Then he lowered his arms and saw two stumps that ended where his hands used to begin, with blood beginning to gush from the open wounds.

"What the fuck...?" he said as he turned to look behind him.

Upon turning, he saw a red-haired woman in a black dress standing behind him, less than a meter away, with both daggers in her hands dripping fresh blood and her eyes fixed on him with no expression.

"Who the fuck are you?" said the man, looking at her with eyes bloodshot with rage.

Yuki didn’t respond.

There was no need to.

Because in the next instant her daggers moved again, making two quick and clean cuts on each of his legs, just below the knees.

The man only felt how suddenly the ground was rushing toward his face at full speed. He collapsed face-first onto the dirt with a dull thud.

"AAAGH!" screamed the man, his face buried in the dirt.

He no longer had hands or legs; now he was just a torso with four stumps that bled onto the ground.

"I suppose..." said the man between gasps, his cheek crushed against the earth, "a life potion won’t heal this..."

He was right.

Basic life potions could close wounds and regenerate broken bones, but they couldn’t regrow lost limbs. For that, potions of a much higher level than the two basic ones he had in his inventory were needed.

The man turned his head to the side and a few meters away on the ground were his severed hands still clutching the hilt of his greatsword.

"If I can get to there maybe I can—" he muttered, gritting his teeth, as he began to drag himself forward.

Without legs and without hands, all he could use were his elbows, or what was left of his forearms. He pushed himself forward centimeter by centimeter, leaving a trail of blood behind him on the earth, teeth clenched and eyes fixed on the greatsword.

But then Yuki’s daggers came down again and both his arms fell to the ground, cut off at the shoulders.

"AAAAAAAAGH!!"

The man’s scream echoed throughout the place as his body was reduced to a torso with a head lying face-down in the dirt.

He could no longer move, crawl, or do absolutely nothing. Only lie there, face in the dirt, gasping and bleeding, while he heard footsteps approaching him. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Mark was the first to reach the body, followed by Ely, Alice, Aria, and Rose. Zilu, on the other hand, stayed a few steps back, watching the scene with her ears pressed against her head.

"Great work, Yuki," said Mark with a smile.

"Thanks, Master," she responded, sheathing her daggers in a clean motion.

Mark looked down at the torso on the ground to see how the man, or what was left of him, was still face-down, his cheek against the dirt and his heavy breathing coming in short gasps.

Then Mark placed a foot under his side and flipped him over, leaving him face-up.

The man in the white suit looked up at him from below. His face was covered in dirt, blood, and sweat. His hair was plastered to his forehead and his eyes, which just minutes ago had been filled with arrogance, were now bloodshot with pain but still maintained a defiant gleam that refused to be extinguished.

"Listen to me closely, you bastard... if you’re going to kill me, do it already," said the man in a hoarse voice. "Because if you don’t and somehow I recover, consider yourself dead."

"...Were you this insufferable in your past life too?" asked Mark in a tired tone.

The man let out a dry laugh that made him cough up blood.

"Ha?" he said, spitting to the side. "And you were just as useless in yours?"

Alice, who was standing next to the man, kicked him directly in the jaw, turning his face to the side with a crunch.

"When you address to my lord, do it with respect," said Alice lowering her foot with a calmness that didn’t match the violence of the blow. "Beast."

"Haha" he laught while spitting out a tooth onto the ground along with a stream of blood.

"Ely," said Mark without taking his eyes off the guy. "Can you pick up his greatsword?"

Ely looked toward where the weapon was lying on the ground, still with the man’s severed hands gripping the hilt.

"Of course, Master," she said, walking toward the weapon.

Ely grabbed the greatsword by the blade with a single hand, shook off the severed hands that fell to the ground with a wet sound, and lifted the entire weapon as if it were a twig.

"It’s quite lighter than it appears..." commented Ely, spinning it a couple of times in the air.

Mark caught a glimpse of Ely playing with the greatsword a bit and then looked back at the guy on the ground.

"Alice, let him speak," ordered Mark.

Alice immediately removed her foot from the man’s face and took a step back.

The guy turned his head back toward Mark, spit more blood, and then did something Mark didn’t expect.

He smiled.

"Well... what a nice view I have from here," said the man with a smile and a provocative tone.

His eyes moved from one subordinate to another, scanning all of them from below with deliberate slowness that left no doubt about exactly what he was looking at.

Aria quickly kicked him in the ribs, making a crack sound. The impact knocked the wind out of him and made him fold to the side with a groan.

"Disgusting degenerate, you repulse me," said Aria, looking at him with repulsion.

The man coughed a couple of times and then laughed.

"Ha... totally worth it," he said between laughs and coughs.

Mark looked at him for another second and then crouched down, bringing his face to the same level as the man’s.

"Listen to me good, asshole, you’re already finished and you know it," said Mark seriously. "But I’ll still give you the option to choose how you want to go, even though garbage like you doesn’t deserve it."

"Wow, how kind you are... what does your majesty want to know?", responded the man with clear cynicism and mockery.

"Cooperate, answer my questions, and I’ll let you rest in peace."

"And if I don’t?"

"If you don’t..." said Mark as the smile on his face grew even bigger. "I’ll kill you anyway, but I’ll resurrect you as my undead slave so you answer whether you want to or not."

The man’s smile lasted for a few more seconds before disappearing.

"You know what?" said the man with a frown.

"What?"

"Suck my dick," he said while spitting at Mark’s robe.

"...I suppose this is what I get for trying to be nice to garbage like you," said Mark, looking at his robe.

Then Mark let out a long sigh and stood up.

"Ely," he said, extending his hand toward her. "Your sword."

"Here you go, Master," said Ely, putting the hilt of her sword in his hand.

Mark grabbed it, feeling the weight of the weapon in his hand, and looked at the man on the ground.

"Any last words?"

"Yeah... go fuck yourself, idiot."

And without further ado, Mark brought the sword down making a clean cut. The head separated from the body and rolled a couple of centimeters over the dirt before stopping with its face looking up at the sky.

Then he released Ely’s sword, which stuck its tip into the ground at his side, and crouched down to pick up the head.

"Wake Up."