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- AAAAAAAA!
He was getting higher and higher, and the streets of the Water Gate City were getting smaller with each passing moment. The Sword Saint's blow didn't hurt him at all - Regulus had managed to activate the Lion’s Heart, stopping time and making himself invulnerable.
A groan came from his stifled throat. Hatred and anger darkened his vision. Now he could only use the Heart for five seconds. That was the absolute maximum, after which a stopped one might not kill a second time. After that, he had to mute the Authority for a moment, which involved pain. Regulus had not experienced suffering in over a hundred years.
How can they all live with this on a daily basis?
- Damn them!
He hated everyone with s, heart.
He had already found himself at the height from which he could see all of Priestella. It was written in the Gospel that it was here that he would find the girl who would take the empty place in his kingdom. When he read this, his heart trembled.
- And that's what came out of it!
I came to Priestella so happy, excitedly waiting to meet my new bride, and what do I find here is sheer misery! I've lost the wives I've collected with such difficulty! My position of Greed is in jeopardy! Some barking bastard insults me! And on top of that, this little sinner pities me... A girl who knows nothing about me!
He had never experienced such humiliation before. He doubted it was even possible. And yet that was why he became Archbishop, so that he wouldn't feel that way again.
And all this just to experience something like this now!
- Now... now... I can't!
There'll be no more concessions! Enough of this mercy. It won't help them that they know how the Lion’s Heart works and that they have the Sword Saint. Five seconds is enough to kill hundreds of enemies, but I've been very gentle so far and haven't killed anyone. That's because I don't enjoy bullying the dying or watching them lose hope. When the Lion’s Heart acts, I am beyond all rules. Beings bound by the laws of nature pose no threat to me. What would I do..." Maybe attack with sand from about this height? I could watch the entire city turn into ruins. True, there are a few Archbishops here... but I don't even know if they're still alive.
At this moment, he was not interested in the fate of the allies. He was only thinking about how to take revenge for the humiliation he had suffered. How to make those self-satisfied faces contort with fear. For what could be more important at this moment?
I promise that when this flight is finally over, when I'm on the ground and whenever I can get my hands on a grain of sand.... that will be the last moment of their lives. Let them enjoy it while they can, because I'm about to show them that they haven't won at all.
Suddenly he hit his back against something.
- Aah!
Someone's shoe stopped him abruptly in mid-air and interrupted his hateful musings.
But how is that possible? After all, we are in space! He has nothing to stand on! How did he even get ahead of me! How is it possible that he was waiting for me so high up!
- I used to lay down my weapons when my opponent lost the will to fight. But not this time," said Reinhard. - I don't want to brag, but I know I can trust the strength of my legs. Once, I even jumped from the ground right onto the back of an air dragon.
- After... monster! - choked Regulus.
- Yes, it's true. I am a monster who hunts other monsters. The time has come for you to face your destiny.
He felt Reinhard take his foot from his back. It instantly killed in alarm his survival instinct, which Regulus had managed to forget. For over a hundred years, that is, since he became Archbishop of Sin, it had been completely unnecessary to him. Sensing his impending death, he activated the Lion’s Heart.
Reinhard hit Regulus in the back so hard that the impact sent him violently downwards. Thanks to the Authority, the Archbishop felt no pain, but he was now flying towards the ground at tremendous speed.
- AAAAAA! - he shouted, and the Water Gate City was getting closer and closer.
Just a moment later he hit the cobblestones, then penetrated them, leaving an opening in the stone slabs. He flew on through the rocks and earth, which gave way like butter.
Only after a while did he realize that there was no way to stop it.
Normally in situations like this, he would touch something next to him, stopping time to create a barrier to slow him down. But now that he no longer had his kingdom, he couldn't afford to divide his attention between stopping his heart's time and what was around him. That would be dangerous.
He was falling deeper into the earth aware that if he didn't stop it, he would reach the very center. What then?
To tell the truth, he had never thought about what the earth looked like inside. He only knew that there were Great Waterfalls on the edge of the world. Since there were some edges on the sides, there were probably some under their feet as well.
So... at some point I'm going to break through the bottom of the world and fall? Into what? Into the water of the Great Waterfalls?
The thought terrified him.
- I don't forgive... - he started to, but his throat felt tight. Suddenly he realized his heart couldn't take any more. Five seconds passed, warning lights went on in his brain. Lost, Regulus panicked, trying to decide what to do next.
I've never gone over the five second mark... Maybe I can hold out longer? A few more? But definitely not more than ten. Besides, what good will it do me? The longer I delay, the deeper I'll land. What will happen if I stop Lion’s Heart now? I don't know. And I don't have time to think about it. After all, I can't die because I stopped my own heart time! That would be too stupid!
He clenched his teeth, which were ringing with fear. He decided. He ended the Lion’s Heart, resumed the pulse. He stopped being invulnerable. Again the laws of physics applied to him. At the same moment, he felt a violent jolt and the pain of breaking bones.
No wonder he was in pain. For the past several seconds, his body had been undergoing terrible torture. First, he was launched high above the city, then he fell with tremendous speed and slammed deep into the ground.
He let out a moan. Bloody tears streamed from his eyes. His previously pristine white hair was covered in mud. Regulus felt like all his bones had been broken, like his internal organs had been crushed to a pulp. He felt like he had no control over his body's reactions. He felt that only his skin was holding him together, that he no longer resembled a human being. He was panting heavily.
