Chapter 517: Please Kill Me (2)

“Please… Kill… Me…”

I pretended to be in arduous pain as I let my stream of crocodile tears fall.

With watery eyes, I looked at Kim Hyunsung as if I wanted everything to be over since I could no longer go on. Seeing my pained face, Hyunsung looked deeply troubled.

I almost wanted to let out a joyful cry at my perfect stunt, but I couldn’t show such emotions.

I needed to look as pitiful and sorrowful as possible. While controlling my emotions, I acted as if I had given up on life. This all felt embarrassing enough to make me want to disappear, but I forged through since that was the most important scene.

‘I’m showing the epitome of self-sacrifice. Yes, everyone is looking.’

For the peace of the empire, I was willing to give up my life. Thinking of everyone who was watching me from above, adrenaline promptly coursed through me.

I could imagine their feelings as they watched fallen Light Kiyoung in pain, telling the swordmaster to kill him. It was not only Kim Hyunsung.

Park Deokgu, Cha Hee-ra, and even the cheering audience had been silenced as they watched with serious expressions. I could see that Kim Hyunsung was trying to find the right words to say, but not being able to, he clenched his fists.

“Before it’s too late…please…”

“K-Kiyoung-ssi…”

“You have to do it, Hyunsung…please. I can no longer go on…”

“Have you come back to your senses?”

“Argh!!”

“Kiyoung-ssi!”

“Aghhhhhhhh!”

“Please quickly… aghhhhhhh!”

“Kiyoung-ssi!!!”

Hyunsung seemed to have realized something was wrong because he quickly began moving closer to me.

However, as he came towards me, he was met with not the warm embrace of Light Kiyoung, but Dialugia’s enormous claws.

With a sharp crash, I saw his figure smash into a wall far away.

-I-I think it was a critical hit…

‘He will be able to endure it. We have a lot more audience than I thought…If we both become covered head to toe in wounds, won’t the scene become more touching and beautiful?’

-H-how did I become entangled with this human… Just now… how could you say those words with your own mouth… that kind of trashy line… Do you not have any sense of morals?

It was not like morals could feed me, could they?

“Dirty human… please… aghhhhh! No, I’m still here! Argh!”

“…”

“Hyunsung-ssi… Hyunsung-ssi, please! This… agh… huff, huff.”

“…”

“Aghhhhhhhhhhhh! Huff, huff, I beg of you…”

That was probably my hardest acting job yet. Even Kim Ye-ri wouldn’t have been able to act as well as I did. The internal battle between Light Kiyoung and Doom Kiyoung was one of the most brutal battles ever, and I made sure to put it on full display.

I tightly held onto my chest, gasped as if I wanted to vomit, and my body and face twisted in pain.

With a pained smile, I continued to let out a stream of crocodile tears. My breathing grew more and more strained as if it was getting harder to resist the evil forces within me.

If it was a TV show, I thought it would be enough to get the highest rating. I was confident that the whole empire was watching and praying earnestly for me.

“Please let Holy Cardinal Kiyoung win the battle over his fallen self.”

“Please give the vessel of Benignore the power to resist Belial.”

“Please let him fight as his usual self, full of light and holiness.”

I was sure they were all praying like that. Weren’t shows there to betray the audience’s expectations?

Just when Light Kiyoung let out his last words, Doom Kiyoung took over.

“Huff, huff, huff.”

I wiped my tears and fixed my mask again. At this, I let out the most despicable smile I could and gave out a cry that showed everyone that Doom Kiyoung won the fight.

“Hahahahahaha!”

It was such a childish laugh, but that made the scene instill even more despair into the hearts of all those watching.

Continuing my facade, I began walking towards Kim Hyunsung. He had on an unreadable expression and was standing completely still.

Then he made an expression as if he finally made his decision. That made me kind of worried…

‘I hope this bastard doesn’t go crazy and kill me for real.’

No, that was impossible. Didn’t our lovely hero not say the following words just a moment ago:

‘I will never, ever give up on you.’

He was not the type of person to go back on his words, and he would probably not easily give up on me. At most, he would probably try to get me back by beating me up until I was senseless.

I hoped that was what that determined expression was. It made me worry a bit more when his expression deepened even more.

‘No, that can’t be, Hyunsung. We are friends, right?’

I was kind of worried he might say something like, ‘Kiyoung-ssi, I’m sorry. If this is what you want…’

However, he didn’t say that. Instead, he looked towards me with a murderous glare and said, “Return his body. You dirty bastard, that’s not your body.”

“He is me, and I am he. You don’t know your place, human. You don’t know anything. You are no more than a fool!”

“No, you are not him.”

“Nothing is going to change no matter what you think. People’s innate natures do not change.”

“Return him, you bastard.”

“Haven’t I already told you?”

“Return him…”

“You are just like a parrot.”

“Return him! Return his body!!! Fuck you, you fucking bastard!!

‘Man, why are you swearing… Hyunsung…’

“You stupid-”

“Bastard!!!!”

He then charged towards me.

