Before the death knight could crawl back to his feet, Brad had landed in front of him. He no longer wore a carefree smile, but a blank expression.
"Is that your all?"
Looking at the death knight who had to use his sword as a cane, Brad sighed. Brad would never show this face to his master, but he found it hard to suppress how disappointed he was.
'Even though I couldn't let my guard down in the Cursed Territory, at least I had fun.'
He seemed different from his human self, but Brad's true nature hadn't changed. He was still a battle junkie who felt joy from the brutal exchange of fists. Only, he was more intense once he revealed this side.
"Even with such an amazing ability, is this really your best?"
"I-it is."
Brad's cold glare frightened the death knight into giving a response. He was ashamed of how cowardly he had become, but that shame was nothing before the fear that dominated him.
Brad could tell that the death knight was being honest, he truly had used his full power. However, that only made Brad's mood worse.
"Hmm, so you really can only use this much power,"
As disgraceful as he thought it was, the death knight couldn't ignore the bliss he felt when he thought that he would be freed from Brad's chilling inquiry. But he was engulfed by despair once Brad finished what he was saying.
"Then, I'll just have to drag it out of you."
"Huh?"
Without another word, Brad lifted the death knight by his helmet and threw him over the castle. The death knight retained enough of his senses in order to fix his posture and hold on to his sword in the air, but that was the most he could do.
Brad had launched himself into the air and came heading for the death knight like he could fly through the sky.
The death knight hastily used hazz as a makeshift barrier, but the sigils on Brad's body glowed for a brief moment before the black flames were quickly suppressed after getting near his incoming fist.
"Damn it!"
The death knight was forced to defend once more, but this time the direct force of Brad's fist reached him.
"Arghhh?!?!?"
Instead of just a crack exposing his sternum, the fist had shattered his upper body armour, broken most of his ribs and shot him to the ground like a cannonball. An undead like him shouldn't care for pain, but the idea that every injury brought him closer to true death made him believe that he was actually in pain.
The death knight was stuck on all fours being tortured by phantom pain, while Brad came down to continue the beating.
"I'm on a time limit so I'll need you to realize something fast if you don't want to get killed."
It was an arrogant statement he would usually snap back at, but now the death knight trembled and tried to crawl away.
'I can't handle this monster. I must report it back to the king. I must escape. I can't allow myself to die here. I must send this information.'
The death knight used several excuses to justify his retreat, but the idea that he could escape was wrong to begin with.
Brad stomped down on his back and then kicked him over so that his front faced upwards. Brad then straddled him and repeatedly smashed his fists in. After a couple of punches, all of his armour was gone and it was just a shiny black skeleton with cracks all over.
'No, I, I don't want to die again.'
With every hit the death knight lost sight of himself, but his will to live was somehow drastically rising. Even though it should have been comfortable with death, the death knight realized that he just hadn't been close enough to death before.
He was born as a skeleton so undeath was all he knew There had been many times when he thought he could have died, but this was the first time he felt so convinced of his death.
'I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die.'
The single desire the death knight had kept him from losing consciousness, but as he felt that he would be gone from this world in just two more hits, he felt his chest heat up.
"Ahhh!!!"
As hazz burst from the death knight, Brad jumped back and carefully watched his broken body rise to his feet.
"Finally! Look, you can do it now, can't you?"
Perhaps even more than the death knight, Brad was excited by this transformation.
As hazz bathed him, the death knight witnessed as his wounds were repaired and even his armour was back in place. With this newfound strength, the death knight took a step forward ... and was subsequently beaten up once more.
"Really?"
"..."
Neither the death knight nor Brad foresaw this. Brad was genuinely happy when he thought that he would fight someone worth going all out for, but there he was, lying on the ground and looking up in fear and disbelief.
The battle between them wasn't different from before, Brad attacked and the death knight endured. With his new regenerative powers he certainly lasted longer, but the end result was the same. Even his regeneration couldn't keep up with the damage that Brad deal.
"That's all. This, is your best?"
He was no longer empowered by sigils, but as Brad took a step towards the death knight, he still flinched and backed away. His mind understood that his opponent was not as strong as his before, but his body refused to be that optimistic.
"I see. Then, I guess I'll finish this."
Brad's remaining golden mana flooded his fist before condensing into a single sigil on the back of his hand. As he saw him approach with that golden fist, the death knight shifted backwards, but his slow crawl couldn't match the pace of his incoming executioner.
Soon, once he reached a suitable distance from the death knight, Brad raised his fist. The death knight felt fear from the disdainful expression Brad had, but since he knew that there was no way he could win, he partially accepted it.
'Do I die here?'
The death knight anxiously waited for the finishing blow, but right as Brad was about to attack, a hand suddenly clamped down on his shoulder.
***
"Oi, what do think you're doing?"
"Oh, master, you came..."
What, who, huh?
Since I had several centuries of experience I thought that there was nothing that could surprise me on this business trip. If Tyrion knew its place then everything would be wrapped up quickly, and if it didn't then I would just have to remind it of it.
However, things had greatly derailed from my initial plans. I had already begun accepting that the wild young man before me would put an end to my journey, but out of nowhere this unbelievable monster with green hair appeared.
The wild young man was clearly superior to I, but the one who he fearfully called 'master' was in a different league. If I were to label the degree of his strength, it would be Demon King-class. That was how overwhelmingly powerful this person was.
"Yes, and it's a good thing I did too. Musclehead, what are you supposed to do in case something big happens?"
"...Notify you?"
"That's right. And did something big happen?"
"Well, uh, not anything I thought I should trouble you with."
"Oh, is that so. Then why is the top floor of my castle gone?!"
As this 'master' pointed at the building that had been damaged by me getting thrown into it, he still wore a smile but that made it more eerie and unsettling. I should have been a complete victim here and yet I still felt chills.
The young man who had defeated me also shrunk back and lowered his head awkwardly.
"Sorry."
"Does it look like I'll just accept a 'sorry'?! If it wasn't for Bony giving me a call, would you have me come back to an even worse display?!"
"No, I was just finishing up."
"Oh, you were just finishing up, huh? You know what, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, so answer me honestly. Was it that much of an opponent that you couldn't win without all this collateral damage?"
"..."
While the wild young man was pressured by a silent smile, I tried to slowly slip away. I might have tried to accept my death not long ago, but if there was a chance of survival I had to take it. However, it seemed I really was destined to die today.
*Snap*
In this wasteland with nothing more than grass and sand, I accidentally sat down on a twig, breaking it and alerting my killers.