71 The Laughing Tyrant

"YEON!!!" Mia and Emily screamed.

Tears freely ran down their faces as Reuben Fastilla's blade pierced through Yeon's head.

Rueben Fastilla had managed to pass through before Yeon could close his arms and block him off.

However, there had not been a single moment where Yeon's arms had stopped moving.

Even as Rueben Fastilla's sword extended into Yeon's head, Yeon's arms continued to close.

They accelerated around Rueben Fastilla as if Yeon's corpse were hugging him.

The dual blades that were angled downwards cut into Rueben Fastilla's two ankles.

POP! POP!

Like a gunshot, two loud noises were heard as both Achilles tendons were cut.

"AHHHHH!"

There was a gut-wrenching scream as sharp pains immediately ran up his legs.

He collapsed onto Yeon who was still standing.

Reuben Fastilla looked up to meet Yeon's eyes.

To his horror, Yeon's demonic red eyes were still smiling at him.

"To go in for the kill after a single opening, you're a fucking amateur, Reuben," Yeon mocked.

It wasn't that Yeon had opened his mouth in surprise when Rueben had passed through his defences, he had purposefully allowed Rueben through so that Yeon could target his ankles.

"If it's too good to be true, it's too good to be true. Did you really think you could beat me? The undefeated White Witch?" Yeon scoffed.

Yeon had maintained his arrogant glare even as Reuben charged towards him so that he could direct Reuben's attention towards his face.

The Dadao that had 'pierced' Yeon's head had actually travelled through Yeon's open mouth and cheek as he twisted and bent his neck.

It was the riskiest move Yeon had played throughout their battle and now it had paid off.

Reuben Fastilla's body slid down as Yeon walked backwards.

"H-how?" Reuben asked in fear as he fell to his knees.

"What do you mean how? Can't you see yourself?" Yeon replied while pointing inside his mouth through his cheek that had been ripped through.

The Dadao had narrowly avoided Yeon's mandible and throat. Some muscles were torn but that was a concession Yeon was willing to make to completely immobilize Reuben Fastilla.

Yeon's flesh on the side of his face flapped as he spoke.

Through this wound, Yeon's teeth, tongue and jaw muscles were visible.

Cut up and bruised, now with a literal hole cut into his face, Yeon's graceful beauty had changed into the face of a dying man.

Yet like an undead, he refused to fall. There were no traces of pain on his face, only pleasure as his face warped into a morbid smile.

Yeon swiped both his arms to send the Dadao flying away.

The surprise of Yeon dodging his attack from point-blank range had left Reuben Fastilla confused and fearful:

Fearful that perhaps Yeon's words were right, that there was no way that he was going to defeat this man.

Using that moment of hesitation, Yeon launched an attack to disarm him as the Dadao was sent flying away.

Two more slices were sent to both shoulders to cut deeply into the deltoids and pectoralis, the shoulder and chest muscles that were used to raise his arms.

Yeon had now incapacitated Reuben Fastilla's arms as well as legs. He could remain upright on his knees but that was it.

Reuben Fastilla's face crumpled in pain and despair.

"N-no. This can't be possible," he whimpered.

"What is?" Yeon asked while walking around him like an executioner listening to the final words of his victim.

"I-it doesn't make sense! Even if you knew how the attack was coming, even if you read it, it was impossible for you to react in time!" Reuben wailed.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" even as blood trailed down from his open jaw, Yeon continued to laugh like a maniac:

"Perhaps you're not as stupid as you look. You're absolutely right!" Yeon replied while giggling unsettlingly.

"T-Then how?"

"…" Yeon didn't reply but pushed both blades into Rueben Fastilla's quads.

Blood oozed out from the fresh wound and Rueben Fastilla wheezed as he bit his tongue to not let out another pathetic scream.

"Look at the state of your legs and you tell me," Yeon sneered.

Yeon who had been mostly injured on his upper body throughout their exchange and Rueben Fastilla who had been wounded on his legs.

"You just weren't as fast as you thought you were, BOY!" Yeon shouted as he kicked him across the face.

Rueben Fastilla's body was sent flying just like how Yeon's body had been at the start of the fight.

His limp body was like an octopus as neither his ankles nor shoulders listened to his commands. Like a rag doll, his body bounced and flailed until he slid across the bloody floor.

Yeon took his time to slowly walk up to him.

He took a glance over at Elder Marvin, curious to see why the fight hadn't been stopped yet.

To his surprise, Elder Marvin lay on the floor foaming at his mouth.

Next to him, the Fairy Empress was sitting legs crossed on a throne of sinister and murky black flames.

She was watching Yeon with an amused expression.

He didn't know why she had stepped in, but he didn't care.

"My debts to the Fairy Empress seem to be forever increasing," Yeon said while elegantly curtsying in her direction.

He didn't have an outer robe on, so he held the sides of his trousers. It wasn't a custom from 'Continent' where they lived, but it was clear that it was a sign of courtesy.

Despite his sorry figure, his curtsy emanated a practised elegance and nobility.

"Don't worry little one, go do your thing." Her golden eyes followed Yeon's movements.

Yeon felt like a mouse being watched by a tiger and couldn't help but let out another pleasant laugh.

Unlike the mocking laughter he had sent Reuben Fastilla, this one was a more pleasant, almost shy laughter.

Yeon waved at Mia and Emily who were watching him.

There were traces of tears as their eyes were swollen and red.

"…" they were dead silent as they watched Yeon.

They felt as if someone had replaced Yeon, and they were left with an uncomfortable feeling of distance from his smile.

