/
A Messiah or a Master
Theo kicked off the ground and dodged backwards. Mezu slammed down a mallet which was as thick as a tree trunk, straight into the ground where Theo was just a moment ago.
Theo swept his left arm, creating a large burst of wind that blew Mezu back.
Then he slid close and gave a hard punch to Mezu’s gut.
He felt the bones crush before his fist. Clenching his fists, he delivered blow after blow, but ducked to the floor after feeling an intense chill. The mallet just barely grazed his face.
The air surrounding the mallet slightly broke his balance, but he used the wind to spin around like a top and gave a roundhouse kick to Mezu’s head.
Mezu was startled as blood began spurting out of his nose. His eyes dyed crimson and he swung back, sending Theo flying.
An intense pain shot through Theo’s body as he felt like he had collided with a tank. He looked up to see Mezu charging towards him.
While Theo was desperately trying to stand up, dozens of crimson rays shot towards Mezu who casually swung his mallet, dispersing them into beads.
Theo commanded his shaking legs to move, kicking off the woven grass floor. He rolled away, before finally regaining his posture.
“What! Is that all? I thought Tessin’s relatives would’ve been better than that,” Mezu shrugged, swinging his giant mallet around in a regrettable manner as if it were just a little stick.
“Theo!” Calogero shouted, “We can’t win at this rate. Let’s retreat for now!”
He wasn’t convinced, but his enemy’s physical abilities were just too overwhelming. They would only lose if they kept fighting.
They’d retreat for a while and prepare themselves—
“As if I’d let you.” Mezu disappeared. Theo immediately began looking around but saw nothing.
“Theo, Behind you!”
The next moment, he only saw a glimpse of the ceiling as he was blown away, slamming into the wall.
He couldn’t breathe and felt like a stake had been driven through his back.
But laying here would just mean death, so he used every bit of strength he had left to stand back up.
He saw Calogero being choked by Mezu’s thick arm.
“Look, you can’t even imagine yourselves winning, so what use is running?” Mezu sneered as he tossed Calogero away like a piece of trash.
Calogero blasted through the wall, bouncing off the ground a few times before coming to a stop.
“You guys are boring. What have you been learning?” Mezu said despondently, as he repeatedly tapped the hilt of his mallet on his shoulder. “Or is your master just stupid? Well, he did get captured by someone like Blue-Beard. He isn’t anything special.”
An unbearable rage took over Theo. “What did you just say?”
“What, you couldn’t hear? I said that the brat commander of yours is a fool, especially because he threw you useless chicks into Rashomon to attack it.”
His anger transformed into a madness that shook his very heart. “We’re doing this of our own choice!”
“But he’s the one who created such a situation. It’s all the same. He’s a failure as a commander.”
“SHUT UP!” Theo stood up and tried to take a stance, but Mezu vanished, grabbed him by the back of his head and thrust him into the floor.
“The weak can’t do anything,” Mezu said. “Even if your family is hurt, your friends killed, your wife raped, and your master disgraced, you’re not even allowed to refute”
“I—already know that!”
“No, you can’t even begin to understand. You’re lacking a critical element for a warrior after all.”
“I know, I’m weak!”
The past was out of the question, but even now, he couldn’t even cross swords with Sylphy-dono, who seemed harmless at first glance, let alone a superhuman like Lord-dono.
“…….” Mezu shook his head with annoyance. “You really think your commander will come to save you?”
Theo’s mind went blank, but the moment he processed those words, blood rushed to his head and his vision became red.
“Liiike hell I do!!” Theo screamed at the top of his lungs.
“Am I wrong?”
“You are!! How much more will you mock us—”
“Then why are you angry?” Mezu asked, cutting Theo off.
“Wha……t?”
“If you thought I was just spewing out useless nonsense, then couldn’t you just ignore me?”
“……No, you’re wrong. I……”
“Oh, so you’re not even aware. That’s even worse. Let me ask something, is that brat of yours a messiah, or a master that you’ll serve for the rest of your life?”
Theo had never even thought about that. Their Lord-dono was no different from a messiah who had ended their hellish days.
“Now listen, A messiah and a master might seem like they’d be compatible, but they should never intertwine.”
“We……”
“I see, Tessin would be worried for you. I’ll ask once again. What have you been learning?”
Mezu’s question coiled around Theo, immobilizing him.