Butcher

'What the hell was that?' Alex thought and cautiously positioned himself, prepared for any other surprise attack. But seeing both Agent Eris and Kirf unmoving, merely examining him, he yelled, "What are you trying to do?"

Agent Eris ignored Alex's question and lifted her bloody hand towards him, saying, "Did you notice?"

Alex looked at Agent Eris's hand and her injured face. 'Did I injure her?' he thought to himself, unable to believe it.

"Notice what?" Alex shook his head in a daze and replied.

"Your actions, your movements," Agent Eris pointed out.

'What is she talking about?' Alex pondered. 'It wasn't me who attacked.'

Agent Eris sighed, realizing Alex still didn't want to comprehend his own actions. She decided to nudge him. "Think carefully about your actions. When I attacked you, how did you respond?"

"Was your response that of a normal person?" Agent Eris added.

Alex did as he was told and started to carefully analyze his actions before. 'Right, how did I pull off those moves?' Alex contemplated.

Observing that Alex was taking her advice and reflecting on his actions, Agent Eris added, "You didn't run or just defend yourself. The moment you realized you had a chance, you aimed directly to kill and tried to stab me in the head."

"No, I didn't try to kill you," Alex denied. "It just happened."

Agent Eris continued, "You even released a faint killing intent."

Alex wondered to himself, 'I released a killing intent? How can one even release a killing intent?'

Agent Eris let out a weary sigh and thought, 'He's still telling the truth,' and pondered, 'What is his problem?'

Agent Eris sighed again and said, "Alright, let's assume you're right."

"What about the moment when I kicked you and created distance between us? Why did you throw the dagger at me when I had stopped paying attention to you and ceased my attack?" Agent Eris inquired, pointing once more to the injury on her face. "Is this the action of a normal person, to attack someone who had let their guard down?"

Alex struggled to answer Agent Eris's question. He found it difficult to understand his own actions, so he resorted to a lie. "It was self-defense," Alex denied.

Upon hearing Alex's lie, Agent Eris felt a throbbing pain and retorted, "Hah, now you're starting to accept."

Alex was about to deny again, but the angry voice of Agent Kirf interrupted.

"You've wasted enough time. Agent Silas, follow your orders," Agent Kirf declared and kicked the dagger on the floor towards Agent Silas once again.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I can't do it. Can't you give me a different kind of test?" Alex pleaded.

"You know that I am responsible for your knight acceptance ceremony mission, right?" Agent Kirf reminded.

Alex nodded and replied, "Yes, sir."

"So you do understand that if I decide that you have failed, I can kill you right here without requiring permission from headquarters, right?" Agent Kirf added with a cold tone.

'What?' Alex was surprised, but then he recalled the first time he received the knight acceptance assignment notification.

It had indicated in the mission failure clause that the punishment was death, but he never anticipated that Agent Kirf would have complete control over his failure and even have the authority to execute him if he deemed him unfit for the mission.

'I thought BW was going to decide that,' Alex thought. That's why he decided to check his assignment once again, and this time he carefully went over every detail.

Alex noticed the file that was attached to his mission notification, containing all the mission regulations and permissions. In there, he found a clause granting his mission handler the power to declare him unfit for the mission and the right to carry out his execution.

Agent Kirf patiently waited, observing as Agent Silas confirmed his words via the BW application. Agent Kirf then consoled him, saying, "If it makes you feel better, even if you did not kill that person," he pointed towards Thomas, "and end up failing, being executed by me, he will follow you afterward." Agent Kirf explained.

Agent Eris interjected and revealed, "His fate has already been sealed. He won't survive this night."

Noticing Alex's unwavering determination, Agent Eris remarked, "I warned you that day, whatever choice you make, you must embrace the consequences."

'What day?' Alex wondered. 'Is she referring to the time when she recruited the original Alex into BW?' Alex speculated, growing frustrated.

'I didn't choose anything. I was just forced to be here, as a member of a secret organization,' Alex thought. Just then, Agent Kirf presented his ultimatum.

"So, what will you choose? Kill him and live, or die together?" Agent Kirf asked.

Alex picked up the dagger from the ground again and looked from one place to another—from the dagger in his hand to Agent Eris and Kirf, then to the chained Thomas.

Alex noticed the panic in Thomas's eyes, as if pleading, 'No, please don't kill me.'

'Do I really have no other choice but to take the lives of others?' Alex pondered. Desperation pushed him to consider an escape plan.

'What if I ran, using my teleportation ability?' Alex wondered but quickly disregarded the idea. 'I've already involuntarily revealed my ability, so the element of surprise is gone.'

Considering his options, Alex speculated, 'Even if I attempted to run, relying on the element of surprise,' as he paused to gauge the ranks of both Agent Eris and Kirf. 'I doubt I can outrun them.'

He realized that they were probably of higher rank than himself after failing to perceive their ranks.

'And even if, by some stroke of luck, I somehow managed to run and succeed, how will I escape from the entire BW?' Alex became dejected by the reality and tried to think of other ways that could potentially rescue him from this situation.

With each passing moment he spent searching for a way out, he felt a flicker of hope deep within, as if subconsciously awaiting a miracle.

Eventually, Alex lost all of his hope after failing to find a way out of this situation and acknowledged, 'I suppose miracles won't happen in the real world.'

Alex started heading toward Thomas. With each step he took towards him, he could feel an increasing despair emanating from Thomas. Alex could see that Thomas was using all of his power, desperately trying to make a sound while thrashing wildly in the chair. Thomas looked like a trapped animal, one that was welcoming his butcher.

Alex reached Thomas and placed his left hand on Thomas's left shoulder. He leaned towards Thomas's right ear and whispered, "I'm sorry, man. You're going to die anyway. It's not my fault. Don't blame me."

Thomas tried to attack Alex, but chains held him down, preventing his actions.

Alex lifted his head from Thomas's ear and prepared himself. 'I didn't get a second chance in life just to die again.'

Alex raised the dagger, thinking, 'He's going to die anyway,' and aimed towards Thomas's heart. 'I'm not the one who's killing him,' he felt the dagger meet Thomas's skin. 'I'm just an executioner.' He exerted force and felt the dagger pierce Thomas's heart. 'Executioner. I'm an executioner,' he whispered to himself repeatedly while pushing the dagger into Thomas's heart.

Alex heard Thomas coughing blood with his final breaths, and he sensed the life within Thomas slowly fading away.

He withdrew the dagger and examined his bloody hand, questioning himself, 'Why am I so calm?' He observed that his hand was steady, and he wasn't even panicking.

While he was trying to come up with an explanation for his unusual behavior, he suddenly felt a piercing pain in his head. He tried to massage his temples, but the pain only got worse. Then he heard Agent Kirf's voice and turned toward him with great difficulty.

"Good job, Agent Silas. You passed the test," Agent Kirf declared.

Alex couldn't quite hear or comprehend the voice of Agent Kirf. With every passing moment, the pain in his head increased, and he felt like his brain was enlarging, banging against his skull repeatedly.

Alex tried to take deep breaths. 'Am I having a panic attack?' he thought and heard Agent Eris addressing him.

"Ah, that was fun! Your expression when you stabbed our customer was a wild one," Agent Eris exclaimed.

Alex turned toward Agent Eris, trying to understand her, but his vision started to blur, and he thought, 'Did they do something to me?' Just as Alex was about to question them, his entire world went black, and he felt himself crashing toward the ground.

Agent Eris let out a bewildered voice upon witnessing Alex crashing toward the ground. She hurriedly headed toward him and caught him before he could hit the floor.

She checked his pulse and examined him with her mana sense, and realized that he had blacked out. She placed his head on her knees and wondered, 'What just happened?'

Then, suddenly, she felt Alex releasing an increasing amount of killing intent with each passing moment.

She became more confused and tried to wake him up, but she couldn't for some reason. So, she decided to watch over him and wait until he woke up.