06
06
Ah. How long.
I can't even begin to describe how long I've waited for this moment.
Peuk-!
"Keuheok-!"
Who said revenge yields nothing?
It has only just begun.
A thrilling sensation of shivers coursing through my entire body was felt so vividly.
I was genuinely curious which idiot uttered such ridiculous bullsh*t.
I was truly curious.
"Stop, please stop!"
Ah. No need to go far to find them.
They're right next to me right now.
"Count-nim! Please... please...!"
I decided to just ignore Bathory, even as she kept begging and making a racket.
"Ba, Bato... keuheok-!"
Peueok-!
Because as you can see, this bastard is in even more pain right now.
Shouldn't I make sure to inflict not just physical pain, but mental anguish as well?
Naturally, he wouldn't want to show such a pathetic sight to none other than Bathory.
So, crying and begging sounds like that—I could just let them go in one ear and out the other...
"Count-nim! Even for noona's sake, you shouldn't do this!"
...or maybe not.
'Ah, this crazy bitch, seriously...'
For some reason, I feel like I'm taking more mental damage here.
Still.
Peueoeok-!
"Kkeuaaaak!!!"
Fortunately, my fist didn't veer off course and landed right in the middle of Freddie's face.
I almost redirected my fist, but I held it back.
Anyway.
Shouldn't this bastard also witness with his own two eyes his beloved family member suffering and struggling?
So while beating him up, I'm taking care not to blind his eyes at least.
' ...Though it's getting harder to concentrate because of the young lady... '
Anyway, I plan to deliver absolute mental anguish to him as well.
However, is it a bit of a problem?
Or rather, should I say I don't like it?
'This bastard's love... is a bit different from mine, which makes it disgusting...'
I really wondered if he was a crazy bastard.
Of course, since they aren't blood-related, strictly speaking, I suppose he could harbor such feelings.
'No, wait... the emotion this bastard has isn't something like love...'
It's pure lust.
'Fucking filthy bastard...'
I lost my noona to a trash like this.
Simply because I had no power.
'But not anymore.'
As you can see right now, cooking up a trash bastard like this is a piece of cake.
'I'm really oh-so-sorry about this. He seemed pretty confident in his pathetic self as a Swordmaster.'
Actually, I'm not sorry at all.
"S-Stop...! Keuheok...!"
Peueok-!
Stop my ass.
We've only just begun.
"Count-nim! Stop! Please stop this! Things will get really out of hand! Freddie oppa might die!"
"Ah..."
I paused at Bathory's words.
Because she had just reminded me of a very important fact.
"Young lady, thank you for this. I almost made a huge mistake."
Truly.
I almost made a massive mistake.
Checking his face, it was beaten to a complete pulp.
In a moment of uncontrollable surging emotion, I almost actually killed him.
If I had struck him a few more times like this, he certainly would have lost his life.
'That wouldn't do...'
Right, absolutely not.
Because I have zero intention of granting him the peace of death just yet.
Far more than what my noona went through.
No, several times, a hundred times, a thousand times...
'Hmm, though a thousand times might be tough.'
Regrettably, my body isn't capable of casting healing magic like a Saint.
He would end up dying midway anyway.
In that case.
I should make him feel that pain for as long and as intensely as possible.
However.
"Yes. You've thought it through well, Count-nim. This is enough...!"
It seems this foolish young lady completely misunderstood my words.
"Young lady, enough? What on earth are you talking about? It is far from enough."
"Huh...? But just now, you said..."
"Yes, I said thank you just now. Because I almost killed the young lord too early."
"What do you mean by that?!"
"What do I mean? I think showing you directly will be faster than an explanation."
Ududuk-!
"Aaaaak-!!!"
I snapped Freddie's right pinky finger.
And going even further—
Kwadeudeuk-!
I crushed it completely into powder.
"Kkeuaaaaalg-!!!"
Freddie screamed in agonizing pain, and then...
"Kkurureuk..."
Frothing at the mouth, he tried to lose consciousness.
