for the sins of their rulers.
And if he exploded… Well, that would only make my warning even more intense.
So either way, I wasn't losing anything.
The mont the potion touched his body, it began to glow a bright red. Soon after, every vein and mana pathway within him lit up in gold…
…and then it happened.
—
Author's Note:
Okay, the mini-arc is officially over. Let know which POV you liked more, the usual first-person or third-person.
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