"It’s over, Dream Chaser! Give up!"
"It’s not over yet! For everyone who calls out my na in their hearts, I won’t give up! Even... Even if I’m just a severed head!!!"
Mr. Nobody held the severed head by the hair and, working its jaw, mimicked Dream Chaser’s voice.
"Oh, really?! Then take this!!!"
He tossed the head into the air, then kicked it with all his might toward the VIP box.
That marked the end of the third round.
It seed Dream Chaser hadn’t even had ti to process his first death. Before the second, he’d been playing to the crowd, talking about how he wouldn’t give up... And now, for the third ti, each of his limbs was scattered across the arena stands.
All that was left was to watch him recover again after the Knockdown.
"And here you are, Dream Chaser!" said Mr. Nobody, grabbing his scythe again. "Our battle will be legendary! It will last three days and three nights, and then..."
"Nooo!!! Please, enough, I beg you!!! Stop, stop, I give up!!!"
Dream Chaser began screaming, foam at the mouth, before the crowd could even react.
However, having witnessed a similar spectacle for the third ti, even the crowd couldn’t bring themselves to cheer him on again.
After all, many spectators already had their own personal piece of Dream Chaser.
"Marie, dear... What on earth did you let in here?" Simon said with a frown.
"Heh-heh..." The girl just laughed forcedly, unable to say anything. She had seed strange for quite so ti now.
"A person like that shouldn’t be here. He’ll never be worthy to..."
"K-knockout!!! T-the Plowman has won!!!" the comntator announced to the entire arena. It was clear from his voice that he was just as pale as everyone else in the arena. "H-his victory proves that..."
"..." Standing in the center of the bloodstained arena, Mr. Nobody spread his arms wide and smiled with anticipation.
"T-that evil always triumphs!!!" Along with the comntator’s shout, a huge projection with that inscription appeared in the arena.
It seed as though even the comntator himself was horrified by what he had said.
Mr. Nobody smiled contentedly until...
"Huh?" He opened his eyes in surprise, for a piece of popcorn had flown into his shoulder.
"Bastard!!!" a young boy in the stands shouted, his eyes red with rage.
Next, he threw a whole bag of popcorn at him, but missed.
"...Huh?"
Looking around, he t the sa glares and insults directed at him.
As if in a chain reaction, everyone in the stands began to unleash their hatred on him.
"What...?"
"Bastard!!!"
"Die!!!"
"Monster!!!"
"Soone like you shouldn’t be here!!!"
"YOU ARE NOT WORTHY!!!"
"YOU ARE NOT WORTHY!!!"
"YOU ARE NOT WORTHY!!!"
Sothing shifted inside him, and goosebumps ran down his skin.
’Yes... Yes.’ His eyes widened.
They threw things at him, called him the most horrible nas... They hated him.
’Yes, that’s exactly it! Look at exactly like that!’
A wave of euphoria and incredible relief washed over his body. It was as if, for that mont, he had cast off the heaviest stone that had forever weighed on his soul.
It all felt so light.
"You should never have been born!!!"
"Hahahaha!" He laughed. "Yes!!!"
Spreading his arms wide, he spun around on the bloodstained floor of the arena, as if he were hearing the most beautiful lody in the world.
"Don’t stop! Scream, weep, hate... Because today, all your dreams will be crushed!" He paused and stood face to face with the thousands of people in the stands. "Because today... I will be the villain to everyone!!!"
And they scread...
And they wept...
And they hated.
"..." Amid the general roar of hatred, a black cat licked its paw nonchalantly.
Then it turned away and shifted its position, no longer watching the spectacle.
Perhaps it turned away because it was the only one that didn’t see it the way the others did. After all... it was a cat.
...
Fear.
Fear.
Fear.
If you say that word a hundred tis, will a person get scared? Hardly.
If you try to fool yourself and convince your mind that you’re scared right now. Will a person feel fear then? Perhaps, but it’s unlikely.
But what if... You ask yourself—what are you afraid of?
If you picture the one you fear in your mind?
Will a person be scared then?
"..." Hundreds of thousands of screens, previously broadcasting various recordings... Now showed the sa thing.
Everyone knows what they fear.
Everyone knows who they fear.
What everyone fears.
Who everyone fears.
He knows.
"Evil always triumphs." All the screens lit up with this phrase for a mont.
The first bloody duel had co to an end.
...
"Evil always triumphs"
The second bloody duel involving the man in the black cloak ended the sa way.
...
"Evil always triumphs"
For the third ti, the screens in the endless dark space displayed this phrase.
...
"Evil always triumphs"
"Evil always triumphs"
"Evil always triumphs"
...
In a couple of hours, one man managed to draw all that hatred onto himself, the hatred of hundreds of thousands of people.
He basked in the stares, the bile, the contempt, and the malice, as if it were the most pleasant sensation in the world... And the worst part was that people understood...—he was aiming for exactly that.
They understood, but they had no control over it, because...
"Evil always triumphs" Again.
"..." The screen of a small television showed the mont of the man’s triumph once again.
In the dark space stretching endlessly, it showed his black figure with outstretched arms...
But now there was sothing else here.
But
Now
Here
Was
Soone.
He knows.
He knows.
He knows.
He knows.
He knows.
He knows.
He knows.
He knows.
He knows.
He knows.
He knows.
He knows.
He knows.
He knows.
He knows.
He knows.
He...
A long, black, terrifying finger rested against the screen and, with slow relish, gently traced the figure in the cloak.
"...Found... you..."
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