Amid a stretch of dark trees forming a lonely forest, a figure cloaked in a shimmering purple mantle moved barefoot across the parched ground, leaving footprints in a trail of blood along the path. Her black robe revealed her smooth, slender legs, ensuring her steps were agile and silent.

"Lord Artoris!" the girl yelled. "We have to retreat!"

In the distance, on a ledge where the only light reached, she thought she saw a figure with a majestic cloak fluttering in the wind.

"Lord Artoris!"

Her eyes, ablaze with bright red, sparkled as she spotted that imposing figure and rushed towards him, her sprint accompanied by the blur of the forest trees.

As she neared the peak, she didn't hesitate to speak.

"The war is over!"

The figure's back was riddled with arrows, and his cloak was dyed with his blood.

He tilted his head and murmured, "I-Isabell!"

Losing balance, his body slumped to the ground. Even the clouds seemed to dim, no longer highlighting his fiery form.

"Lord Artoris!"

The girl knelt before the fallen body. The shimmer in her crimson eyes grew, her pupils burning brighter with fervor.

"Without you, what will I do, Lord Artoris!"

Tears streamed down her snow-white cheeks. She clenched her teeth, revealing her canines. She was barely believing that the man who was to marry her and protect her for life could be reduced to such a horrid state.

What was left for her now? With Artoris gone, there were no more orders to follow, no one to tell her what to do, yet... all she could think about was how to live without her master. In a gesture of despair, she clutched the ground with her nails.

"Lord Artoris!"

Her words came out in sobs as her master lay there with arrows piercing his vital points.

"Artoris!" the girl screamed.

She raised her palm, releasing a dark aura that enveloped the body. She tried desperately to use her mana to restore his skin, but it was too late; the dead lay with open eyelids.

Suddenly, the sound of hooves was clearly audible. From the dense trees emerged a knight in golden armor on a radiant horse. He dismounted and stood before her. Drawing his sword, he pointed it at her, then removed her cloak with the blade. On her bobbed hair were visible horns, goat-like, curving elegantly.

"Surrender, demon!" the knight said, his solemn tone devoid of emotion.

"You have no escape now; your king has lost."

The girl, with shaken eyes, jerked, losing every shred of hope.

"That can't be true!"

Her end had come; the knights had almost occupied the entire forest, and the kingdom of Heden had declared victory after yet another war against the demon race.

The knight loosened his luminous sword and hurled it furiously at her.

"Die!"

***

"ARTURO!" A thunderous shout echoed through the entire classroom. "Good heavens, you even fell asleep during roll call, unbelievable!"

In an Italian town's school, the bell had vibrated throughout the room, marking the start of lessons. Everyone had already settled at their desks. Arturo, seated next to the window, opened his eyes wide and looked up at the teacher's desk. His belly pressed out from his shirt, and given its size, he barely fit in the desk.

As the sunlight crossed his face, he blinked several times, focusing on his surroundings. Arturo wiped a sweat stain from his forehead and looked at the teacher with trembling lips: "S-sorry!"

"Arturo, respond to the roll call!" the teacher scolded him, slamming his palm on the desk.

"Y-yes."

First, he placed his large hands on the desk and tried to push himself up as much as he could. As Arturo struggled to stand, the students watched him. They could barely look at his belly, which wobbled with every movement, flabby and limp as if it was about to detach and hit the floor. The girls wrinkled their noses at the sight of pimples dotting Arturo's chubby face.

He sprang to his feet like a little soldier and, with effort, raised his hefty arm, bringing his hand up in a salute.

"Present!" Arturo declared in his feeble tone.

The teacher nodded and returned his gaze to the roll. Arturo collapsed back into his chair, causing a boom, almost bending the chair's back.

He turned his head towards the window overlooking the courtyard, far away from the usual ugly faces that had been tormenting him since the beginning of the school year. Arturo's gentle smile rested on the birds chirping among the tree branches, heralding a warm start to the morning. The wind blew through the trees, whisking away the dry leaves in a swirling vortex.

"What a beautiful sky, it would be wonderful if it could be like this every day..."

A bird perched on tiptoe on the window, its small innocent eyes scrutinizing Arturo's face, moving in quick, delicate jerks. Arturo looked at it with the naive smile of a child.

Inside the classroom, the teacher called out names regularly, but as soon as he realized the next name was Geronimo, he intensely scratched his bald head.

