Kapitel 13: Let’s Not Get Ourselves Killed Next Time.
Soon, the potion Lauren had drunk fully took effect, and his once lean figure now appeared slightly more bulky, with veins snaking around his body.
Whoosh!!
Hurling himself toward the town head at breakneck speed, Lauren left a gust of wind in his wake.
The gust he left behind not only showed how much his physical strength had increased but also hinted at the price he'd need to pay for it.
The pill was meant to boost his physical fitness and temporarily subdue toxins in his system, while the potion prolonged the pill's effects.
As for the side effects, the pill would drain him of his strength, and the potion would enhance those effects when it wore off.
Simply put, they'd be sitting ducks if Lauren didn't manage to defeat the town head within the limited time he had.
Akin to a phantom, Lauren's figure materialized before the town head. His fist clenched tightly in preparation for an attack.
With raw primal strength oozing off him, Lauren landed a direct hit to the town head's abdomen, making the latter curl up like a snail before getting launched like a cannonball a fair distance away.
During his flight, the town head managed to regain consciousness, but there was nothing he could do to reduce the force.
"Thought you'd be one shot," Lauren mocked, walking through the ravine the town head had created.
"Why didn't he go for the head?" Tega muttered, facepalming when he saw Lauren let go of a good opportunity to leave the man weakened.
Although he knew Lauren wasn't thinking straight—that's if the latter ever thought straight—sometimes it was wise to curb one's anger and go with the best method after considering the stakes.
"That stung a little," the town head mocked, coughing out a mouthful of blood with an eerie grin on his face.
"It won't this time."
Lauren's calm voice echoed through the town hall, leaving behind an afterimage where he had stood.
Grabbing hold of the man's head, Lauren brought his face closer to the man's ear and whispered, "How'd you like your death?"
Unfazed by Lauren's threat or the fact his life was hanging by a thread, the town head wore a foolish grin and proposed, "You dying sounds more fun than what you mentioned."
Crack!!
In a split second, the town head's face was planted deep within the concrete floor.
"Will you answer me now?" Lauren asked, his voice louder than before, rage lacing every word he so desperately tried to control.
"You won't dare to kill me!" the town head yelled through his broken jaw after pulling his head out of the floor.
Getting a better grip on the blood-covered head, Lauren pulled the town head by his hair before flinging him toward the people gathered at the town hall. If they died, he couldn't care any less.
He was no hero obliged to protect the universe or a villain the hero failed to save. He was just a random guy who wanted to grow stronger while stirring up a little trouble.
But not only were they responsible for killing the creature he was close to, they almost made him break the promise he had made to himself.
"Let me out, and I'll kill him in a single move," a voice said from within Lauren, feasting on his bloodlust and anger like it was the most delicious meal.
"I'd rather die than let you out," Lauren replied.
Tossing the town head's hair from his hand, he added, "And he's not too strong," as flashbacks of the horrible things he did when he lost control flooded his mind.
Although he desperately wanted to go on a rampage, Lauren knew what would happen if he removed the leash on his anger.
"You look quite pitiful," Lauren taunted, ignoring the bloodstains in the town hall and the voice within him.
"Let them go, or you'll regret it," the town head threatened, unbothered by his miserable look as he staggered, trying to get to his feet.
Placing his boot on the man's head, Lauren said, "Do you think I want to talk to you? If I had a choice, I'd rip you limb from limb."
As he had said, Lauren found talking to the pig before him the only way to keep calm, but that method was gradually failing since the idiot kept annoying him.
"Did I ask for your opinion?!" Lauren yelled, smashing the man's head into the floor when he saw the town head was about to speak.
"Even beating the crap out of you isn't enough to calm me," Lauren muttered, his leg continuously pounding the man's head.
"Your injuries seem to be healing rather quickly," Lauren noticed. Most of the injuries he had inflicted had disappeared; even his previously broken jaw was now well-attached.
Picking the man up in a chokehold, Lauren radiated intense bloodlust as he said, "I guess it's time for you to pass on."
The more he hit the man, the more Lauren felt the monster within him grow stronger. And since injuring the man and letting him die slowly wasn't an option, his only choice was to kill him in a single move.
Boom!
With a single punch, Lauren shattered the man's head like it was a watermelon before letting the headless corpse fall to the ground.
"That wasn't satisfying," Lauren mumbled, running his bloody hand through his hair.
"Did he really need to take the pill and potion?" Tega thought, staring at Lauren, who stood like a lone island in the middle of the ocean.
"I'll just have to kill everyone who caused his death," Lauren chuckled, letting out a deranged laugh as he turned his attention to the town's people, who looked absent-minded.
When the town head had died, the illusion he placed on them vanished, but Lauren had cast another illusion so they wouldn't interrupt him while he got rid of the town head.
"You see! We're stronger if you put me in charge!" the voice within Lauren yelled, letting out a malevolent cackle.
"Nah, you'd just be overkill," Lauren laughed, barely retaining control of his body as he pulled himself toward the town's people.
Even if he had known he didn't need the potions to defeat the town head, he would've still taken them, as they numbed the pain he felt to an extent.
With the thing within Lauren taking control of his left half, he stood at the center of the people and yelled with his arms apart, "This world would know pai-"
"Shhh… We'll get reported." Lauren joked. Chuckling, he kept on displaying subtle signs of insanity as he wiped out the people in the town hall.
If they so desperately wanted to kill, they should be prepared to be killed.
As Lauren's chaotic laughter faded, the silence in the air felt heavier than the wreckage left behind. Tega glanced at his friend lying in exhaustion, bloodstained yet oddly serene.
Instead of words, he simply lowered himself beside Lauren, both of them watching the first light of dawn creep over the horizon, touching the ruins with a quiet, unspoken promise.
It wasn't forgiveness or redemption, but it was something close—a reminder that even in destruction, something new could begin.
"So…what now?" Tega murmured, not expecting an answer, just a moment of peace.
After a long pause, Lauren chuckled softly, "Let's not get ourselves killed next time."
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein