chapter 752 hero versus the system of cannon fodders [part 3]
"they said that cheaters never win," thirteen said calmly as he watched the hero's sword strike, fueled by the latter's raging emotions, descend upon him like a world-killing blow. he had seen countless versions of this strike, and yet, they only yielded one result.
annihilation of their enemy.
"but, contrary to popular belief, cheaters do win," thirteen added.
a moment later, a gigantic flaming tail emerged from the ground and clashed against roland's sword strike.
the young man coughed a mouthful of blood as the force of the impact sent him flying towards the sea, where he skidded a few times before finally making a big splash.
rocky emerged from the ground and glanced at thirteen, as if to make sure that he was alright.
however, after seeing the blood streaming down his left shoulder, rocky's face distorted in anger. "tis but a scratch, rocky," thirteen stated. "don't overreact. blacky, save roland before he drowns. i think he broke a rib or two when he got hit by rocky's strike."
a black blur materialized out of nowhere and shot toward the sea.
a moment later, the nightmare black hound returned, holding the hero's in his jaw.
blacky then unceremoniously dropped roland on the sand, making him groan.
as if to add insult to injury, giga also appeared, and the first thing he did was spat at roland, before using his paws to bury the hero on the sand, leaving only his head above ground.
if giga had his way, he wouldn't have spat but farted, which would be more traumatizing for the young man who had just suffered a serious injury.
"you cheated," roland said through gritted teeth. "this was supposed to be a fair duel."
"well, you cheated too," thirteen replied "who asked you to ask for fate's help?"
"what are you talking about?!" roland demanded.
however, thirteen didn't answer and simply shrugged.
at that moment, he turned around to look at some people who had also arrived at the beach.
he and roland weren't really holding back, so he wasn't surprised when he saw people had come to investigate what was going on.
surprisingly, he was unperturbed when he saw diana, mildred, and shana walking in their direction.
after speeding out towards the north of the city, he climbed the countless stairs that led to an observatory overlooking the entire city.
when he reached the top, he walked toward the young man leaning on the railings, holding a can of beer in his hand.
there were multiple other cans lying across the ground, and most of them were now crumpled and empty.
thirteen didn't say anything as he stood beside the young man gazing at glory city with a haunted look on his face.
"have you come to chastise me too?" joshua, whose eyes were bloodshot, asked.
although it was dark, thirteen could see the tear stains that had streamed down his face.
clearly, the other party had been wallowing in grief and guilt, as well as humiliation after the event that transpired in the deserted island.
joshua's communicator was ringing nonstop, being flooded by messages coming from his friends and acquaintances, all asking him why he betrayed his friend.
it wasn't at all exaggerated, for millions of people watched everything happen. in their point of view, joshua was a traitor and a betrayer.
once, he had been the proud sage of the hero party.
loved and respected by many due to the position he held.
but one mistake was all it took for him to fall from grace, changing his image to that of a backstabber who killed even his own best friend under countless gazes.
"why should i chastise you?" thirteen asked back without bothering to look at the sage of the hero party. "from my perspective, you only made the most logical choice at that time."
a bitter chuckle escaped joshua's lips after hearing thirteen's reply.
yes.
he made the most logical choice at that time.
but, what is worth it?
the answer was very obvious.
not only did he lose the trust of his friend, but he also lost the trust of countless more.
he was certain that when morning came, news of what he had done would appear on the front pages of every newspaper. it also wouldn't be a shock if it became the most talked about topic in news broadcasts all over the world.