Chapter 869: Disgraced Midas

"DIEEEEEEEEEE, YOU BASTAAAAAARRRRRRD!!!" A bright streak lunged at its target.

Kuzon Midas, covered in golden light, was currently engaged in a fierce battle with Jared Leonard—or so he thought to himself.

However, all he was really doing was chasing his opponent with all his might, trying his best to land even one solid hit.

"S-stay in one place, you slimy bastard!" Kuzon yelled.

The only response he recieved was a light chuckle from his opponent. Jared Leonard's white hair fluttered as he dodged yet another one of Kuzon's attack, and a cold gaze of condescension beamed from his eyes.

'D-damn it!' Kuzon growled internally. 'Why can't I hit him?!'

When they first began the battle, he was glad that he was indeed pitted against his archnemesis. He was finally going to be able to carry out his revenge. Everything had gone according to plan.

Even during the start of the fight, he had an immense level of confidence in his abilities. Sure, he had just lost against the Outer's newest member, but that was merely an exception.

He had been studying Jared for very long. He knew he had what it took to defeat him... especially if he went ultra serious in the fight.

However...

'Why can't I hit him?!'

... Nothing seemed to work!

'I'm using both [Mage Mode] and [Midas Touch]. I'm also adorned with my enhancing artifacts, and my powers have risen to unimaginable bounds. Why am I... still behind?!'

Kuzon gritted his teeth as he created several hundred constructs of light with his Magic, lunging the golden blades toward Jared.

"For real...?" He heard a whisper from the target, assuming he said that because he was cornered.

'I finally got you bastar—'

>BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM!!!<

Seemingly effortlessly, Jared repelled all the golden blades, causing them to shatter like cheap glass.

"N-no way!"

Kuzon knew how much Mana he had expended in that venture. He had ensured each blade was compressed enough to penetrate the thickest hide, yet Jared pushed everything with zero efforts at all.

'How is he doing that?!' It made no sense to him, which enraged the Midas Emperor even more.

"BASTAAAAR—"

"Alright, that's enough." Jared's voice suddenly echoed, and Kuzon felt his body grow heavy.

"K-keuk!"

Before he knew it, Kuzon fell to his kneed, causing massive cracks on the already devastated ground. His body ached as he could feel every part grow heavier and heaavier by the minute.

No, that wasn't quite right.

It seemed like there was a heavy burden on top of him. It was invisible, but Kuzon could feel its immense weight, unable to shake it off.

"B-bastard! W-what did you d-do...?" He gasped, struggling to rise from his knees, but failing every time.

"[Forced Homage]" Jared's voice echoed in his ears, forcing him to cease his pointless struggle. "I made the air around you heavier than normal. It's a simple Spell, and it gets the job done."

As a result, Kuzon found himself in the most humiliating situation—him kneeling before the man he hated the most, Jared Leonard.

"Y-you..."

"Bastard? Yeah, you keep saying that. I've heard that word so many times that it's gotten stale. Don't you have something better? Not that it matters, though..." A twisted smile formed on his face.

Kuzon felt a blazing inferno rage within him. Frsutration and unquelled fury threatened to swallow him whole, and his whole body convulsed amid this weight of emotions.

"I decided to spend my time with you, yet you ended up wasting it. And here I thought you would have gotten stronger after our last encounter..." Jared's words stung Kuzon's heart.

"I-I have..."

"Really? I couldn't tell. Then again, it's probably not you but me. When you reach a certain point in strength, it becomes pretty irrelevant what the worms do beneath you."

"I-I'm not a w-worm..."

"Sure, you are."

Before Kuzon could respond, Jared planted his heel on head, forcing it to clash with thr ground. He then rubbed his boots on Kuzon's suppressed face.

"See? I stamp worms with this very boot. There's no difference between you and them." Jared, the clear dominator, grinned.

"Kuek... y-you... I'll kill y-you..."

"Urgh. You keep saying that. Grow up already." Jared rolled his eyes, now displaying disgust.

"W-what are y-you—"

"I mean, sure I killed your parents. I stabbed them in the back and made you an orphan. So what? You don't need to bitch on about it."

"Y-you monster..."

"Exactly! I'm a monster. That's what I am. It's what I do. Do you know how many people I betray and kill in a day? Do you know how many orphans I've made already? Stop whining about your situation as if you're some sort of special case."

"Hicc... hicc..." At this point, Kuzon began to choke on his sobs. Tears fell from his eyes, overflowing due to his increasing frustration and unquelled rage.

"Yeah, yeah. Keep crying like the little baby you are. I can't believe this. You mean, you allied with the Outers, went through all this elaborate plan, and even challenged me, all because of some childish reason? What a snowflake."

"M-mom... d-dad...." Kuzon cried even more, miserable and pathetic as his face hugged the dirty floor.

"Pfft. What a retard."

Kuzon's golden light vanished, and his Mage Mode expired. He was now nothing but a pathetic loser, fallen and completely helpless.

"I find it hard to believe you are the Emperor of the Midas Empire. It's a good thing you allied with the Outgroup. Pretty sure they helped you with most of your administrative affairs. Even this plan... I doubt you got to have any say in it. Why? Because you're an idiot."

Broken. Weak. Sunken to the lowest point of despair, Kuzon's empty eyes saw nothing but hopeless darkness.

'A-ah... am I... such a loser...?'

He had been shown just how weak and incompetent he was.

He was a terrible ruler, a bad nephew, a hopeless Mage, a dishonorable son. All in all... wasn't he a failure? That's right. Kuzon Midas was an absolute disgrace to the Midas Race.

W-wouldn't everyone be better off if he just died?

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[A/N]

Evil Jared is such just... demn.

Here's the link.