Charles looked down, and no one could see his expression. Only Toriel's voice, like the temptation of a demon, lingered in his ears. Charles moved his feet, but not to step forward. Instead, he pushed off the ground to make his chair move backward.
"I've had enough!"
Tears streamed down Charles's face, his voice choked with sobs.
"I've had enough of you devils!"
What if Toriel's words were true? What if killing the person opposite him would set him free? Would he get to live a life of paradise with Toriel?
Charles didn't know. He just felt that this was wrong.
Maybe there was no paradise, only a deeper hell.
His tears flowed like a waterfall, but Charles's heart felt lighter than ever before. All the pent-up anger, helplessness, and suffering were finally released.
Charles had seen too many people being tormented, killed, and used as food for monsters. He was about to die now, but Charles wore the first peaceful smile he had since being captured. At the very least, he could choose how he would die.
"I'd rather die... than become like you."
The opposite chair reached the red line, and the cloth covering the person was pulled away. Behind the screen was a little girl. Charles recognized her; she was the girl he had helped. In that instant, he understood why Toriel had forced him to kill this person. When the screen fell, but before the little girl was cut in half, Charles, even if he had survived, would have completely collapsed, perhaps even twisting into the very things he had once hated the most.
"Be safe, little one."
Charles seemed to hear the sound of the chainsaw preparing to cut into his chair. He closed his eyes.
"Friend, it's not time to rest yet. There's still a future ahead."
The scene of him being sliced up didn't appear as he had imagined. Instead, Noid was pushing the doom into the sharp chainsaw blade. It struggled frantically to escape. But after eating three paralyzing bombs straight to the mouth, its strength had been greatly weakened. Noid roared, his body, enhanced to 1.2, used its full power to press the doom's entire body into the chainsaw blade.
Fluid splattered all over Noid. The chainsaw got stuck in the doom's corpse. The corpse got stuck in the chainsaw. Its last bit of life force allowed it to twitch a little in its legs, but it was no use.
Charles was stunned. Noid acted as if nothing had happened and freed Charles from the chair.
"Why... why did you do that?"
Noid pointed a finger at the little girl's nose. Fortunately, she was only unconscious, and her breathing was steady.
"Why? The reason is the same as yours."
"Can you carry the child?"
"Uh... yes. Char... Charles, that's my name."
"Just call me the man in black."
Charles, still in a daze, carried the child behind Noid. Suddenly, Noid almost collapsed. His vision began to twist, his ears were ringing, and his muscles ached as if they were on fire.
Most seriously, his heart. To make his body reach 1.2 in a short period of time, his heart had to contract at a terrifying frequency. It was fine when the drug was still in effect. But as the drug's effects wore off and his heart hadn't had time to slow down, the pressure from the heart's contractions would bear down on his blood vessels.
Charles panicked and wanted to help, but he was currently carrying someone. Fortunately, the other four people had run over to help him up. Noid waved his hand, signaling that he was currently very dirty and they shouldn't touch him. But the others ignored his words and helped him to his feet.
Noid immediately swallowed a healing capsule. It took a minute for him to be able to stand on his own. It wasn't that Noid was weak. The first time he used it, he was laid up in Sasha's room for a night.
The residual effects of the madness drug, combined with the gentle healing effect of the healing capsule, helped him regain his mobility. He walked toward the large door that led to the corridor. Behind him were Charles holding a child, the two girls he had saved at the beginning, and the mother and daughter.
Meanwhile, Toriel was standing in front of a shattered surveillance screen. Her face was calm as if nothing had happened, but the followers next to her unconsciously backed away. As those who were close to Toriel, they all knew that this was when she was truly the most terrifying. All of them were cold-blooded, but they admitted they were far from her level of madness.
"Let's go. Prepare the final stage for our hero."
She had lost twice, not just miserably, but she had also lost an interesting "toy." Toriel decided she didn't want to play games anymore. She wanted the man in black to be killed in the most cruel way possible. Especially, it had to be right in front of the people he had saved. To make them witness how she devoured their hope.
The man in black was very strong, that was true. But after the brutal fights, he now needed help just to stand. This was the perfect opportunity to kill him.
And also, because of the man in black, those people had transformed from useless beings into "toys" worthy of her attention. It was a pity that her beloved Charles could no longer be a toy. He was about to become a second man in black.
Suddenly, a phone rang. The madness on Toriel's face disappeared, replaced by a rare fear and apprehension. Her hand trembled slightly as she answered the call.
"Toriel, is it done yet?"
"Bi- bishop, it's almost done."
"You'd better not cause any consequences, Toriel."
"Yes."
Noid opened the door to the room. Unlike the previous times, this room was empty, with only two elderly people tied up near the entrance.
Everyone rushed over to check on them. The two were still conscious. They were an elderly couple. He thought that Toriel must have planned to play another complicated "choose one" game, just as before. But this time, the two people to be saved were placed right in front of him, which made him think.
Noid stepped forward to check and found many traces of items being moved. It must have been moved out quickly, leaving behind only this elderly couple.
"Everyone, let's get out of here."
Although the two were old, they could still walk without any problems. But when everyone was about to leave the room, the door slammed shut. The familiar voice from the other side of the room rang out.
"In such a hurry, man in black? We still have one more game."
Toriel appeared. Noid recognized her as the person who had been drugged in the alley before, and then led him here. Seeing her at this moment, the fury within him began to erupt, and his aura became even colder and more terrifying. The green light in his eyes was like a judge passing judgment on the sins of the person before him.
Facing such a Noid, Toriel just smiled faintly. She was not alone. With her were ten mutated individuals. He recognized that they were all modified humans, and their stats had all reached 1.3!
"This time the game is... guess how many pieces the man in black will be torn into! Hahaha!!!"
Toriel laughed hysterically. Behind them, the others' faces turned pale, and their eyes were filled with despair. The daughter was so scared she was on the verge of crying, but the mother stroked her daughter's head. She looked at the black figure, who was still standing firm, and faced the hopeless situation without his aura diminishing at all. On the contrary, it was growing, like the sun about to rise at dawn.
"Mom, aren't you scared?"
"Because our hero is still standing in front of us."