CHAPTER 82: GLOVES OFF

LOTHAR PENDRAGON

7 MONTHS AGO

I’m facing the man who used me the entire time. Michael Eldritch. He is the mastermind behind the killing of the most precious person in my life. Now that I’m standing in front of him, all my mind and heart are focused on one thing: to kill this person.

I can still remember how my wife Kirina died. The raging flames of our house caught us by surprise as we were sleeping sound at night. The fires swept all our belongings, our whole house that we worked together to build, the gardens we created to spend our time together, and our future. Everything was gone when I opened my eyes.

My wife, she didn’t even utter her final words for me. She was dead even before I had a chance to wake her up. Her skin and flesh, all converted to ashes. It was all too late for me to even hug her charred body.

I can still remember how I killed the culprit. I remember running out of our house and seeing a dragonoid who is equipped with gasoline and explosives. I sliced him in half. I sliced him in fourth. I sliced him in eight. All of those things I will do for the person who has killed my Kirina.

I can still remember the murderous arsonist dragonoid’s eyes. It’s colored lifeless crimson, and there is a faint glow of red on his pupils. The faint glow on his eyes faded the moment I killed the dragonoid that is rumored to be part of the terrorist group Arcadia.

Those faint glow on that dragonoid’s eyes is the same as what I saw on the mind-controlled dragon knight Alphonse and his dragonoid Z. I never noticed it right away because the faint glow can only be seen if you’re staring up close. There is no way I should have known sooner or later.

No, it’s still my fault. I should have known better than Eldritch, Cheng, and Trystgade can never be trusted. I should have trusted Xenon’s words from the start. I knew it was weird that those three are working with Arcadia. I should have taken the hint and rebelled right from the start.

I glared at the bullshit emperor as I pointed my buster sword to his direction. “Tell me, why did you kill Kirina!? Tell me, Eldritch! Why!?”

Eldritch made a short chuckle as he explained, fully unthreatened to me. “Kirina Pendragon is part of the leftist. Your meddlesome wife was part of a peace movement that wanted to overthrow the dynasty of Eldritch in this empire. You should have known it because you’re part of that organization too.”

“Kirina did nothing to you! And so did I! Why do you have to destroy our home!?” I growled. “All we’re doing is to make a peaceful protest!”

“That’s not the case here, old man,” Eldritch said. “You two are becoming an eyesore to my family. Your wife is influential, and my lineage would be in peril if she stays alive. That is why I have to kill her in a safe and precise way. I used the Eye of Deus to control the mind of a poor terrorist dragonoid to do our dirty job, and I will stay clean. Brilliant, isn’t it?”

“Fuck you!” I cried out loud. I moved my feet forward and attempted to charge in, but I immediately stopped when Eldritch changed the color of his blue eyes to read, and his sclera transformed from white to black.

“Stop it, Lothar Pendragon. You’re still a great asset to this empire. You know that we must cooperate together so that world peace could be attained. I still need you to dominate the whole world.” Eldritch said. “A great battle is coming. We must let bygones be bygones.”

“Fuck you and your ideals! I’m going to kill you now!”

Nothing can stop me from charging forward. With my buster sword, I made a horizontal slash, planning to slice the traitorous emperor’s midriff to half, but he managed to jump back.

“Kagura Blade! Kusanagi Blade! Yagami Blade! Murasame Blade! Release!” I cried out loud, and my buster sword divided into four magical swords. 

Each sword immediately rushed towards the enemy with a speed faster than sound, but Michael Eldritch evaded each of it with his superior reflexes. I know the information about the Eye of Deus giving a massive boost of reflexes and sensory functions to the one using it, but I’m still surprised that Eldritch managed to evade all of it cleanly.

Eldritch glared at me, and his crimson eyes gave a red flash. In an instant, I felt my heart stop for three seconds. My chest hurt as the dark magic Heartstopper Curse corrupt my heart.

“This is-!!!” I fell on my knees.

