Refusing to die

Byron refused to die.

He had allowed the bull in Mexico to kill him because he didn't want his suicide to leave a stain on his or his family's reputation. However, that time, he was impotent and wanted a way out of his misery.

Don't get him wrong. He did not go to fight the bull wanting to die. He hoped to. Maybe without this hope, he would have managed to dodge the goddamned bull at all cost. That's why he considered it suicide.

But why would he? Why would he refuse to die back then?

His dad and mom were always into his ears telling him to give them a grandson. An heir of their future McHegan Corporations. He was their only begotten child. That's why he would not openly commit suicide. It would depress his parents who thought he had everything good life could offer. It would also affect market value of their corporation, affect the sales of his lifetime songs and break hearts of many girls around the world.

That's why he started engaging in dangerous fights with hopes that maybe one day he would make a mistake and loose his life, not like a coward... or he thought so.

Now, he was no longer impotent. He also had a goddess by his side though he still doubted she would be of any use if she couldn't even protect him from only twelve monsters. Be it Infected or not, she was a goddess. She should have protected him one way or the other.

Not wanting this to discourage him, Byron thought of something sweet and pleasant.

Gillian's kiss back then.

He reminisced the sweet feeling of her lips touching his, a reminder of how good his life would become if he survived this battle.

'She's such a beauty. I have to survive no matter what. I can even have a chance to take a bite on the Goddess of Beauty, right?'

A strange smile appeared on his face, then a look of new found power. By now, the three-eyed wolf had raised its forearms in the air, forcing him to plummet toward the ground as a result.

With this new found self encouragement, Byron held onto its hair, pulling himself upward like a professional mountain climber.

He didn't have enough time. That fact he was sure of it. That's why he tried to increase his speed. The new body he was inhabiting made things hard for him because of its weak nature, but he persisted.

Grabbing strands and strands of the bastard's hair one group after another, he finally found himself grabbing the fur on its neck. Now, more silky, it felt slippery in his hands, caused him to fall downwards a little but it was long. He exploited its length and moved his fist in circle, coiling it around his wrist in the end.

'Now I've got you, bastard!'

The bastard in his exclamation wasn't happy with the name. He jerked forward, landed on his fore legs again and shook his body so hard to throw the infuriating tiny human away.

The tiny human, being as tiny as he was, he managed to tighten his grip on the bastard's long fur. The bastard sent him flying in the air, making him fall to its side.

Not long after, Byron was dangling on the side of the Infected Monster's neck, his life depending on how long he would manage to keep his hands around the bastard's fur.

The three-eyed guy run here and there to get rid of him, but he refused to let go. The four guardians run beside their master, throwing their muzzles in the air time to time. Byron dodged muzzle after a muzzle, but he knew that this dance was dangerous. He could dodge those two. However, the second those on another side would join their fellows, he knew exactly what would happen to him.

That's why, after getting used to being jerked here and there, Byron pushed himself over its neck again. Now he could see what was going on.

The smaller seven Infected Monsters had turned around, some of them running away from the three-eyed guy who seemed to have gone crazy, others, two, lying on the ground dead after their master had stomped on them.

'Two of them, dead. Me, alive.'

Byron chuckled.

'Who would have thought?'

This boosted his courage.

'I guess it's time to execute my plan then!'

By now, the bastard had threw its head into the air so the tiny human could plummet down. The tiny human struggled to remain on the bastard's neck, trying hard to climb toward its head. However, the bastard was so kind.

Because, he jerked his head downward and gave Byron a chance to slide freely onto it. Now, lying between the bastard's ears, Byron pulled the jade binyeo stuck into its ruby eye... not ruby anymore. Damaged, the eye had stopped glowing and turned black, its center where the hairpin had pierced, looking more darker.

The jade binyeo came soaked in a black liquid. This made Byron wonder if he had managed to make the bastard bleed or not.

