Chapter 59: Broken Alexander

Usually, a revival in the revival chamber of the Academy took an hour or two to minimize the toll taken by the body and reduce confusion. This revival chamber also only worked to revive people who died in the training ground.

A random person who died near this Academy wouldn't revive here, so it was the perfect place to deliver this punishment.

And I had Emilia tweak it slightly to make the revival happen immediately and change the location of the revival.

It would confuse the revived person who couldn't process what had happened. They lost a Level, and their bodies still couldn't process it, which confused them.

But in this case, it didn't really matter. I used this feature to confuse Alexander and punish him more purposely. I would call this a purge. Repeatedly killing a person and reviving him again and again until he lost all his level.

And due to the barrier that covered the training ground, he couldn't run away from me.

"You have revived. Let's do it again." I tossed the sword from earlier to him, and he was finally able to process what had happened as he grabbed it and stood up.

His body was wobbling, but the hatred in his eyes was still burning like before.

"I will kill you!!" He rushed toward me once again, this time slower than before.

I grinned and used <Flash>, dicing his body as I passed through him and reappeared at the other side of the room.

His diced body and the sword fell to the ground with a gruesome sound. Liquid blood splashed and painted the ground red, but I only said one thing.

"Next."

This bastard would hate being alive after I finished.

***

This method was really effective.

The third time Alexander revived, he didn't rush at me immediately. Instead, he cursed and tried to shake me. He tried calling me an orphan, to which I replied by slicing his mouth open. Blood gushed out, and he couldn't talk anymore.

A silent scream echoed in the training ground as Alexander writhed in pain on the ground, holding his jaw so it wouldn't fall from his face. I laughed evilly in front of him and put my feet on his head.

"You are now under that said orphan, meaning you are lower than me. How is it? A great feeling, no?"

After leaving those words, I crushed his head with my heel. Blood splashed everywhere, and my pants were stained. But the stain disappeared as Alexander turned again into a mote of light.

The fourth time. His face paled when he saw me. He didn't take the sword I threw toward him and instead tried to run away.

That wouldn't do. If he didn't take the sword, then it would be too easy. That was why I threw it toward his leg, piercing his left calf.

"Take the sword," I said coldly as I watched him fall to the ground with a loud thud while screaming in pain.

"Aaaargh!! Damn you!!"

His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at me. The hatred in his eyes deepened and burned like an ember. Great. That was it.

'Hate me, so you would fear me.'

And so I killed him for the fourth time, reducing his Level to 16. It was a quick death, so he wouldn't feel anything but trauma from it.

I noticed Emilia was standing on the spectator seat, looking at the spectacle while biting her lower lip. Maybe this sight was too much for her, but she gestured that no one would come here.

It was also a blessing that Rania was tired and retired to her room, and the headmistress wasn't in the Academy. Maybe the person named Alesia Daxidor would oppose me.

There was a chance that the headmistress would also support me. I didn't know her personality well yet to judge how she would react.

After a few seconds, Alexander reappeared once again. It was then he realized he couldn't escape me, and the only way to escape was to beat me. And he decided to use his hidden card.

"I'll fucking kill you and your fucking family! Bluerose Duchy won't stay silent after this!!"

Yes. It was time for my 'My family won't forgive you' card. But I didn't care and just beheaded his head once he finished talking because I was pissed off.

"Use your own fucking strength to take revenge, idiot." I muttered as I watched his body disappear slowly.

It repeated 10 times. I decided to stop using <Sword Hand> and only used the back of my hand to kill him because it was boring.

As I used <Appraisal> on him, I saw his Level was reduced to 5 already, and most of his skills were gone. Even the title that was supposed to be stolen from Adam was also gone because he had not enough strength.

'Hmm, I found something interesting. So the stolen skills still have a Level requirement to be used.'

That gave me a bit of relief. If the skill still needed a Level requirement to be used, then that means Beatrice won't be able to steal a skill from someone with a higher Level than hers. For example, Rania and me.

From what I remember, Beatrice was around Level 50. I should make sure with <Appraisal> next time I see her.

Anyway, this guy didn't even move anymore once he was revived. He screamed in pain whenever I hit him on the stomach and face: no fight back or swear words.

"How boring."

Once I killed him 18 times, and he was left with Level 2, I approached him with my hands inside my pockets. He shivered in fear as he took a step back.

The moment I stood over him, Alexander fell on his butt and crawled away.

"N-No. M-Monster! Get away from me!"

Such a nostalgic moniker. Monster, I had always been called that by notorious players, especially by those who messed with my friends and invoked my wrath.

A big grin plastered over my face as I bent my back.

"That's such a compliment. I am indeed your worst monster."

As I said that, I heard a water-running noise. It came from below me. When I glanced down, laughter burst out from my lips.

"Hahahaha! The son of Duke Bluerose? I think it is better to call you something like piss boy."

Alexander's face turned red from embarrassment to anger. But he didn't dare to look at my face. He was afraid.

'It's time to end this.'

"Now then." I walked away and picked the iron sword on the ground.

I turned around and swung the sword down to check its condition. It was still at its best, even though I used it to stab Alexander a few times. As expected from an item from Horizon Online.

Seeing me swinging my sword, Alexander crawled away frantically from me.

"N-No! I don't want to die anymore! Not again! P-Please. S-Spare me, great Paladin! I was wrong!"

His mind was already broken from repeated revivals. Just once more, and he would be totally broken, unable to do even a simple thing by himself.

"Hmm, what should I do?" I muttered as I rested the sword on my shoulder. I towered over Alexander, and he looked at me with a happy smile.

"P-Please spare me!" Seeing hope, he tried to grab my pants. Well, that was a mistake.

"Oops." By instinct, I swung my sword and sliced through his arms. It sliced cleanly near the wrists area, and he became handless now.

"Aaaaarrrghhh!!" A beastly scream echoed through the training ground.

What? It was his own fault that he suddenly moved. I was still on my guard, so I didn't even allow an ant to crawl to my feet.

"Well, if it's like this, then it's better to revive you, no?" I said, and he raised his head slowly.

A deep fear embedded in his eyes. The hatred from earlier was already gone. What was reflected on those black pupils was my face with a big grin.

"Mons-"

Before he finished his sentence, my sword had already sliced through his neck. I put the iron sword back into my inventory. It would need maintenance soon.

A few moments later, Alexander got revived again. But this time, he immediately curled up on the ground and muttered something incomprehensible.

At that moment, I heard an announcement coming.

[Ding! You had inflicted deep trauma on Alexander Bluerose! Your Sins increased by 10!]

[You won't gain Sins from inflicting deep trauma on Alexander Bluerose again!]

I nodded, satisfied. My work was done, and I gained 10 Sins on top of that. Neat.

Then I looked at Emilia, who was in the spectator area. "I am done. We just need to wait."

My voice could be conveyed outside, even with the barrier, but Emilia's voice couldn't enter the barrier. So she nodded to show that she understood and walked away to deactivate the barrier.

As I watched Emilia walk away, another notification came in.

[A new Quest has appeared.]

I immediately checked it as I didn't want to miss something like before.

Quest:

- Paladin Authority

Quest Description: Show the Mastermind behind your kidnapping attempt what it means to mess with the Paladin.

Deadline: 30 Days

Reward: 25 Sins

The reward was really tempting. But looking at the deadline, I knew that the mastermind wouldn't show up soon.

So I had some time left to have fun with my girls and make some progress with Rania and Eliza.