But naturally, I have no intention of letting him do that.
Where does he think he's running off to with a mere faint?
Kwak!
"Keuheok-!?"
I grabbed him by the hair immediately.
Pajijik-!
The mana flowing through my palm surged into his cranial nerves.
With this, his consciousness would have no choice but to float right back to the surface.
"Kkeuaak!"
"Freddie oppa!!!"
Bathory screamed in distress.
"Why are you going this far? He said he was wrong! He tried to apologize! And he's begging you to stop right now!"
"No, young lady. Why are you asking something so obvious?"
Ududuk-!
"Aaaalg!"
I asked back as I snapped Freddie's ring finger.
"Didn't you hear what I said earlier? Why should I grant a request that Young Lord Freddie refused to grant ten years ago?"
"T-That's... You said t-ten years ago, right...?"
"Yes, indeed. Don't tell me you're about to say something absurd like ten years have already passed?"
Kwadeudeuk-!
"Kkeo... kkeoeoeolg...!"
With this, his ring finger turned to powder.
Naturally, I grabbed his middle finger to keep the sequence going.
Then Bathory, without fail, began spewing nonsense at me.
"If it was ten years ago... Ah, right! It was because Lady Rachel... Lady Sirius passed away back then, and he was heartbroken! So please, try to understand...!"
"Look here, young lady. Are you joking with me? Why should I understand that? I, too, suffer great heartbreak from losing my family."
Kwadeudeuk-!!!
"Kkeueo..."
Oops. Bathory's words were so absurd that I failed to control my strength.
I was supposed to snap it first and then crush it into powder, but it turned straight to powder.
"Kkeu..."
Freddie's throat was so completely wrecked by now that he couldn't even scream properly.
Well, anyway.
'Every time the young lady spews bullsh*t, this bastard's expression becomes even more worth seeing. It wouldn't hurt to indulge her in conversation a bit more.'
Yeah, at this point...
...it was almost anticipation to see what even grander bullsh*t she would come up with.
However, if there was a problem, it was the side effect that I felt like I was losing my mind, too...
It's fine.
Since I haven't been in my right mind since ten years ago anyway.
"Th-That...!"
Oh. Has she finally realized?
How utterly nonsensical the things coming out of her mouth were.
"It's because he lost his mother at the young age of fifteen! It was an unfortunate incident that happened because he misdirected his anger over the Duchess passing away in an accident on her way to the orphanage! So please...!"
Ah, dear me.
I underestimated Bathory.
What kind of brain structure does she even have?
How can she continuously spew such utter bullsh*t?
No, even questioning it is nonsense.
Let's not try to understand. Let's just give up.
But I should still say what needs to be said.
"A young age, you say... Yet my noona, who was even younger than that, lost her life. My noona was thirteen, and I was ten. And was it just her? Not only my noona, but innocent slum children much younger than the young lord lost their lives to his vent of rage. Even the children who were lucky enough to survive lost precious loved ones like me, or were crippled altogether. Yet you try to brush this off as a mere unfortunate incident—how truly marvelous of you."
If one possessed normal thinking...
No, if one had even a shred of conscience...
They could never spew such bullsh*t.
'Ah, I get it.'
Her purpose must be to distract my mind and stop the torture of this bastard.
'That won't work.'
Ududuk-!
Kwadeudeuk-!
I crushed Freddie's index finger and thumb in order.
'Since fingers are done, should I crush his palm next...?'
Next, move to the left hand, and then fuck up his legs in sequence.
'The main question is whether he'll stay alive until then...'
Well, he's a Swordmaster in his own right, so won't he hold out?
Since I'm avoiding lethal vitals after all.
"Stop now! Stop it! Freddie oppa was drunk... and it was because the Duchess died on her way to the orphanage...!"
Oh.
Now she's even trying to pull out diminished responsibility?
"Is that so? But what to do about this? I also had a glass when His Majesty gave his toast, so I'm already in a drunk state as well. And you keep bringing up the orphanage, but unfortunately, the poor children targeted by the young lord couldn't even enter such facilities."
