"Aaaghh!"
"Please don't kill m- Aaghh!"
"No! NO! Aghh!"
Countless cries, filled with agony, despair, and fear echoed in Valent's head as Ace massacred everyone with his bare hands. Ace was like a slaughter house, wherever he goes turned was into a mess.
Body after body fell, littering the Maveric Clan's mansion with blood and gore. Even the ground that was absorbing all the blood earlier was now clotted and rivers of blood flowed in the Maveric Clan.
This, was a disaster.
*Spurt*
Another head rolled in the sky as blood gushed out of the neck like a fountain. A scary site if I am being honest.
Right now, other than Ace, who was standing there drenched in blood, there were only two people alive in the Maveric Clan. One was Valent, who had already closed his eyes while the cries filled with agony haunted his poor soul. The poor man kept blaming himself for this disaster. Other was the young master of the Maveric clan, a man who was sure to have a bright future due to his Supreme Fire Physique, Prodige Maveric.
Right now, Prodige was standing still in shock, despair, and… fear. He had just witnessed his whole clan being massacred by a single man who looked no older than 25. His legs were trembling nonstop, he was too afraid to even move.
His family, his father, mother, brothers, sisters, uncles, everyone, everyone had sacrificed their life, only to provide him a chance to run away and avenge them later, and he, he was so useless that he couldn't even do that.
He could not even muster enough strength to move, let alone run.
He despised himself for being so weak, on the other hand, he even blamed his uncle Valent that he tried to bite off more than he could chew and choked his whole family. (A/N: I thought of the last line, pretty cool right!?) He even blamed his family for being so weak, that they couldn't even fight a single person, but the one he blamed the most was this man standing in front of him.
This arrogant man barged into his home, killed everyone in his family without flinching, and was still standing there as if nothing happened.
He hated Ace, he despised Ace to his very core.
Ace, on the other hand, couldn't help but see himself when he saw Prodige, he knew how and what he was feeling very well, he had gone through the same in the past. Of course, be that as it was, there was not a tinge of mercy in his heart.
It was his family's fault for being weak that day, and it was this boy's family's fault for being weak today, anything else doesn't matter.
"You… Why did you do it!?" Prodige questioned, his tone filled with rage, hatred, and… helplessness.
"What do you mean why I did it? Didn't I tell you that before, it was because he offen-"
"Just because Uncle Valent offended you, you killed his entire clan!? When did we trouble you!? Why kill us!?" Prodige roared in rage.
To his sudden outburst, Ace smiled as he questioned, "Say… let's say that I let you go, or, someone appears out of nowhere and saves you today, then after you get stronger, what would you do?"
"Is that even a question, I would kill your entire family in front of your eyes before torturing you for years and then kill you as painfully as possible!!"
"Hmm, then what did my family do?" Ace's smile widened as he questioned.
"…" Hearing that, Prodige stopped abruptly as if contemplating what to say.
"Tell me? What did my family do? I was the one who massacred your family, then you should only kill me. Why would you go after my family?"
"…" Prodige remained silent, not able to come up with an answer.
"Let me help you, the answer is; you hate me, you hate me to the very core of your being, you would do anything you can so that I feel despair, so that I regret what I did. So that I… I would wish to die but am not able to…"
"That, is the reason why you would want to go after my family, and that is the reason I targetted his family, his clan." Ace replied as he pointed towards Valent.
As his eyes fell on Valent, Prodige's expression changed, Valent right now, was laying still, no movements whatsoever. It was not that the massacre didn't bother him; on the contrary, it affected him too much. His eyes were dead, with no luster at all. Though his every limb was broken, his face was still, as if he doesn't feel anything, any pain at all. He looked like a corpse. A living corpse.
"That is despair." Ace informed.
"That is the expression I wanted to see. Do you know what he is right now? He could be called a man who is broken. No threat at all. Even if I don't do anything, he would die of hunger or something.
And that is exactly how I wanted him to be."
"You are a monster."
"I am."
"So, what now?" Prodige questioned, his tone, unexplainably calm.
"What?"
"Would you let me live? I suggest you kill me because if I were to grow, I would make sure to kill your family in the worst way possible."
*Chuckle*
Opposite to Prodige's serious tone, Ace chuckled.
"Why are you laughing?"
"You are overestimating your talent too much.
Sure, you have the Supreme Fire Physique and it is indeed very strong but no matter how much you grow up, you will never be able to defeat me. Heck, even my 8 years old daughter would be able to defeat you within a year. You are no threat at all."
Hearing that, intense anger rose inside Prodige's heart.
I am no threat at all? Oh yeah? I was hailed as a genius since young! It won't even take me 10 years to have my revenge against you!
But a few seconds later, another emotion arose.
Joy.
He was happy, he knew that there might be a chance that this man will let him live, and then he will make sure to let him know how big of a threat he is, however, soon, his happiness faded as Ace continued.
"Though you are not a threat, I am not exactly a fan of leaving any loose ends either."
"Too bad child, you aren't the main character here"
*Spurt*