Yeon walked towards Reuben Fastilla.

Yeon squat down and pulled his head up by his hair so that they were eye to eye.

"I'm very bad with my intrusive thoughts, you see," Yeon whispered into his ear:

"I've been very good ever since I've come here, but… NOW IT'S ALL FLARING UP BECAUSE OF YOU!" Yeon screamed.

"You talk and talk and talk. My clan this, my beauty that. It pisses me off."

Reuben Fastilla glared at Yeon in silence. His glare contained a many mixture of emotions but Yeon did not care for them.

He pried open his mouth and shoved his hand inside.

Reuben Fastilla fought back at first, but Yeon's arms were stronger than his jaws.

Much to the surprise of everyone, Yeon placed his hand inside.

Rueben Fastilla felt Yeon's slender fingers wrap around his tongue.

He bit down as hard as he could, and his teeth dug into Yeon's flesh as his mouth filled with the taste of bitter iron.

"Tsk, tsk. Bad dogs who bite their owners get punished. Even preschoolers and primary school students know that!" Yeon chided.

Yeon didn't even flinch as his hand was bitten as he tenderly stroked Reuben's cheek.

But –

*Slice*

Summoning the small butcher's knife that he had used while camping with the girls, he cut into Reuben Fastilla's jaw.

The ligament was cut and one side of his face relaxed.

Yeon dragged the small knife downwards towards his lips so that it cut through his cheek as well.

"Look doggy, now you match with your owner. You must be pleased! HAHAHAHA!" Yeon cackled.

Yeon repeated the process on the other side of Reuben's face.

"I'm sorry, I don't want to do this," Yeon said while smiling.

Yeon licked his lips and despite his immense blood loss, there was a healthy blush on his cheeks as Reuben's eyes shook in pain.

"But this is your punishment. The first one was so that we match, the second is to make us even!" Yeon said as if he were disciplining a child

"Now… where were we?"

Yeon looked at his hand that had been bit into. It was still gripping around Reuben's tongue.

"Ah… how clever of me," Yeon smiled like a flower.

Yeon pulled on the tongue to fully extend it, then –

"This way, you'll learn to be a bit more quiet when you're addressing me!"

He sliced off Reuben's tongue.

.

"-N"

.

"UAHHHHHHH!" Rueben Fastilla let out a pitiful scream.

He couldn't even speak as his tongue had been removed.

Perhaps having your tongue cut off was more painful than Yeon had thought, Reuben Fastilla had tears streaming down his face. Maybe it was the humiliation not the pain.

Either way, Yeon felt his blood boiling, bubbling up in a frenzy of excitement and euphoria.

.

"-ON!"

.

"UAY?! UAA HAA I OO-" [Why?! What have I done-]

With his jaw slack, and tongue removed, he was unintelligible.

He accidentally swallowed some of his blood and began to have a coughing fit.

"Never mind, it seems to me that you're still very keen on talking. This didn't work…" Yeon twirled his hair around his fingers as he was deep in thought.

"I'm sorry about the tongue. What a waste… Here, you can have it back," Yeon replied trivially.

.

"-EON!"

.

Yeon shoved his hand back into Reuben Fastilla's open mouth and pushed his tongue down his throat.

"-!?"

Reuben Fastilla failed to swallow the large chunk of flesh and began thrashing about on the floor.

"Pffff! HAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Yeon wiped away the tears of laughter and watched the bloody worm squirm on the floor.

"Mmmmm, this is good too," Yeon mumbled as he allowed that sensation of pleasure to wash over him.

It was like swimming in dreamland, everything was funnier, and everything felt more delightful.

Yeon's hair began to invert colours and change forms.

.

"YEON!"

.

"Hmm?" Yeon turned his face to see Mia and Emily who had been calling out to him.

Yeon's hair quickly returned to normal.

Luckily, the portion of his hair that had begun to change had been dyed in so much blood that no one noticed the very slight change.

He realized that he had been enjoying himself too much that he had lost sense of his surroundings.

"You finally heard us…" Mia called out in a subdued voice.

"Sorry about that, Mia. I was just having too much fu-" Yeon flinched at Mia's eyes.

Concern.

Anxiety.

Fear.

They were mostly filled with fear.

Yeon looked around the crowd to realise that they had stopped cheering and talking at some point.

They were all watching him with frightened expressions.

They were not afraid for their own safety.

No, it was the spine-chilling sense of unfamiliarity when looking at Yeon, a dying man, kill another.

He had such little concern over the fact that he could drop dead at any second. He could have stopped the fight when Reuben Fastilla had been immobilized.

Instead, with a face warped with satisfaction and pleasure, he was torturing Rueben Fastilla with such a tone that suggested he found that very idea an obvious thing.

That he should be entitled to this deranged and demented joy.

Something inhumane wearing the mask of a human.

It wasn't that he was a mass murderer or a sadist.

They had seen such people being publicly executed before.

Yeon was somehow different from them.

He just gave off a distinctly eerie and unfamiliar feeling.

"Oh, dear…" Yeon laughed to himself.

He stepped onto the wheezing Reuben on the floor, forcing him to cough out the slug-like red blob that had been choking him.

Reuben Fastilla wheezed on the floor as he took deep breaths in. His face was planted on the floor without a care for his image - It had already been destroyed.

"Since Elder Marvin is unconscious, may I ask that you select a winner for this duel, Fairy Empress?"

"The winner is participant Yeon," she replied in an indecipherable voice.

"Thank you, Fairy Empress," Yeon curtsied instead of bowing again.

Then, he collapsed.