But after three seconds, the pain stopped. My heart started to beat again, and I was able to catch my breath. The Heartstopper Curse stopped, and it seemed that it was my enemy who voluntary halted to kill me.

“Let’s stop this, Lothar. If you promise not to attack again, I will turn a blind eye on what just happened.” Eldritch said as he walked forward and revealed what’s on his hand. The object on top of his palm is a pale white object that is the most treasured thing in my life. It’s Kirina’s heart!

“How did you get that!?” I roared. “Damn you!”

I was about to strike again, but I saw a dark aura emanating from Eldritch’s right hand. Slowly, like the flames that burned my house, the dark aura crawled on the heart.

Kirina’s heart is the most precious thing in my life. As long as I have it, I can still have the will to live on. I can still pretend that she’s still alive even though she’s not. The power of the Vesryn Pulse is the only thing that connects us from the world of the living and the dead, and I would die if that heart will be lost from me.

“Stop! Stop!” I cried out loud. “Fine! I will still help you. Just give me Kirina’s heart back!”

“Good dog, Lothar.” Eldritch smiled, and I want to punch his whole teeth for that. Then, he finally lent out the heart he stole from me.

I finally have Kirina’s heart back. I gently caressed it and put it on my chest, so that Kirina would never feel cold. I know her heart is sensitive, so I still have to give her the warmth of my hug.

But there is one problem. I immediately sensed it the moment Eldritch handed out Kirina’s heart back to me. The heart is cold, stiff, and unresponsive. All hope was lost as I realize one thing.

“Kirina’s heart is no longer beating,” I muttered.

“Oh sorry about that,” Eldritch said, maintaining his smile as if he’s not sorry. “It looks like I overdid my Heartstopper Curse. I never thought your lover’s heart is already weak.”

I didn’t react to his arrogant explanation. The moment the heart turned to a cold lump of muscle was the moment I abandoned all my positive emotions. Rage. Wrath. I’m feeling it again. I want to inflict the pain in my heart to the one who killed my lover for the second time.

“Blink!” I shouted.

In an instant, I teleported to the place where Eldritch’s infant son is situated, which is his crib. I have previously given out a trace of my magical energy to the kid a few minutes ago, so I am able to teleport right where he is.

“Lothar Pendragon!” The empress looked at me, surprised. “Why are you-”

Without speaking, I grabbed the infant. Consumed by my wrath and hatred, I could no longer think straight. I immediately draw out a knife from my waist and stabbed the innocent infant’s chest, making it bleed non-stop.

“No! What are you doing-!!!” Marisse Trystgade cried.

I used my Blink magic again to teleport where my buster sword is, and now, I’m back in front of Eldritch, with his dead son cradled on my arms.

“What… what have you done, you filthy lizard!?” Eldritch cried with full hatred on his eyes. “No! Albrecht! He’s just an innocent kid!”

“Serves right for you, Emperor fucking Eldrich.” I made a demonic smile. “For all these years, you’ve been brainwashing and backstabbing people. Your best friend, your father, your allies, your countrymen. This is the time you get a taste of an unfair fight. Your enemies always fight you with their gloves on. But for me... I'm different. I'll throw my gloves off just to bring you down.”

“Lothar Pendragon…” Eldritch's body vibrated due to hatred and pain he’s feeling at this very moment. Good. I want him to be as pissed as I am. “...I will make your fate worse than death!”

“I don’t mind. My life is over anyway.” I laughed like a maniac. In fact, I’m already crazy that I don’t know what I’m doing anymore. “You know what, Eldritch? Stabbing your child like this until he’s nothing but a large heap of wet flesh, hearing you scream with hatred like one of your dragonoid bitches... Priceless.”

“Hrrrrgaaaaaag!!!!” Eldritch finally lost his composure as he activated the Eye of Deus again. For the second time, there was a crimson flash of light.

At that moment, my heart completely stopped. Everything went black as my consciousness faded away instantly.

<>