As the old saying goes, ‘It is not the mother-in-law who beats you, but the sister-in-law who tries to stop her that is more hateful.'¹
In that sense, Otto was an even more malicious, annoying, and wicked type of person than the sister-in-law who stops the beating.
It would have been annoying enough just to stop the beating, but encouraging more beating while providing treatment was outrageous.
He was truly the worst of the worst.
"Otto de Scuderia!!! You fucking bastard!!!"
Argonne spewed a stream of profanity at Otto.
"What have I done to deserve this from you!!! You demonic bastard!!!"
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"I lost, I lost a lot."
Otto retorted, as if that were a joke."I've lost a lot to you."
"W-What?!"
"Of course you wouldn't know." Otto said.
Otto had never actually come to blows with Argonne and lost.
However, when Otto first started playing the game ‘Territory Wars,' he was repeatedly smacked in the head.²
So Argonne wouldn't know.
"Anyway."
Otto turned to look at Kairos.
"Keep going. Just don't kill him. It would be a waste to kill him so soon. Hehehe!"
Otto smirked, for while it was fun to watch from the sidelines, but he didn't want to be a part of that horrible revenge.
"As expected from such a pansy. Kehaha"
Kairos was very pleased with Otto's appropriate behavior.
Kairos had debated whether to kill Argonne or detain him and provide treatment, and he hadn't expected it to be resolved so well in this manner.
"Thank you, Pansy."
"What's this for. Well, good luck."
"I'll make sure to buy you a drink when I'm done."
"I don't drink like you. No thanks, just continue what you're doing."
So Otto entrusted Emperor Argonne to Kairos and his group, and left the scene.
Now that they'd succeeded in capturing Argonne, Otto decided to focus on slowly absorbing the territory Argonne had occupied.
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Afterward, the Stronghold was filled with the screams of Argonne the Great.
For a full week, Kairos and his men continued to torture Argonne over and over again.
The result.
"Please… please kill me… I beg you… please kill me…"
Argonne prostrated himself, tears and snot pouring down his face.
Torturing him and then healing him.
Torture again, treatment once more.
After this process repeated hundreds of times over the course of a week, Argonne was on the verge of insanity.
No matter how good the jelly was, it couldn't heal the psychological damage.
As a result, Emperor Argonne's mind gradually crumbled, and by the end of the week, he was on the brink of complete lunacy.
Possibly he'd already lost his mind.
"What's wrong with him?"
Otto asked as he pointed to the slumped over Argonne.
Emperor Argonne stared blankly at the ceiling, drooling, and no matter how one looked at him, his condition was not normal.
"He's a weakling. Tsk"
Kairos looked at Emperor Argonne like that and shook his head in disdain.
"Collapsing under such minor torture. I've made a fool of myself by treating someone like him as a brother. Their mental strength is so weak. Tsk, tsk, tsk"
"…Was it the kind of torture one endured with mental strength?"
Otto, knowing how terrible and brutal the torture inflicted by Kairos and his gang on Argonne was, shook his head in disbelief.
‘If they tortured a resistance fighter like that, they'd spill everything they knew.'
In ordinary torture, as time goes on, the body tends to become tattered rags, gradually numbing to the pain and blurring consciousness.
However, administering healing magic and feeding ‘a jelly' to recover the body was a form of torture that no one could withstand.
Eternal torment.
It was akin to falling into what is commonly referred to as an eternal hell.
Strength lies in mental fortitude! Mental fortitude! With weak and feeble mental strength, one can't do nothing!
"Yes, Okay, That's what you say, Your Majesty." Otto said.
"No matter how many times I say it, a Pansy like you wouldn't understand anything. Haha!"
"Forget it."
Otto said, not wanting to hear any more.
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"So what are we going to do with him? Are we going to keep him alive just to torture him?"
"That's not it."
Kairos shook his head.
"I've done enough."
"Really?"