"Th-That...!"
Does she still have things left to say?
Truly amazing, simply amazing.
She herself must have spent unfortunate times in an orphanage as well.
I couldn't understand at all how she could keep talking endlessly without taking a break.
'No, wait... maybe that's why.'
To me, he's nothing more than a son of a bitch to be beaten to death, but to her, he must be her new family.
It seems right to see it as her desperately trying in her own way to protect that family.
To her touching effort...
"Isn't that enough, Count!"
"Count... I believe that is sufficient. Young Lord Freddie is already completely broken."
"...Excessive."
"Hey! Are you a psychopath? Stop right there!"
"...Count. The Goddess said not to forgive if you cannot forgive, but that by no means means you should never forgive."
Leon, Michael, Lancelot, Loki, Yudia.
Finally, our male leads have made their appearance.
As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together.
'That saying isn't for nothing.'
If this world were a romance novel, as a reader, I would tear the book in half right away.
'Because from female lead to male leads, they are all nothing but crazy bastards.'
Well, anyway.
'Keep spouting your bullsh*t all you want.'
But no matter what you guys say...
Kwadeudeuk-!
"Kkeulg...!"
There is absolutely no way I will ever forgive Freddie.
With this, both of his arms were completely destroyed.
Now, let's move on to the legs.
'Shall I use my feet this time...?'
Yes, this time, let me return his kicks right back to him.
"Ah... Stop... Stop... Please... Please... No, Count-nim!!!"
Bathory tried to rush into the center of the banquet hall.
However.
""Bathory!""
Franz and Praha stopped her immediately.
"Oraboni-deul!? Let me go! I have to save Freddie oppa!!!"
"Bathory! I understand how you feel, but you can't...!"
"Hyungnim is right. We can't have you getting hurt here too, Bathory! Please endure it!"
Truly amazing.
To think she would even try to barge into a trial by combat presided over by His Imperial Majesty.
'Huh...?'
I paused for a moment.
Because Empel's face looked complex and subtle.
'He seems to be getting a sort of vicarious satisfaction through me...'
It seems His Majesty is also finding it hard to maintain his sanity because of the young lady.
Anyway.
Since Freddie still had plenty of intact body parts remaining, I decided to continue.
Kwajijik-!
'Ah, oops, I made a mistake.'
I meant to step on just his pinky toe, but I accidentally crushed three at once.
It seems my focus was quite shaken because of Bathory.
So.
"Huuu..."
I took a deep breath to concentrate.
But at that moment.
"Kkeoeo... kkeoeo..."
I caught sight of Freddie trying to say something to me.
His throat was completely ruined, so no proper sound came out.
However, by looking at his lip movements, I could roughly decipher what he was saying.
'End it with just me.'
"Oh... Young Lord Freddie. You're quicker on the uptake than I thought."
'P-Please...'
"Goodness. Must I repeat what I told the young lady earlier? When we begged, you didn't listen."
'I-I'm sorry...!'
"I'm sorry, but I don't accept insincere apologies. No, in the first place, even if you begged with all your heart, I would never forgive you."
'P-Please...'
'I'm fine, so just Bathory...!'
"Ha...!"
I burst into a scoff of utter disbelief.
Where the fuck does he get off acting like the protagonist of a tragedy?
'This... well, it really feels like I've become the villain.'
If so.
Now that it's come to this, wouldn't it be fine to properly play that villain?
Therefore.
Kwak!
"Kkeoeok!"
I leaned down and whispered into his ear at a volume only he could hear.
"Don't worry. I will crush everything you held dear. The time you spend waiting alone and lonely in hell won't be very long."
"Kkeoeo... kkeoeo!"
Even as Freddie continued to beg for something, I ignored him and trampled his body once more.
"Kkeoeo...! Kkeoeoeolg!?"
Adeudeuk! Kwadeudeuk-!
Not just his legs.
I completely pulverized all the parts of his body that I hadn't managed to smash earlier.
