Chapter 52: Just This Once
"Hahahaha! He's crazy! Absolutely crazy!" The Goddess shouted as she tapped her thigh repeatedly.
"He really is..."
"Why are you tagging along? Don't you have your guys to play with?"
"I do but..."
"Ha! So you admit I have a better eye for selecting interesting people, huh?"
"On your first meeting, you said he was a hikikomori. A shut-in on Earth. There's no way a guy like that would change so... Did you lie? Did you lie because you knew the other Gods were watching-"
"Did not." The Goddes sighed. "That's how his life ended. I didn't lie, I just... Left out the interesting parts and only gave them the ending. What's wrong with that?"
"Ha..." Her younger brother couldn't believe her recklessness. "You lied so that the Gods of the Heavens would allow for more give. For more room to work with."
"I didn't lie though." The Goddess' tone showed that she didn't care about her brother's objections and thoughts. "It's weird that you care in the first... It IS weird! Why do you care about him so much? Don't tell me... Don't tell me you..."
"..."
"YOU WERE EYEING HIM TOO?? HAHAHAHA! LOSER! YOU'RE COMING TO SEE WHAT COULD'VE BEEN YOURS, HUH? WELL, HE'S MINE! HAHA! SERVES YOU RIGHT, LOSER!"
"Ugh... He doesn't seem that special right now. He's throwing up after-"
"Shut up." The Goddess interrupted. Her tone had suddenly turned serious. "Shut up and watch." Her eyes narrowed.
"Fine..."
------------
The Young Master spat on the dungeon's filthy and dirty floor.
'I broke him, just like I wanted.' He wiped his sweat off and continued walking.
...
'Oh, gods... Please, help me! I had no idea he was the Young Master of the Sect! Had I known... I of course would not have-'
He was all the way across the dungeons. He was inside one of the furthest cells within the dungeons.
Still, the screams reached him.
The screams, the shouts, the begging, the cries...
His back hit the wall. He curled up, shaking.
'I don't... I didn't...'
He didn't have anything to do with it. He had never heard cries or screams that sounded this way. They shook him to his very core. His whole body was trembling. A key was inserted. The man's breathing stopped. He felt like his heart would too.
The door was pushed open, the man barely managed to stop.
His knees gave out, as the Young Master's eyes shone through the darkness, piercing through it like sharp arrows.
"Ahh... Ahh..." The man couldn't bring himself to scream.
The Young Master's eyes were nothing like they were before. The shadow that lingered over his face... The man couldn't help but ask himself if this person was really the one he had insulted, the one he had bumped into, the one...
No, it was a different person.
Or at the very least, something had happened.
In front of the man, stood a Devil. A real Devil!
The Devil walked forward, and the man felt that he would pass out.
His throat was dry, his body was weak. He couldn't stand or scream.
The Devil arched his back, and extended a hand.
The man stared at the Devil's face.
On that face was an angelic smile.
The man took that hand, fearing for his life.
"Now, get out of here." The Young Master's tone was gentle.
Yet, even greater fear sprung from within the man's heart.
He ran and ran and ran.
Eventually, he found the staircase. The man had escaped.
His trembling did not stop even after he had stepped out of the Sect's territory. Even after locking himself up in his house, in his own room.
A Devil that can smile like an Angel...
***
Hours passed, and that man cried himself to sleep.
He had caught a glimpse on his way out. A glimpse of what the Devil had done. Of how the Devil had broken a person and turned him back into a baby. The man did not know anything. He did not want to know.
***
The Young Master brought a hand to his face. He massaged his cheek muscles, before massaging his tired eyes.
A lot had happened. A lot, in one night.
'Being aware of every square inch of my face... Every expression, every twitch, every... I wanted to look as scary at possible... I wanted to look like an Angel. A pure and gentle Angel who loves to see others in pain. My eyes... My smile... The fluttering of my eyelids... I took care of everything. But what broke him in end... Seeing me as an absolute psychopathic sadistic Angel full of innocence wasn't nearly enough... Pain was nothing to him. What broke him was...'
The Young Master hurriedly brought a hand to his mouth.
He didn't allow himself to throw up.
'Breaking people is interesting...' The Young Master sighed. 'But I didn't expect myself to have such a reaction to it. The breaking, I enjoy. But the part that comes after that...'
The Young Master took a deep breath in, and started walking.
Walking towards the source of the unending cries and screams.
They wouldn't end. The Young Master knew that. After all, the prisoner was still on his knees. He was still tied down, and pressed against the ground. He was still...
'Men die badly. That's why it's pathetic. Ha! Just listen to these screams... It's all so pathetic.'
He clenched his fists.
'Just this once then. Just this once...'
Men die badly.
'I need to get every bit of it out of me. Every ounce of pity. Every ounce... To purge every trace of it out of me... I'm too soft. Too soft for...'
That's why it's pathetic.
'It'll lower the number of Points. That's why, just this once...'
The Inventory was called out.
'If I want to live this life, if I want to use this System to the fullest, if I want the strength to stand against Heroes and Young Masters...'
The Young Master's robe covered Lei's body, while the dark clothes were stored inside the Inventory.
'Men die badly...'
That's why I can't help but feel sorry for them.
'Just this once...'
The Young Master arrived at the cell. At the source of the cries and screams.
Just like Lei had expected, the prisoner hadn't moved one bit, even though the door had been left open.
'You're still tied to the chair... But you could have at least tried...'
Just this once.
The Young Master took away the band holding his hair together.
A cascade of darkness.
Just this once...
'I'll show kindness... Even though it will lower the number of Points...'
The Young Master placed his cold palm over the prisoner's bare back.
The latter quickly became agitated again. His screams became louder.
"Shhh..."
The chair was slowly turned around. The Young Master's knees touched the ground.
"I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! I-"
"Shh... It's okay... Everything is okay now..."
"I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN TO! I-"
A soft palm was slowly and gently placed over the prisoner's head.
The chair was turned.
The prisoner wasn't on his knees anymore, but on his side.
His cheek lay on the Young Master's bent thighs.
"It's okay... It's fine now..." A tone so gentle it would put crying babies to sleep. A voice so sweet it would attract mockingbirds to land on his shoulders. "It's over... You're fine now..."
Countless tears went down the prisoner's face before he built up the courage to turn his head towards the Young Master's face.
Through the darkness, he could only see long silky hair hanging down, swaying gently, as well as a radiant angelic smile.
"It's fine now..."
The prisoner shut his eyelids. More tears. There were no more screams or cries.
Minutes passed.
The gentle hand caressed the prisoner's hair, calming his heart.
His eyes were dry. There were no more tears to shed.
"You're tired... Aren't you?"
The prisoner slowly nodded.
"Now, now, if you're tired, then there's only one thing to do..."
The Young Master's right hand continued caressing the prisoner's hand, while something appeared in his left hand.
"Close your eyes... And sleep soundly..."
The prisoner closed his eyes, and the Young Master waited.
He waited and waited.
Until the prisoner was fast asleep. Until every ounce of tension within his body faded.
Slit-
[You have killed a man.]
[You have...]
'Sleep soundly...'
A quick and painless death. The painless part wasn't too important anyways. Since the prisoner proved himself able to handle physical pain.
[You have...]
[You have...]
[You have...]
The Young Master's right hand stopped moving. It remained over the prisoner's head even once his body had stopped bleeding.
He remained seated, plunged in the darkness of the dungeons, as a series of messages from the System appeared in front of him.
The Young Master only looked at those messages after half a dozen minutes had passed.
[You have gained 1500 Villain Points.]
"Isn't it a bit early to be counting?" The Young Master muttered as he pushed himself off the ground.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone