There was no mistaking him.
My fingers trembled as I pressed my palm harder against the ice, my breath fogging the crystal surface. He was on the other side, only a few meters away, separated from me by a wall of ice.
He wasn't alone.
There was one woman and three men with him, including Clyde.
That piece of shit.
I had been so focused on Ezekiel that I didn't notice the giant monster he was currently fighting.
It was a hydra, with three dragon-like heads and a massive blue body. It wasn't as overwhelmingly enormous as the dragon I had seen before coming back, but it was still terrifying.
What distracted me even more was the scene itself. Those garbage humans just stood on the sidelines, watching while Ezekiel fought the monster alone.
His movements were too fast for my eyes to properly follow. He attacked and defended seamlessly, countering every strike from the hydra, yet he didn't look like he was struggling at all.
Then he lifted his scythe.
Like a passing breeze, he moved.
In the next instant, the hydra's heads fell to the ground.
His party stood frozen in shock, their teeth clenched as they stared at the aftermath.
Oh no.
They're going to do it.
From the drunken confession video where Clyde admitted to killing Ezekiel, I remembered everything.
He said he stabbed him in the back with a poisoned weapon and cut off his limbs.
Panic seized me. I screamed and slammed my fists against the ice wall, trying to warn him, but none of them could hear me. None of them could see me.
I looked around desperately. There was no other way to reach them except through this place, and the massive wall of ice blocked my path completely.
On the other side, Clyde was already setting his plan in motion.
"You did good there, Solace!"
Clyde said it with an oblivious, fake smile.
Ezekiel only looked at him, silent.
That expressionless stare seemed to irritate Clyde even more.
"Now, now. We should hurry and take the treasure and loot before the gate closes."
He spoke again, breaking the silence.
Ezekiel turned away to continue his task when Clyde suddenly drank from an unfamiliar bottle.
No. No. No. No.
That drink.
How could a top-ranker who could sense danger in a heartbeat be stabbed in the back so easily?
That drink. It had something to do with it.
I screamed his name and punched the wall until my hands bled, but it still wouldn't break.
"Ezekiel! Ezekiel! Behind you!"
Then I saw it.
Clyde summoned a dagger that radiated an ominous aura.
Please. Please. Please. Stop.
I begged, even though they couldn't hear me.
Clyde approached him slowly.
He grabbed Ezekiel by the shoulder, and without a sound, the dagger was already buried in Ezekiel's stomach.
I felt my sanity slipping at the sight before me.
Ezekiel growled in pain and turned to look at the one who stabbed him.
It was Clyde, wearing a twisted, triumphant smile, as if he had just won something.
"How… did you—"
"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Clyde burst into laughter.
"I can't believe you were this easy to kill. If I had known, I would've bought that potion and dagger sooner, even if they cost hundreds of my cars and houses."
He kept laughing, and this time his goons joined in, mocking the injured man lying before them.
Ezekiel felt intense pain. The wound itself was nothing compared to injuries he had endured before, but something was different. His vision blurred. His body grew unbearably heavy, a slow, overwhelming surge of pain spread through him.
He coughed up blood, proof that his insides were being destroyed.
Seeing this filled Clyde with intense excitement and joy.
"You like this, don't you?" Clyde said with a smirk.
"You didn't sense me, did you? I gambled on that potion to erase my presence for just one minute, but I didn't expect it to work on you."
"And that poison I just used will kill you slowly, with agonizing pain."
He laughed again.
"You have no idea how much I spent for this. I even had to take funds from the company. But seriously, it was all worth it. I can finally get rid of a pest."
Then his smile twisted.
"But you know what, you cockroach? I'm still not satisfied."
He kicked Ezekiel to the ground and drew his sword.
"Well then… should we make this more satisfying?"
Clyde swung.
Ezekiel let out a pained sound as his arms were severed.
Clyde's allies followed, kicking and stabbing him endlessly.
I stopped pounding on the wall, my hands drenched in blood. The scene before me shattered my mind. Tears streamed down my face and my expression beyond description.
"Ahahahahaha…"
I didn't know why I was laughing as tears continued to fall.
Maybe I had already lost it.
Like a mad person.
I watched Ezekiel take his last breath at their hands.
Hatred filled me. No, hatred wasn't enough to describe what I felt, I wanted to end them.
"Hey, is he already dead?"
One of the men said it as he kicked Ezekiel's corpse.
"How boring,"
the woman muttered with clear disdain.
"Say, Clyde," another voice said. "What are we going to do with his body?"
Clyde paused for a moment. Then he smirked.
"Leaving him here would be a waste," he said.
"I want people to see the top-ranker's pitiful state. Let him be remembered as trash, not some glorified hero."
Those bastards…
I murmured the words under my breath.
Suddenly, the dragon rubbed her eyes and woke up.
"Gah! What is this?!"
Her gaze landed on the blood-smeared wall and on my face.
I didn't answer.
My head was already consumed by dark thoughts.
I didn't care what happened to me anymore.
I couldn't let them have their way.
I stood up and walked for a while, retracing my steps until I reached the area where the monsters had gathered before.
I already knew what I had to do.
Even if I died, I would take them with me.
"What are you going to do?!"
the dragon shouted.
"Do you know you only have a few minutes before they notice you again? And what in the world---"
she then checked how much time I had left
"You only have two minutes!"
I ignored her.
I stood before the horde of monsters.
When the effect finally wore off, I shouted and sprinted forward.
The monsters noticed me immediately and gave chase.
I didn't look back.
I ran straight toward the wall I had been trapped behind before.
I planned to break it using the monsters.
and also using myself as bait.
And just as I was about to crash into the wall, someone screamed—
"YOU CRAZY WOMAN!!"