"G-Geronimo?" the teacher stammered hesitantly. "Is Geronimo in class?" he asked the room.

The bird flew away. A shiver ran through Arturo, trembling his hand.

No one in the classroom responded; the profane word had just been announced. The teacher scanned the room and saw an empty desk at the edge.

"Hm, it seems he's skipped class again today." The teacher marked Geronimo's absence with his pen. "Arturo, do you know why he's not here?"

"No, sir, s-sorry, I don't know."

The students' eyes glittered, and with a mix of curiosity and concern, they discreetly approached their classmates.

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"Seriously? Since when are bowling ball buddies with Geronimo?"

"I heard they were childhood friends."

Afterward, the bell rang, and all the students stood up and headed for the exit. Arturo was the last to pack his bag and, shouldering it slowly walked towards the exit.

The teacher intercepted him, positioning himself in front. He adjusted his glasses and then looked at Arturo with an intimidating air.

"Hold on, Arturo, stay put."

"W-what is it, sir?"

"Why didn't your friend come?"

"M-my friend?"

"Don't play dumb, I'm talking about the prince."

Arturo began to tremble.

"P-prof, b-but, we're not friends."

"You've known Geronimo longer, you grew up together."

"S-sorry, I don't know."

The reflection in the teacher's glasses highlighted Arturo's petrified look. The teacher took another step closer to Arturo's ear.

"I just wanted to tell you not to cause trouble, got it, Arturo?" he whispered.

"Eh?!" Arturo exclaimed, his belly bouncing as if waves were crossing his chest.

"You almost made me lose my job. He's the son of one of Italy's top CEOs, and if you provoke him, it'll mean trouble for the school!" the teacher said with a vein bulging in his neck. "Am I clear?!"

"I-I'm sorry, b-but it's him, he starts it! If he wants to h-hit me, what am I supposed to do?"

"You know what the great boxers used to say? Take the punches," the teacher declared, tilting his head like a wise man. "You can go."

Arturo left the classroom and started down the corridor. 

My condition had worsened considerably. I had reached a weight of over 40 kilograms. Every step of my legs was agony, so much so that the doctor seriously advised me to eat chips, warning me that if I continued like this, I would be forced to undergo surgery.

As he continued, he pulled out his phone and checked the time. "Damn, I'm running late!"

He began to quicken his pace with his heavy legs. Caught up in the moment, he continued down the hall with the grin of a veteran, though to others he was nothing more than a smiling child chasing a butterfly.

Turning the corner of the corridor, unexpectedly, his belly bumped into a girl. She bounced backward, her papers slipping from her hand.

A tremor of embarrassment overcame Arturo when he saw her slender, well-made-up face, and her full lips forming an 'o'. He couldn't help but shift his gaze to her unbuttoned collar, giving a clear view of her ample bust, which bounced with every movement.

Arturo's face turned completely red, a drop of blood trickling from his nose. The girl looked at him.

"Everything okay?"

Arturo nodded, unable to find the words to respond. He slapped his face twice before returning to reality and stammered:

"S-Sara, I'm p-pleased to s-s-s-s-see you!"

The girl tilted her head to the side as if trying to understand him.

"Ha... really?"

"Uh... S-sorry, I didn't mean to, I-I-I- c… c…"

"Crap?"

"Y-yes, I mean, no, n-not- not. I didn't mean to make you c-c-c-"

"Crap yourself?"

"Cause you trouble!"

Arturo's gaze shifted back to her breasts. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Intense thoughts of passion fogged his mind.

He swallowed hard, clenched his fists, and with a voice that seemed more than just a loser's, he put on a tough-guy smile:

"Wait! I got this!"

Arturo leaned towards the floor. The girl, still confused, wasn't mean-spirited but had no interest in wasting time with guys like Arturo. As he bent down for the scattered papers, his weight began to shift, threatening his balance, but he managed to stay upright on his heel.

"T-totally okay?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Y-YES!"

He started to wobble, and with one more awkward movement, he toppled over. His shadow engulfed the girl completely, her gaze shooting upwards as if a building were falling on her.

Like a boulder, Arturo crashed down, pinning the girl under his bulk. She wriggled to escape, but her face remained pressed against his belly. Her arms flailed frantically, emitting thin shrieks.

