CHAPTER 65: FEAR

***

While the Colosseum went wild, watching Xenos, Arc, and Aspen kill one assassin after another, a man in a dark room ran his hands through his face, beyond frustrated.

’...h-how?’

Before him were two crystals.

’This can’t be happening.’

Both conjured projections: one showed the assassins, and the other showed Xenos.

’Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!’

The left one flashed red; an ’X’ marked over the assassin’s face before it slid to another.

’FUCK!’

Though internally going haywire, he was frozen still... watching as it constantly flashed.

One after another, each assassin he sent had their image cut through, DEAD.

HOW WAS THAT BASTARD KILLING THEM SO EASILY?!

’I... I never should have accepted that contract.’

The man once believed that he knew better.

’I should’ve known... I should’ve known! I SHOULD’VE KNOWN!’

’Anyone willingly involving himself with that Goddess is...’

’This wasted half my people—DAMMIT!’

He sighed, deeply regretting his choice.

’Just who in Tartaros did I get involved with?’

That was all he could do now: curse in anger.

But perhaps once his mind regained control...

"Revenge" would be on the table.

***

Arc froze the ground with a swipe of his hand, ice surging up all around, attacking a wall of water.

This water kept flashing and moving, an assassin cloaked in liquid stuck behind it, using it to easily shield him from everything that came his way.

But Arc smirked and raised his staff.

"Got you."

A wall snapped upward, a pillar of ice hurling the hidden assassin straight into the air.

And before the man could react, Xenos was already following through, grabbing Aspen’s arm.

"Mind if I borrow this?"

"Wha—?"

Too late.

Xenos swung himself around Aspen, using the wolf-man’s ice-armored strength to launch himself skyward as if he were a living catapult.

He soared high, cloak fluttering wildly as the assassin above him panicked, reforming watery serpents to strike down.

"Oh, cute!"

Xenos laughed while stabbing upward.

The blade pierced through the liquid snakes with ease, [Wise Fool] terminating them, and then continued through, reaching the assassin’s neck.

One clean slice and the man’s head spun away.

Before the head could even near the ground, a blur of white light flashed above Xenos, another assassin, this one wreathed in lightning, dropping down with a kick like a thunderbolt.

Bang!

Xenos had blocked with his sword, the clash shaking his arm.

Sparks exploded in his face, throwing him back towards the ground.

He grinned all the way down.

"Ha! Finally, someone fun!"

The lightning assassin dived after him, but before the man could even begin to follow through—shhk!—an ice arrow hit the side of his head, snapping his head sideways.

But that didn’t kill him; it only greatly injured him and pissed him off.

It was perfect timing, though, because that gave Aspen enough time to leap from below.

Reaching him in a moment, he slammed both his hands against the lightning bearer’s chest and drove him into the ground, crushing him dead, the resultant shockwave cracking the earth.

When the dust cleared, nothing moved but Aspen’s heavy breathing.

"Damn."

Xenos landed with a roll beside him.

"Are you sure you don’t like killing people?"

He barely finished the sentence before something tugged at his instincts.

Xenos looked past Arc, straight at a flicker of movement behind him.

Without thinking, he threw his sword.

The blade whistled through the air and stuck deep into someone’s neck, mere steps away from the boy, spraying their blood on the ground, and instantly killing them.

"I... what—?!"

Xenos bowed a little.

"You’re welcome."

Panicked, Arc immediately spun around and fired a burst of ice arrows, hitting everything, including the corpse Xenos had already killed.

"Urghhh..."

And by sheer dumb luck, one of his arrows struck something else, a shimmer of air revealing another assassin mid-step, invisible till the very moment of death.

The now-seen body dropped with a thud.

Arc stood there stunned once more, but then, like the natural-born liar he was, he puffed his chest and crossed his arms.

"Heh. I knew he was there."

Xenos chuckled, shaking his head.

The boy was lying.

He himself knew that he was lying.

Those watching knew that he was lying.

Of course, Xenos knew that he was lying.

But instead of mocking him, he let it pass with:

"Sure you did."

And went to retrieve his sword from the ground after wiping it off on a corpse.

’The boy got used to killing real quick, huh?’

This made him both amused and proud.

That ’oh, I killed someone’ schtick had gotten pretty stale now.

