Please Save Him...By Killing Him.

"Old man, I was willing to forgive you after I got the sword. But…"

He readied his staff which was filled to the brim with magical power. I, too, didn't waste a second and held Fall in both hands, even trying to copy the position of the fragment. The sheath covering the sword disappeared and the gold light blessed my body and removed all my fatigue.

After confirming the hatred and disgust towards me from that old man, I made up my mind.

"… I can't turn a blind eye to those who wish to harm me or my friends."

I have read many webnovels where a kind-hearted MC will leave the antagonist of an arc alive, after beating him to a pulp or handing him over to authorities. The MC would then forget about him and move on with his life, whereas the villain would suffer from being unable to move on, unable to forget the humiliation, unable to kill himself, and one day, gain enough power to take revenge on that MC and harm his friends and families.

It's true that I currently don't have any friends or families in this world, but that doesn't mean I can't have them in the future. And if I leave him like that, taking pity on his age, I have to pay the consequences in the future. A future where I have someone to protect.

'I'm very possessive in some matters and can't let this slide'

The Old man raised his staff in the air for a second and stomped on the ground, making some of the magic transfer to the area around us. I knew this type of attack. It's a typical AOE attack used by Earth Mages to cover the whole area around themselves with spikes created from earth. If I don't distance myself from him, I would be skewered like a fish, caught between the jaws of a shark.

The magic released by that Old man was slowly covering the whole area as I expected but before I knew it, I was already trapped inside the barrier, created by the same magic that was traveling in the ground.

'Damn. That wasn't a spike attack but to create a barrier. I still have a lot to learn'

Well, I didn't panic. Not even in the least though. With a Legendary Sword this in my hand, I could have taken ten of him at once and still win an easy victory. Not to mention the skill I have.

The Old man then pointed his staff at me and chanted a single word that I couldn't make sense of. But after seeing fire gather around and swirling at the tip of his staff, I could figure it out more or less.

With a slight thrust, the giant fire drill he made started to move toward me at the speed of an arrow. Not too fast, not too slow. Maybe he thought I was still the same kid he had met before and went easy, but I wasn't.

I lowered Fall and took a different position. Not even five seconds have passed but the attack was already in front of me. Without wasting time thinking of unnecessary things, I hit the fire drill like a ball and sent it flying with my sword as a bat.

"I knew it! Legendary Swords are awesome. All you have to do is believe in them."

The fire drill then crashed with the barrier and died without making a scratch on it. The old man didn't stop there though, he used water, air, ice, earth, and every element that is out there, and started to attack me with them. I used Fall to cut, slash, and sometimes even return them. No matter what, he isn't a worthy match for the current me.

"Maybe I should play with him before I finish him? He indeed threatened me and I take them very seriously. Even more, if I have power, *Heheh*"

I don't know why, but I started to enjoy this back-and-forth thing. I can even practice my swordsmanship easily here. But my craziness was short-lived when I heard the system notification.

[!]

[Fall is suggesting that if you don't finish him soon, the situation can turn upside down]

"Oh, I thought that something was fishy when that Old man was only using elemental attacks without much skill, but he's hiding his true power. That might be a problem."

I can still sense that he has more than half of his mana left even after all the continued assault and he doesn't seem to end it anytime soon. 'Thank god Fall reminded me. If it didn't, I would have danced in the mouth of a crocodile'

"It's time to go on the offensive…"

Just when I decided to go on the offensive, he stopped all his attacks and closed his eyes to concentrate. All the mana in his body started to disappear. No, not disappearing, they're changing into something else. Something darker than the darkest, something more ominous that even my imagination couldn't come up with.

"What… is it?"

The system stayed silent without answering my question. When I looked at my sword, the luster it had was also decreasing. The area around us started to feel darker. It was at that time he opened his eyes which were now black and endless. I knew what all the signs meant.

