A One-Sided Oath

Boom!

A resounding explosion bloomed forth inside the room, sending strong winds in all directions.

The reaper was thrown by the force of the explosion while Seth remained planted at the heart of the explosion, his shield still firmly standing in front of him.

As the dust from the explosion settled, the room was revealed once again. This time, there was an obvious difference between its current shape and what it once was before.

The walls were all cracked from the pressure and sharpness of the winds and the ground was caved in noticeably. Some parts of the wall had even fallen off.

Slowly, Seth walked forward as he headed for his destination, the place where the reaper lay. "I told you to kill me within two minutes since the principal would be here after the two minutes are up."

"Your two options have become available to you from this moment. Die or give me my answer." Seth stood in front of the reaper.

"Cough! Cough!! You're a monster, an abomination! You shouldn't be in existence!" The reaper vomited blood with every sentence that came out of his mouth.

Seth's face curved into a wicked grin. "Don't you worry about that. I know all too well how monstrous I am, but I'm nowhere near where I need to be. It'll only get tougher ahead for me."

"Unfortunately, you wouldn't be there to experience it."

Seth placed his hand on the reaper's left thigh. "We've got a minute more before the principal gets here."

"Let's see which happens first. Your death, your breakdown, or the principal getting here."

Seth removed his hand and went on to reseal the pressure points he had unsealed previously.

Bzzzt.

Sparks flew around Seth's hand after he finished sealing the reaper's pressure points.

"Bolt." With a single word from Seth, the sparks amplified. Bolts of lightning jumped around Seth's hand. The Reaper's eyes widened. Mages who could use lightning spells were few and in between but Seth was casting a lightning spell.

"Let's get started, shall we?" Seth asked but before the reaper could even reply, the hand landed on his head.

"Ahh!!"

Horrifying screams of pain and fear escaped the reaper's mouth.

"You should at least experience how your victims felt every time you decided to toy with them when you should've just killed them."

Seth let go of his head but the reaper's body continued shaking uncontrollably and only stopped a few seconds later.

"Why kill them in the first place?" Seth asked and placed his hand again, forcing another bout of pained screams from the reaper.

"Killing a human shouldn't even be considered in the first place just because they were simply more talented."

"Ah! Talent…" Seth quickly let go of the reaper.

"Were you sent by the King of Vedorg?" Seth asked an unexpected question that widened the dimming eyes of the reaper.

"I knew it. It was that bastard's plan all along."

'How! How did he find out!?' The reaper questioned himself. Had he perhaps confessed without knowing while the lightning was wreaking havoc inside of him?

"Oh, you don't have to worry about how I got to know since I'll tell you. While I'm only fourteen, I know of the underground dealings of the kingdoms. I know how they employ assassins to kill off geniuses before they fully bloomed."

"That's how I came to know of a monster called The Reaper. A monster who gained his name after killing over twenty geniuses without ever getting caught even though his identity wasn't a secret."

The more Seth spoke, the angrier he became.

"For now, I'll let this slide since I can't reveal my cards too early. Once I graduate from the institute, you'll hear the news concerning the king and his kingdom or not. I feel like I need to end your life to repay just a fraction of what you've done." Seth's hand moved closer to the reaper once again.

With all the strength he could gather, the reaper opened his mouth. "Please, don't kill me!"

Seth bent his head to the side, placing a hand on his chin. "Why?" Seth asked curiously.

This man that had killed geniuses between the ages of ten and twenty before they could grow was pleasing for life.

♠♠♠♠♠

Blaise Dusthorn was born into a noble family. A noble family that revered mages. The family head as well as the direct descendants all turned out to be mages.

In the noble family of Dusthorn, talent reigned supreme. Even among the mages, attention was given to those with more talents as even the position of the family head was given to the most talented descendant be it a male or female.

Blaise was the first son and was called a genius. One the family was proud to have.

Having two siblings, his position as the heir was all but secure. That was until the birth of the fourth and final child.

The birth of Damien turned everything upside down. Damien grew up to be more talented than every other sibling, Blaise included.

Attention as well as resources slowly became directed toward Damien who held the most talent. Soon, even the position of the heir was taken from Blaise and given to Damien.

This created hatred in the heart of Blaise. Hatred for those more talented than he was as they were bound to take things that belonged to him.

Damien noticed his brother's hatred and sorted ways to get rid of him, but he couldn't do much yet as he wasn't the family head. Damien was also greedy as didn't want Blaise threatening his position at any time.

Soon afterward, Damien officially became the family head after the death of their father and one of his first decrees was exiling his older brother Blaise to prevent any possibility of a power shift.

As ordered by the new family head, Blaise left the family completely.

Two years after he left, the family head, Damien was murdered by a vengeful Blaise who returned to mete out punishment to his little brother.

Blaise didn't stay behind as he disappeared after killing his brother and making it known that he did it.

Two years after the death of the genius family head of the Dusthorn family, another genius from a different family fell. Six months passed and another was killed.

It didn't take long for the identity of this killer to be revealed.

Blaise went around reaping the lives of geniuses better than him and soon, he earned the name "The Reaper". His family placed a bounty on his head and so did the other victimized families leading him into hiding, only coming out when commissioned to put an end to a genius.

♠♠♠♠♠

Seth didn't entirely know of the reaper's story but he didn't need to. It wasn't worth knowing to him.

With a face full of anger, Seth asked again. "Why should I let a murderer live? If you had gone after my sister first, she would have died. Would you still have the guts to ask me to let you live after you had done that?"

"Fine. I'll let you live now but I can't guarantee what will happen after the authorities get a hold of you. I'm only after the bounty."

Seth placed his hand on the abdomen of the reaper as his mana leaked into the mana core of the reaper. His mana transformed into a chain that bound the reaper's core.

Seth opened his mouth as he uttered. "A one-sided oath."