CG Chapter 52: Death without cause 

 

The turmoil of fear, love, and hate caused Benedict to lose his will to fight. If Tom hadn't called him out, he likely would have remained on the sidelines, lost and resigned to watching Gareth's demise. Yet, due to Tom's provocation, his anger intensified. Realizing they had nothing left in this world, he resolved to fight alongside his brother as they faced their enemy together.

 

His face contorted from sorrow to rage, 'If I am going to die, then I am going to drag the one who destroyed my world with me and make him feel the pain of rats eating him alive from the inside.'

 

"Gareth, wait for me. Today, either we both die here as warriors or survive and walk away as we carry that bastard's head," Benedict screamed as he ran behind his brother.

 

After hearing Benedict's shout, Gareth was about to turn his head toward him. However, in his messy state of mind, he failed to realize that his enemy could have taken advantage of that distraction to attack. Fortunately for him, Tom didn't simply want to kill them; otherwise, they would have died multiple times already.

 

The two brothers quickly reached Tom's side, each holding their own sword and swinging toward him.

 

Benedict maneuvered skillfully to move behind Tom, attempting to slash at him from the rear, while Gareth lunged forward with his sword in a frontal assault.

 

They were determined to kill Tom at any cost, even if it meant sacrificing their own lives.

 

Tom grinned at their pitiful attempts. With a swift reaction, he demonstrated his masterful footwork, lowering his body while kicking Benedict's legs toward Gareth's strike.

 

'Whoosh'

 

Due to the sudden change in positions, Gareth was about to slice through Benedict, but at the last second, he managed to stop his sword. However, the recoil from halting his full-strength attack wasn't weak, and he felt his hands become numb.

 

Meanwhile, Benedict halted his body from falling just seconds after Gareth stopped.

 

"That won't do; stand up again. Is the soul of your companion so worthless? Is this all you can do?" Tom wanted to ignite their blood thirst to the maximum; he wanted to increase the hate they felt for him even more so that they could break through their limit, thus helping him break his own.

 

"Haha, I should have left him alive. Then you might have had a chance to scratch me. You guys are just too pathetic." Tom knew that he wouldn't have fought all of them alone since that would have been too risky.

 

The continuous process of sharpening himself and getting stronger was something that he savored. The sense of power made him feel that he was a step closer to his dream.

 

"You…" Gareth gritted his teeth as he ignored the numbness he felt and went for another strike.

 

He leveraged his height to his advantage, attacking from above. His veins pumped blood through his body, and the tension from the fight, combined with the scent of blood in the air, fueled his madness.

 

Seeing that Benedict was far away, Tom decided to face Gareth's sword head-on. He held his own sword and, with a quick hand movement, parried the attack.

 

From there, their swords started moving at an astonishing speed; Tom slashed toward Gareth's right arm, leaving a giant hole in it. The hole was so big that even some of his bones were exposed. 

 

Benedict, witnessing the scene, felt a wave of nausea threatening to overpower him. However, he managed to keep it in and joined the battle again.

 

The battle continued a struggle in which two grown men found themselves toyed around by a young boy.

 

After a while, Tom's gaze turned cold, and he noticed that the duo's breathing became heavy. He felt that they wouldn't be able to fight for much longer, so he decided to take an action that would make him seem crazy to any watcher.

 

He threw his sword aside and used his hand to call out to the brothers, "Are you tired already? Now, the two of you are fighting against an armless man. If you lose, you won't have any face with your brother in the underworld."

 

"Haaaaa, what do you want? Do you simply want to make us feel pain? We don't even know you, asshole. What do you want?" Even the gentle Benedict couldn't hold himself back; he started to wail.

 

He was clueless about the reason why this stranger was playing around with them. It became clear to them that he didn't want to kill them or take the wealth they had on the carriage. This person was simply a demon who didn't fear any of the seven gods they worshiped.

 

"You talk too much. Come on." Tom didn't care for what he had to say, so he urged them to move.

 

The two brothers looked at each other for one final time. They knew that this would be their last chance; either they would die or live to see another day. They started chanting a prayer, and tears fell out of their eyes; they tried to make peace with whatever might come next.

 

"Beneath the starry sky, our fond goodbye,

 

Solarus, let no tears pry,

 

A fiery bird, through the heavens, our ashes shall fly."

 

Their final sword dance displayed an elegance they couldn't have imagined in their wildest dreams.

 

The synchronous movement pushed Tom backward, filling him with a sense of joy and excitement that he hadn't experienced in a very long time. He realized that he could finally go all out without holding back.

 

The rush of the fight engaged all his senses. He meticulously analyzed their movements to dodge, attack, and parry.

 

Tom exploited every gap in their defense. While they slashed at him with their swords, he used his fists to assert himself.

 

His hand suddenly transformed into a claw. In a moment, like a bolt of thunder, the attack emerged out of nowhere, gripping the throat of Gareth, who was about to unleash an attack of his own.

 

"Ahhh," Gareth felt a sharp pain in his neck, and as he looked down, he noticed the whole area was mangled, with his throat missing.

 

Coughing out blood, tears of crimson fell from his eyes. It wasn't just fear of death that gripped him; he felt heartbroken that they would die without any just cause.

 

With his final thoughts on the beauty of the stars, Gareth succumbed to the inevitable.

 

Seeing Gareth fall, Tom assessed that Benedict alone wouldn't pose any trouble, especially in his current state. So, he rushed at him with a single punch towards his head, caving in his nose and eyes.

 

After dealing with his last victim, Tom surveyed the scene with satisfaction. He had achieved what he came here for. However, knowing he couldn't stop there, he wiped his hands before meticulously arranging the perfect crime scene.