Chapter 111: Who’s next?
Ignoring Bill's begging, Hector added more and more strength into his feet, pressing on Bill's sensitive area until Bill's fearful yell turned into the howl of a young man who had already lost his instincts.
He let his feet sense the smush below, then lifted them out. Hector barely heard any more agony, but now, nothing but sobbing. Bill shivered and lay on the ground in desperation.
Yet that was not the end of Bill's torment. Hector took out a pile of healing capsules from his storage system, slowly approached Bill's mouth, and forced them in.
Bill just looked at Hector with a lifeless face, as if he had lost everything. He swallowed all the capsules under Hector's suppression, hating every moment of it.
Over time, his body began to heal—everything except his sensitive area, for some reason he couldn't understand.
"You have to beg to die," Hector said, giving Bill a hollow look as he waited for his recovery.
However, suddenly, Bill snapped out of his vague mental state. He managed to sit up, glaring at Hector with the fiercest fury.
He came to Hector, wanting him dead at any cost. Of course, the reason for all this was justified in his eyes—he had lost something vital as a man.
"MY FATHER WILL KILL YOU! YOU WILL DIE! YOU WILL SUFFER THE MOST PAIN FOR WHAT YOU DID TO ME!"
He yelled in rage: "EVERYTHING INVOLVING YOU WILL FACE THE SAME FATE!"
He kept spouting nonsense, anything that came to his mind at that moment. Yet Hector ignored it, even smiling as Bill threatened him like before.
He uttered, a tinge of amusement appeared in his mind: "Very well. Only like that can you make me feel satisfied."
Then, instantly, Hector's expression shifted.
"And now… just suffer in pain."
Hector began the most brutal actions he had ever done in his life.
He punched.
He kicked.
He stomped on him.
Over and over.
Yet, each of Hector's blows only made Bill ramble on about everything. And as Bill kept talking, a rush of adrenaline surged through Hector's mind more and more.
With every passing minute, Bill's teeth flew out as his curses spilled from his mouth. His face turned into a swollen mess, but for some reason, his fury still burned inside him.
"Very good! Just take it!"
Hector yanked Bill's hair up and smashed his fists into him, striking any spot he saw as a weak point.
"You talk too damn much!"
Bill's endless nonsense started to grate on Hector, giving him a pounding headache.
So, without a thought, Hector clamped down on Bill's upper jaw, snapped it, and tossed it to the blood-soaked floor.
His savage actions once again made everyone around him fall into fear and panic.
Especially Clive—terror was blazing inside him now. He knew if he didn't run, he would be the next one after Hector finished Bill off.
No… all of them would share the same fate.
Their relationship with Hector had been far too rotten after everything they'd done to him. His status meant nothing now. Just looking at Bill's broken state was all the answer they needed.
Every time Bill tried to hide behind his status or spew more threats, Hector only tortured him more brutally, more inhumanly.
"W-We need to get out of here right now!" Clive stammered, glancing at his comrades and nodding at them.
All of Clive's comrades nodded back in unison. They agreed completely—staying here was nothing but waiting for hell to come to them.
They weren't stupid.
Picking a fight with a monster who was acting maniacally was the wrong choice. They had planned to deal with him only after the final exam, with the emperor's backing.
"Flee? Don't even think about it unless you hand over our badges first." Tyrone smirked as he blocked the path, leaving Clive and his team with no chance to escape.
"Get out of my way! You think you can harm me?" Clive shouted angrily at someone like Tyrone daring to stop him. He was ready to strike Tyrone right there, but another voice cut in.
"What about me? Do you think I can?" Adele stepped forward, her team following close behind. It was clear they intended to keep Clive from leaving.
Clive's face twisted in rage.
"Do you want trouble with my empire? Know your place! Don't waste your time over those useless badges!"
Adele understood exactly what Clive was trying to say. But right now, she had to play the role of the big sister, the one Wave entrusted to her.
Still, she would do it in her own way. She shot back:
"You can leave… but only if you hand over the badges, as we agreed. Hurry up. I doubt Bill can last much longer… unless you want to share the same fate as him."
Clive scowled, then glanced at Bill for just a moment. And instantly, a shiver of dread ran through him. Bill was crumpled on the ground, half-dead, like a rag doll ripped apart.
Hector still had his hand clamped tight around Bill's throat, occasionally throwing Clive a cold glance—an unspoken promise that Clive would be next.
Clive's teeth clenched. He had no choice, though the decision burned bitterly inside him.
"DAMN YOU! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY A HUNDRED TIMES OVER ONCE I'M OUT OF HERE!"
He roared and hurled a handful of badges toward Tyrone, then turned on Adele with pure fury.
"Now I can go!"
Adele didn't say anything, but she lowered her guard and hostility. That was all she could do for Violet's boyfriend.
…
"She let me go? But did you ask me?" Tyrone laughed, his body twisting and morphing into a wolf-man.
"You little shit—kill him! We need to get out of here right now!" Clive barked the order to his comrades, readying himself to strike.
But at that moment, a thunderous laugh exploded through the safe zone, followed by a shockwave of mana rippling out in every direction from the battlefield.
Everyone froze, paralyzed by a bone-chilling fear as the suffocating crimson aura wrapped around them, locking their bodies in place.
It was as if invisible threads were dragging the deepest darkness out of their minds.
Hector kept laughing, louder and louder, until he finally stopped—leaving every stunned gaze fixed squarely on him.
Because Hector's mana release was now brushing against Adept Level… even though he was supposed to still be at Novice Level.
There was only one explanation for all of this—A genius stood before them.
"MY BODY!" Hector looked at himself with a wild grin of delight. Then, pulling his mana back under control, he glanced at Bill, who was barely clinging to life.
He could end Bill right now if he wanted, but doing that would make things far too easy.
"No… better to let you drown in pain and fear for the rest of your life. Death is too simple for you."
He turned his gaze toward everyone outside the barrier. But this time, the barrier itself was starting to crack apart after everything he had done.
"Feels nostalgic… It's been so long since I could breathe like this." Hector looked around at the landscape.
Memories surged back through his mind like a flood.
Then his eyes fixed on the group ahead. They were all staring at him with wary, fearful eyes.
Hector only smiled—then vanished. He was no longer on the battlefield.
Half a second later, everyone swallowed hard in fear as the air shifted around them. Their nerves tightened, ready to fight back at any moment.
But their resistance barely meant anything.
One unlucky man—Tom—was suddenly launched into the air by a violent kick from an invisible shadow, tumoring across the ground. Nobody could tell if he was dead or alive. But when they saw the twisted angle of his body, it was clear—his spine had been shattered by that strike.
"Watch out! He's there!" Clive shouted, warning the others.
Even so, his words didn't bring them any relief. The second victim appeared.
A nobleman froze right next to Hector, trembling in sheer terror. He couldn't even stand straight under the crushing weight of Hector's mana.
Hector scoffed. His right hand moved in a blur, leaving behind a blood-red afterimage.
BAM!
In the blink of an eye, the man exploded into a pile of flesh under Hector's fist, drenched in crimson mana.
Hector smiled, licking the blood that had sprayed across his lips.
"Who's next?"
Clive's face twisted instantly. He knew there was no escaping as long as Hector was here.
If they panicked and ran blindly, they would all die for sure. They had no choice—they needed to regain their focus, gather their strength, and kill him before he slaughtered them one by one.
"Everyone! Kill him if you want to live!"