Chapter 215: To Kill and Crush the Spirit
Ronald’s mind was in chaos.
He was completely bewildered.
This man before him was Qin Chu, the Second Hero? Why was he here? Hadn’t Loseweisse said he was at the front lines fighting the Demon Beasts?
And why did he have Jie Luo’s soul fragment?
How did he know he was looking for it?
Countless questions flooded his mind, making his head throb. He vaguely sensed a vast conspiracy, a net closing in around him.
If Ronald could calm down, he might have been able to piece together the truth, but his mind, ravaged by Lomond’s torments, was on the verge of collapse.
The soul fragment in Qin Chu’s hand, shimmering like a transparent stone, captivated Ronald completely, leaving him no room for rational thought.
He lunged towards Qin Chu like a madman.
“Give it back!”
“Ronald,” Qin Chu said, raising an eyebrow, his voice laced with a cruel amusement, “you wouldn’t want me to crush it, would you?”
Ronald stopped abruptly, his eyes filled with hatred.
“You know my name?” he asked, his voice laced with venom.
Knowing that Qin Chu was the Second Hero intensified his hatred. Any lingering guilt he might have felt for wanting to kill the man who had rescued him vanished.
“Of course,” Qin Chu smiled. “Who doesn’t know the name of Ronald, the Noble Swordsman? So handsome and elegant, all those empty-headed noble ladies in the Imperial City are infatuated with you.”
“What do you think would happen to their fantasies if they knew that their noble swordsman had become… the Blanched Swordsman, even bending over for the Demon Beasts? Spreading his cheeks for their… entertainment?”
“That would be quite a sight, wouldn’t it?”
Ronald trembled, his face pale. Qin Chu’s words brought back the humiliating memories, and he let out a scream, “How… how do you know about that?!”
Qin Chu rubbed his forehead with a look of mock concern. “You used to be such a smart man, so meticulous,” he said. “Can’t you see something so obvious?”
Ronald’s heart sank.
His throat tightened.
From the moment the Second Hero was summoned, to now, with Jie Luo’s soul fragment in his hand, and then Qin Chu’s words…
A terrifying realization dawned on him.
The man before him wasn’t just a human, but a devil.
He gasped, his heart constricting, his eyes filled with despair. “You and Lomond…”
“Yes, we’ve been in contact for a while. He’s a very useful tool,” Qin Chu readily admitted.
“You know how satisfying it was for me to hear that he arranged for a few thousand Demon Beasts to… entertain… you?”
Qin Chu spread his hands, his face a mask of mock piety. “That feeling…”
“So delightful!”
But Ronald didn’t feel any delight at all.
His chest felt tight, a suffocating pressure that made him want to vomit blood. His heart ached, filled with rage and resentment.
His mind cleared, the pieces of the puzzle falling into place.
“Benson’s death…”
“That’s right. I provided Lomond with Benson’s location. And I also took his Pseudo-Absolute Defense ability,” Qin Chu smiled, delivering another blow, “So don’t even think about killing me. You’re not capable, understand?”
“Not to mention that you’re a cripple now. Even if you still had your strength, you couldn’t kill me.”
The word “cripple” stung.
“My location…” Ronald rasped.
“I leaked that too.”
“And I told Lomond about Eileen helping you. Even that large-scale attack was my suggestion.”
“Simply put, without me, Lomond couldn’t have captured you. And you wouldn’t have had to…”
Ronald couldn’t take it anymore and roared, “Damn it, can you stop mentioning that?!”
“Fine, I don’t mind,” Qin Chu agreed magnanimously. He was truly merciful.
“Was all of this… your plan?”
“Of course. But I prefer the term ‘strategy’,” Qin Chu nodded.
Ronald’s rage intensified, his chest heaving. “Bastard!” he roared, “Are you even worthy of being called the Hero? You betrayed humanity!”
“No, no, no,” Qin Chu shook his head, refusing to accept such a grand accusation, “I didn’t betray all of humanity. Apart from the members of your Hero Squad, I haven’t harmed anyone…”
Well, the Grand Prince… but that guy was no longer human in the end.
“Do you know what people call me now? A descending angel, an emissary of the goddess. I seem to be even more popular than the First Hero, Jie Luo.”
“And if anyone betrayed anyone, it wasn’t me betraying you, it was you who betrayed me.”
“You didn’t think I knew nothing about your Hero Squad’s little plan, did you?” Qin Chu dropped another bombshell.
Ronald’s eyes widened in shock, his body trembling. This man knew everything? This was the worst-case scenario.
Only the members of the Hero Squad knew about their plan. How did this bastard Qin Chu find out?
Could there be a traitor among them?
This thought infuriated Ronald.
This was betrayal, not just against him, but against Lord Jie Luo.
“Think what you will. I won’t tell you who the traitor is…”
Actually, among the surviving members, Eileen, Airi, Loseweisse, and Muse the Mad were still relatively normal. Ekaterina was a confirmed traitor, Athena was also a traitor, and even Sylph could be considered half a traitor.
Qin Chu wondered if, after a few more deaths, everyone except Loseweisse would be a traitor?
“But I can tell you one thing, that idiot Loseweisse actually suspected Augustus.”
Hiss…
Ronald trembled. He now understood that the Hero Squad’s situation was even worse than he had imagined. This devil, Qin Chu, had used his methods to turn the entire squad into a mess.
“I had no grudge against you, yet you wanted to kill me for a dead man, Jie Luo. And you don’t even allow me to retaliate? What kind of absurd rule is that… This was just self-defense, so there’s nothing wrong with it.”
Qin Chu smiled, enjoying Ronald’s rage, hatred, and despair. The more intense his emotions, the more satisfied he felt.
Ronald gasped for breath, his mind reeling from the successive blows. The future of the Hero Squad seemed bleak.
His face was filled with sorrow:
“Aren’t you afraid of this being exposed?”
Qin Chu seemed puzzled, “Why would I be afraid?”
“It was Lomond who killed Benson and you. He will gladly take the credit.”
“I killed Karsus, but it was in the name of justice. No one will blame me, they will only thank me for eliminating a threat… Oh, and by the way, I was the one who guided Karsus towards his fall, just so I could have a legitimate reason to execute him publicly.”
Ronald collapsed to the ground, his strength gone. He didn’t even feel the pain as his wounds were aggravated, only a numb trembling.
This enemy was far more terrifying than he had imagined.
He was meticulous and cunning, his plans carefully laid.
He was vicious and cruel, capable of anything.
And his talent was extraordinary, his strength growing at an alarming rate.
He was the most terrifying, the most despair-inducing enemy.
“Why… why are you so cruel?” Ronald whispered, all hope lost.
“Cruel?”
“No, Ronald,” Qin Chu’s voice was cold and filled with satisfaction, “Do you have the right to call me cruel? Do any of you in the Hero Squad have that right? You used me, discarded me, betrayed my trust, slandered my name, and had me publicly dismembered, my body and limbs scattered to the corners of the earth, my head buried beneath the Holy City, to be trampled upon for all eternity…”
His voice rose to a low growl.
“Compared to what you did to me, I’m being merciful…”
Then, his tone shifted, the oppressive weight lifting, replaced by a chilling amusement. “By the way, Ronald, did you know?”
“Benson’s death gave me the Pseudo-Absolute Defense ability.”
“Karsus’s death earned me the titles of Divine Emissary and Descending Angel.”
“And you… you brought me Jie Luo’s soul fragment.”
“Thank you.”
Pfft!
Ronald, already on the verge of collapse, couldn’t take it anymore. He spat out a mouthful of blood.
To kill and then crush the spirit, nothing more.
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