Chapter 219 - Killing A Killer Doesn't Change The Number Of Killers (End)

Present (2015 ACE).

Basil stopped recalling the memory he didn't really want to recall, then turned his eyes to the scene occuring in front of him.

Eugene, who had been facing against the group of Demons with his sole remaining Magic Circle, was now lying motionlessly on the ground. He had lost his left arm, and some chunk of his body parts.

Of course, it was the result of the Demons toying with him—under Basil's order. If not for the fact that Basil had told them to do so, he would have ended up in their stomach by now.

A mere glance is enough to tell that in his state, Eugene must be experiencing an unbearable pain, but he still somehow maintained his consciousness. He was even glaring at Basil, who was looking at him in amusement from afar.

"Curse of God's Tear is what you called it, isn't it?" Basil motioned the Demons surrounding Eugene to back off, then walked towards him. "You would have died easily if you didn't use that amulet."

God's Tear Amulet was a special Artefact which was only produced by the Church. It was only given to some the Church's officials, Seminarians, and some of the chosen Paladins as a means to sustain their life in times of emergency.

God's Tear Amulet was used to heal a fatal injury that needed an immediate treatment from a Priest. It had a such a superb effect, it could even bring an extremely injured person back to a healthy state.

God's Tear Amulet's Recovery effect was so potent, it lasted for two hours. It was normally a good thing to rejoice, but in a hopeless battle, it was no different than a curse.

Curse of God's Tear. It was an aftereffect of the usage of God's Tear Amulet that allowed the one who was experiencing it to sustain their life longer even after being dealt an extremely fatal injury.

In result to that, one would experience an unbearable pain until the effect of the God's Tear Amulet wore off. Before then, one would experience the horrible pain while wishing for one's death.

"Does it hurt?"

Upon arriving right in front of Eugene, Basil knelt down and smirked at him. Looking down at Eugene's body, he could see some part of Eugene's exposed viscera due to the torn up abdomen.

"F...uck ... you!"

"A Seminarian like you shouldn't say that word—it's unsightly."

Eugene wanted to shout out loud, but the pain his body was enduring due to the Curse of God's Tear stopped him entirely. He then could only glare at Basil in resentment, while cursing him in his mind.

"Say, what if I pour salt on your wound? Will you squeal like a pig or will you squirm silently in your place?"

"Ba...stard!"

Basil sneered disdainfully, then glared coldly at Eugene. "That face suits you best, Eugene." Grabbing Eugene by his hair, he forced Eugene to sit with his sword that he stabbed to the ground as a support. "I want to tell you a story."

Eugene pathetically gasped for air due to the pain he was enduring, but Basil didn't pay any attention to Eugene in the slightest. He could also see some of Eugene's internal organs fell off his torn up abdomen, but he merely smirked at the scene.

"This is a story about betrayal. It is a story of a man, whose lover, and subordinates were killed by his own 'friend.' The man lived a hellish life due to his friend's betrayal as said friend didn't only take the life of his people, but also spread a fallacy about him."

Eugene had calmed down his breathing and was now looking at Basil, but he didn't understand what Basil was talking about, apparent by the face he was showing Basil.

"What... Are you... On... About..?"

Basil frowned, then slapped Eugene's head lightly. "I don't need you to react to my story; I just want you to listen to it. Don't make me slap your cheek ... Or whatever is left of it."

Eugene was fully aware that he had lost a chunk of his cheek to a Demon's bite, but he couldn't help gritting his teeth at Basil's not so subtle mockery. Still though, he was wise enough to not waste his breath on shouting at Basil.

"Now that's what I'm talking about." Basil patted Eugene's right cheek, his only intact cheek, then smirked condescendingly. "So, you know, this betrayed man, full of anger, trained himself very hard just to kill his betrayer of a friend."

Grabbing Eugene's hair, Basil faced Eugene's head upward, then head-butted it. "It took him years, but he managed to kill his betrayer of a friend in the end."

As Basil's physique was way stronger than Eugene's, Eugene's forehead bled upon being head-butted by him. The blood trickled down his forehead, but Eugene was more surprised at the the fact that he could still bleed after losing so much blood.

"The bastard was so afraid of being killed by the man, he made countless of excuses to placate the man. Unfortunately for the bastard, the man was too smart to fall for that."

Basil stared into Eugene's eyes deeply, as if staring right into his soul. "I remember you said one word that made quite an impression on me: 'Killing a killer doesn't change the number of killers.'"

