14 14 Betrayal

Karah stood in front of the three meters tall red monolith shimmering with one blue star above it. 

She breathed in slowly and allowed the wind to flap her large skirts together with her long hair, which danced vibrantly in the air. 

' Tsk, Why am I even here? ' She clicked her tongue. 

' The dungeon barrier is trying to shield the mana fluctuation. However, I can still perceive it… ' Her eyes beamed as she thought of watching the puny humans battle each. 

' Damn you, karah, I'm not supposed to be here.' She shook her head, but eventually, she shrugged her shoulders and pressed forward, giving in to her curiosity. 

' I'll just take a glance and leave,' she thought, not knowing that fate would extend their meeting a bit longer. 

***

'' Earth shower! ''

A tired but loud scream ravaged Jerouch's ears. 

From the distance, he could see Enoch slump to the ground, but that wasn't his major concern. 

On the roofs were dozens of big boulders about to crash downward. 

'' Fuck this man. '' Jerouch gritted his teeth in exasperation. 

'' Hey oldie, what in the hell do you think you're doing? '' The last boy with green hair yelled. 

It was evident that death being this close was draining him, and it was just a matter of time before he went crazy. 

Enoch wasn't listening either. He just sat with a dead look. He raised his head slightly, and he felt at ease seeing those boulders. 

'' Let's perish together then. '' He mumbled. 

'' Together my ass. '' Jerouch wanted to stone the man to death. 

First, they came looking for trouble, and now he wanted them to perish in the same place, as if he would sit down idly and allow death to come and knock at his doorstep. 

'' Hell no! '' He thought. 

Some boulders began to crash thunderously to the ground, which Jerouch was doing his best to dodge, but he soon stopped in his trail with a twisted gut. 

'' Y-you, y-you dare… '' blood trickled down from Enoch's mouth as he struggled to talk. 

Jerouch could see his grimaced expression, even more than when he killed his daughter.

'' Don't blame me, old man. '' Yon, the last person in their group, pulled out the sabre that was deep in Enoch's body. 

He had crept slowly to Enoch and stabbed him with his sabre. 

'' I… ''

'' Oh, cut it off, old man. '' Yon giggled. 

'' I was only following your lowly group because of Amy, and now that she's gone alone with others… it's only right that this group cease to exist. '' He waved his sabre a few times. 

'' As for you. ''

Jerouch watched as Yon set his eyes on him.

The disgust he felt for him was more than he could describe. 

' At the end of the day, it always comes down to betrayal. ' Jerouch sighed. 

 He couldn't place where Yon got the confidence from, but the next statement made his stomach churn. 

'' I will allow you to experience the strength of a real E rank warlock, haha, be ready to die. ''

' He's just an E rank warlock, why is he sounding like some dark lord whatever? ' Jerouch cringed at his goofy display, but he still made sure not to drop his guard. 

On Yon's left was his light-brown Grimoire floating mid-air, and in his right hand was his sabre. 

The Grimoire opened to a page by itself as Yon started chanting a spell in a quick but precise tone. 

After completing the chant, the sabre glowed in light-brown energy similar to the Grimoire, and he swung it in a downward diagonal slash. 

A long wind blade left the sabre and charged at Jerouch. 

Not daring to take any chance, Jerouch jumped to the left, barely evading the wind blade that left a mark on the wall. 

Jerouch also fired back a water bullet, which Yon slashed with his sabre. 

'' I'm really curious about you haha, how did you end up with all our spells? '' If greed was a powder, then Yon would be wearing heavy make-up.

Jerouch didn't answer, rather, he planned to get close to him and get physical. 

His opponent, though, wasn't that stupid to allow that.

Whenever,

 Jerouch closed in, he would send a wind blade forward. 

Jerouch began to gather injury, and his health and mana dripped away drastically. 

'' Hahaha, I want you to die slowly. Don't get me wrong, I don't give a shit about them, however seeing someone helpless is so sweet, don't you agree? ''

Jerouch huffed, and his breaths became irregular and constricted. 

 Large wounds gushing with blood were all over his body, but he decided against using healing. 

The wounds to begin with are too deep. Moreover, his healing used large mana which he could not spare currently. 

Checking the system panel, a deep frown appeared on his face. 

[Health- 15]

[Mana- 6]

'' Wait…'' Jerouch glanced at the monster core he held tightly all this while. 

'' What if… ''

A crazy thought was going through his head, and he was willing to confirm it. 

His eyes shone with lethality and decisiveness as he threw the core into his mouth. 

'' hey… you can't do that. '' Yon screamed. He began to take a few steps back, and he looked at Jerouch as though he were seeing the biggest moron and pest. 

'' If you really want to die alone, then just do it and not drag others along. '' Fear was evident in his shaky voice. 

Boom!

Jerouch felt as if he was imploding from the inside, but he still decided to hang on. 

He felt a sharp pain around his heart, which made him clench his teeth and bit his tongue so much that he bled. 

'' I can't lose consciousness. '' That was all he kept reminding himself as he stood up and dragged his feet backwards. 

'' Y-you, stay away from me. '' Yon increased his pace backwards until his back eventually hit the wall. 

Jerouch didn't care though, or he couldn't care. Currently, he just wanted to finish him and let go of the excruciating pain. 

Using dash. He took only a few seconds to appear before a petrified Yon. 

Summoning all his strength, he went for his lung region. 

A fire arrow and a wind blade collided on Yon's chest and his scream even cleared Jerouch's head albeit.

He heard the system notification, but that wasn't his major concern. 

His inside was burning and just when his eyes were about to close, he saw a blurry figure in the distance.