Chapter 26 - How much pain shall ensue?

POV: Nero

Chad Murphy was on the floor, backed up against the wall, looking for any opportunity to escape. I was crouching in front of him, looking down at him with a blank look. I thanked the meds for this or else I'd seriously've been embarrassing myself in front of the audience member. Shivering and quivering in my trousers. Oh, and he'd probably figure out who I was but let us forget about the what-ifs.

Murphy was unquestionably trembling from terror and looked ready to pass out but he held out and even managed to return a glare. That's good. It would've been boring otherwise. Although... I kind of need to do this quickly, since my tranquillity is going to end soon. In an indignant tone, Murphy growled out, "Who are you and what do you want?"

I groaned in annoyance. "Not again. Honestly! Look it doesn't matter who I am. The second question is more what I'm looking for. I am your worst nightmare mwahaha... no? Not appropriate for this context?"

The other man just stared at me like I'd gone crazy and I swore I heard a snicker from the other side of the room. Ignoring it, I cleared my throat and went back to being serious. More or less. "Well I was just trying to lighten up the atmosphere but clearly, that didn't work. To answer your question seriously though, I am here to beat the shit out of you and hand you over to the police or something. I don't know. I just know I don't want to deal with you afterwards."

"W-What? Why?!"

I gave him an are-you-serious-right-now look. "You're kidding, right? Are you Patrick the Starfish or did you seriously play ignorant the entire day today?"

"B-But none of t-those are true! Even if they were, there are so many cases that it would've been impossible to hide them all! I would've been caught out years ago."

I observed him with disgust and put my left finger under his chin to make him meet my eyes. "And yet somehow, you've managed to keep it under wraps for so long. I wonder how... don't answer, I already know. I also know that you just spewed a shit ton of bullshit just then. All the evidence against you, all the testimonies, all the allegations, they're all true. How do I know that you ask? It's because it was me who released them."

Shock and rage crossed his face, which made him grab at me by the sleeves of my tank and brought me in closer. I let him do so since I was interested where this was going. Murphy practically yelled in my face, "IT WAS YOU WHO LEAK- I MEAN FABRICATED ALL THOSE VIDEOS AND EVIDENCE?! HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU GO AROUND, POSING AS ME AND FRAMING ME WITH ALL THESE SHAMELESS ACTS!"

"... you done?" I pried his hands away from my top. I pushed him into the wall, hard, which knocked the wind out of his lungs, causing a fit of coughing. I stood up and really looked down on him. "Wow! I've never come across a human who actually had the guts to touch us, let alone grip at us. Credits for that. Anyway, if you haven't realised already, I'm about 167cm in height, way below average height. So do you really think I can pose as you? On top of that, I have better things to do with my time than to frame you for something you supposedly didn't do. Everything released is 110% factual and 200% all you. It was you and only you had ended up creating about 53 different victims, excluding the ones who consented for the higher positions in the company. Honestly, denying any of it is just a waste of time at this point so you might as well just confess. It's only Leo...nardo and me. Plus, I think you owe the other man an explanation of some sort, don't you think? Also just so you know, even if you don't admit to it, I'm still beating you up. I might just go easier on you if you do confess. Your choice."

Murphy stayed quiet and looked down at the office carpet. I'll give him twenty seconds. I used the time to look back at Leo, to find him still in his chair, studying our interaction with seriousness. Our eyes met and we held it there for what felt like an eternity. Whether it was to tell me something non-verbally or not, I couldn't figure. I was too busy reappreciating his eyes. The staring competition was broken when a grim voice came from the ground.

"Why... did you do it? It couldn't have been for revenge. All the men I messed around with aren't even in the country and they're too poor to come here! So you can't possibly one of them. This... this doesn't even involve you! Why did you butt in?"

I scoffed in utter disgust. Not involved you say? "You'd be surprised." I mumbled to myself before speaking out, "No. it doesn't involve me. But you can call me an unknown janitor for the people. People like you are filth. You especially are one of the worst out of them all. Filth creates pollution everywhere and contributes to greenhouses gases. Filth like you need to disappear so people can breathe freely, instead of suffocating off bullshit. I mean, I could just release the information only and leave it at that. That usually does enough damage. But sometimes, people tend to get away even after all that since the people in charge of apparently keeping the city safe can't do their jobs right. So I come to visit and make sure they can't escape the inevitable. Long story short, I make sure the air stays clean for everyone. Does that answer your question?"

