Worse Than Hell (Deus) 1

[A/N : Apologies guys, I fell on the stairs a 3 days ago. Because after I suddenly got dizzy and my vision turned dark, I accidentally stepped on the side edge of the stairs, so I slipped and fell. Unfortunately, I didn't hit my head because I was able to hold on the... (I forgot what it was called) on time before my head hit the ground. On the other hand, (speaking of hand), I had injured my right hand, that's why I couldn't continue writing this chapter.... Why am I always this clumsy, I have no idea.]

"He's fight was harsh..." Arthur sighed exasperatedly, shaking his head and turning his attention to me.

"Meh... It's fine. It's not like he killed his opponent. A little beating can't cause that much trouble as long as his opponent remained alive after the battle." I replied, slumping my back comfortably at the chair.

"Still..."Arthur sighed once again after hearing his reply. "Nonetheless, I'm still wondering why Lumine decided to surrender her match? I mean, she could have beat Roche easily without any sweat."

"Eh... Umm... I have no idea." I pretended to not know her reason as I stood up from my seat to escape this conversation. Anymore than this, I might end up getting exposed for blackmailing her... And that would be a problem.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"I'll just go find William and Persia... See ya."

I didn't gave him any more time to react as I walked away from his seat. I exited the arena and went flew around the whole school out of boredom. My next fight would probably take an hour or so. If everything went in my according, my plan on dealing with Roche myself would be successful.

...Why my fight would take an hour?

It's because yesterday, while I was fighting my uncle Sariell to enter the tournament, the principal decided to process a large elimination round where every participants was thrown in a forest owned by the academy to fight each other. Anyone who fall unconscious or had their badge, that was given by the teachers, taken away by another student, they would be eliminated.

The reason why the principal decided to do this is already obvious. It's because she felt that letting each student fight on one-on-one would take days just to finish the elimination round because the number of students participating almost reaches 10,000 or so.

While I was flying around the whole school while sitting on my barrier, I saw William parting ways with Persia as they headed to their opposite direction.

I heard faint sentence, "I'll see you after your match." Or something like, "Cheer for me, okay?"... Obviously, it was William who asked Persia to do this.

After a moment of thinking, I flew down and hopped, landing in front of William.

"Yo!" With my left hand inside my pocket, I waved my right hand with my usual expression. William smiled, then, proceeds to continue walking as I walked with him on the side.

We both continued walking without talking to each other until we reached his room.

"I'm back..." William entered his room and waited for me to enter, too. When we were both inside, he closed the door and went to his kitchen.

I looked around and found that his room was spacious than mine. It was also clean, probably because maid's often visit him to clean his room every Saturday, and the designs were similar to how his room looked back in the castle.

"This place is really spacious..." I mumbled to myself, feeling slightly annoyed since Athan's room is nothing compared to this.

Although the room Athan used is comfortable, it was nothing compared to William's since it was made to be grand because of his status as the prince of the Imperial Kingdom.

While I was lost in thoughts, William came back holding a two cup; one was filled with hot chocolate while the other one is tea.

𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯... 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦? I asked myself in my mind as I maintained my stern look, not letting my annoyance get out.

After that, he offered me a seat as we both sat down.

Taking a sip at his tea, with his eyes remained closed, he asked, "Athan... Are you planning to kill him?"

I wasn't really taken aback by his sudden question, but I still remained quiet for a few seconds.

"Not sure... That depends on my mood later."

"If you kill him, the principal will have no choice but to expell you!"

"Relax, I'm not going to kill him here... I haven't even used him as of yet. Ending Roche's life right now will only delay my plans."

He sighed, "You're still planning to kill him, dummy! If the principal finds out about this, you'll--"

"William, do you remember what I always said whenever I tell you a story about using and ending someone's life?"

I cut him off before he could continue.

"...It didn't happen as long as no one sees it." William said.

My lips slowly curled up into a smile as I closed my eyes halfway after hearing this. I didn't know why, but I'm sure that the expression I'm making right now in my face is twisted, according to how William was looking at me.

Although his gaze felt unpleasant, I ignored this and enjoyed my time drinking my chocolate drink.

𝘜𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘈𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯'𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘵...

Humming, I placed the cup to the table. "More than that, I have already made a good alibi. All I have to do now is execute it later properly."

"But..."

William was about to retort when I once again cut him short by continuing to speak, "This isn't a request prince William, this is an order."

I then stood up and walked toward him as I spoke, "You must only answer 'Yes' or 'Understood'."

When I finally reached his side, I patted his shoulder as I said to him coldly.

"Is my order clear?"

"..."

Once again, William went silent for a second after hearing this.

And then,

"Athan... I think you're forgetting something important."

His expression changed from his usual to a cold and impassive. He said with a determined expression, reminding me about his status as the prince while I'm merely the son of the count from this kingdom.

"...You do know that I'm still a prince, right? You're just a count from this country, do you think that people will forgive you from talking to me like that? If not for the fact that I treat you as my friend, I would have cut your tongue."

However, his mere threat didn't go as what he thought I'll react.

"...That so?"

I chuckled and walked passed him as I gave him my response. My voice was calm, there were no signs of any strange malice whatsoever, but that just that.

My words are not included.

