Chapter 12: I Am the God of Hellfire, Part 12

NOW

Feeling his own blood running from the cut on his cheek, Sam remained impassive, barely blinking. He had no reason to feel fear. Everything was going as he had predicted, exactly as he wanted.

"You have nothing. You know it. You want to force me to confess a falsehood with violence. You're pathetic."

He wasn't sure how he managed to sound genuinely offended, as if it were the biggest lie he had ever heard, but he did.

"Instead of your cheek, I should have cut out your tongue."

"Because you are afraid of what I might say?"

Ivor grimaced.

"Not even the guy behind me believes in you. He's doing this out of some twisted sense of loyalty, or because he's simply stupid. But he knows you're crazy."

Ivor gripped the knife tighter. For a moment, he thought he would stab him in the stomach or at least make the cut on his cheek bigger. Much bigger. But then the moment passed.

Sam elbowed Ivor. He had the body of what the other Sam had been: a spoiled brat, a noble who had never lacked anything and had never had to make an effort to get what he wanted. He wasn't going to do much to anyone, let alone in such an unfavorable position, but that had never been his intention.

Not with his non-existent physical strength, of course.

He used the elbow to disguise his application of telekinesis, pushing Jaiden back. The fool fell to the ground on the grass.

Ivor screamed like a madman and came at him, blindly wielding the knife, without skill. He wanted to slash him. It was much more personal than using magic against him.

But Sam dodged the first blow effortlessly. Due to his exaggerated movements, it was easy to see it coming even for someone completely lacking in experience like him.

And he made sure there wasn't a second blow, grabbing his arm, twisting it. Ivor put strength against him. Without success, at least for now. However, Sam had no intention of winning the struggle. That was the least of it. He got close enough to whisper in his pawn's ear.

"I killed her. I stood next to her on the rooftop and pushed her. And I enjoyed it, that's the truth. I was hard when I saw her head smash against the ground."

That was exactly what he had wanted. What he had repeatedly demanded, with violence. But he still froze and curled up on himself as if he had been punched in the stomach and now couldn't breathe. The sweet release of truth. Ha.

He didn't stay frozen for long. Naturally, he exploded.

"You bastard!"

Ivor escaped from his grip easily. He hadn't needed the strength that anger granted, but it didn't hurt either. He tried to slash him once more. Was it sadism or was he so blinded by rage that he didn't even think of resorting to magic? In any case, Sam could have crushed him like an insect, but he limited himself to dodging, jumping backwards.

He had neither talent nor practice, above all what allowed him to keep his skin were light and subtle applications of his telekinesis, moving the blade away from his flesh, making him stumble. Natural things for someone in the midst of a nervous breakdown, wielding a weapon in his blind fury, things that could be overlooked.

Jaiden approached, but didn't have the balls to get between them.

Christina finally came out of hiding. That was the only thing that had worried him about the plan. That she couldn't hold back.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Well, he could have improvised another path to the same destination. He was good at that. And the plan hadn't been such a concrete thing from the beginning.

"Stop!" Christina shouted.

But it wasn't enough, of course it wasn't, between him and Violet they had driven him mad with rage and now there was only one thing that could give him peace. That was everything to him now. Only after seeing his corpse at his feet would he think about the consequences, only then and not a second before.

Which was exactly what he wanted, and it wouldn't turn out as Ivor thought.

Jaiden took a step forward to stop this madness, probably thinking he was being noble, the hero, despite having come here to hold him down knowing perfectly well what Ivor intended to do.

Sam gave him a little push, providing him with the courage he needed to take the rest of the steps. It didn't need to be said, but he didn't use his hands. Apart from being too far away for that, it wouldn't provide the desired effect.

"No. No!"

An accident. The unfortunate accident of Ivor stabbing his best friend, while he was only trying to stop a madness. Another innocent taken before his time. He had made it all very easy for him.

He felt deeply satisfied.

He had improvised most of the plan on the fly, but that's how plans were in real life. Nothing was so simple that you could predict everything. Smart plans consisted of knowing how to take advantage of the opportunities that came to you, not in a prediction that bordered on omniscience. Evelyn's murder had also been fortuitous and had turned out great.

In fact, without knowing it, that had paved the way to his second goal.

"I didn't... I didn't..." Ivor babbled like a complete idiot.

Jaiden said nothing in response. His mouth was too full of blood for that. His face had paled in the blink of an eye. He coughed, blood trickled between his teeth, fell down his chin.

Ivor withdrew the knife.

Having lost the last thing keeping him standing, Jaiden collapsed. The blood-soaked knife gleamed in the sunlight. A long, long red curtain was growing underneath the corpse.

Sam was almost as excited as when he saw Evelyn's head smash against the ground.

After all, his hands had done that. Better than his hands, he had used a supernatural power to take someone's life. He had always known he wasn't a normal person, that he was better than others, but now... God, he had powers! He already knew it, but how exciting, damn it.

He had to bite his inner cheek to avoid smiling.

"Oh my God." Christina put her hands to her mouth.

Yeah, he thought, well you're going to have to get used to it, this is just the beginning. I'll spill much more blood before this is over. But you have nothing to worry about, no sir.

"And you call me a murderer?" he said coldly, it barely sounded like a question. "Tell me, Jaiden is only your second victim, right? You killed Evelyn."

"Shut... Shut up, demon!"

Sam smiled for a moment. He couldn't help it. Oh, what irony. What sweet, sweet irony.

Ivor had hit the nail on the head, even in that (he was aware that it wasn't what he meant to say, but well, he would count it anyway), but no one would believe him. He would die miserably after stabbing his best friend, everyone believing he was nothing more than crazy. He would be buried in darkness along with the shreds of truth he had been able to cling to.

Ivor threw the knife aside, not without staining his hands first, and then threw him against a tree with his magic. Sam didn't resist at all. The force of the impact was such that the wood splintered, he felt some broken pieces sticking into his back. A dagger of pain ran down his spine, leaving him trembling.

Sam raised his head to meet his gaze. Ivor's pupils had shrunk so much that they looked like black dots. His face was red, covered in sweat.

Madness. There was nothing but madness there, and he was responsible.

He had seen him wobbling at first and had given him the push he needed to fall into an unfathomable blackness. That too was murder, almost as satisfying as the violent variant. He had already taken care of Ivor Wright.

Before he could drag him to hell, haha, with him, Christina acted. Not with mere telekinesis. She made water appear out of nowhere between her hands, made it take the shape of a spear and fired it at blinding speed.

Hitting Ivor directly in the chest.

Which also undid the influence he had over him, allowing his body to slide to the ground. His head hurt, his ears were ringing. He didn't need to look, it was enough to feel the trail of blood he had left on the trunk.

The water spear unfortunately turned out not to be solid enough to pierce Ivor, but it did knock him to the ground and left him gasping.

Christina didn't consider the fight over, she ran forward, summoning more water, making even the water from the distant fountain float towards her.

But it ended.

Because doors and windows opened, and the adults arrived. The tide parted for one particular asshole.

"What the hell is going on here?" that guy demanded to know.

Looking at him closely, Sam realized that he wasn't an ordinary asshole. He knew he was someone important since the crowd parted to let him pass, of course, but he cared little about the power of a mere human, so he didn't take it into account. What caught his attention was the resemblance.

Not that they were like two peas in a pod, but it was evident that this man was his human father.

I Am the God of Hellfire, Part 12: END