Xenos wouldn’t mind it if someone from a peaceful place thought like that, but the people in this realm? Hah. They haven’t had one day without war since those Runes dropped.

Anyhow, there weren’t many assassins left now, only a few scattered ones trying to retreat, maybe two still crawling away.

Xenos ignored them.

He walked past the bodies, past the cracked walls and the dead torches, until he reached the far edge of the small ruined settlement they’d been fighting in.

Beyond that was open ground, and far ahead, the kingdom’s massive silhouette shimmered in the faint, bloody light of dusk.

He stared at it for a while.

And he seemed...

"Hmm-hmm..."

Content.

"Hmmmm~"

So content, he started humming.

"Hm-hm-hm!"

Blood dripped from his blade.

"Hmmmm~"

Bodies littered the ground behind him.

"Hmm-hmm..."

And still, he hummed, seemingly reminiscing about a time.

"Hmmm-hm-hmmm..."

Aspen and Arc eventually caught up, having killed the stragglers, both breathing heavy, covered in blood and bruises.

They stared at him, but Xenos just stood there watching the far horizon, humming away, perhaps planning the path ahead, they couldn’t say.

Truly, the man was insane.

Just how many assassins had they sent?!

And how in Tartaros was he so casual about it?!

They were too tired to ask, Arc especially, going away for a moment.

Aspen, though, forced himself to approach, wanting to talk about something else.

"...Xenos."

"Hm?"

"Why are you like this?"

"Huh?"

He turned, genuinely confused.

"Like what?"

"We just barely survived those damned assassins, and you’re standing there, not caring one bit that we were THIS close to death."

Xenos blinked.

"Yes. Because we survived?"

Aspen looked like he was fighting the urge to punch him.

"Remember those deranged fighters I’ve seen before? Well, none of them acted like you."

Instead of looking annoyed, Xenos said...

"..."

Nothing.

"You’re different. You’re..."

Aspen trailed off, exhaling sharply.

"It is as if you’re defeated."

That made Xenos pause his humming.

Words that pierced through his shield.

Something softened his smile.

"You..."

He laughed under his breath.

"You don’t know just how right you are."

Aspen didn’t ask what that meant; he didn’t need to.

He’d seen enough in the boy’s eyes to know it wasn’t something one could fix.

And he didn’t bother with how a sixteen-year-old reached such a low; he knew Xenos better than to waste time doing that, so instead, he asked something else:

"Do you even have a goal?"

"Sure."

Xenos looked back toward the horizon.

"Get my House to the top."

Aspen frowned.

"The House of your God? But that’s not your goal, is it? You’re just borrowing it."

"I might be borrowing it, but it’s mine now."

Xenos shrugged.

"Besides, do I really need a greater purpose? A tragic one? Can’t I just be satisfied with ’climb to the top?’ It’s in both strength and status, so isn’t that good enough? It’s fun and simple."

The wolf-man looked at him long and hard before sighing.

"You truly are defeated."

He turned away, walking back towards Arc.

Xenos scoffed under his breath.

"What do you know?"

Grand goals? Heroic reasons?

Such goals were unnecessary.

All nonsense.

He didn’t need any of it.

Xenos need only one thing.

’To break the world.’

He’d see what waited after.

And though he thought that...

His clenched fists went unnoticed.

...

Later, when the rest of their group finally woke up and joined them, they walked to the Hanged Man’s tree.

"Ahahahaha!"

Dei laughed lightly, resting against Arc’s arm.

"So they sent another squad after you?~"

Arc puffed his chest up like a peacock.

"We had it under control!"

"Totally."

Xenos glanced at Aspen.

"Right, invisible guy?"

Gaia trailed behind, pale as a ghost.

"We missed... that much?"

Ari just folded her arms.

"You should’ve told me. I would’ve helped."

"Yeah."

Xenos grinned.

"Next time we’ll put you on decapitation duty."

With that, he walked past them, heading toward the massive formation ahead.

Gargantuan roots twisting out of the ground, thicker than houses, and at the very heart of it all stood a black doorway, the entrance to the next trial.

He stopped before it, and they did soon after.

No one spoke; instead, they all stared at it.

Even Xenos felt the same as them.

Now, he couldn’t deny it.

He felt fear.