Depraved Noble: Forced To Live The Debaucherous Life Of An Evil Noble!-Chapter 78: ...Kill Him

Lucious took in the sight before him, his heart pounding in his chest, his hands trembling at his sides.

He was at his limit. He had always been strong—always able to endure anything for his master’s sake.

But this? This injustice, this hopelessness? It was too much.

His throat tightened, his eyes burned, and just when he felt himself about to break—about to let the tears spill—

A hand landed on his head.

Warm. Gentle. Reassuring.

Lucious blinked in surprise, looking up to see Cassius’s ever-present, carefree smile staring back at him. The same lazy, half-lidded expression he always wore, like he didn’t have a care in the world.

"There’s no need to get so worked up." Cassius said, ruffling his hair playfully.

Lucious gaped at him, his master—the man whose death was all but assured—who should’ve been filled with anger, despair, something—and yet, he stood there, utterly calm.

Cassius then exhaled, as if this entire situation was just a mild inconvenience. "You also shouldn’t be mad at them." He said casually, his tone light and unconcerned. "It’s just survival of the fittest, Lucious...That’s all this is."

He then gestured lazily toward the Sacred Guard, who all stood stiffly, their expressions frozen in guilt and hesitation. "Think about it. If you were stuck in the middle of the ocean, clinging onto a single piece of drifting wood, and someone else tried to climb on with you…what would you do?"

No one answered.

Cassius smiled, slow and knowing. "You’d push them off, wouldn’t you? Not because you hate them. Not because you want them to die...But because there’s only room for one."

His gaze flickered toward Julie, then Aisha, then Skadi—who all flinched beneath the weight of his words.

"That’s all this is." Cassius continued. "You’re all just clinging onto that piece of wood, trying to survive." He turned his head slightly, looking at Julie directly now. "It’s not wrong. None of you are in the wrong for choosing your own lives over mine."

Julie swallowed hard, her eyes trembling as she heard him speak. ’Why…Why is he so calm? Why is he not cursing us? Why is he acting like we’re the ones who should be pitied?’

Aisha felt a heavy lump settle in her throat. His words made it worse. So much worse. Because he wasn’t even trying to fight back. He wasn’t pleading, nor angry. He was simply…accepting.

Like he had already come to terms with his death before they even arrived.

The knights, too, looked shaken. Some of them lowered their heads, unable to meet Cassius’s gaze.

Even Skadi, usually so brash, had her ears against her head. She hated this. She hated that he was the one comforting them...It felt wrong.

Lucious, however, wasn’t soothed at all. "But Master, that’s—"

But before he could say anything more, Cassius’s hand left his head.

And then—

Cassius laughed.

Not his usual, light chuckle.

No.

This was different.

This laugh was low. Dark. Bone-chilling.

Lucious froze.

Everyone froze.

The air around them shifted—turned wrong.

Cassius, still grinning, tilted his head slightly. "But tell me, Lucious…"

His voice was different now. Colder.

"…Why are you acting like we’ve already lost?"

"W-What?" Lucious stiffened.

Cassius sighed dramatically, shaking his head.

"I just said it, didn’t I? Survival of the fittest. That means there’s no right or wrong here. No morality. Just simple, animalistic instinct." His voice dropped lower, more sinister. "Which means…just like they shouldn’t feel guilty about killing me for their survival…"

He slowly lifted his head, his crimson eyes glowing eerily beneath the afternoon sun.

"…Then they shouldn’t be angry when I butcher every single one of them and dye this entire field in their blood for mine."

The moment those words left his lips, the entire battlefield shifted.

The air turned thick—stifling.

The knights felt it instantly—an invisible pressure crashing down upon them, heavy and suffocating.

A few instinctively reached for their weapons, their bodies moving on their own—because suddenly, Cassius felt like a predator.

Julie’s breath caught in her throat. Her fingers twitched around her sword hilt. What…is this feeling?

Cassius was still smiling...Still grinning.

But something about him had changed.

It wasn’t something they could explain.

It wasn’t something visible.

It was simply…Terrifying.

Even Aisha, who had spent years analyzing people—understanding them—found herself unable to decipher what she was looking at. Her sharp mind blanked for the first time in her life.

’What…is this man?’

Skadi, however, felt it deep in her bones.

Fear.

Primal. Instinctual. Fear.

And before she even realized it—before she even thought—her body moved.

A single step...Backwards.

It wasn’t conscious. It wasn’t planned.

It was survival....And that’s what terrified her the most.

Because she had faced countless warriors before. She had fought monsters before.

But never—not once—had her body ever moved on its own.

Cassius took a slow step forward.

And the knights instinctively took a step back.

’They’re afraid...All of them.’ Julie’s eyes widened at the shocking sight of her knights retreating.

Cassius finally chuckled, low and quiet. "You all came here today, fully prepared to kill me." He mused, tilting his head. "But tell me…"

His smile widened.

"…Are you all prepared to die while trying to do so?"

Skadi’s breath stopped, her claws slowly coming out as she felt the overwhelming fear claw at her senses. Something about Cassius…something wasn’t right. He was supposed to be the victim, the helpless noble cornered like a rat.

Yet, staring at him now, she forgot that.

Forgot that they were supposed to execute him.

Forgot that he was meant to be a wastrel who drank his life away.

For the first time in her life, Skadi—a seasoned warrior who had ripped men apart with her bare hands—felt something she had never expected to feel in battle.

Hesitation.

"Wh-What the hell are you saying?!" She barked, voice tight with forced bravado. "You’re acting like you even have a chance against us! Like we wouldn’t cut you down in one breath!"

