I broke the shackles in my hand one second at a time, timing it with the cries of the others.
Soon a guy with black hair waltzed into the room. There was something about him that felt off. Everything about him seemed wrong. His head was parched at an angle on his crooked and hunched shoulders.
His face was even worse. It looked like it had been disassembled and put together by a child who didn't know human anatomy. And his voice sounded like a cat forced inside a blender when he spoke.
"So these are the new batch?"
"Yes. Yes. Yes." Lord Roselake slapped his bulging tummy and laughed. "You know what to do. And don't even think of stealing my items. I'll know."
Jayson waved his hand while his face was bored as his voice. "Yeah . . . yeah . . ."
System, what were they talking about?
I see . . . so there's a chance that I wouldn't be killed if there's a contract.
But there's a chance that he might not . . . I tried to convince myself.
However, faced with this kind of predicament, I think I would just hasten my death if I told them about my items and ally myself with them.
And here I thought all my problems would disappear the moment I allied myself with this territory. Who knew that I would only put my toes on the grave even more? An irony that I could have laughed at if it didn't make me want to die.
"Well, then," Lord Roselake slammed his belly. "I'll leave it in your capable hands, Jayson. I have a big day tomorrow for the tournament. I don't want to be late because of a lack of sleep. Hohoho."
Lord Roselake then nodded at his men and ushered them out of the room. "Let's go, men."
I didn't know if every one of them were confident that we wouldn't be able to escape, that was why the soldiers left, or if they trusted Jayson too much to leave it all in his hands. But it worked in my favor.
I felt my wrists' muscles, bones, and veins freed from the shackles. That was one problem solved, but the next step was the hardest part.
How am I going to escape from this situation?
I didn't know where I was, and if I used [Evil Speed], I could only teleport a hundred meters two times. I was afraid that with the extensive range of the estate, I was still within the area even if I used the skill.
So I was still trapped. And worse, I might teleport to the parts of the house with many guards. These fighting type inhabitants had huge ATP and I was no match for them alone at my current level.
"Y-you! You're also a player like us! We came from the same world. Why are you doing this?"
"Stop it!"
"Let us go!"
"Don't do this!"
Cries and begging filled the area, and I hoped with all my heart that Jayson had a bit of his humanity left to hear their pleas. I hope that his face was very opposite to his character.
But I was repeatedly proven wrong when Jayson cut a player's head in one swipe without any rhyme or reason. There was no blood nor gore, but the reality that he killed someone with a smile on his face frightened everyone.
There was terror silence hang in the air before everyone burst into screams and tears.
"Argh! Your screams are like music to my ears." Jayson flung the blunt end of his jagged sword over his shoulder. His grin was warped on his horrendous face. "This is business. Nothing personal. Blame your shitty luck that you newbs came in this place."
"We're going to enter the tournament, asshole!"
A wry sigh escaped my lips. Why did the player still antagonized the killer? Jayson clearly was doing this kind of things long before we existed in this game. The moment he killed someone with no remorse, there was no way he would let us go.
A fast, neat slash midsection rend open a surprisingly jagged wound at the player who just spoke. He died without barely uttering his next curse.
Another round of cacophony of screams percolated in the room.
Jayson bent over from laughter "Idiots! The Tournament is only a facade to lure you noobs in here."
Jayson then licked his blade, eyes glinting in menace while his grin added terror to his face. "As much as I wanted to make this painfully slow and enjoy your horror-stricken face, I have to sleep early."
His grin was warped and horrid, and his voice was similar to a claw on a chalkboard. "This late-night sleeps is toiling with my mental health, you see. So let's get this over with. Don't worry . . . I will kill you . . . painfully fast that you won't even feel a thing just like what I did with the others."
Another rounds of screams and cries choked the air when Jayson killed another batch of players that could do nothing but cry and beg.
All I could do was close my eyes and look the other way. I willed myself into thinking that it wasn't my business. That I would only endanger myself if I butt my nose again, just like what happened with Jane. These people were strangers to me, and I shouldn't even care what he would do to them.
But I did when Jayson's next target was just a child. She was only about fourteen, and pity stirred in my chest.
My mind went blank when Jayson's eyes stopped at her. His mouth twisted up into a horrendous grin, eyes narrowing.
The girl could do nothing but cry when Jayson brought his sword down to her head with the intent to slice her in half.
But instead of the sound of tearing flesh, Jayson was met with the resistance of a sword against his.
And I knew it was an idiotic move on my part. But my body just moved on its own, and before I knew it, I was in front of my killer, raising my sword against him.
Now, it was either him or me, and I was so sure as hell that I wouldn't be able to kill him. Not because I was no match against him, but because my conscience wouldn't let me. So I gave threats instead.
"S-stop." I intended it as a command, but it came out as a plea.
Jayson was surprised when I suddenly appeared before him, holding a sword that I knew he would lust over based on the expression on his face after he recovered from his shock.
And I knew that there was no reasoning with him when his creepy smile reached his ears.
"Well. Well. Well. What do we got here?"