Looking at the little boy, filled with love.
Locking at the child who knows better than anyone else how wonderful that feeling is.
Looking at Elion Efistion.
Looking at his younger self.
Gardemarine smiled.
His smile expressed:
Anticipation.
Joy
Madness.
The Gardemarine's smile undoubtedly expressed all of these feelings.
Envy and
Pain.
...
Upon hearing his mad words, Elion could clearly feel the overwhelming emotion.
It was a fear unlike anything he had ever experienced before.
The fear of death had clearly taken hold of his entire being, as was evident from his pupils. This made the hero laugh even more.
"Hahaha! Yes! How scary it must be to die! Hehe... Don't worry. I'll satisfy your curiosity as soon as possible." With these words, he pressed the wounded and barely struggling boy harder against the wall. Reaching into his pocket, he took out a strange-looking, bluish knife.
Tears streamed from the boy's eyes. Trying to move despite his broken bones, he began to fight for his life with all his might.
"It's easier than holding a dead kitten! Hehe! Your family probably thought you were so cute... Hahaha!"
But in the face of overwhelming force, even the boy's most desperate attempts were useless. The fear of death completely overwhelmed him.
"H-help..." Elion called out hoarsely, while Gardemarin twirled the knife between his fingers, holding the boy with one hand.
"No one will hear you with that awful wheezing! But don't worry. I'm laughing so loudly that the whole street can hear me anyway. As you can see, no one cares! Hehe! Of course not; I'm a hero! If they execute or imprison me, who's going to clean up these damn 'Mysteries', huh? Haha! Even if everyone in the world knows about it, no one will dare say a word to the hero! Isn't that funny?!"
With each word the boy spoke, his tears flowed more and more. Despite the endless day full of terrible tragedies, it seemed that his supply of tears was endless.
Elion had never cried as much in his entire life as he did tonight.
The fear of death completely consumed the boy. His body began to twitch with strange convulsions, and his bladder threatened to empty itself involuntarily.
"I-I don't want to die..." His words made the psychopath laugh even harder.
"Look... do you see this knife?!" With these words, he brought the knife close to Elion's eye, scaring him, while he sobbed. Again and again, again and again.
*Swoosh!*
"I-I don't wanna die..."
"Hehehe!"
*Swoosh!*
"I-I don't wanna die...!"
"Hehehehe!"
*Swoosh!*
"I don't wanna die!!!"
"Hahahaha!!!"
This game went on for a long time.
...
*Swoosh!*
"I... I..." The game had probably repeated itself a hundred times by then, but the wounded boy no longer had the strength to speak, and his tears had long since dried up.
"Eh?! Well, that's no fun... Hehe. But don't worry! The second game is about to begin! One of the most interesting things for me is watching life slowly fade away. Haha! How beautiful this fading flame of love is...! I hope you share this feeling with me. Now, I'm going to slowly cut your throat and watch you choke on your own blood... Hahaha! Ah, how exciting! I've always loved these kinds of dialogues before the ending. Hehe!"
With these words, the madman slowly brought the knife to the boy's neck. The boy struggled as best he could, trying to turn his head away from the knife. However, he was powerless against the greater force.
"Hee... Don't be afraid. It will be slow and painful..." With this statement and a grin that only a madman could muster, the blue knife touched the boy's skin for the first time.
"..."
*Ssshh...*
"Oh, what bad luck..." Gardemarine's hand was burned by the warm glow coming from the boy.
The knife, which was a mystical artifact, crumbled into dust.
Looking at the boy, who had already lost consciousness, Gardemarine tried to reach out to him with his other hand. However, he stopped when he felt a burning sensation in his fingers.
"Hmmm... This girl wasn't so simple, was she?" After a moment, he smiled broadly, ignoring the loss of his limb, and laughed cheerfully.
"That's even more fun! Hehe! I wonder what you'll be like when you grow up. I'm already looking forward to it! Hahaha!"
With these words, he walked off into the sunset, ready to perform new heroic deeds and make a name for himself in the human world.