Treatise Of A Failed Knight-Chapter 95: Loss

To be honest, taking a life is easy.

Too easy. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

It is one of the easiest things in the world—especially for a Leviathan.

Zarius remembers...

His mind travels to the recent past, when he visited the Aditi Estate and slaughtered everyone there. He initially only wanted to capture Javier’s family so he could use them as bargaining chips, but after watching all those people standing like figurines, he couldn’t help it.

It was almost like they were begging to be killed.

And so, as he approached the gates, he walked towards the guards and killed them off first.

It was easy.

To make it a little comical, he sliced off their heads and placed them in their hands.

They looked really silly—headless soldiers holding their respective heads.

He had a brief chuckle before venturing inside, continuing his slaughter in the still, silent world that was now his domain. It was hilarious watching them wield their Armaments, as if such paltry things would protect them.

They died without even unsheathing their weapons.

Then, he saw the children training together in the yard and thought to himself:

’Should I kill them too?’

It would have been remarkably easy for him to do so, and his crimson eyes flashed with ominous light. However, after careful consideration, he decided not to.

Instead, he ignored them and went upstairs.

’They’re just kids anyway.’ He thought at the moment. ’I’ll deal with them later.’

He explored the Aditi Estate, finding it rather cramped and unimpressive. To think that the troublesome Javier Aditi hailed from such a place—it still feels a little unbelievable.

However, Zarius has never been one to judge based on humble beginnings.

Even he had modest origins.

After exploring the house a little, he encountered the woman of the house, Janith, and honestly... he couldn’t resist the urge to slice her delicate neck. Feeling the blade cut through her flesh and bones without any resistance was like cutting a hot knife through butter.

It felt cathartic!

Even now, Zarius has not forgotten the sensation.

Once he finished with her, he killed all the guards and warriors within the house, finally making his way to the bedroom of the Head of Household.

To break the ice, he let Janith’s decapitated head enter first, before slowly proceeding in.

Then, he gave a pleasant greeting.

For a few seconds, the man—Damon Aditi—was stunned beyond words.

Even with time operating normally, it felt like he was frozen for far too long. However, once he snapped out of it, he became a formidable beast—rabid like a dog and fierce like a thousand storms.

Even Zarius was stunned by his boldness.

Their fight leaked outside, where the children got involved and tried to help their father.

It was at that point that they realized... everyone else in the Aditi Household was dead.

The fools hadn’t even noticed!

They were the only ones in the Estate!

He had killed everyone else, and the Head of Household was next on the list.

Of course, in the end, all it would take was one strike to completely decimate the man and slice off his head. It wouldn’t be as pleasant as killing Janith, but it was still a kill regardless.

However, Zarius had a better idea.

"Let us play a game. For every minute that passes without you doing anything to me, I’ll take a body part from your children." He offered with sincerity. "You have my word."

The foolish man agreed.

Perhaps out of desperation, or maybe some sense of chivalry.

However, one quick minute passed to Zarius, and he plucked out an eye from the powerless girl. She screamed, crying as if she were a little child.

She had already graduated from the Knight Academy, but it seemed she couldn’t handle a little blood.

What a shame...

"Y-you bastard! A minute hasn’t passed yet!" The man ignorantly yelled out.

But Zarius couldn’t help but shake his head.

"It has to me."

He wouldn’t expect these mere humans to understand about Leviathans and their Conceptions.

So, rather than explain to him, he let another minute pass, and he sliced off one of the little boy’s arms. Oh, the kind of ear-piercing scream the boy made... it felt melodious—like a song.

Zarius already knew the boy was talented... but not to this extent.

He let another minute pass, and then cut off the second limb, just to hear him scream again.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t as good as the first time.

The father did his best to protect his family, but after plucking the second eye from Selicia, Zarius got bored with the game and proceeded to kill the miserable old man.

It was just a way to pass the time anyway.

He knocked out the two children, treating their injuries so they wouldn’t bleed out.

Then—

"It took a while to stack the corpses atop each other, but it was a worthwhile investment. And burning your house was just the cherry on top, hehe..." Right now, Zarius chuckles, returning to the present after recalling such fond memories.

He is right in front of Javier Aditi, his blade pointed at the sniveling children who have managed to survive for this long.

Just as planned, I have been able to use them to gather information from Javier.

Honestly, he has no further use for them.

He doesn’t believe Javier lied to him, though there are a few unbelievable things about the story.

Still... he wouldn’t blame the lad.

He knows...

’This Javier and his family are ordinary people. They don’t hold any special worth.’

