「 CHAPTER 8: The Birth of a New Beginning 5/6 」
I got back to the camp not long after the sun went down, I immediately headed straight to the School Head. As I was heading to his hut, a couple of students blocked me and asked what was my purpose going to him.
Just before I could say anything the School Head opened his door and told the two students to let me in, It's as if he was expecting me to come in. When I got into his hut, he suddenly asked me.
"So? Have you decided?" He steepled his hands and leaned forward slightly on his table.
"This guy..." I thought to myself as I looked at the School Head as if he was waiting for this moment. But I felt no bad intentions from him, only hatred. I could feel something was raging in front of him.
I took an interest in him and labeled him as a possible ally, we departed from the camp and headed towards the prison.
As we were headed to the prison, I asked the School Head a question.
"School Head."
"Hm?"
"Come to think of it, I never got his name when I was there. Who even is he?"
"Oh? So it was you that knocked my guards out, that's why you asked me to put more guards. HAHAHA! And don't call me School Head, it feels weird. Call me Eugene."
"His name is Lars Cruz, He's the son of a corrupted construction company owner."
He used to be a nice kid, I heard he was at the top of his school.
But suddenly everything about him changed, as he used his money to buy illegal supplements, luxury, cars, go to bars, and hire gangsters.
And one night, Lars was walking home drunk, saw a high school girl walking home alone and he did unspeakable things to that poor girl.
"Was this girl, perhaps your daughter?"
The moment the words left my mouth, he stopped walking and his face turned dark. Anger and hatred twisted his features as his gaze bore into the road, the whites of his eyes slowly turning a menacing shade of red.
His fists clenched tightly at his sides, knuckles turning white with the force of his grip. It was only for a moment but he calmed down immediately.
"You're quick to catch on."
After that incident he began to go on a rampage, every week the police would have reports of people getting into accidents and some dying, all pointing back to Lars.
I can't forgive that bastard for doing that to my daughter!
After his graduation just weeks after the incident, his father, an old classmate of mine reached out to me.
He said, Hey! aren't you a School Head of that new school in Muntinlupa? Can you enroll my son? You know, without having to deal with those bothersome exams, HAHA!
I said, I'll see, give me his documents and I'll take care of the rest. And he hung up immediately.
A little while after the call, he sent me an email of his son's documents and my eyes turned red as soon as I saw his name was "Lars Cruz."
I thought It'd be a perfect way to take revenge to lead the prey into my territory. But as soon as the class started the Dragon incident happened.
Whilst the other rooms are panicking over the dragon, that bastard Lars, started stabbing people amidst the chaos...
"...And now, he killed more people than before and even killed your friend."
As the words hit me, a cold wave of shock and revulsion washed over me.
The realization that the same person who had brutally taken my friend's life had also caused so much more suffering and death to other people, ignited a blazing fury within me. It was as if the gravity of his actions had magnified, transforming my grief into a seething rage.
My hands clenched into fists, the knuckles white with the intensity of my grip. My heart pounded with a relentless rhythm, every beat a reminder of the personal loss and the countless injustices.
And before I knew it we were already at the front of the prison. He asked the guards to leave as we were about to enter.
"You all may go and take a rest for now, We'll be going in."
The guards left us and we entered the prison. I paused and turned around to him.
"Wait outside Eugene, I want to be alone with this guy." I looked at him with my eyes full of rage and my hand trembling from anger. He let out a deep breath and scratched his head.
"Fine, I understand, but remember, whatever you do, remember the consequences."
He turned back and closed the door. The torchlight flickered out, snuffed out by the cold draft as the door slammed shut behind me.
The prison hall was engulfed in darkness, save for the faint rays of moonlight that streamed through narrow, grimy windows. These fragile beams cast eerie shadows along the walls, barely illuminating the gloomy, unsettling corridor.
"It's a great time to die."
The prisoner's cell was cloaked in darkness, with no light sources except for a sliver of moonlight seeping through a small hole in the ceiling. I halted just before the beam of light reached my face, my shoes the only visible part of me in the shadowy room.
Lars, sitting in the oppressive gloom, heard the faint echo of my footsteps and shifted his attention. A dark, unsettling laugh emerged from the shadows, punctuating the silence and acknowledging my presence with a chilling familiarity.
