Master’s Smile

C84 – Psycho Laughter and a Smile

“…*cough*!”

Heroro couldn’t endure something welling up inside his body and coughed violently.

He wiped the warm liquid from his mouth which made his hand turn bright red.

It was then he finally realized that he had been pierced in the stomach by Rousseld.

“Y-You bastard…!!!”

Heroro grabbed Rousseld’s arm with a trembling hand.

He tried to push it out but alas, Rousseld’s strong arm didn’t budge at all.

“AHYAHYAHYAHYAHYAHYA!! A goodbye means death to you, stupiiiiid!!!”

Rousseld looked up to the sky and laughed boisterously.

He couldn’t help but find Heroro hilarious as he tried to leave the scene without a care in the world.

“Like hell, I’m gonna pay you, idiot!? You didn’t give me any reliable info, so don’t get cocky!!”

“Y-You… betrayed me…!?”

“Huuuuh!?”

Heroro’s face was covered with sweat as he turned to look at him with severe gaze.

Rousseld let out a fed up sigh from Heroro’s mistaken words.

Rousseld didn’t like fools and incompetent people.

“When did I become so close to you that I can say I betrayed you? Don’t get me wrong, you were just a toy for Inicken… me!!!

Rousseld never once thought of Heroro as a comrade.

He was, as Rousseld said, merely a toy for Rousseld.

As long as they were interesting, he would take good care of them. Yet, when he got bored or they were no longer needed, he would throw them away.

It was as simple as that.

“Even if you were, what made you think that I wouldn’t betray you? I’m from a dark guild, remember? We’re not a half-assed guild like Yelquchira. It’s the most powerful dark guild that everyone fears, “Iron Queen (Inicken)!!””

“Agah…!!!”

Rousseld twisted his arm just like what he did for Sorglos before.

He slowly raked Heroro’s abdomen, as if to cause more pain.

Heroro, whose vital organs were also injured in the process, vomited a mass worth of blood.

“Also… you also betrayed your own comrades so what makes you think you can denounce me?”

“…!!!”

Rousseld whispered in Heroro’s ear.

His body twitched from hearing his question.

Was it in response to Rousseld’s words? Or was it a natural reaction of his body being on the verge of death?

Only Heroro, who had already stopped breathing, could tell.

“Hmph.”

Rousseld pulled out his blood-soaked arm from Heroro’s stomach, whose eyes no longer reflected any light.

Then, he said a few words to Heroro as he fell to the ground.

“Both of your ex-comrades are dead already, so you won’t be lonely, right? Don’t worry, I’ll send off your last remaining friend and Yelquchira soon! AHYAHYAHYAHYA!!!”

Heroro’s body fell limply next to Rousseld who was laughing profusely.

The hole in Heroro’s belly was wide open as his crimson-colored blood permeated into the ground.

“BASTAAAAAAARD!!! HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO HERORO!!!”

Seeing Heroro’s completely changed state, Lucille became enraged and pulled out his sword.

Then, in his rage, he started rushing toward Rousseld.

Such anger was also rather pleasant.

Rousseld spread his arms and spoke to Lucille who was closing in.

“Hey, hey, hey. This guy betrayed you, remember? I don’t deserve your anger, rather you should thank me instead.”

“Don’t bullsh*t me!! For me, he was still…!!!”

Even if Heroro had betrayed them, even if he had indirectly killed Apollo and Rieg.

He was still a friend to Lucille.

Lucille was a child, and there was no way he could immediately cut Heroro off just because he had suddenly betrayed Lucille.

He already lost two of his few friends, so it was only natural that he would not want to lose anyone else.

However, there was no way that Rousseld would understand even if he was told so.

He was the kind of man who smirked and sneered when he saw others grieving or angry.

“GO TO HELL!!!”

It didn’t take long before Lucille reached Rousseld, who refused to budge.

He swung his sword down in anger at the man who had killed Apollo, Rieg, and Heroro.

“Idiot. You’re not strong enough!!”

“Wha…!?”

As the sword was swung, Rousseld slammed his fist against the blade.

With just that, Lucille’s sword was shattered into pieces.

Lucille opened his eyes wide and stared in disbelief at the glittering, scattered pieces of what used to be his sword.

