"Kill these five..."
Lance was thoughtful.
One minute has elapsed from the time allotted to complete the mission.
Venya continued to dodge the fireballs summoned by the mages and the kaiju still wielded the flaming sword in his hands.
As he remained distracted, Lance did not notice Walter waking up from his deep sleep.
The brute of pure muscle shoved him with the shield and then tied him with the whip.
"You were merciful. Don't worry, I'll kill you without pain!" He said, pulling the whip towards him.
But neither the whip nor Lance was drawn into the barbarian's enormous hands.
Instead, Lance contracted his muscles to the max and then stretched them, as if he were trying to participate in a bodybuilding competition.
He grabbed the whip in his left hand and pulled it back.
"No!"
Walter held it with both hands and still didn't seem to have any more strength than the monster in front of him.
He finally gave up on the whip, throwing it to the ground. Lance managed to free himself after that.
"Pig! You're just a pig!"
The brute came forward, throwing wild punches.
It was as if the honor of being a servant of the Demon King had been broken.
Or the honor of being a hunter.
Lance landed flaming sword blows that couldn't be deflected.
Walter's costume with the inverted sword was completely torn apart along with his abdomen, fat and muscles were exposed.
"You... you're just a little pig..."
He was visibly exhausted.
He forced his body to the limit, beyond the blood that ran nonstop and the excruciating pain of having his skin and muscles open repeatedly.
Lance looked at the counter.
[Time to end of mission: 2 minutes and 38 seconds]
It was either that or die.
With a quick slash, Lance slit Walter's throat and he fell to the ground, drowning in his own blood.
He tried at all costs to stop the blood that was pouring out like a waterfall.
"King... king... save me..."
Not even the healer's cure was enough to stop the bleeding in time. She was too busy tending to the mages' wounds.
If the Demon King heard, he didn't seem to mind.
Walter Braddock died in a dark, icy field. Watched by a monstrous figure.
Walter was Lance's first human death.
He swore revenge against humanity, but could not control the urge to vomit after killing a human.
Bile started to come out of his mouth instinctively. It was a bitter and revolting taste.
In the end, Lance was more human than Kaiju.
But that couldn't derail his plans.
There was exactly 1 minute and 24 seconds to the end of the mission.
Brian Majors crawled on the ground, fearing for his life.
At that moment, facing Walter's death, he felt that there was nothing between him and the kaiju in front of him.
No Demon King was going to stop that monster's bloodlust.
"Wait... wait a minute..."
Majors' shaky voice, almost as if tears were forming in his eyes, was impressive.
Lance walked over and thrust his sword into the belly of the lying man who was grunting in pain.
He brandished the flaming sword that seared Brian's internal organs.
The shock was too much for him to handle and he ended up passing out.
Lance made sure to stick his sword through the man's neck to kill him forever.
Brian Majors died, unlike Walter, in the moonlight, the splash of blood being lit like a beacon.
There were 56 seconds to the end of the mission and three different people for him to kill.
Venya was on edge against the mages who also seemed to be exhausted from not being able to hit a single spell on the woman.
Distracted, they didn't notice Lance approaching until it was too late for one of them.
Luna Watson, the only female mage on the team, had her head ripped from her neck with a single swipe of his sword.
The other mage, Thomas Byrne, managed to dodge in time, his face covered in the ally's blood.
He tried at all costs to use his most powerful magic, but extreme fatigue did not make it possible.
Lance made a clean cut to Thomas's abdomen. The entrails falling, being held by the mage's hands, the inverted sword symbol was stained with blood from beginning to end.
To spare the man the strenuous suffering, even if he didn't deserve it, Lance cut off his head.
It was a real sea of blood.
The healer was standing there, anguished. Facing Lance.
She landed on the bloodied lawn, pulling away as she crawled through the mud formed with dirt and blood.
Meredith Brooks threw all the potions she could at the standing monster, but all she did was heal the kaiju.
After all, she was a healer.
Lance realized early, even before the battle, how unhappy she was with the situation.
He knew she didn't like working with those four.
He knew the girl, who couldn't have been more than eighteen, wasn't like them.
[Time to end of mission: 0 minutes and 12 seconds]
"Please don't! I swear I didn't mean to… I…"
Lance raised his sword just over ninety degrees from his face.
"I have a younger brother! Please!"
[Time to end of mission: 0 minutes and 5 seconds]
He stopped. Five seconds left and he was paralyzed.
Either he killed or he died.
Lance had no choice in this situation.
They forced him.
The King of Kaiju forced him. Was this some kind of sick lesson?
"Please…"
Exactly a second to go. He had no more time to waste.
"Please don't!"
The sword plunged into Meredith's chest and she spat blood almost immediately.
She held the blade in both hands trying to pull it out unsuccessfully.
Meredith died in moments.
Venya approached Lance, who remained motionless, his hands still on the sword that was still thrust into the girl's chest.
As much as he tried to look like a monster, he was far from it.
In the end, he decided the fate of that girl.
And as much as he wanted to think differently, it was her life or his.
And Lance Fehrman decided to put his own life above all others.
He removed the sword from her breastplate and retrieved some items from them.
He stowed everything in a small bag the mages carried and handed it to Venya silently.
The agonizing noise penetrated his ear once more that day.
[ Congratulations! You accomplished the mission! ]
[ You received a reward! ]
[ Mysterious Silver Box achieved! ]
He would pass the rest of the way silent towards the lord of the dolls dungeon.
From that moment on, Lance would try to embrace the monster he was supposed to be.