As the Goddess of Beauty's hairpin slid out of its eye, the Infected Monster shook violently, a bad tale for Byron who immediately jerked sideway, leaving him dangling below the hoke of its ear. The Infected Monster's head was a bit higher for the four guardians to jump and reach him, but he knew that was not going to last long. Because, soon or later, the bastard would lower its head and their muzzles will reach him.

Byron would have felt scared at the thought, but there was something in front of him, so beautiful that he couldn't dare to waver his gaze. Instead, he raised his right hand in the air and brought the Goddess of Beauty's hairpin downward toward the beautiful thing.

The monsters changed the direction and caused Byron to miss his target.

The jade binyeo missed the bastard's ear-hole and bounced off its skin.

'Let's try again!'

Byron put the jade binyeo into his mouth and held onto the long fury with both his hands, waiting for the bastard's movements to become steady again.

Not long after, he gained his balance, removed his right hand off the long slick hair and grabbed the jaded binyeo which had been stuck between his teeth.

In this hellish battle, the bastard's ear-hole was the only thing Byron could call beautiful. Managing to insert the jade binyeo inside would either kill the bastard or make him more crazy. The ear-hole was his salvation... and his death too if the jade binyeo didn't reach the bastard's brain as Byron had assumed.

Thinking only about salvation, Byron brought his hand down toward the beautiful thing. The hairpin penetrated into the bastard's ear-hole with ease. There was nothing to stop it, after all.

As the hairpin's height shortened and shortened, Byron's hope for salvation kept fading. What if the brain was too far from the ear's entrance for the hairpin to reach it? What would he...

Something about the current situation changed and interrupted Byron's thoughts. The jade binyeo had finally met an obstacle.

'This is it! I should push deeper.'

Byron ignored the bastard's sudden crazy moves and pushed the jade hard, pushing even his arm inside the ear.

The Infect Monster shuddered, run with tremendous speed here and there, letting out a groan in the end. This is when Byron realized that this was his first time hearing the bastard letting out a sound. Only his surbodinates had been howling. Since it was so disturbing for him to fight a mute wolf, hearing it groaning made Byron's face glisten with a satisfied look. It was a good sign, right?

The bastard was feeling pain.

He pushed his arm deeper into the bastard's ear, struggling to keep his balance at its crazy moves. When Byron could not see his elbow, he decided it was time to pull out his hand... the jade binyeo too. The battle was only starting. There's no way he could leave himself unarmed.

As expected, now, the nail-like hairpin came drenched in something sticky and white, a sign that the bastard's brain was damaged.

Byron had been riding on the Infected Monster's back for so long.

'Practice makes happen!'

He had gained some experience. That's why, however much the monster revolted, he managed to keep himself on top of its body, dangling here and there time to time and climbing back on the top. He was waiting for an opportunity to make his finishing blow.

God was on his side. Because, the bastard, being as generous as he was, jerked his head backwards, giving Byron a chance to slid in between its ears once again.

He immediately exploited the opportunity.

The jade binyeo penetrated into something ruby, coming out with black liquid. At the loss of his second eye, the bastard became more crazy. However, Byron didn't give a damn. He found his balance again and, soon, the other eye was gone.

'Now you're blind, bastard.'

Dangling here and there, Byron scanned his surroundings once again. Luckily, the bastard, now blind, was running in the direction of the cliff with tremendous speed.

This time, Byron pushed the jade binyeo into the bastard's already blind eye, leaving it there.

'Be my bank for a while.'

They were soon going to crush onto the cliff's jagged skin and Byron didn't expect the bastard to keep its footing after such a crush. That's why he let go of the jade binyeo, preparing himself for the fall.

The only question in Byron's mind was, what next? Was he going to survive the fall? What if he did? How much time would it take him to gain enough strength to fight the other Infected Monsters?

'Gods!'

As for whether to survive the fall or not, a loud bombarding assaulted Byron's ears, followed by a cloud of dust that blinded him, then the spinning of his brain. A few moments later, he was free falling.

'At least I'm not going to die a coward. These fools are going to devour me mourning their master. I will always be a thorn in their hearts. Ha ha!'