"Of course, doing this doesn't completely erase the grudge. This won't turn back time either."
"That's right."
"But I've had enough of blowing off steam."
"Enough?"
"One time wouldn't have sufficed, but this is enough."
"I guess."
Otto nodded in agreement.
"If you tore a person apart for a whole week without a single break, I guess you would feel avenged. So now we're going to kill him?"
"I'm going to kill him for information."
"Information?" Otto asked.
"I'm curious about how this guy reincarnated."
"Oh? I'm a bit curious about that too. Are you going to try that thing called the Mind's Eye?"
"Yeah."
"But will it work on that guy?"
Otto pointed out that Kairo's Mind's Eye doesn't work well on those with strong mental fortitude or exceptional skills.³
"It will work now."
Kairos, however, was confident of succeeding.
"Right now, his mind is on the verge of collapsing. When someone's mental strength is this weak, they shouldn't be able to fight through it."
"I see."
Otto agreed with Kairos.
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No matter how strong a person's mind was, it seemed impossible for them to resist the mind in such a broken state.
"Then go ahead. I'll just watch from the sidelines."
"I understand, Pansy."
One of Kairos's eyes then turned golden.
"ॐ मणि पदमे हुं… ॐ मणि पदमे हुं… ॐ मणि पदमे हुं… ॐ मणि पदमे हुं… ॐ मणि पदमे हुं…."
"Aaaaah….. Aaarrgghhh…"
Even in his half-addled state, Argonne tried to resist, avoiding Kairos's eyes, but it was useless.
Argonne's body was weakened from the torture he endured just moments ago, and he wasn't in his right mind, so he couldn't defend against the mental assault.
"Hmm."
Kairos nodded, as if he had seen deep into Argonne's mind.
"So that's how it was."
"What is it?"
Otto asked Kairos.
"Did you find out anything?"
"This guy doesn't die."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"If we kill him, he just infinitely reincarnates."
"This isn't a one-time reincarnation?"
"That's right."
Kairos nodded his head.
"His abilities have only just begun. He will continuously reincarnate with his memories intact."
"So killing him now would be pointless? Because he'll just reincarnate again eventually?"
"Yes."
Kairos nodded.
"So we shouldn't kill him."
"What should we do?"
"Physical death means nothing to him. Only by killing his soul will we be able to kill him once and for all."
"So that's why he asked to be killed." Otto said while glaring at the slumped over Argonne.
He thought Argonne was begging for death due to the torture, but it turned out that wasn't the case.
"What are you going to do?"
"I have a very fitting end for him."
Kairos said with a grin.
"What?"
"I'll do it this way."
Kairos unsealed the Phantom Armor.
*Clack*
Then the armor's mouth gaped wide open.
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"Ah."
Otto realized what Kairos was about to do.
He was trying to get the wraiths sealed within the armor to tear the soul of Argonne the Great to shreds.
‘That's a pretty good idea.' Otto thought.
Moreover, many of Kairos's former subordinates are also sealed within the Phantom Armor, so it was certain they would eagerly welcome the arrival of Argonne's soul.
"Get him."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
At Kairos's command, the Soul Knights lifted the slumped Argonne to his feet.
– Let's go… to the Void….
– I've been waiting… for you….
– Vengeance, I will have my revenge….
The wraiths that had emerged from the Phantom Armor pulled the soul of Argonne from his body.
"Ahh! Argh! D-Don't come! Aaaaaaaaaaahh!”
Emperor Argonne screamed and struggled, but it was futile.
The wraiths were relentless, tugging at Argonne the Great's soul until they finally dragged him into the Phantom Armor.
– Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!
The wailing cry of Argonne's soul rang out.
The wraiths contained within the Phantom Armor had torn Argonne's soul to shreds.
*Poof*
The soulless body of Argonne the Great crumpled to the ground.
And so the first Emperor of the Krares Empire, who had once parasitized Kairos to build a Great Empire, met his final end as his soul was torn to shreds and annihilated.