“Goodbye. Try to get along with those guys.”

Rousseld grinned and swung his fist ruthlessly at Lucille, who didn’t seem to be able to avoid it.

However, just before his fist struck, Lucille’s figure vanished into thin air.

“Aan?”

Did Lucille dodge his attack at such a speed that even Rousseld could not see it?

Rousseld assured himself in his heart that this was not the case.

It was not an attack speed that could be avoided by a small kid from a small guild.

If so, it was clear who was responsible.

“So it’s youuu….”

Rousseld looked at Master.

As he expected, Lucille’s figure was right next to Master, who was making a thin smile.

However, Rousseld was bewildered as he didn’t understand what Master had done.

“How did you let him escape from my attack? Was it magic?”

When Rousseld asked, Master nodded his head without any sign of hiding the truth.

It was most likely a form of teleportation magic.

It’s a very complex magic to learn and as it consumes a lot of mana, only a select few people can use it, just like illusion magic.

“AHYAHYA!”

Rousseld laughed.

That’s right. If Master couldn’t at least do something like that, it was not worth it for Rousseld to break him.

It was a war between the guilds vying for the title of the strongest of all dark guilds and Rousseld was looking for something that would make his blood boil.

“This is great!! As expected of the master of “Salvation Army (Yelquchira)”. You can’t compare him to these guys that I killed!”

It is true that Master is strong.

Rousseld easily killed Apollo and the other two, but this man would not be that easy to kill.

However, Rousseld still had no intention of losing.

“But hey, I’m an undead, an immortal race. No matter how strong you are, how long can you fight against someone who can’t die, I wonder…?

He grinded his teeth and laughed in amusement.

Rousseld was an undead. He was able to continue fighting even if he suffered fatal wounds that would kill a normal human or monster.

The undead are not good with magic or weapons blessed by Angelism, but as the guildmaster of Inicken, one of the most powerful dark guilds, Rousseld has already overcome such weaknesses.

Thus, as a special kind of undead, Rousseld could heal himself.

There was no longer any doubt that he was the most powerful undead in the world.

“Master, I also….”

Lucille stood up and tried to stand next to Master.

Rousseld was a strong monster. Master by himself would probably be killed.

That was why Lucille decided to fight Rousseld together.

“Master…?”

But Master put his arm out in front of Lucille and said there was no need for him to fight.

When Lucille looked up at him, he saw a kind and gentle smile plastered on Master’s face.

“AHYAHYA!! That’s right! Just stay still! Even if you decided to fight, it wouldn’t change the fact that all of you will die!!!”

Rousseld was truly enjoying himself.

At last, …the day has finally arrived when he could crush the “Salvation Army (Yelquchira)”.

There was already no doubt that everyone would say that the most powerful dark guild in the world is “Iron Queen (Inicken)”.

However, no matter how much infamy they tried to create, those who knew about Yelquchira would not admit it.

That was how annoying they were to Rousseld….

But this is where his frustration will finally come to an end.

Once he killed Yelquchira’s master, those who had refused to acknowledge his guild would understand that Inicken was the strongest one.

“But you know what? It’ll be boring if I win easily….”

Rousseld kicked the ground lightly and said so with a smirk.

“You’ll have to entertain me at least!!!”

The next moment, the ground where Rousseld was standing cracked with an intense sound.

With his monstrous strength unique to the undead, he quickly closed the distance to Master.

“Wha-…!?”

The moment Lucille was able to see Rousseld was when he was swinging his fist in front of Master.

Lucille could not even move a single finger.

With such speed that Lucille could not react to, Rousseld tried to attack Master.

Master could no longer avoid his strike.

Rousseld drove his strong fist into Master’s idiotic face who was always smilingーーーor that was how it was supposed to be.

“ーーーーーーHa?”

Rousseld could only make such a dumbfounded voice.

Certainly, his attack should have hit Master.

Rousseld would strike a painful blow to the side of his smiling face, and then beat him up so badly that he would beg for his life.

After ridiculing him, he would kill Master by carving a hole into his stomach.

That was what Rousseld saw in his vision.

And yet, his fist, which he had put all his strength into, was easily caught in one of Master’s hands.

And then Master, with serenity, put up a broad smileーーー

　ーーーand crushed Rousseld’s hand.