***
While the Colosseum went wild, watching Ignotus, Lykos, and Ulv 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 assassin’s faces, and the other showed Ignotus.
’Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!’
The left one kept flashing red; an ’X’ marked over one assassin’s face after another.
’FUCK!’
Though internally going haywire, he was frozen still... watching each assassin he sent have 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 the Hell 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.
***
Lykos 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 ca his way.
But Lykos 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, Ignotus was already following through, grabbing Ulv’s arm.
"Mind if I borrow this?"
"Wha—?"
Too late.
Ignotus swung himself around Ulv, 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!"
Ignotus 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 Ignotus. Another assassin, this one was wreathed in lightning, dropped down with a kick like a thunderbolt.
Bang!
Ignotus 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, soone 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 Ulv enough ti to leap from below.
Reaching him in a mont, he slamd 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 Ulv’s heavy breathing.
"Damn."
Ignotus landed with a roll beside him.
"Are you sure you don’t like killing people?"
He barely finished the sentence before sothing tugged at his instincts.
Ignotus looked past Lykos, straight at a flicker of movent behind him.
Without thinking, he threw his sword.
The blade whistled through the air and stuck deep into soone’s neck, re steps away from the boy. Their blood sprayed on the ground, dying near instantly.
"I... what—?!"
Ignotus bowed a little.
"You’re welco."
Panicked, Lykos imdiately spun around and fired a burst of ice arrows, hitting everything, including the corpse Ignotus had already killed.
"Urghhh..."
And by sheer dumb luck, one of his arrows struck sothing else. A shimr of air revealed another assassin mid-step, invisible till the very mont of death.
The now-seen body dropped with a thud.
Lykos 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."
Ignotus chuckled, shaking his head.
The boy was lying.
He himself knew that he was lying.
Those watching knew that he was lying.
Of course, Ignotus 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 soone’ schtick had gotten pretty stale now.
Ignotus wouldn’t mind it if soone 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.
Ignotus 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 settlent they’d been fighting in.
Beyond that was open ground, and far ahead, the kingdom’s massive silhouette shimred in the faint, bloody light of dusk.
He stared at it for a while.
And he seed...
"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 humd, seemingly reminiscing about a ti.
"Hmmm-hm-hmmm..."
Ulv and Lykos eventually caught up, having killed the stragglers, both breathing heavy, covered in blood and bruises.
They stared at him, but Ignotus 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 the Hell was he so casual about it?!
They were too tired to ask, Lykos especially, going away for a mont.
Ulv, though, forced himself to approach, wanting to talk about sothing else.
"...Ignotus."
"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."
Ignotus blinked.
"Yes. Because we survived?"
Ulv looked like he was fighting the urge to punch him.
"Rember those deranged fighters I’ve seen before? Well, none of them acted like you."
Instead of looking annoyed, Ignotus said...
"..."
Nothing.
"You’re different. You’re..."
Ulv trailed off, exhaling sharply.
"It is as if you’re defeated."
That made Ignotus pause his humming.
Words that pierced through his shield.
"You..."
He laughed under his breath.
"You don’t know just how right you are."
Ulv didn’t ask what that ant; he didn’t need to.
He’d seen enough in the man’s eyes to know it wasn’t sothing one could fix.
And he didn’t bother with how a seventeen-year-old reached such a low; he knew Ignotus better than to waste ti doing that. So instead, he asked sothing else:
"Do you even have a goal?"
"Sure."
Ignotus looked back toward the horizon...
"My nearest goal?"
And revealed the softest of smiles.
"Well, it’s to hunt everyone proud to be nad Death."
The wolf found himself stunned, though only for a mont.
"Besides killing those of... Death. What else?"
"Kill those of Ti."
"Besides them, too."
"Kill those of Light."
Ulv clicked his tongue.
"Anything other than killing?!"
"Hm... It’s to get my House to the top."
Ulv frowned a little.
"The House of your God? But that’s not your goal, is it? You’re just borrowing it."
"Sure, I might be borrowing it, but it’s mine now. I need it as it needs ."
Ignotus shrugged.
"Besides, do I really need a greater purpose? Can’t I just be satisfied with ’climb to the top’ and revenge? It’s in strength, status, and... recompensation, so isn’t that good enough?"
The wolf-man looked at him long and hard before sighing.
"...a lofty goal of revenge, huh?"
He turned away and walked back towards Lykos.
"I understand."
Ignotus scoffed under his breath.
"What do you know?"
Was Ulv searching for grand goals from him?
Perhaps a heroic reason or two...
Typical of a justice-minded guy.
Unfortunately for him, Ignotus was far from that.
He saw such goals as unnecessary.
Ignotus didn’t need any of it.
In his past life, he didn’t have much of a goal other than survival... that was too much of a luxury.
Now, though, he needed only one thing; he had the luxury.
’To kill them.’
He’d see what waited after.
...
Later, when the rest of their group finally woke up and joined them, they walked to the Hanged Man’s tree.
"Ahahahaha!"
r laughed lightly, resting against Lykos’s arm.
"So they sent another squad after you~?"
Lykos puffed his chest up like a peacock.
"We had it under control!"
"Totally."
Ignotus glanced at Ulv.
"Right, invisible guy?"
Gaia trailed behind, pale as a ghost.
"We missed... that much?"
Aur just folded her arms.
"You should’ve told . I would’ve helped."
"Yeah."
Ignotus grinned.
"Next ti 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 Ignotus felt the sa as them.
Now, he couldn’t deny it.
He felt fear.
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