"HAHAHA! So, you're back! Good! Good! I was getting bored of this place anyway! I was actually planning on escaping from this place, and thinking how many people I shall kill next when I finally make it out of here! HAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHA!"
But as his laughter grew more intense, it abruptly turned into a harsh, rasping cough. His eyes widened in surprise and pain, and he gasped for breath.
"KEOK!-- ACK!-- COUGH"
His laughter was replaced by a series of painful, gasping coughs. Dark spots appeared at the corners of his vision, and his breathing became labored.
Blood splattered from his mouth, staining his lips and the floor beneath him.
"*Cough*—*Cough*—What the..." Lars muttered through his strained breaths, struggling to regain control. He was confused as to what was happening, he looked back at me but I wasn't there anymore.
Chills coursed through his whole body as he heard something in his ear.
"Heeyy... why so quiet now?"
Lars froze in shock, his laughter dying in his throat as he sensed a presence directly behind him. The sudden realization was too late; as he looked down, his eyes widened in horror.
A dagger was piercing his chest from the back, its cruel edge lodged directly into his heart.
"I—I didn't feel it coming," Lars gasped, his voice trembling with disbelief. "I didn't hear him—how—"
Before he could finish, I drove the dagger deeper into his back, a cold determination in my movements. The weapon sliced through flesh and muscle, eliciting a ragged cough from Lars. Blood spurted from his mouth, splattering onto the floor as his body convulsed in pain.
His eyes once filled with arrogance, now reflected shock and anguish. The life drained from him quickly, his breaths growing shallow and erratic.
With a final shuddering gasp, Lars succumbed to the fatal wound. His body went limp, the mocking laughter silenced forever.
I retrieved my dagger that was pierced in his back. I turned my dagger to inspect its beauty from bathing in blood and saw my face smeared with blood reflected on the dagger. My hands began shaking, my heart started beating fast from the realization that, I killed a person.
"I--killed--him."
"I killed a person."
Looking down, I saw the lifeless body of Lars sprawled on the cold stone floor, the blood pooling around him—a stark, visceral reminder of the violence I had inflicted. The dagger, now slick with crimson, trembled in my hand.
The air felt colder, heavier, as if the weight of his death was pressing down on me. The silence of the cell seemed to echo with the screams and gasps of his last moments.
I stood there, numb and shaken, struggling to reconcile the part of myself that had committed this act with the person I had been before.
The reality of taking a life settled like a dark, suffocating cloud, and I was left standing amidst the aftermath, grappling with the true cost of my actions.
After a moment of stunned silence, I took a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down. The shock began to fade, replaced by a complete, cold acceptance.
This was my reality now-a brutal, unknown world where danger lurked around every corner, and survival was paramount.
In this place, where anything could kill us in an instant, there were no guarantees, no safety nets. It was clear: to live, one must adapt.
The harsh truth settled in- either you kill, or you get killed. The line between right and wrong blurred in the face of such relentless danger.
I tightened my grip on the dagger, its weight a grim reminder of the harsh choices I would have to make. The world had changed, and with it, so had I. Survival was no longer just about living day-to-day; it was about making difficult decisions and accepting the consequences of those choices.
In this ruthless reality, I had to embrace this new mindset if I wanted to keep fighting and stay alive.
I reached my hand toward Lars's lifeless body, an unsettling calm settling over me. As my fingers neared the corpse, a sudden burst of flames erupted from it, consuming his remains in a roaring blaze.
The heat and light of the fire contrasted sharply with the eerie silence of the cell. I had whispered something, a command or incantation that was barely audible, but its effect was immediate and dramatic. Lars's body ignited in a fierce blaze, the flames dancing and crackling as they reduced him to ashes.
The fire cast flickering shadows on the walls, illuminating the once-dark cell with a grim, fiery glow. I stood there, watching the inferno with a detached intensity, my earlier shock now replaced by a steely resolve.
The flames roared and crackled, a final, consuming end to the life that had so violently intersected with mine.
*DING!* [ LEVELED UP! ]
"I've..."
*DING!* [ LEVELED UP! ]
"become..."
*DING!* [ LEVELED UP! ]
"... strong."
* DING!* [ LEVELED UP! ]
*DING! * [ LEVELED UP! ]
*DING!*
*DING!*
...
...
...
「 END OF CHAPTER 8 」