People to Kill

There are several people I want to save in this world.

There are several people I want to kill in this world.

Among the people I want to kill, Lucia tops the list. I need to make sure she dies. I need to make sure she dies brutally… I must make sure of that.

While I do loathe Lucia for what she has done to me, there exist other people too whom I need to kill.

Some will arrive after the third Cataclysm. Some after the second and some after the first one.

Among the people who are currently in this world, other than Lucia, there are 3 other people who take the cake earlier than the rest.

One of them is a girl who manipulated an entire nation to fight and kill me.

The other one is an aged man who destroys his own nation, killing millions. Even though it shouldn't matter to me, among the people he killed there were my very first partners that I had ever made in that life. The way he laughed after committing those heinous atrocities was etched into my brain.

Then there was him… the puppeteer of death.

Once, among one of my long missions, I was set to be a part of a small family of an old couple. I, after being with their family for more than 2 years, grew very attached to them, but in the end I had to leave them after completing my mission. Not having any parental care until meeting them, this was the first time I had felt such warmth like this. It was something that I held dear to my heart.

I was also planning to spend my retirement with them in the future someday…

During those days, this bastard came… he… he massacred the old couple just for his entertainment.

And the most funny part was that… he was one of the people working under Lucia at that time.

I asked Lucia and she gave me an absolutely ridiculous answer that he did it because he thought it would be interesting to see my expression once I lost someone I held dear.

Hearing that, I swore to kill him and went to search for him… but he vanished. After that point, it was as if he had stopped existing. I tried with the best of my ability to search for him, but it was as if he vanished from the face of the earth. I believed he was killed by someone he shouldn't have messed with and then, having no other choice; I tried to move on.

Though I still searched for him now and then.

...…

Wearing a black suit that complimented his black hair, he stood there observing everyone present in that area.

-Thud

-Thud

-Thud

Soon more and more puppets with blades in the place of arms and the rest of the body filled with deadly weapons started falling down the sky and circled around us.

William observed the puppets and slowly took out his sword from the space ring he received as he couldn't help but narrow his eyes at the Puppeteer of Death.

'14 A rank Puppets… this is going to be a pain,' William thought as he prepared to move towards the puppeteer.

"Useless…. each and everyone of them," spoke the puppeteer as he looked at the dead body of his teammates and shook his head in disappointment before observing the rest of the crowd.

"Guess I will have to clean their mess," he spoke with slight annoyance before signalling one of the puppets to move towards the saintess, who was one of the key people in the formation.

William, looking at the situation, proceeded to move but before he could do something… someone else spoke…

"How are you not dead yet?"

It was Zero with his eyes bloodshot as he looked at the Puppeteer of Death.

The puppeteer, confused at his words, tilted his head slightly.

Zero then once again shouted,"You fucker… How the heck are you still alive right now? How long… How long had I been searching for you… after the first, the second and even after third…. I still searched for you!!!!"

Zero looked like he had lost all his senses. It's as if he forgot… no, he had really forgotten that he had regressed. His raging emotions took over him as soon as he saw the puppeteer.

"What are you talking about? Did you hit your head or something?" The puppeteer spoke out of ridicule as he looked at Zero.

William and the others looked at Zero, wondering what was going on. William especially noticed a change occurring in Zero, which made him take some precautions against him, too.

"HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU NOT DEAD YET!!!????" Zero shouted and blood started oozing out of his eyes and ears as he looked at the puppeteer with completely bloodshot eyes.

Saintess looked at Zero with a worried expression as she couldn't help but move to cast a recovery spell on Zero but before she could do so, a certain hand stopped her from doing so. Turning around, she saw Clair asking her to not do it.

And the reason for doing so was…

[Quest: Stop the Saintess from interfacing with Zero's Transformation

Reward: Freedom

Penalty: Death]

Looking at the quest panel, Claire couldn't help but look at Zero again, this time however with a questioning gaze.

"Well, this nonsense is wasting a lot of my precious tim-" The puppeteer spoke, but before he could complete his sentence Zero spoke once again…

"Blood Sacrifice: First Moon"