"NO?!"

"Too bad. I'm bored which means time is up."

"But wait. No... please!"

"Nope don't care. You'll never receive any form of forgiveness from me nor will I allow for you to have a redemption arc. Scum like you don't deserve it. You're lucky I'm not killing you, Murphy. I would've done it in a heartbeat if I didn't have multiple factors holding me back. You're damn lucky in that sense. δένω (bind)."

Black tendrils came out of my arm and bound his feet together. The dark ropes also went around his chest plus arms, squeezing it tight. Chad struggled against it, only to get nowhere. He opted to lie on the floor instead.

Murphy sobbed hysterically and instead of making me feel bad for him, it angered me further and made me a little more sadistic. "Doesn't feel great now, does it? Restrained, weak, helpless. Crying your heart out for any sort of help, only to receive nothing but loneliness. Embrace that feeling. Understand that feeling. Suffer through that feeling. That's the emotions your victims experience every single time you made a move. This intensity of helplessness was especially felt by the woman you nearly raped... yeah that's right I know about that too. I didn't put it in the news because I'm sending it directly to your CEO tomorrow morning. To set everything in stone. You know, fun fact. It was that woman that came to us and requested for you to be exposed. Oh, how karma can come and bite you in the ass. I love it..." I scowled harder, not bothering to hide the distaste in my following statement, "I can't believe you people exist. You guys don't deserve anything. Nothing. Even death is too much of a leeway. Only pain and suffering worked. Nothing more."

By the time I finished, the restrained was begging for his life through his sobs. I deafened myself against his pleas and with more emotionless stares against him, I called out "lift" while pointing my finger at him and with a flick of the finger (towards the windows), it was followed up with "βολή." The demon's magic came out from the carpet in a tentacle-like manner and wrapped around his right leg. It lifted him so he was hanging upside down. He's there for 3 seconds before it abruptly flung him towards the clear wall, out of the building. I heard his screams as he fell from the 30th floor.

With my back facing the windows, I faced my left palm behind me, towards the windows and mentally called for the magic to come out, following after Murphy. Once I felt a tug, I pulled up the rope fast and smashed him into the carpeted floor. It was enough to knock him out, break a couple of bones here and there but wasn't enough to break the carpet onto the next floor down. He's only human and I'm meant to not kill him. But in my eyes, he's the biggest monster in the room. Murphy was on the floor unconscious and foaming as well as bleeding from newly formed cuts. Leo on the other hand had jumped away from his seat to avoid the impact and stood next to the limp body, looking between him and me with undoubtedly stupefaction.

Although Murphy's legs are broken, his arms only got away with cuts and bruises. I wanted to break them. Maybe even make them unusable. After all, they were his partner in crime. But Leo's presence was really making it hard for me to go through with my wish. Even though he didn't know I was Nero, I didn't want him to lose respect in me or be scared of me or just basically judge me in a negative light. But I am pretty sadistic and this fucker really does deserve it... I'll just break one arm.

With that in mind, I shrouded his left arm in darkness and whispered, "clutch." The sound of snapping echoed through the room, causing me to immediately stop the tightening. Well time to face the audience and receive some feedback.

I finally gave my full attention to Leo and said nothing. The other man was staring at the body and analysing all the damages. He seemed to be done when he looked back at me without giving away any emotion. Great. I can't even read to get a feel of what the right opening statement should be. Why is he so good at masking his feels away? Time for a leap of faith.

"You can heal him if you want. I know your fire can also has healing properties. Just if you do that, make sure he isn't well enough to make a run for it."

Leo still said nothing and focused on me. He did it for so long, I squirmed in discomfort and made a slight step towards the exit. However, he seemed to get his thoughts organised well enough because he completely ignored my previous statement and blankly asked,

"Did you mean it?"

The tone was cold and empty. I felt shivers run down my spine. I swallowed the very little saliva in my mouth. "Mean what?"

"That you'd kill him in a heartbeat if you could?"

Well, that caught me off guard. I could lie to him... no I can't. I shouldn't need to. I don't want to. I replied back just as coldly, "Yes. Without a doubt."

"Why didn't you?"

I returned a mirthless chuckle. "Because believe it or not, there are things in this world that are stopping me from becoming a heartless monster. They are, to a degree, keeping me human.