Thick, violet-colored fumes rose from the tube and spread through the ground.
" David, what are you..what..!!"
Cough! Cough!
All the people who inhaled the vapors started coughing and fell down unconscious one by one on the ground.
David chuckled and counted, " One, Two, Three...Six! I have six people all alone to myself today, to play with."
" Lucky me, lucky me! How to kill them today? I also have a special guest today. Ah! I still have plenty of time to think about it!! Let's tie them up first."
David took out a few ropes from his storage bag. He whistled to himself a happy tone as he tied up the guards and Xed with his magic.
" La la la la, la la, la la...", David even started dancing to the tune mildly as he shifted all the bodies to the corner. He then dragged Xed away and kept him under a tree nearby.
David patted Xed's face twice to wake him up after some time.
" Wakey, wakey kid mage."
Xed slowly opened his eyes. David was standing there in front, with a small scalpel in his hand, looking down with some disdain at him.
He snickered a little and said, " Hello Xed, how are you? I know, I know you can't talk, so you can just listen!"
" Do you know why I woke you up first?"
" I have always hated talented little shits like you. God! You have no idea how disgusted I was when I was talking to you. Holding back from tearing you apart piece by piece in public took a lot of effort, you know?"
David said with a pained expression while spinning the blade between his fingers.
He then chuckled darkly, " You are my special guest this time. Now we are free to do what we want! No one will come to disturb us!"
" You may be thinking why I am killing you guys so boldly! Why not, I say!! Haha, I will take the van to the port myself the next morning and say you all were murdered. No one will doubt me! After all, I am the strongest among us."
Xed listened to his monologue without uttering a single word. He was currently feeling very delighted inwards. He could even feel his excitement building up as time passed. Goosebumps rose all over his body.
"Do you want to know why I use a knife? Guns are a little too...quick! You can't savor all the little emotions you see. Only in their last moments, do people show us who they really are!!"
David said as he licked the knife and traced it along his face.
" Xed, my friend! I won't do anything much to you. You are under a special anesthetic, so you won't even feel anything! I will first cut you open, take off your intestines, and then feed it to you. I heard somewhere it's very tasty, worry not, since your taste buds are NOT under the paralysis, hahaha!", David continued laughing maniacally.
" That's only the beginning, I have prepared a lot, especially with you in mind! Now let's not waste anymore of our time, right kid?"
David moved towards Xed with his knife pointing forward.
Xed's mouth finally curled into a sweet smile.
" How, how.. how are you able to smile?",
David was shocked. He took the tube again from his pocket and opened it and threw it over to Xed. " No matter no strong you are, only a magician above 4th circle can withstand it."
Xed shook his body once and the ropes fell off his body. Seeing this, David was startled, " You, you.. you are a 4th circle mage?". He became horrified.
" No, if you were a 4th circle mage, you wouldn't have fainted the first time. I have never in my life heard of someone that talented at your age. What is happening here?", David regained his calm and attacked using his magic sword.
Xed walked forward and pinched the incoming sword between his fingers and said, " As I thought, although not rare, your types indeed make a very delightful company!"
"As you said, you have no idea how much I wanted to play with you! It always feels great to break down a psychopath, you know? We are all the same kind of people here. I have always had a fetish for murder and death!!." Xed reminded him.
Seeing that his attack didn't even manage to break his fingers, David let go of his sword and crushed a talisman, casting a spell over himself. His speed multiplied fourfold, and he dashed off into the forest.
Watching this, Xed put his hand on his face and lowered his head; His lips drew to the very end of his face, making a large curve, as he started chuckling hysterically to himself,
" Haha! Hahaha! I am not in the darkness, I am the darkness itself, Little lamp! You can run, you can hide, but I will always find you."