"Arghhhhhhhh—"

Primal screams of a demon boy echoed through the open space as a golden flash mercilessly sliced through his left arm.

Green flames immediately latched onto the wounds to prevent any bleeding.

Rex could barely keep his eyes open.

The pain was unbearable and every time he was on the verge of collapse, the monster wearing human skin before him, Rael Von Ashborn, would force a potion down his throat and give him an hour of rest.

Again and again.

By now, Rex didn't even understand why he was being punished like this.

He had tried to kill the boy for his own selfish reasons and for that, death would have been fair.

The boy had every right to take his life.

So why was he being made to suffer instead?

"Please… kill me already." He muttered weakly but the boy didn't even glance at him and instead, he tossed another healing potion into Rex's mouth.

Rael himself hadn't taken a single potion. He simply stood there, smoking a cigarette casually while talking to a white-haired girl who didn't flinch even once at the scene unfolding before her.

Rex knew her.

She was the Demon Princess, Arza.

She had arrived shortly before his suffering began, carrying the severed head of his partner in her hand.

Rex gritted his teeth but there was nothing he could do. His body betrayed him as he swallowed the potion and moments later he screamed again as green flames moved over the place where his left hand used to be.

Only one of his legs remained now… and from the way Rael fed him the potion, it was clear he had no intention of sparing that either.

We should have never messed with him…

We were fools…

… Varek is a fool. He had no idea what he had just disturbed.

Only now, with tears streaming down his face, did the realization properly sink into Rex.

He didn't wish to grow stronger anymore.

He didn't wish for revenge…

All he wanted was to die and be freed from this suffering.

He could see Rael's and Arza's lips move before his eyes but he couldn't hear a thing. His own screams had already burst his eardrums.

So he did what little he could… and waited for the inevitable fate that awaited him.

—

"See, Arza, that's called despair. It's the emotion a sentient being feels when there's no hope left," Rael said, pointing at the sorry state of the boy who didn't even scream anymore. "Despair drowns out every other emotion until only hollowness remains."

Rael had originally planned to deal with the senior's partner after slicing off one of his limbs, just enough to keep him alive and on the spot for the next part of his plan.

But then Arza appeared out of nowhere, holding a severed head with blood still dripping from the neck.

Her face showed no expression, yet for some reason Rael knew she was curious about what he was doing.

So, naturally, he decided to take advantage of the moment and teach her about emotions she so eagerly wanted to know.

After all… he needed her for the next step of today's plan.

He ordered his Arcana card to take the senior's last remaining limb, his leg, as he took another drag from the cigarette artifact, its effect slowly healing him.

His injuries were still far from gone, yet he didn't take a single potion and only relied on that cigarette.

He wanted to remain injured for a while longer.

He wanted to show that ball-less bitch Varek exactly who he had messed with.

And the best way to inflict fatal harm on such bastards was to take away the thing they were most proud of.

Authority.

'I won't kill you.' Rael thought calmly. 'That would be too easy.'

Death was an ending but what Rael wanted was erosion and to let everyone watching understand one simple truth:

Messing with him had been a mistake.

Just imagining it made Rael smile but he didn't stop his explanation about emotions to Arza.

The cruelty he was inflicting on this poor senior, someone who had merely followed Varek's orders, was partially a part of that plan…

And partially because he had tried to kill him. Rael wasn't one to sing forgiveness with someone who tried to kill him.

He would rather make the one suffer for even having such thoughts than to let them die peacefully.

'Still, I am a benevolent guy.' Rael thought lightly. 'So I will just settle for his limbs.'

With those thoughts, he turned his attention back on Arza.

"Did you understand it?" He asked a simple question.

Arza looked at him… then at the senior before shaking her head slightly.

"Well, don't worry. You will get it soon. But in the meantime… Do you want to see another emotion up close?" Rael smiled like a devil. "I'll even show you how that emotion changes in real time."

"All you have to do is stay in the shadows… and take me away if things turn fatal."

She looked at Rael for a moment with the same emotionless gaze. "But it's already dawn."

Rael's smile widened even further. "Yes… and that's exactly why it's the perfect time."

The reason he had kept Arza occupied here until he was done with the senior was simple. He needed her as an escape route, because what he was about to do next was… dangerous.

And for that, he trusted her completely.

If things went wrong, Arza would be able to take him away.

Her strength was just slightly higher than his but she had been born with a potential that surpassed even the main character of this world. On top of that, she had a few tricks hidden up her sleeve…

So, he didn't doubt she could take him out in case things didn't go according to his plans.

Arza thought barely for a second but before she could say anything, Rael interrupted her. "I will give you an extra fifty chocolates."

As soon as he said those words, she nodded. "Alright."

A smile appeared on Rael's face.

Time to pay that spineless bastard a visit now.

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