Eugene blinked his eyes in confusion at the sudden change of pronouns, then stared at Basil weirdly. He had kept his silence ever since Basil started storytelling, but now he didn't think he could keep his silence at the weird direction the story was developing to.

"What are you—"

"Do you know what my answer was?" Uncaring to Eugene's difficult attempt to question him, Basil forced Eugene to look at him. "I said, 'If killing one doesn't change the number, I will kill all of the killers until only one of them left ... Myself.'"

Basil briefly grinned manically, then pulled his head away from Eugene's. Standing up from the ground, he dragged Eugene by his hair towards the direction where a couple of 4 meters tall Demons standing like a wall.

They were all the Demons who he had told to block the Paladins' view, so they couldn't see what he did to Eugene. Upon sensing Basil's Mana, the Demons parted, thus giving a way for him to pass through.

Basil stood slightly in front of the Demons, then lifted Eugene to the air by his hair. Eugene slightly squirmed, but other than that, he couldn't do anything; he couldn't even let out a sound to indicate how painful it was for him.

"Paladins!" Basil shouted to the group of Paladins fighting twenty meters away from him. "Do you see what I have in my hand?"

The Paladins urgently turned their head to the direction where they heard Basil's voice, and the Demons also stopped coming at them as if on cue. The moment the Paladins could see the current state of Eugene, rage immediately overwhelmed them.

"Bastard! What have you done to our esteemed Seminarian?!"

"Let go of our esteemed Seminarian, you fiend!"

"Take your hand off Mr. Eugene!"

"Your death is decided, sinner!"

All of them shouted loudly, but instead of getting irritated like usual, Basil had a mirthful smile on his face. He didn't like when someone being loud, but the Paladins' shout felt like a symphony to him right then.

"Only one of you was involved in that day," Basil was referring to the group of Paladins that had injured Iliana heavily in his past life, "but let me be petty for today. All of you haven't committed a sin on me yet, but you can only blame your unfortunate fate."

Extending his left hand, his sword that was still stabbed on the ground flew to his hand. Swinging it once to the side, he put it right in front of Eugene's neck.

"Shall this first blood be the start of your doom!"

Eugene squirmed in a futile attempt to get out of Basil's hold, but Basil was quick in his action. With a swift movement, he slit Eugene's throat.

Spurt!

Eugene's eyes widened in shock and utter horror as his blood profusely gushed out of his slitted throat. It was amazing that his partly cut neck still managed to hold on despite being weighed down by his body.

"You fiend!"

"Esteemed Seminarian!"

"Die in the name of the Church!"

The Paladins were riled up so much, they immediately dashed at Basil. There was not a single Demon stopping the Paladins in their track as Basil had ordered the Demons not to; he wanted to face the Paladins by himself.

"Come at me." Staring at the incoming Paladins with a disdainful smirk, Basil threw the barely living Eugene to the side, and pointed his sword at them. "Come at me, and die!"

Channeling Qi to his feet, he kicked the ground.

Boom!

Basil shot forward at the incoming Paladins like a flash. His entire existence was covered with Aura, the most complicated form of Qi, thus amplify his already overwhelming presence.

The presence both sides were exuding was equally overwhelming, and the Demons were forced to step aside because of it. When Basil's sword clashed with the first Paladin's sword, the first ever clash of Mana and Miracle occured.

Boom!

The ground, along with some of the unfortunate Demons were blown away upon the clash, and the other Paladins were forced to stop in their track at the baffling clash.

The very first Paladin to reach Basil, Cadmon, on the other hand, was extremely bewildered at the strength Basil possessed. Despite so, he could still match Basil's power quite easily.

[Master of Weapons]!

Sneering at Cadmon, Basil activated his Aura Ability while simultaneously taking out fifteen weapons from his Spatial Ring. Controlling them with his Aura Ability, he sent them at the other Paladins to prevent them from disturbing his first fight.

"Let's have a fun, shall we?"

Cadmon widened his eyes in terror. He could see the Pacifer Seal in the middle of Basil's forehead that the Church had told them to be extremely careful about was glowing in golden light.

"Y-You... What are you?!"

Not only that, he saw Basil had also materialized all of his Magic Circles, and the Mana he was exuding overwhelmed him greatly.

With a smirk, Basil swung his sword at the overwhelmed Paladin's neck.

Thud!

In the next moment, said Paladin's head fell to the ground.