Page 1540 -- CLXV.

((The 14 pages of Valentine's Day + Double Wednesday -- Page 8 of 16))
There seemed to be a pile of coins and stones in Mr. Sheridan’s bag now, but the man’s hand indeed wrapped around the grip of a pistol. He didn’t pull it out yet, though.

Still, Hector wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe the man was worried that Hector would betray him for the sake of the tournament and was therefore preparing to defend himself at a moment’s notice.

But after a couple more steps, when Mr. Sheridan began lifting the weapon up to point it at Hector’s back, that was as far as the young Lord Goffe’s courtesy extended.

Hector bricked the pistol in iron, encasing Mr. Sheridan’s hand along with it.

“Oh--what?! Ah--hey!”

Hector finally turned to look at him.

Mr. Sheridan stopped flailing when he noticed Hector’s stare. “Aha... I, ah...”

Hector didn’t say anything. He wanted to hear what the man was going to say for himself.

“Ah... eh... I’m sorry, Lord Darksteel. Please don’t kill me.”

Hector sighed. “Why were you about to attack me?”

“Oh, um, well, y’know, you guys’re pretty hardy, ‘n I knew you wouldn’t actually die, so I just thought, maybe, ah... ooh, I’m really very sorry.”

“You want to win this tournament and become a god?” said Hector.

“I... I thought it might be nice, yes. But I see now the error of--”

“You weren’t worried that your next opponent might just kill you in an instant?”

“Oh, well, I-I suppose I figured that if I could eliminate you, then the others would be smooth sailing by comparison.”

“That doesn’t make any sense at all.”

“Heh, please don’t kill me.”

“I’m not gonna--” Hector stopped himself. Obviously, he wasn’t going to kill him. But it could be a problem if Mr. Sheridan became genuinely convinced of that. He recalled the only rule of this tournament as Malast had described it. Victory was achieved when the opponent died or surrendered. “Mr. Sheridan... do you admit defeat?”

“Oh! Yes, of course! I happily surrender!”

Well, that was one less thing to worry about, at least. When the distortion in his vision began to arrive, he made sure to annihilate the iron around Mr. Sheridan’s hand and weapon.

The next room was noticeably larger than the last two, almost on par with the one that they’d found Malast in.

That was not Malast standing in front of him now, though.

That was Seyos.


Chapter One Hundred Sixty-Five: ‘O, disgruntled lord...’
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The Hun’Sho didn’t seem to appreciate him stomping through Himmekel, but Zeff was far beyond the point of catering to their sensitivities.

When Axiolis had told him that everyone else’s souls had simply vanished into thin air, the Lord Elroy had not been pleased. His time spent trying to get Carver’s damn EWE to work had been frustrating enough, but now this?

He honestly wasn’t sure what he would do if he discovered that these molten bastards had done something to Hector and the others.