"I'm fcked up, aren't I? I left the villain to get a power-up without even realizing it"

When I gazed at that Old man, a shiver ran down my spine. His appearance was fearsome and almost, demonic. His black eyes were deep and hollow as if they were consuming the very light around us. When he fixed his gaze on me, there wasn't a shred of emotion found on his face.

The power he was emanating began to envelop me, suffocating me with an indescribable fear. But even after that, my legs disobeyed my command and remained rooted to the ground. Not only my legs, but my entire body has frozen. No matter how hard I tried to move, it amounted to nothing in front of him.

I realized a fact at that moment. 'No matter how powerful my Skills are, in front of absolute power, they are nothing. Just like me.'

The Old man with his new power up didn't wait any longer and started to walk toward me like a mindless animal. But, with each step he took, the power that was binding me became heavier and heavier. My body wouldn't be able to keep up with it and before I knew it, it had already kneeled in front of him.

Kneeling in front of a person who's not worthy, was my biggest humiliation.

'Come on, come on, come on. Why isn't my system working? Why can't I use my Spell? Dammit! This place is truly hell'

When the Old man was a few steps away, when I was racking my brain to come up with a plan, I heard the sweetest of sweetest voice, whisper in my ears with pain.

"Please save him...by killing him"

[!]

[Unholy detected!]

[Ultimate Skill – Unholy Conqueror is activated]

[The Host is now completely immune to Unholy]

All the pressure that was making me unable to move, all the power that was making my body numb, disappeared like a drop of rain.

"So, this is Unholy? You knew this was going to happen eh… Fall. Well, you've saved my life, I'll gladly accept your request"

Tightening my grip around the hilt, I lifted Fall with both hands and leaped in front of the Old man, slashing him with my sword along the way. I didn't know it would be enough and raised Fall again and turned to finish him with another strike, but…

"Thank you lad… thank you…"

The Old man hugged me out of nowhere. With his monstrous strength, I couldn't even reject or accept him. It was embarrassing, but still, I stood there, hugged by him. All the malice and hatred toward me melted and I could feel my clothes getting dampened by him… by the cut I gave him.

He was the first person who told me to never give up in this world. He was the first person whom I wanted to respect from the bottom of my heart in this world. He even became the first human that I killed. I'm not going to forget about him. Not until I die.

"You even cleared my curse… thank you, lad"

"W-What?"

His body that was hugging me started to break down and turned into ash. Without even leaving a single piece as evidence, he completely turned into ash and disappeared into nothingness. I stood there blankly, staring at nothing.

"I have prepared for this. I've watched various gore movies to adapt to this. I've even trained my mind to accept this. But still, this isn't what I wanted to feel. This… isn't…"

"No! I'm not going to cry. I'm not going to get depressed about losing him. It's true that he was nice and all, but he has to die for me. I'm not letting this happen again. I'm going to protect everyone I care about. I'll just become that strong."

After wiping all the moisture in my eyes with a new resolve, I realized that there's a magic circle beneath my feet and about to activate…

"... now?"

*Swooosh*

- - -

In a giant hall where the towering and dark pillars stretched towards the high ceiling, their age-worn surfaces reflected the dim light that filtered through the stained-glass windows, and the sound of chains dropping echoed through the empty space.

At the far end of the hall, a person would be seen standing on his knees with his bare upper body. He has red hair that turned dull without any light, strong enough to reach him. Behind him, an infinite number of chains of all sizes were directly linked to his back and arms, bounding him and making him impossible to move even a finger.

The heavy clatter of the chains hitting the stone floor awakened him from his slumber once again. With a beautiful, yet exhausted voice, without even lifting his head, he spoke to himself… looking at his shadow.

"If I think it was a coincidence that you returned and fate that Fall was released. But what should I say now? Magino is also killed and released from his curse. Someone is deliberately provoking 'him' now. *Heheheh*

After all this time, after all these centuries, someone other than a hero is finally born to go against 'him!' *Hahahaha*

I pity his poor soul, 'he' won't be staying still any longer after this. Who knew someone could anger 'him' and cause the destruction of the world just like that."