I was now stuck with a dilemma.
I was enraged with Gert's actions. Yet, I could not decide whether he should live or die.
His actions were purely driven by the fact that he thought that he did something good for this world. An in a way, that micht have been the case.
But. Could I still blame him? He was not wrong; I was and still am a danger to this world. And now that I am stronger, I could cause even more harm.
As for the broken people that he had killed. He had no way of knowing if I had still had contact with them. therefore, eliminating the potential risk was only logical. Especially considering the fact that I had been killed and would most likely look for revenge.
I sighed. Knowing that I had to make this choice on my own. Beatrice saw him as a traitor and would most likely want me to torture him before I killed him. And Noah was deeply affected by the losses and partially blamed it on himself. Thus, he would also find some relief in the death of the traitor.
("Should I do it? Should I really kill someone that I had seen as a fried before?")
There was also the option to corrupt him, leave my mark on him so that he could never betray us again.
It even crossed my mind to let him decide. But I doubt that he would choose a fate any other than death.
I knew that I was just being selfish again. I merely wanted to keep one of my toys alive and to myself. Even when said toy had broken other of my toys.
I closed my eyes. Knowing that his verry existence was mental torture to the leftovers of the broken humans, I indeed had to kill him.
"I am sure that you know what comes next. Is there anything that you can say to get yourself out of this situation?" Another one of my selfish acts.
"What about the deal? Isn't you wanting to kill me a sing of ill intentions towards me?"
I narrowed my eyes. This was about the deal that he had made with me back when we first left for the stone city.
Honestly, I had hoped that he would come with a better excuse for me to let him live. That way I might have been able to keep him alive. But now there truly was no coming back for him.
"Did you really think that you could not break the deal on your side? I could stay with your group as long as I did not show any ill will or betrayal. Yet, you literally killed me. thus, sending me away from your group. I hate to say this. But you, yourself have broken the deal that could have been used to save your life."
His eyes grew wide and his face became pale as a ghost. Now he knew just as much as I did that there would be no way out for him.
He wanted to turn and run. Knowing that this was not a fight that he could win, he tried the only thing that could possibly keep him alive.
With one fast slash of my claws his corpse dropped onto the ground.
His muscular body was still easy to rip open with merely one movement. There was even not that much blood. That would come later when the wound was further opened due to the force of the impact with the ground that it would inevitably face.
It almost was like there was no sound because of the tall grass that broke the fall of the lifeless body.
I turned away and left Beatrice behind. My mind was a mess. I had actually killed someone that I had once considered a friend.
Back in the building where I had spent most of my time, I was simply sitting in my stone chair and staring at an unseen horizon.
It almost felt the same as when I had just become a demon. All my thoughts were nowhere and everywhere. Each one of them conflicting with the other. Trying to find excuses to justify what I just had done or blame everything onto myself.
I heard the soft footsteps of Beatrice approaching. I did not know if it was due to the stone floor and the large open space or not, but everything sounded hollow.
"Master, is everything alright?"
"Yes. There is no need for you to worry. You have done a splendid job."
I saw how she delightfully smiled when I praised her.
"Thank you so much master."
I did not know if she was thankful for me praising her, or for me killing the traitor that had caused her so much suffering.
A few moments of silence followed. Then I suddenly heard Noah call out.
(My lord, I have found Allenya, Elisa, Alex, and the dwarf. When should I guide them to you?)
I faintly smiled. Hoping that my reunion with them would be better than how it has been with Gert.