"I'm s-so sorry!" Arturo pleaded desperately, unable to lift his hefty belly off Sara's face, who was nearly suffocated under his weight.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I'm really sorry, Sara, I apologize!"

A student hurried along the corridor and, as he passed by, saw Arturo lying on his back, trapping the girl under his belly.

"Eh?"

His eyebrows knitted into a devilish look. As soon as he spotted the girl's bare legs kicking in the air while the rest of her body was utterly squashed, he rushed towards them.

"What the hell are you doing, Sara, screwing with that idiot?"

Arturo shuddered as he recognized that voice. Geronimo appeared behind him and, in a fit of anger, grabbed the "bowling ball" by the shoulders, though there wasn’t much shoulder to grab given the fat enveloping his body.

"How disgusting it is to touch you, pervert!" Geronimo, with all his might, managed to lift him and free the girl, then let go of Arturo, letting him fall to the ground.

The girl, with a distraught face, got up and caught her breath. After the humiliation she had suffered, she gave a disdainful look to the fatso who had just fallen to the ground like an idiot. Then, she looked up at Geronimo, who stared at her as if she had broken a promise.

"Geronimo, it's not what it looks like, this fatso bumped into me!"

She picked up her papers and then glanced at Arturo.

"Just a tip for you! Lose a few pounds that in a few years you're going to croak badly!" She retreated, running down the hallway.

Arturo flailed like a balloon, feeling the girl's footsteps disappearing in haste.

"S-sorry! I didn't mean to embarrass you, forgive me, I'm sorry!" Arturo pleaded in a heartbreaking tone.

Geronimo was behind the scenes, witnessing Arturo's dramatic spectacle, as he repeatedly stretched his arms upwards, trying with all his might to push himself up, but kept falling like a fish out of water.

Geronimo lifted his foot and pressed it down, sinking into Arturo's flabby belly, which seemed like a bottomless pit.

"My father pays that whore of your mother well, huh?"

"If we hadn't met, you'd be under a bridge now, you realize that, right?"

"I'm sor-"

"You're a pain in the ass!"

Geronimo pressed his shoe harder, pulsating on the stomach.

Arturo lay motionless, hearing other footsteps approaching the corridor. Were reinforcements coming? No, because Geronimo's buddies were enjoying the spectacle of the whiny fatso always apologizing.

Arturo saw above him Geronimo catching a fire extinguisher thrown to him by his mates.

Arturo's eyes, shaken and trembling, showed his fear. Hadn't they mistreated him enough already? He half-closed his eyes and succumbed to tears.

Geronimo signaled to his friends. They lifted the hefty Arturo, holding him steady by the arms. They laughed uproariously, not expecting the unforgettable spectacle that Geronimo was about to perform.

Arturo could hear the mirthful chuckles of his peers.

Geronimo approached, holding the fire extinguisher in his hands.

Arturo shook his head sideways, and his mates quickly understood, turning Arturo to face the other way.

They removed his belt and pulled down his pants, exposing his soft, jiggling behind.

Arturo struggled as much as he could.

"G-Geronimo, let me go!"

"Ah, Arturo. This is an emergency. The school has just reported a fire."

Geronimo kept smiling, bringing the fire extinguisher closer to Arturo.

"N-no! P-please! Geronimo, don't do it!"

As soon as he inserted the fire extinguisher up Arturo's backside, Arturo's eyes rolled back until only the whites were visible.

"Ha ha ha! Stay still, we need to put out the fire!"

Arturo's screams echoed in the empty corridor; he screamed as loud as he could, writhing and crying, but his cries reached no one.

Without hesitation, Geronimo activated the fire extinguisher, and as soon as the first burst of foam was released...

SPLASH!

The laughter died down.

"..."

Blood splattered onto the faces of all involved.

Like a torrential downpour, guts and organs were strewn across the corridor.

Geronimo dropped the fire extinguisher to the ground. Something was off in his eyes as if something had gone terribly wrong.

One of the friends puffed out his chest and looked squarely at Geronimo.

"How much pressure did you put in that extinguisher?!"

"It was the lowest setting..."

Unfortunately, the spectacle did not provide any entertainment value. Because the fatso no longer existed, now lying in the school corridor with his insides out.

Sara told him to lose a few pounds or in a few years he would croak badly. Well, not too bad. Arturo had croaked now. No one would torment him anymore.