‘What’s up with this dude? Fuck, he’s out of his mind. Fuck! Hey, what’s up with you?!’

I didn’t know what was going on exactly, but his eyes looked crazy. As he gripped his sword, blood came out of his hands, and he looked like he had given up on defending himself.

It was like watching Cha Hee-ra while she was on a rampage.

It was the first time I saw him so overwhelmed by wrath. Even from afar, I could feel his murderous rage. It felt as if I was a mouse in front of a cat. No, a mouse in front of a tiger. I could feel my body shrinking back by instinct.

I almost peed myself. My survival radar was going off like crazy, and I wanted to give up at that moment, but…

“Hahahahahaha! How fun! This is really fun!!”

I knew I was in too deep.

‘Fuck, what should I do?! Please Dialugia…Sh*t!!’

-I don’t know either. I guess I should try to block him as much as I can…

“You bastard!!!!”

‘Send out your Breath attack! Sh*t! Fire up your Breath!’

-I know!

‘Quickly!’

-Don’t rush me!

Crashhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

“What the hell was that…?”

With a single swish, Hyunsung easily cut through the dragon’s Breath.

Dialugia also seemed surprised about how easily he could shorten the distance between us as she swung her front leg without thought.

It seemed as if he was determined to finish the event, considering how he poured out mana from his body, but I wasn’t sure if that was a good decision. Right at that moment, I knew we had to retreat.

Dialugia also seemed to realize her mistake and quickly unfolded her wings, but it seemed unlikely that we would be able to escape in time.

Because of Hyunsung’s attack, I could do nothing but watch as Dialugia rolling on the ground.

Crashhhhh!

It was hard to explain the sight of Dialugia’s cries and the pathetic way she fell. Likewise, I tried to keep my balance, but I couldn’t help falling in the direction she fell.

Before I knew it, Hyunsung was right in front of us. He was clenching his teeth and clutching his fists.

‘Man, why is he clenching his teeth so hard…?’

I could see the hesitation in his eyes, but very soon, determination entered his eyes. When I saw that, I desperately called out to Belial for help.

‘Lord Belial! I’m dying… I’m going to die!’

As soon as I uttered those words, an enormous amount of mana that I wouldn’t have been able to control came out of me.

And that mana changed into a figure of a demon and shielded me.

It was as if I saw Belial’s natural form. The difference was that his figure was created from visible mana.

It was the first time I saw mana being used that way.

‘This bastard is really gonna hit me!’

With that amount of mana, I thought I could survive getting hit at least one time.

‘Huhhhh?!’

Crashhhhhhh!

I got hit with a force that shook my entire body.

‘Aghhhhhhhhhh!!!!’

By instinct, I clenched my lips, however…

I didn’t know where my body had gone. I couldn’t figure out exactly where the position of my body was.

The force that attacked me was so great that I even thought I was dead for a second. After passing through multiple sceneries, I saw that I was in a place I couldn’t identify.

Rumbllllllle!!!

“Cough! Cough!”

I couldn’t stop coughing.

‘Fuck, I’m alive, right?’

Belial’s protection had covered most of the attack, but I was still left in tatters. My legs were shaking, but I couldn’t stop my act.

“How fun! How fun this is!”

‘It’s so fucking not fun. I want to go home… I want everything to stop… fuck…’

However, contrary to how I felt, the mana from Belial lifted my body and attacked Kim Hyunsung with his fist.

Bam!

With that sound, Kim Hyunsung began rolling on the floor again, but he was already right in front of me and swinging his sword around at a moment’s notice.

‘At this point, if I beg him to spare my life, I would look too uncool, right?’

With another hit, my whole body shook again.

Belial’s mana completely absorbed Hyunsung’s swing, but it didn’t protect me from feeling the force of his attack.

Even Belial probably couldn’t do anything about it.

Hyunsung’s fervent attacks looked desperate. With his whole body covered in blood and constantly swinging his sword, I could not help feeling a bit touched.

‘Poor Hyunsung…’

“Damn it!!”

“…”

“Damn itttt!!!”

“Ha… hahahahahhah!”

“Ahhhhhhhh!!!”

Watching him scrape out all of his remaining strength, I realized that he was not like his usual self. With his battered legs that he could barely move, he dragged himself to the center.

As time passed on, Belial’s mana decreased, and the injuries on his body increased.

They were both reaching their limits after fighting for hours. The battle was already reaching a stalemate, and everyone was watching that desperate fight for survival.

“Huff, huff, for a trash… you are pretty good.”

“I can save him.”

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

“What…?”

“I can save him. I can definitely save him…”

“…”

“This time, I will save him. I will definitely…save him.”

Based on his tearful face, Hyunsung’s mental state was at its limit. He looked so pitiful that even I began to feel a tiny bit of guilt.

“I can save you, Kiyoung-ssi. Definitely… without fail… so please believe in me and endure a little bit more. Please trust in me and continue to endure.”

On top of a devastated Lindel, I could see Kim Hyunsung desperately trying to rein in his tears.