"▂▃▄▅▅▇██!!!"
In the end, a scream erupted from his mouth that sounded not human, but like that of a beast.
'Ah, feels so good...'
How long has it been since I felt this emotion?
I'm joyful.
Ah, I'm happy.
Revenge yields nothing?
Don't talk such utter nonsense.
"Count-nim! Stop! That's enough! Revenge yields nothing!"
Seriously, you crazy bitch.
Stop it already.
Don't you ever get tired?
"Please forgive him. Stop right here. It's better for Count-nim's sake, too! Please let go of your anger even now! Then surely all of us will become happy!"
...I guess she doesn't get tired.
"Ha... fucking hell..."
Having become a noble in my own right, I had tried to refrain from vulgar profanity as much as possible, but at her endless bullsh*t, I ended up letting it slip out.
'Ah... this won't do...'
'Because of that fucking bitch, this really won't do.'
Truthfully, I wanted to torture and enjoy this bastard for longer, but I'll have to stop here.
Well, since not just his limbs but his entire body is already completely shattered.
There isn't much left to do anyway.
Therefore.
"Fine. As the young lady says, I shall wrap things up here."
I grabbed Freddie by his hair.
And.
Paaat-!
I concentrated aura into that hand.
In order to crush the sole remaining part.
At this.
"Noooo!!!"
Bathory shrieked.
"Your Majesty! Please stop him!"
She was now begging Empel.
However, the response she got was obvious.
"Lady Sirius, this is quite remarkable. Do you not realize that by merely tolerating your commotion during a trial by combat, We are already conceding more than enough?"
Even though Empel openly expressed his displeasure.
"Please! I beg of you! Please stop Count-nim!"
Bathory did not give up.
Furthermore.
"Oraboni-deul! Your Imperial Highness! Captain-nim! Lancelot! Loki! Saint-nim!"
She called out to all her knights.
As if waiting for this.
"Your Majesty, if you stop the situation here, Sirius will not make an issue of this incident."
"Your Majesty! This is enough! Ending the trial by combat here would be...!"
"I also share the thoughts of His Highness the Imperial Prince and the young lady. This is far too violent. Taking his life seems unnecessary."
"...Pendragon also requests that Your Majesty bestow your mercy."
"The Magic Tower will also not forget Your Majesty's generosity."
"The Goddess said not to forgive if you cannot forgive, but She would not wish for repayment through death..."
The most prominent men of the empire pled with Empel all at once.
Fortunately, however.
"How regrettable. To think the young men of the empire would object to Us like this just to get on the good side of a single woman. And that includes the Imperial Prince and the Imperial Knights' Captain? Goodness... truly disappointing."
His Majesty the Emperor seemed to have zero intention of granting their request.
But if I dragged this out any longer, our Emperor might collapse clutching the back of his neck from stress.
Therefore.
Although I didn't quite like giving Freddie peace so soon...
I decided not to delay any further.
But since it's his final path out.
'I'll grant you the ultimate pain.'
Pajijik-!
The mana flowing along my palm...
...spread throughout his entire head this time, rather than just his cranial nerves.
Since the amount was not something a human could endure...
Kkureuk... kkurureuk...!
Freddie's head began to swell up like a balloon.
"▂▃▄█!"
"▂▃▄█▅▇█!!"
"▂▃▄▅▅▇██!!!"
Ah, how wonderful that sounds.
This is probably the greatest music of my life.
"Freddie oppa!? No! Stop! Please stooop!!!"
Taking Bathory's scream as the grand finale.
I just...
Peueoeong-!
...exploded his head.
Without leaving a single trace.
Very cleanly—
—erased him out of existence.
Even if it were the Saint standing right in this place...
...they could never bring him back to life.
'Ah...!'
How long has it been since I felt this emotion?
Joy.
I almost forgot its very name.
It was wonderful.
It was so wonderful.
However, there was just one disappointing thing.
And that was.
...the one disrupting my afterglow right now...
"Oppa!!!!!"
...a certain young lady's noisy scream of despair.