Unable to tap into the power of reincarnation ever again.
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Shortly after the annihilation of Argonne the Great.
"Finally, my revenge is fulfilled."
Kairos declared, putting an end to his former life's vendetta.
*Stomp* *Smash*
He stomped his foot on the drinking cup made from the skull of Argonne and smashed it to pieces.
Having exacted his revenge, he no longer needed to drink from the skull to fuel his thirst for revenge.
"You all… suffered a lot because of this stupid captain."
Kairos turned to the Soul Knights and apologized.
"Now that we've gotten our revenge, I hope you guys can finally release your grudges and find your own happiness in this life."
At the moment.
*Shhhhh*
Kairos' physical form grew paler and paler until he became transparent.
As if he was about to disappear from this world altogether.
It was an enlightenment.
The reason Kairos had not passed on to the afterlife, but remained dormant in his mace, was because of the injustice and resentment of his death.
However, with Argonne's soul extinguished, Kairos' grievances were finally resolved, making it possible for him to dwell in this world.
But that wasn't all.
‘Ah.'
Otto realized that Kairos had been sucked into the Void Realm.
Void Realm.
The place where all events and information of the past, present, and future of the entire universe are recorded.
Kairos was heading towards that place.
Perhaps due to Calypso's clairvoyant abilities.
Or because he carried the Book of Carnage.
Maybe it was because he had traveled to the Void Realm once before, with Saladin in the Caliphate.
Whatever the reason, Otto could discern what was happening to Kairos.
"Ariel."
Kairos glanced back at Ariel as he spoke.
"I'm sorry. Meeting like this again… I can't be with you. I have sins to atone for. If we meet in the next life…"
"You fucking bastard!!!"
Ariel shouted, lunging at Kairos.
"We've just met again!!! And you're going to leave like this, you piece of shit!!!"
"…I'm sorry."
Kairos couldn't face Ariel and hung his head in shame.
"Don't go!!! Don't go!!! You bastard!!! Stay with me!!! You have to stay!!! Please!!! I'm begging you!!! Please don't go!!!"
Ariel cursed and cried and clung to Kairos, but she couldn't stop Kairos from attaining enlightenment.
It was impossible to stop Kairos from leaving this world and going to the Void Realm.
Even Kairos himself.
‘He tapped into the Void Realm and drew upon the power he had in his prime.'
Only then did Otto realize the secret behind how Kairos had become so powerful in such a short time.
Kairos had once said the following about the Void Realm.
During Saladin's ascendancy in Caliphate.
‘I have been there before, briefly, while honing the Mind's Eye.'
‘The information there is something no human should ever glimpse. It is a place where the past, present, and future of all universes and dimensions are recorded, but the moment one looks at it properly, they are stripped of their fate as a human being.'
Kairos was aware of the existence of the Void Realm, and he had evidently figured out how to restore his power in a short period of time.
Now he was paying the price of forfeiting his destiny as a human being.
"Pansy, thank you for everything. I'm sorry I can't repay you for the favor you've done for me."
With those last words, Kairos vanished into thin air.
He had been completely consumed by the Void Realm.
** ** **
TL/N:
1. This saying refers to people who appear helpful on the surface but secretly cause harm or betrayal.
2. Otto(Kim Dojin) when he first played Territory Wars he got fooled by Julius Oberhauser (Argonne) by their helpfulness not knowing that they Julius (Argonne) was already chipping away Otto's (Kim Dojin's) authority and gotten killed by a betrayal, 2nd to Xn face-off was the same because during those times Julius always get to retrieved the treasure in the Imperial Tomb till Otto (Kim Dojin) finally formulated a strategy to defeat Julius.
3. Ref Ch 157
*When Kairos decided to use Mind's Eye on Hassassin Hassan Ali an *SSS-rated Hero in the "Territory Wars"
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