Part 8: Alright (2)

“Come to think of it, what’s your name, dear spectator?”

“Aiden,” Aiden answered calmly.

“Hmm… that name has a certain ring to it. I’ve been thinking this for a while now, but I’m envious.”

“Of what?”

“What is it like to live a handsome life?”

“A peaceful one.”

At Aiden’s words, Pierre burst into laughter.

But that cheerfulness was only a surface-level act.

Pierre was wary of Aiden.

Because…

He had been watching Aiden’s every move as he approached his hideout.

Aiden was strong.

He had easily taken down the creatures Pierre had personally created—beings that, if released into the human realm, would each be capable of causing calamity.

Well, he thought in the end… Aiden would also kneel before him.

“If I defeat you, I can escape the Chaos Realm, right?”

“Hahaha. Do you really think that’s possible? Think carefully. There’s no real need for you to return to the human realm.”

“Are you asking me to play with you for eternity?”

“Sharp, aren’t you? You should be honored. Being able to enjoy my performance forever is practically the same as receiving a Lifetime Unlimited Pass to Paradise.”

“Yeah, right.”

Aiden shrugged.

He pulled a dagger from his waist and aimed it at Pierre.

This guy wasn’t someone he could reason with.

Pierre was a madman.

He needed to subdue him, extract the truth about the Chaos Realm, and then kill him.

After that, he had to return to the human realm.

Aiden was already missing Centum.

“Your eyes are terrifying. How do you expect to enjoy my performance with a look like that?”

“……”

“Try taking a deep breath and calming your mind.”

“……”

“Are you ignoring me?!”

Pierre frowned.

He playfully shouted.

And at that moment, the performance of the Clown of Chaos began.

Pierre suddenly pulled something out of his coat.

A closer look revealed—

Colorful slimes.

Pierre’s hands moved fluidly in the air.

Swish. Swish. Swish. Swish.

He was juggling the slimes.

His speed was so fast that their forms were almost unrecognizable. The trailing motion of the spinning slimes formed concentric circles.

Swish!

Pierre flicked his wrist.

One of the juggling slimes was thrown.

Should I dodge by leaning back?

Or should I completely move out of the way?

Aiden chose the latter.

He pushed off the ground and left his current position.

BOOM!

The slime struck the spot where Aiden had just been standing and exploded.

A red slime. Explosion.

Power equivalent to a 4th-Class Flame Buster.

The clown could control the timing of its detonation.

Aiden stored this new information away.

This was his way of fighting.

At the start, he never attacked immediately. He prioritized gathering data on his opponent.

The more he understood his enemy—

The easier they were to eliminate.

Pierre continued his juggling assault.

Depending on the color of the slime he threw—

The effects varied.

A yellow slime—electric shock.

A green slime—poison. And so on.

But none of the slimes Pierre threw managed to reach Aiden.

Not even a single thread of his clothing was touched.

His judgment was flawless.

His speed was unmatched.

Aiden moved like a bolt of lightning.

“Come on! Dodging everything is no fun!”

Pierre suddenly lost his temper.

He gathered slimes of various colors together.

They fused into a pitch-black mass.

Sssssk!

But then—

The direction of his throw was unexpected.

The black slime wasn’t aimed at Aiden.

It was flying toward the master.

The master simply blinked.

He didn’t think to dodge.

Pierre’s sleight of hand had been too deceptive.

As it hurtled toward the master, the slime transformed into the shape of a monstrous mouth.

It was trying to devour him whole.

Coordinate calculation.

X-axis 431, Y-axis 231, Z-axis 120.

Dimensional shift.

Move to coordinates.

Resist spatial interference.

Aiden activated Dimensional Walking.

He leaped into a grid-like world. The coordinate lines tore at his body, but he endured it all.

Pain was something he was long accustomed to.

Flash!

Aiden, who had vanished, suddenly reappeared right in front of the master.

“Crescendo,” With a swift motion, Aiden’s dagger traced a massive crescent arc.

Slash!

The monstrous mouth was cleaved in two. Black energy surged violently before quickly evaporating.

Its destruction was instantaneous.

“A clown attacking his own audience—is that allowed?”

“This was an interactive performance.”

“Don’t touch this person. If you do, I’ll kill you instantly.”

At Aiden’s declaration, Pierre trembled.

For the first time in his life—

He felt fear.

*  *  *

Only after the master took his seat in the audience did the battle resume.

Following the juggling act was the Staff Show.

Pierre pulled out a long staff and personally engaged Aiden.

Whoooosh.

Whoooosh.

The staff targeted Aiden multiple times.

His stance was sloppy.

Like a fool performing a clumsy dance.

Like a drunkard flailing recklessly.

But its power was nothing to scoff at.

It wasn’t just imbued with magic—there was a strange, foreign energy lingering within it.

The staff also had a built-in homing function, tracking its target.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Each time Aiden’s dagger clashed with the staff, a sharp metallic ring echoed.

Sparks of yellow fire scattered in the air.

The close-quarters battle was surprisingly even.

Like two warriors facing off on a narrow bridge, neither willing to back down.

“Just who are you? How can a mere human be this strong?” Pierre frowned as he asked.

He and Aiden were locked in a struggle for dominance.

Their weapons were pressed against each other.

Both exerted their full weight, trying to push the other back.

“Would knowing change anything?”

“If this continues, I’ll have no choice but to kill you. Who knows when another guest will arrive in the Chaos Realm?”

“Kill me? You?” Aiden smirked.

“Stop talking nonsense.”

“If you think I’m using my full strength, you’re mistaken.”