It was unbelievable the tenacity with which he fought death, though he was driven not by a desire to live, but by a deep hatred. He wanted to catch those who now stood on top and punish them for all the humiliation, for hurting his ego. He was driven forward by an empty vanity.
I'm gonna start fighting for real... and then I'll show them...
It was not a stubbornness that deserved contempt. Regulus had worked hard for over a century to become a person no one sympathized with or despised. Now he was doing what he could to not lose that.
He gathered all his strength and restarted the Lion’s Heart. He laboriously began to climb up the pit he had created. He had five seconds to do so. After that time, the pain returned, multiplied, and Regulus went through hell. His mind was focused on one thing - hatred for those who were now probably rejoicing that they had defeated the Archbishop.
I will not forgive. I will destroy.
Greed did not tolerate compassion; to him it was tantamount to looking down.
I didn't forgive contempt when I was alive, why then should I after I'm dead? Exactly. The sooner, the better. If I kill everyone, every living thing, no one can slander me. I wish I had done it right away. I won't make that mistake again. First I'll get to the surface, then I'll kill those three, and finally... all of them. The pleasure of watching them beg for their lives awaits me. I'm already looking forward to mocking the woman who set me up for ridicule. She was to become my seventy-ninth wife. I had earmarked a number for her that was to belong to an elf from that forest, the same forest where the nasty Petelgeuse...
AAAAAAAAA! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! AAAAAAAAAAAA! I remember now! I remember! It's her! She was... she was a kid! When I set out to get the Seventy-Nine, there was this snotty little thing hanging around her! That's her! That's her, but as a grown woman! Now I understood why I immediately wanted her to be my wife. Simply put, a daughter was going to take her mother's place! HA! I got that precious kid of theirs! I wonder what the Seventy-Nine who humiliated me so much and that bastard Petelgeuse would say about that. That I only realized it now, too! On the other hand, it was good that it was now, because later it would have been too late. I would have killed, not knowing what a gift I had received from fate. And so I have the opportunity to heal this wound. Only now will their deaths have real value. They will pay for the humiliation of that time! I will finally feel that I have made it!
For the first time in a very long time, he really wanted something, and because he was convinced that it was already in his hands, he also felt true fulfillment.
Seventy-nine... I will defile your little one. Petelgeuse, I will take from you the girl you loved. I will destroy the one who dared to pity me.
His joy made his throat tighten. He laughed hoarsely. Only now did he feel the will to live. He felt genuine joy at the thought of destroying that which that elf was so desperately trying to save.
He climbed higher and higher... and suddenly he felt wetness under his fingers. He brought his deformed hand close to his face and licked. He tasted mud, but... Yes, it was water.
Water.
The moment he thought this, it occurred to him that his throat was dry. That he craved to quench his thirst and fill his stomach. This meant that the Lion’s Heart had stopped working. Time began to run forward again. Regulus felt in an instant the thirst and hunger he had accumulated for over a hundred years.
For now, it can be water. What a beautiful taste!
He began to drink greedily. The impact on the cobblestones knocked out his teeth and battered his tongue, his mouth was full of blood and soil, but he savored the taste anyway.
He finally quenched his thirst, but there was more and more water. It pushed him down. It flowed and flowed. With nowhere to run, he felt like he was in a very deep well. The murky water reached higher and higher. He had no idea that it had ended up here through his own fault. It came from a canal he had destroyed himself. It was as if the beautiful Priestella was punishing him for all the terrible destruction.
He desperately tried to escape. He was afraid of the pain that the presence of water in his lungs entailed. Unfortunately, it was so tight that swimming upward in a dash did not bring him any closer to rescue. Regulus curled into a ball and sank to the muddy bottom.
The only thing protecting him from death anymore was the Lion’s Heart. As long as it worked, he didn't feel the pain of melting or injury to his body. He activated the Authority, but in doing so only received five seconds of respite. When he felt that time was about to run out, fear gripped him again, telling him to stop the power.
He began to sink. Whatever he did, there was only death waiting at the end of the road.
How could he choose between water torture and a still heart? He needed a third option, but he had no idea. He had never been in difficult situations before, so he was not in the habit of preparing a plan B.
There has to be at least a few seconds of pause between Lion’s Heart activations, but I can do it as many times as I like. With breathing, it's not like that. If I let water pour into my lungs once, I die.
He was still invulnerable, but he was only seconds away from death. He could feel the end coming.
Cardiac arrest or drowning? Cardiac arrest or drowning? Cardiac arrest... Drowning...
Finally, the pain began to show. It seemed to Regulus that this moment lasted an eternity. He opened his mouth. Water entered, and with it, mud. They poured into his lungs. What could the Archbishop try to say in the last moment of his life? He had no one to call out to at such a moment. He only screamed silently, and his scream necessarily went unanswered. In the last moments of his life he was alone. In silence he poured out all his hatred for everyone in the universe.
Let them die.
What he didn't want most was for them to mock him after he died. Or that the fornicator would be glad to get revenge for her mother and Petelgeuse.
It makes me sick to think that she is now jumping for joy, rejoicing at my death. She's certainly acting like she's accomplished something great. She has pushed her life forward thanks to my demise.
Dying, he dreamt of Emilia. In his mind's eye he saw her joy and he could not bear it.
I don't want it! I don't want her to profit from my death...
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