"Do you think I care about your opinion in this matter even if you're a prince? You make me laugh... If you try and interfere with my plan, then, I have no choice but to eliminate you as well."

I abruptly stopped walking and turned my head to the side to give him a side glance. He stood up from his seat and turned to me as we both stared at each other straight in the eyes.

"William, in my eyes, life work just like a chess board, and that's why some sacrifices are needed for the better. Prince or not, in this chess like world, a queen that can't obey her king's order is less important than a pawn. Either way, these kind of people in my eyes are merely a-"

I proceeds to turn around completely and covered half of my face with my palm.

With my hand wide open, I peered through the gap of my fingers as both of our gazes landed on each other.

"Sacrifice."

---------

Few hours later...

"Ah, I messed up..."

Smacking my forehead with my right wrist, I thought deeply about what I said earlier.

Getting rid of him?

There's no way I can do that!

I already swore to myself...

Even if Athan didn't made a rule about not hurting any of his friends, I'm not planning on turning him like who I was in my previous life.

I can't afford to lose his sanity at this moment.

He still need it in the future.

However.

He already made his choice, it's not like I can do something about it.

Thankfully, William didn't take my words to his heart as he forgave me after a few moments of silence.

"Although what you said pissed me off, I know that you are hiding something from me, but I still believe you." William said to me earlier as he sighed.

He then continue, "Fine then, I won't interfere in this matter. I'm not sure what you have in your mind, however, there's no point in becoming your friend if I can't even trust you..."

I was about to give a reply when I heard him click his tongue.

"I'm on the edge of regretting making friends with you, you know that?"

I sighed internally hearing this and left the room to go back to my room.

Back to the present.

-Thud!

After a smacking my head few more times, I decided to the wall for help. When I banged my head to the wall, it made a huge crack as well as made my forehead bleed.

"That should be enough..."

I took out my handkerchief and wiped the blood from my forehead. Then, I continued walking as I took a glance outside the window.

-Wooooo!

I heard few excited screams outside, probably from where the arena is as I walked through the corridors heading back to my room.

When I was about to open the door, I suddenly remembered something important as I turn on my phone to text Arthur.

I texted him saying something about to give up his next match.

"[Give up your match.]"

[...What?]

I didn't gave him a reply after that as I turned off my phone soon after I saw his response. I head inside my room and locked the door before heading to bed to sleep.

I only have three matches left. I have to conserve my energy for what I'm about to do later.

Although it would be troublesome, I have to plant my own parasite on my own.

I can't use the future couple for later.

They still have their own things to do.

"How troublesome... Nonetheless, it would be worth it."

I slowly closed my eyes after saying that to myself. And slowly, I fell asleep as soon as my head rested comfortably at my pillow.

***

At the same time.

"Go, William!"

Persia, who was standing at the edge of where the people sit, happily cheered for William's victory.

While entering the arena, William immediately noticed her and nodded as a response. He didn't say anything, nonetheless, his smile was already enough for an answer.

His opponent, Roche, was looking at him with a serious expression. He quietly observed him from the distance as he waited for the referee to start their match.

"Competitors get ready!"

The referee stood tall between them as he raised his right hand.

"Same rules. I don't want to repeat it since the two of you already know it..." The referee sighed, "Are both of you ready?

"Yeah."

"Hnn."

William nodded his head.

Chopping his arms down, the referee started the match.

"You may now begin!"

Roche immediately prepared his stance and waited for William to attack.

However.

"I give up my match."

Unexpectedly, he gave up his match just like Lumine.

The referee,

"...Eh?"

Every people,

-...Eh?

Even Adam and Persia was taken aback by what he said.

All of them were surprised as they didn't expect William to just give up his match without even a fight.

"...Did I hear my son say he's giving up his match?" Adam questioned to confirm it in his mind.

William, who remained in his spot with a smile on his face, turned around without saying anything. He quietly left the arena and ignored the look of the people. He stretched his arms up in boredom and yawned.

"William..."

Persia stopped him by standing in front of him with a teary eyes. Because of this, William's expression suddenly froze as he avoided her gaze.

"Ha ha ha..." He let out an awkward laugh while rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Clearing up his throat, William smiled, "Sorry... My match probably bored you."

"N-No!" Persia denied his words with a reddened face. She said, "I was just surprised... Umm... Why did you give up your match anyway?"

What she said next almost made him choke his saliva.

"Did you got bored?"

William coughed a few times before he gave a reply. Bored? There's no way he could get bored in a fight. He always wanted to try his abilities to others, however, he didn't have any dummies that he could use.

"Ah, eh... Yeah." He nodded his head in response to her question. If his father were to hear this, Adam will no doubt vomit. He knew that William's a battle junky, there's no way he could get bored when it comes to fighting.

His fighting spirit is abnormal.

Every time he takes huge hit, he'll still be able to stand up.

His level of will might actually be mistaken to be masochistic since he always like to be hit.

"...."

"Keumm keumm..." He once again cleared his throat after feeling slightly awkward to her silence.

Sighing deeply, Persia lightly shaked her head and walk toward him to take his hand, "Let's go on a date!" She said, smiling gently as if none of that ever happened.

William's expression brightened up after hearing this. He nodded his head in excitement, "Yes!" As he let her pull him close.

After that, they left the academy and head to the city.