“Funny. That’s exactly what I was going to say.”

“Hmph! Don’t get cocky!”

The moment Pierre finished speaking—

The staff extended.

It curved into a C-shape and came at Aiden’s lower back.

Aiden didn’t panic.

The clown’s tools were all bizarre in nature.

It was easy to anticipate that they had special functions.

Ssssk.

Aiden withdrew his dagger from the deadlock.

And just like Pierre’s staff—

He curved his blade into a C-shape and struck Pierre’s back in return.

Whack!

“Aaaaagh!”

Because Aiden had dodged just in time—

Pierre ended up smashing his face against his own staff.

He was sent flying straight toward Aiden.

[Heartbreaker]

A dagger imbued with magic gleamed with a sharp light.

Aiden aimed precisely at the clown’s heart.

Thunk!

The dagger struck true, but the sensation at his fingertips felt strange.

It was like stabbing into a soft doll.

As it turned out, Pierre had swapped himself with a puppet that looked just like him, even mimicking his texture.

‘Not bad. He actually managed to fool me for a moment.’

Aiden tossed the doll away and fixed his gaze on Pierre, who had already retreated to a safe distance.

Pierre was panting heavily.

“A clown who gets exhausted before the audience? Pathetic.”

*  *  *

So the real monster was someone else.

The master seated in the audience clicked his tongue in disbelief.

Pierre looked ridiculous.

His attack methods were outright comical.

And yet, he was absurdly strong.

If the master had been in Aiden’s place, he wouldn’t have even survived the first juggling attack.

But!

Even Pierre, as powerful as he was, was nothing more than a meek lamb before Aiden.

Or rather, just a clown playing the fool.

Slime juggling.

Staff tricks.

Summoning monsters from his clown hat.

Spinning the entire stage like a carousel.

(Whenever Pierre snapped his fingers, the stage would rotate in a circle.)

Despite bombarding Aiden with all sorts of creative attacks, he didn’t so much as flinch.

Aiden was, without a doubt, the Grim Reaper.

And who in this world could kill Death itself?

Come to think of it, the master hadn’t seen Aiden fight ever since he turned twenty.

In the time he hadn’t been watching—

Aiden had become even more of a monster.

‘It’s over now.’

A smile tugged at the master’s lips.

Aiden gripped his dagger in a reverse grip.

It was his signature stance—one that signified he would kill his opponent without fail.

“Eeeek! The star of this stage is me, no matter what anyone says! Stop stealing my spotlight!”

Pierre stomped his foot in frustration.

And rightfully so.

It was supposed to be Pierre taming Aiden.

But instead, Aiden was taming Pierre.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

With a series of explosions, white smoke engulfed the stage.

When the smoke cleared, Pierre had multiplied into five.

One was juggling slimes.

Another twirled a staff in one hand.

A third mimed an invisible wall.

And so on.

All the tricks Pierre had displayed one by one—were now all prepared at once.

He intended to bombard Aiden in a single, overwhelming strike.

“Hehehe. Think you can handle this?” all five Pierres spoke in unison.

Their sinister grins stretched unnaturally wide.

“How crude.”

“That mouth of yours won’t be running for much longer. But don’t worry. Your companion and I will be having the time of our lives together.”

“Says who?”

Aiden lunged forward like a bolt of lightning.

Slash!

The Pierre that had been juggling slimes was sliced clean in half.

Blood and organs spilled onto the stage in a grotesque cascade.

A gruesome scene, unfolding in an instant.

What was even more shocking—

The remaining four Pierres vanished simultaneously.

“H-How… how did you know which was my real body?!”

“You were the only one casting a shadow.”

“Goddamn it.”

“If you hadn’t split your strength, you might’ve lasted a little longer. Poor decision at the last moment.”

“Kh…!” Pierre let out a guttural groan.

Then, with a sickening, bubbling sound, his lungs collapsed.

And he breathed his last.

The master leapt to his feet.

Finally, he could escape this hellish place.

“Nice work, Aiden.”

“This was nothing…” Aiden shrugged nonchalantly.

“Since that bastard’s dead, there should be a portal nearby leading back to the human realm. Let’s look for it together.”

“Wait a minute. Stay seated.”

Aiden extended a hand.

He stopped the master just as he was about to step down from the audience seats.

“Why? It’s over.”

“It’s not over yet.”

“That clown got sliced in half.”

“Doesn’t mean he’s dead.”

Aiden shook his head.

He was certain—Pierre was still alive.

Because…

There was no Death Qi coming from his body.

No soul of the dead was escaping him.

And, as expected—

The remains of Pierre’s shredded body, his spilled blood and organs, began to revert.

Like they were being played in reverse.

Until he was whole again.

Exactly as he had been at the start.

Pierre met Aiden’s gaze.

“You truly are a fascinating man. Even seeing my body torn apart wasn’t enough to fool you.”

The grin had vanished from Pierre’s lips.

His voice turned somber.

“But if you knew I wasn’t dead, why didn’t you attack me further?”

“Because people like you are rare. It made me want to play a little longer.”

“Or maybe… you just can’t kill me because I’m immortal?”

A white haze began to rise from Pierre’s body.

With his laughter gone, his presence became even more menacing.

Even his mask had changed shape.

Its eye sockets drooped, giving it a sorrowful expression.

Aiden didn’t answer.

He simply pointed his bloodstained dagger at Pierre.

“Immortal? There’s no such thing.”
 

To be continued

Join the GS Discord to stay updated on the latest chapter releases:

https://discord.gg/PRZEAJZE3J