32 Let's Fight Then, Man to Man

CRACK!

The servant nearly fainted from the pain. With trembling neck muscles, Hans looked up.

"You!" He shouted in anger.

Above him stood an all too familiar figure.

____________

"You! " the figure at his feet cried out.

Van looked downwards. Inside, he was sneering, but his expression remained cold and dark – as if a hawk watching the final struggles of the rabbit in its claws.

"Please…mercy…!" Hans begged. Though he appeared desperate on the outside, inside Hans mind was still thinking furiously.

Van raised a brow. Mercy?

This person had the gall to ask Van for mercy?

By nature, Van was not a ruthless person, but he was no saint either. The person at his feet had gleefully taunted him, threatened him, mocked him – how could he remain calm? Not to mention…

Van inspected Hans with a lazy eye. Indeed. It was there in the slant of Hans' eyes, the subtle clench of his jaw and the fist tucked into his side – Hans' killing intent had not lessened in the slightest!

A small smile curled Van's lip.

Others, for good reasons, he had the strength in him to forgive. But Hans? Would Hans have been merciful as he crushed every single bone in Van's body and then left him a useless cripple unable to 'wipe his own ass'?

Like hell!

An expression of distaste flickered across Van's features. He felt a small flame begin to burn in his chest.

"Plotting to kill someone just because of your lack of ability…how unsightly!"

Hans flinched back as if he had been slapped. Van mercilessly ground his foot down. The older boy below him winced as his bones began to creak.

Van was relentless with his words.

"They have a special phrase for people like you, Hans. Weak of heart and mind. Unwilling to bear suffering but also unwilling to sincerely push towards the top with their own abilities - only able to endlessly scheme against others. A petty villain in a child's play!"

Hans' expression twisted. Van continued; each word a sword that sliced past the tender skin and into the bleeding depths of a heart.

"You're being used as a disposable chess piece in someone else's game, and you don't even know it!"

Like a bitter elixir, shame and anger mixed into Hans' swirling emotions. His expression morphed between anger, humiliation, regret and viciousness.

"You...!" He spat, face red and the veins in his forehead starkly bulging out, "Acting all high and mighty as if you are so much better than me! If you didn't rely on these wolves you would be mince meat under my fists! You coward!"

"Fight me fairly, man to man!"

Hans saw Van's lack of reaction as an admission of fear.

"Bahahaha….I bet you don't dare to!"

The servant on the ground scrambled up to his feet with a gloating look on his face. Van wrinkled his nose as he smelt the acrid scent of urine.

Hans finally saw Van's expression change. The servant didn't know why, but at that moment another warm trickle dripped down his legs…his bladder had loosened once more.

Van picked up the staff and nonchalantly threw it at Hans, "Let's fight then. Man to man."

His tone made it sound like the fight would be of no consequence at all.

Hans grinned viciously. The boy was a fool! The moment the staff landed in his hands the older servant dashed forwards. His muscles bulged as he swung the staff straight at the other's head.

A hand grabbed the staff and bent it in half.

Van smiled darkly at him.

I-Impossible! True fear flashed through Hans then.

BAM!

A single kick punted Hans across the clearing. He spat blood onto the floor.

Van laughed.

But Hans stood up and tossed the staff to the side. His pride refused to let him back down!

Hans landed a solid hit on Van, but the young man in front of him simply smiled and returned the blow – but ten times as devastating.

Hans grew more desperate and tried to fight dirty. He squatted down and tried to throw dirt into Van's eyes.

But Van was done playing games.

He channelled his fleshly power and broke Hans' arm. Then he broke his leg.

Finally, he slammed his fist into Hans' chest.

The older servants' eyes bulged out. He staggered.

A shower of blood sprayed out from his mouth.

Hans felt his vision started to go dark at the edges.

What…was this…?

Through his bleary eyes he saw the thin young man standing above him.

There was a smile full of teeth, "How was it. Was it the fair fight you wanted?"

Hans suddenly felt that he was laughable. Why had he ever thought that he could beat this boy…?

A fair fight…? Ha…ha…ha…!

A limp figure was tossed to the grass beside him. With darkening, Hans inspected Freya and saw that she was covered in bruises and splattered with blood. She seemed to be in a far better state than he was.

Hans drew in a rattling breath.

"H-how…?" He still needed to know.

The youth above him folded his arms. His sharp features took on a lighter cast.

"It was simple, really. You guys really fell for my plan hook line and sinker, huh? Couldn't even imagine that someone would try to use your plan against you."

Hans didn't even have enough energy to shake his head.

"I don't…understand. That chemical trap… it took us many days to collect all the ingredients… how were you able to escape?"

Van leaned casually onto a tree behind him.

"A senior servant was kind enough to remind me of the dangers of offending people like Klaus… I simply never let down my guard."

"The night you two planted the first chemical, I was wide awake. I watched that little ball fly in through my window and land in my clothes… I nearly laughed to death when I saw you two in your little black get-up, trying to sneak around when your actions were as clear as daylight…"

"When you two left, I immediately got up and found another set of identical robes. Despite not being able to identify the chemical, I bought a stole a little tub of low-ranked demon pig's grease from a kitchen hand and smeared it all over the inside of the robes. Whatever it was, the chemical would not pass through the robes and onto my skin. Adding to that, I disassembled the two robes and re-stitched them so that I had two robes that contained a portion of the contaminated material. This ensured that the dosage of the chemical you two added was half as strong…I would appear to fall into your trap, but I would have more time to deal with the effect."

Hans still didn't understand.

"But why did you go to this much effort…?"

"Of course, I only went to this much effort because I wanted to catch you two!" Van laughed. His eyes flashed.

Remembering his need for treasures and resources, Van gave the older youths at his feet an appraising look. These two were trash, sure, but they were also walking money bags.

Keeping with tradition, he poked Jet. The wide-awake ring easily evaded, huffing in annoyance as it did so.

[What?] Jet demanded, [Just kill them and be done with it!]

[Let's stick to our original plan. Help me plant the Phantom Seal.]

Van calmly turned, listening to Jet's instructions within his head. When his eyes met Hans' and Freya's, they were fathomless pools of swirling energy.