All those coincidences that helped Javier were likely machinations of another Leviathan, perhaps the same one who made him regress. However, it isn’t easy for Leviathans to manipulate scenarios when other Leviathans are involved.

This is why he knew he had to kill Javier himself, else he would keep on living somehow even if a stronger enemy appeared.

’Even though a Cadre 5 Magivore is much stronger than this guy, through some bullshit coincidence... he still managed to survive.’ Zarius had this thought when he first got the news that Javier and his team succeeded in defeating the Magivore.

It felt absurd.

But it made him all the more confident.

’Javier Aditi, I’d like to know more about you... which is why I have spared you for this long!’

He grows increasingly curious about the man in front of him.

’What happens when I push you over the edge?’ His brows rise slowly. ’Will you reveal some kind of unknown power? Will some things coincidentally fall into place?’

Zarius doubts it.

If something were to happen, it would have occurred already.

This patron Leviathan, whoever it is, probably can’t afford to cross him for the sake of Javier.

’But, fifty years into the future... that’s ten decades.’ Zarius’s eyes flash with a tinge of curiosity and disbelief.

There’s no way such a Leviathan is small fry.

After all—

’Even I can only manipulate up to a day at a time. But for some reason, they’re not revealing themselves, which means they either wish to see this outcome, or they’re unable to do anything about it...’ Zarius chuckles and shakes his head, staring pitifully at Javier, who is still begging like a snot-nosed brat.

"I’m done deliberating. Your ten seconds are up."

SQUELCH!

In one clean strike, he pierces the heart of the girl kneeling before him.

"Ja... vi...?" Those are her last words before her body lifelessly plops to the ground, quickly submerged in a pool of her own blood.

"SELICIAAAAAAA!"

Javier screams like a powerless puppy, and Zarius nearly chuckles in amusement before proceeding to the next boy. Before he strikes, he notices Javier rising to his feet, mustering all the strength he can to prevent the death of his little brother.

But Zarius is not amused by this.

In fact, he is a little frustrated at this point.

"The weak should accept their place as the weak and stop deluding themselves..." Zarius casually walks towards Javier, sending his hand charging at him at ’normal’ speed.

However, he knows how quick this will look to the man before him.

—Imperceivably fast!

With this hand, he reaches for one of Javier’s eyes and plucks it out with expert precision, delicately removing it from the socket, and then kicking Javier down once more, before proceeding to the shivering Craig.

Then, time balances itself once again... and Javier is on the floor.

"Garghhh! My eyes!" Javier groans, stifling his shout so he can glare hatefully at Zarius.

"Your eyes... they look quite nice up close."

Zarius stares at the bloody eyeball for a moment before crushing it and tossing it to the side.

Then, he lifts his blade to strike Craig.

"Wait, no... please... don’t do this!" Javier screams. "You already killed one, please don’t—!"

"...."

"Craig, don’t look... don’t look back! Just look at your big brother.

"B-big brother—"

"Yes! That’s right, I’m right here! I’m—!"

SWOOSH!

The blade descends with merciless might, lopping off the young man’s head in a flash.

The blood splatters to the ground as the decapitated head rolls for a moment before finally halting next to Zarius’s foot. Then, and only then, does the lifeless body fall to the ground.

Both of them... dead.

They die right in front of Javier’s eyes, and Zarius watches him keenly.

’So what will happen now? I wonder...’

*************

Despair.

It envelops me, trapping me in a veil of darkness that I cannot escape from.

When I saw Selicia and Craig, the spark of hope in my heart turned into a bursting flame. I had all kinds of thoughts, and the motivation to win only grew stronger.

But, all of that has been stolen from me.

Both of them died... so meaninglessly... at the hands of the one who murdered our parents.

"ARRRRGGHHHHHHH!!!"

My scream, despite its volume, feels hollow.

It has lost all the energy and vigor I came here with. I had thought, somehow, I would be able to find a way to win if I planned things properly. Even though the odds weren’t in my favor, I still wanted to try.

But now... what’s the point?

This thing before me has shown me that there truly is no meaning behind struggle.

No point in resistance.

What can I do with my C Grade Armaments?

How can I win?

Perhaps this so-called hope of mine is also a part of my hubris—an illogical belief that I will get what I desire if I seek it hard enough.

’I’m sorry, Brad... I’m sorry, Father, Mother, Selicia... Craig...’ My head hangs powerlessly atop my shoulder as tears stream down my face.

’I’m sorry, everyone. In the end... I couldn’t do anything.’

Against such a being as a Leviathan... it is impossible for a mere man like me to win.

