Journey to Become the Zenith

The Cornered Rat’s Last Bluff (Part 3)

”I’m merely going to grant you the honor...”

”...of choosing your own death.”

The assassin felt as if some invisible hand has reached out and squeezed his heart from all sides.

He coughed brokenly, his breath coming in ragged bursts.

The last thread of desperate hope he’d been clutching fractured into a thousand pieces.

He stared dumbly at Victor, searching the face across from him, trying to find even the slightest sliver of a hint of a bluff.

There was none.

Victor’s expression was tranquil.

His posture was casual and relaxed.

Victor was not threatening him in anger.

He was simply stating a decided fact.

Fear finally clawed its way into the assassin’s mind.

His shoulders began to shake uncontrollably.

A cold dread spread down his spine from the base of his neck.

The air of confidence he’d spent the last few minutes painstakingly building crumbled around him like rotten wood.

Tears began to well up in his eyes.

Victor watched silently.

The golden eyes gave away not a sliver of satisfaction.

Only immense disappointment.

The assassin lowered his head, and in a choked voice, begged.

”Please...””I don’t want to die.””I don’t want to die...””Please spare me.”

His voice cracked and splintered.

The surrounding patrons hadn’t noticed a thing. To them the two men were simply old acquaintances having a quiet drink. But to the assassin... To the assassin it felt like he’d already stepped into hell.

Victor sighed softly. The sound was barely audible, but carried immense disappointment.

”Stop crying.”

His voice was calm.

”It is unbecoming.”

”You are going to die very soon.”

”At least spend your final moments behaving like a man.”

The assassin shook his head violently.

”No...””No...””Please...””I’ll do anything.””I’ll tell you everything.””I’ll serve you.””Just please don’t kill me.”

Victor’s brow furrowed slightly. He looked at the pathetic sight across the table. The man who had hid in shadows...

The man who had cursed innocent children...

The man who had nonchalantly destroyed an ordinary family’s peaceful life. Now... Face to face with death... He had dissolved into a blubbering child.

Disgust gnawed at Victor. ”What kind of low-class assassin are you?” The insult struck the man like a blow to the face.

He shuddered violently.

Then finally, unable to take the pressure, he shrieked the truth.

”It’s nothing!””The truth is...””I’m not really an assassin!”

Victor continued to stare silently. The assassin, afraid Victor would give up on him, continued in a rush.

”I’m merely a curse master’s assistant!”

”I stole a volume of my master’s from the Book of Curses.”

”Secretly learned the basic few curses contained within it.”

”The curses you have seen...”

”Are all I am capable of.”

He laughed bitterly through his tears. ”Faced against someone with your immense power...”

”...they’re useless.”

”...

I’m nothing more than an insignificant bug.”

A silence descended. Victor studied the pathetic man’s face for a long moment. ”So this is how you approach death.”

His voice was neither angry nor sympathetic.

Simply cold with disappointment.

”Pathetic.”

The assassin lowered his head in shame. Victor settled back in his seat.

For a fraction of a second, his hand twitched towards the weapon on his hip.

It would be so much easier to kill this worthless wretch right now. He had killed innocent people without remorse, why should he be given any consideration? But, he thought, he had made a promise earlier.

He had said that he would allow the man a choice.

Victor sighed with annoyance. ”Tsk. Very well.”

”Even though you have greatly disappointed me, I shall still grant you a choice.”

The assassin’s mouth opened eagerly, about to beg once more. But before he could utter a sound, Victor’s killing intent surged. It was not wildly spread, but targeted with absolute precision, engulfing the assassin.

The assassin’s throat tightened, the sound was stolen from him.

His body stiffened, his lungs burning for air. Victor spoke calmly.

”The first choice.”

”You remove the curse you have placed on Clara’s little sisters.”

”You tell me who hired you.”

”If you are honest...””I promise you a swift...””...pain-free enough death.”

Victor’s gold eyes burned into the assassin’s.

” A gift in death...””...for scum like you.”

Each word held the weight of inevitable fate.

It felt like an ice blade against the assassin’s throat. Victor continued without missing a beat.

”The second choice.””You do not answer me.”

”You do not lift the curse.”

”If you make this choice...”

”I will hand you over to Clara.”

Victor glanced quickly at Clara’s table. She sat there, peacefully unaware of the true conversation occurring. ”Once she learns that you are responsible for everything that has happened to her family...”

Victor looked back at the assassin.

”...she will make you wish you had died thousand times over.” The assassin’s face drained of all color. His lips trembled uncontrollably.

”N-No!””If you kill me...”

”...the girls will not wake up!” ”Only I can lift the curse!”

”If I die...””...then so does the curse!””They will sleep forever!”

He leaned forward frantically, his voice cracking with fear.

”So please don’t kill me!”

Victor’s face remained unchanged. His voice was still calm, almost monotone. ”I suspect you think I need you alive to lift the curse.” He gave a slight shake of his head.

” That too is a misinterpretation on your part.

It might take some time, but if I devote myself to studying this type of curse, I will eventually be able to lift it on my own.” He shrugged lightly. ”It is also possible that I will be able to recover the Book of Curses you stole.

And failing that...”

He paused. ”...

I can awaken Clara’s little sisters and wait for them to break the curse through their own will.”

Victor spread his hands innocently.

”See?

There are many ways for me to save them.

Yours is simply the fastest...””...and the most convenient.”

The assassin’s shoulders slumped. His last bargaining chip was gone. Victor slowly shook his head.

”I considered a third option.”

A slight smile played on his lips.

”To make you my servant.”

He looked directly into the assassin’s tear filled eyes.

”But after observing your abysmal level of cowardice, I have changed my mind.”