The knights, who had begun to falter in the face of Cassius’s suffocating aura, suddenly found something to latch onto.

Yes. Skadi was right.

Cassius was just a noble brat. A man who, until recently, had been nothing more than a drunkard and a fool. He had no sword, no armor, no magic.

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There was no way he could possibly be a threat to them.

Julie, gripping her sword tightly, exhaled. ’He’s losing it.’ She thought, sympathy creeping into her gaze. ’He’s so afraid of dying that he’s creating this delusion of power in his mind.’

She had seen this before—rebels, prisoners of war, even knights facing their end. When people were about to die, their minds broke down. Some begged. Some cursed.

...And some, like Cassius, convinced themselves they were stronger than they actually were.

Julie sighed, about to say something soft, reassuring, perhaps even a promise to make his death as painless as possible—

Then, it happened.

"Captain."

Aisha’s voice cut through the battlefield like a dagger.

Julie barely had time to process the sheer urgency in her tone before—

"Kill him."

Julie froze.

The air stilled.

The knights—who had just begun to find their confidence—suddenly looked at Aisha in confusion.

Even Skadi faltered.

Julie turned her head slightly, her green eyes narrowing. "Aisha…what are you—?"

But Aisha wasn’t looking at her. She was looking at Cassius.

And her pupils were dilated—not in fear, but in pure survival instinct.

"I said kill him."

Julie’s breath caught.

Aisha was never like this...Never.

Even in the worst battles, even against the strongest foes, Aisha was always calm, calculating, always a step ahead.

But now? Now she looked like she had already seen the outcome—and it was disastrous. And before Julie could even question her, Aisha whirled toward the knights.

"All of you—GET INTO POSITION!...BRACE FOR THE WORST!"

"WHAT?!"

The knights stumbled at the sudden shift.

"WHY?!"

"What’s going on?!"

"He’s alone, he has no weapons—"

But Aisha wasn’t listening to them. She was already moving—her hands flashing in the air as she began casting magic.

Skadi, who had been caught off guard, finally gritted her teeth and did what she always wanted to do. She drew her claws, settling into battle stance.

Her silver eyes locked onto Cassius, this time not with mockery...With genuine wariness.

Cassius?...He still stood there.

Still smiling.

Like everything that was happening was exactly what he wanted.

Julie, heart hammering, demanded answers.

"Aisha—What the hell are you doing?! Why are you—"

Aisha didn’t even glance at her, her eyes stuck on Cassius like he would disappear if she took her eyes off for a single moment.

"Trust me, captain."

Julie stiffened because Aisha never said those words unless she was certain.

"…Trust you with what?" She whispered.

Aisha inhaled sharply.

"The feline race may not have the same heightened battle instincts as the wolves." She said, glancing at Skadi briefly. "But we do have something else."

Julie listened. Aisha’s amber eyes flickered, her ears twitching—hyper-aware.

"A sixth sense to detect danger."

Julie’s gulped, as Aisha’s voice lowered. And when she spoke, it wasn’t with fear. It wasn’t with confusion.

It was with absolute certainty.

"Cassius Holyfield…" She whispered, her nails digging into her palms.

"...Is not normal."

The knights froze.

Skadi stiffened.

Julie took a step back as she was the closest to Cassius.

"I can’t explain it." She admitted. "But my instincts—they’ve never been wrong before. They scream at me when we face an opponent that could wipe us out."

She finally turned to look at Julie. And the fear in her normally confident eyes made Julie’s stomach turn.

"…Right now, captain." Aisha said quietly.

"Cassius reeks off that very same feeling."

"...The feeling of a monster..."

"...A horrifying monster in the skin of a human."

Silence.

A deafening, suffocating silence.

The realization sank in.

Julie had been thinking about it all wrong. She had assumed Cassius was merely putting on a brave face. She had assumed he was speaking nonsense out of desperation.

But now?...Now she wasn’t so sure.

Because if Aisha was reacting like this—

Then maybe…Just maybe.

Cassius Holyfield wasn’t the one who was supposed to be afraid.

Julie’s heart pounded in her chest. She trusted Aisha with her life.

Aisha’s instincts were legendary, honed by years of training and experience. If Aisha was this terrified, then Julie knew, without a doubt, that they were in grave danger. This wasn’t some delusion, some desperate act of defiance. This was something else entirely. Something...unnatural.

Taking a deep breath, Julie closed her eyes, trying to calm the storm raging within her. She thought of the knights, their lives hanging in the balance. She thought of her duty, her responsibility to protect them.

And she thought of Aisha, her right hand, her beloved little sister who she watched growing up, the one person she knew would never steer her wrong.

When she opened her eyes, they were filled with a steely resolve.

The fear was still there, a cold knot in her stomach, but it was overshadowed by a grim determination.

She unsheathed her sword, the polished steel glinting in the sunlight. Her gaze fell on Cassius, who still stood there, that unnerving smile plastered on his face.

"I’m sorry, Young Master Cassius." She said, her voice steady despite the turmoil within her. "I truly am. I wish...I wish it didn’t have to be this way. But I promise I’ll make it as painless as possible."

"...And if there’s a next life...Let me be born as your slave, so I can atone for the sin I’m about to commit."

It was a strange, almost desperate apology, born of fear and regret, but it was all she could offer.

Without another word, Julie lunged forward, her sword arcing through the air. She aimed for a clean strike, a swift blow that would end his life quickly.

She had to trust Aisha. She had to trust her instincts. There was no other choice. This was a life-or-death situation, and she had to act, even if her heart screamed in protest.