“I came back from hell to kill you.” I said.

  Of course I did. That Daesphere was exactly how I had imagined hell! And this half shit sent me there to fetch my soul! I really want to send him there and feed his soul to the boars!

  Every cheer around me had fallen silent. Every whisper dispersed in the air before it could touch my ears. The cold breeze warmed slightly when it blew at me.

  All my wounds heated up. My blood boiled. My eyes steamed. But I no longer felt pain. I was simply…. feeling.

  But I am still lucky. I never thought ripping off a few tubes would immobilize it. The steam armour man, though, tried his best to lift himself up using the remaining limbs.

  ‘…’

  I hesitated a second before remembering that this man tried to pierce Lali's eyes. Besides that, this is a ‘death match’.

  I exhaled once. Twice.

  Then I walked towards the man who was trying hard to stand back up.

  ‘If removing a few tiny tubes and pipes would make it immobile, what would happen if I pulled the big tube connected to the big white ‘bag’ on his back.’

  “Nho! Get foff!” The man screamed as I climbed up on the back of his armour.

  Sitting on top of the armour that covers half the body of the man, I first struck the back of the man before my gaze shifted to the constantly shrinking and expanding bladder.

  A big wire tube was screwed to the bladder. I pulled at it with all my strength. But it didn't budge.

  “Gaahh!” After trying for a few seconds, I let go of the tube.

  It didn't move an inch to break.

  “Kekeke.” The man laughed.

  Gritting my teeth, I pulled the tube again, only to fail once more.

  This time, the crowd also laughed.

  That was when I noticed. The orange and red colours! They were coating my arms. It felt like before when I was in the inn. When I burned Nackir.

  I looked at my arms. A strange transparent layer of thin coating. More orange and red joined it as I watched the coating move up from my palms to cover my hands slowly.

  I pressed my hands at the end of the tube. Nothing happened.

  ‘What? How do I make it work?’

  I held on to it tighter again, “Burn!” I shouted, thinking it might help. But still met with failure.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  ‘Shit!’

  “Keekekekek!” The steam-armoured man laughed, “Geth foff me, fuck!”

  “He lost too much blood and meat. Now, he doesn't have the power to rip off a tube! Hahaha!”

  “He ain't even had meat to begin with!”

  “Bones! Hahaha!”

  And the rats followed him. One by one, they all mocked me, laughed at me!

  ‘Enough! Quit laughing at me!’

  For the second time today, I felt my heart beating violently against my chest. Every heartbeat was screaming at me!

  Then I heard a voice, “Kill.”

  My eyes widened. There it was, that voice. That feeling!

  “Kill!" It said again.

  “Kill! Kill! Kill!” Soon the voices in my head matched the rhythm of my heartbeat.

  I didn't know when my lips curled into a grin as I pressed my hands against the tube and the bladder.

  My hand quickly sank into it. The bladder burned away quickly and freed the tube and the iron pipe with it.

  Steam spewed out violently in the tubes I was holding. The steam-armour completely went limp. The man kept grunting and shouting.

  I held up the tube with my right hand. The steam rushed out of it, but it didn't stop.

  I pulled the man’s hair back, lifting his head off of the ground and pushed the steaming pipes into his half decayed mouth.

  He jerked violently, but with the heaviness of his own armour and me pulling his hair, he wasn't able to break off.

  I watched as the steam entered his mouth faster than his nose could breathe it out. Blood flowed from his eyes and nose and ears.

  From somewhere down, the filthiest of smells made me nauseous. But I didn't pull out the tubes, I watched as the steam began to come out of his eyes.

  And soon, somehow, his head exploded. Blood and meat scattered everywhere. Only a piece which hung to the hair stood in my hand. Everything else was lost.

  I threw the steam pipes away from me and the headless body. Steam still came out but its force was slowly dying out.

  Drenched in my own and other's blood, I stood up.

  There was no more mocking. No one laughed. It was utter silence until an applause rounded inside the room.

  Taking short breaths, I looked at the far end of the room. A short man was standing there on his little legs and clapping his hands.

  “Rat boss.” I muttered.

  Slowly, the rest of the rats followed. One after the other, everyone began to cheer me on.

  Pehugian walked towards me. Not slowly but not quickly either. He stopped a few metres away from me. A satisfied smile plastered on his face.

  “Bravo!” He said. His voice was thunderous inside the room.

  I couldn't understand why he would say that to me. Neither did I know why he was smiling. He raised his arm. Two of his lackeys quickly brought a stool.

  When the rat boss was climbing up the stool, the two lackeys held my arms and kicked me behind my knee. I fell, but they held me from falling on my face.

  When I opened my eyes again, I was facing eye-to-eye with the rat boss. He raised his arm again and the lackeys let go of me.

  “Hey! What are you going to do to him?” I heard Margaret shouting from behind me. Taking a quick glance I saw the three of them, still tied on their chairs.

  Margaret, still wearing a towel, had her eyebrows furrowed. She tried to break free to no avail.

  Next to her, Lali. Her cheeks were stained by the marks after crying a lot.

  Then, Jug?r. He was also in a similar situation to Lali but I didn't care.

  “Oh, nothing dear. I just want to ask him some questions.” Pehugian said.

  “What do you want?” I asked in between my breaths.

  Pehugian smiled, “what is your name?” He asked.

  “Alifaan..” I said.

  “Well, Alifaan, you did great. You killed a steam-armoured man. You have proven yourself that you're capable of defeating Scarlet-thew.” Pehugian said.

  “Are you not angry because I killed your man?” I asked even though I knew he was angry at me. How could he not? I killed someone who swore loyalty to him.

  I was almost certain that the next thing the Rat Boss was gonna do was pull out a gun and shoot me in the face. But he didn't pull out a gun. Instead he turned back and clapped his arms twice.

  “Clean this mess!” He shouted. Quickly two men who played music earlier came running and dragged the headless body away and started wiping the floor.

  Pehugian turned to look at me again. He studied my face for a moment, “Of course I'm angry. But I'm more impressed.” He said, “You, who looks dead already, killed someone who was wearing steam powered armour.”

  I couldn't understand what he was saying. If he is angry, why would he smile?

  “I know you are confused. So, I will be straight.” He said, “How about a deal?”

  ‘What crap is saying now?’

  “What deal?” I asked.

  Pehugian's lips curled up, “I will help you rescue that girl's mother. In turn, I want you to join me.” He said.

  ‘Become a thug to save someone's life? No!’

  “I don't need your help. I already know where she is and I can come out just fine.” I said. With my new guardian powers, I could just easily burn the naval base and escape.

  “Are you certain? You barely survived against a single steam armour, what if there are ten? A hundred? A thousand?” He asked. And heck he was right.

  But becoming a rat is still too much. “I can't join you.” I shook my head at Pehugian.

  His smile disappeared for a moment before he opened his mouth, “Then, how about this, Just ten jobs. Then, you can go.” He said.

  ‘Can’t this guy understand? I said fucking no!’

  I shook my head again.

  “I will pay you handsomely.” He said.

  “How much?” Now with payment, I would be ‘working’, so it's fine.

  Pehugian smiled again. Much brighter this time. He stretched his short right arm forward. I grabbed it with my bloody arm and shook it.

  “One hundred golds per job.” He said.

  My eyes widened. My ears couldn't believe what I just heard.

  ‘One hundred gold…ten jobs. Then, one thousand gold? I will be able to start a smoking factory, a store bigger than Mr.Peter’s. And maa could finally take a rest.’

  Anyhow I thought about it, this works too well for me. I could move to Velcrest along with the nobles.

  “Deal.”