"You’re a smart man." Zarius laughs aloud, his shadow now creeping above me. "A wise person submits to circumstance. Most people don’t get it. Your father didn’t understand that, yet he kept struggling up to the very end, but you... You’re intelligent enough to know when you’re out of your depth."

"...."

"Weak people should understand their place and shouldn’t try to resist the strong. Otherwise, they end up prolonging their suffering, only to be met with failures in the end."

"... What do you know about weakness?"

I mumble out words before realizing it, my face still crestfallen and devoid of life.

I simply kneel, powerless.

My body is motionless, and I feel an impossible weight keeping me down.

The enemy is right in front of me, yet I know there exists a wide distance between us—one that I cannot traverse with my meager strength.

Perhaps he is right.

Maybe... I am simply prolonging my suffering if I keep resisting.

"Want to know how I got these burns?" Zarius slowly raises my head with his four-finger hand, and I watch a gentle smile play on his hideous face.

"I had a family... a wife and a daughter." He sighs softly, raising his cloak for me to see the doll and dagger strapped to his waist again. "The dagger was hers. She was a fine hunter who could carve up any animal in a flash. My daughter owned the doll. It was her favorite, and she would play with it every single day."

So this man had a family too—a normal life.

Yet he became a Leviathan?

Does that mean Professor Alaric was indeed onto something? Can humans actually...

"Due to a fortuitous encounter, I experienced an Apotheosis and became a Leviathan. It took a while getting used to my mysterious power, but once I did... I became incredibly strong and lived a more comfortable life with my family. I was just a farmer, but thanks to my strength, we eventually... Ah, I almost got carried away. Well, that’s besides the point. Basically, I got too arrogant because of my strength—I became haughty in my mind. I was the most powerful in my village, and I never lost a fight. But... all of that changed when another Leviathan appeared."

"...."

"This Leviathan was different from me. He called me a Witness Exemplar. He... was a Disciple Leaper." Zarius smiles wryly while staring at me. "That means he is Rank 2 of the Leaper Pathway."

Exemplar... Leaper...

Two out of the six Leviathan Pathways.

"He wanted me to do a few favors for him, but I refused... since that would force me to part with my family. Then, not only did he slaughter everyone in my village, but he killed my family before my very eyes. He burned down our new house, which I just finished paying for with my increased earnings, and left nothing but my child’s doll and my wife’s dagger behind. The worst part? I couldn’t do a single thing... not a single thing."

For a moment, Zarius turns silent.

He simply stares at me intently, his eyes flashing with a hint of emotion.

So it seems someone so inhuman had such a past. He experienced such a loss that it changed him forever, driving him to a point of no return.

"That is the difference between Rank 1 and Rank 2 among Leviathans. I ingrained that memory in my head after that, eventually thanking the senior for enlightening me."

"W-what?"

"I was the one in the wrong!" Zarius laughs lightly. "I was weak, yet I dared provoke the strong. All he wanted from me was a little favor, yet I refused. I was out of my mind and needed correction, which he promptly did."

This person... he is truly not a human at heart.

"Don’t look at me like that. I understand you have your ideals, but where have they gotten you? In the end, nothing matters in this world more than strength! The power to do and undo... it is what gives me the ability to triumph over you and get what I want. It is also what allowed that Leaper to get what he wanted in the end. This world operates on such principles, and it has existed since time immemorial!"

"... Fuck you!"

"Haha! Those are just words!" Zarius laughs even louder now, retracting his hand as he raises it to the sky with immense vigor. "Regardless of the power that humans possess, they cannot match the strength of a Leviathan! That is why I was able to completely manipulate the two Kingdoms in your so-called past life, and why you will now perish here."

My head hurts.

As I listen to his words, I feel a deep terror ingrained in my heart, and my head pounds.

The pain is frightening.

I am not afraid of death—not in the slightest.

But how can I die like this, at the hands of my family’s killer? I haven’t fulfilled my promise to my deceased family. What about my promise to Brad?

I still haven’t apologized to all my friends! I... there’s so much I haven’t done.

Not yet.

I can’t die yet!

I glare at Zarius, feeling an illogical sense of motivation rising deep within me.

"This again..." He sighs and shakes his head. "I said it’s useless. You can’t... hmm?"

Suddenly, he pauses.

Then, his eyes broaden in what I can only describe as shock.

Afterward, a smile forms on his face, and a crooked expression of both joy and disbelief becomes evident in his twinkling eyes.

"My goodness... I wasn’t mistaken!" He laughs aloud, pointing to something behind me.

"Something indeed happened!"