The Psychopathic Beast Emperor-Chapter 112: Aerith’s Grudge

Sometimes... you get into a situation where you are being hated for no reason. In some cases, you aren’t even aware of it.

Bahamut, running for his life, was oblivious to the hateful comments and thoughts someone was having about him.

A black-haired teen with grey-blue eyes and a deep scowl on his face sat on a destroyed rock with two huge curved blades plunged deep into the earth on his opposite sides. He was shirtless. His tanned skin glistened with sweat as he took in deep breaths. His hair stuck to his face, almost covering his eyes. His body released faint smoke as a faint, golden-red halo slowly de-materialized from behind him.

SPAT!

He spat with an angered face, clicking his tongue in annoyance.

"Just who does he think he is?" he exclaimed with a harsh tone, his eyes glowing in anger. "Just why? Someone with no background, no power, just appears and starts causing waves. He’s already going on missions, and I’m just here... Fighting rocks!

This is so fucking unfair!"

Aerith exploded in anger. His chest rose and fell heavily as the last wisps of smoke curled from his skin. The destroyed rock beneath him cracked a little more under his weight.

His eyes burned with irritation.

The training arena around him was massive, circular, walled with reinforced stone, filled with weapon racks, practice dummies, and thick stone pillars meant to endure the strength of elite disciples.

Right now, it looked like a battlefield. Chunks of shattered stone were scattered everywhere. Two training dummies had already been cleaved clean in half.

Aerith leaned forward, dragging a hand through his sweat-soaked hair. His fingers trembled.

"Tch."

He stood up suddenly. His hands wrapped around the handles of the two enormous curved blades buried beside him.

CLANG!

He ripped them out of the ground. Sand and stone sprayed outward as he spun violently.

SHRAAANG!

One blade slashed through a wooden training dummy. It exploded into splinters. The second blade followed through the air with a shriek. Another dummy shattered.

Aerith didn’t stop.

"DAMN IT!"

He rushed forward and kicked a stone pillar.

BOOM!

The impact cracked the base of it. Pain shot up his leg, but he didn’t care. His breathing grew heavier.

"I train every day... every single day..."

Slash.

Another dummy lost its head.

"I follow the rules."

Another slash.

"I wait for missions."

His blade slammed down again.

CRACK.

The dummy collapsed into pieces.

Aerith stood there breathing hard, his chest rising like a bellows.

His grip tightened around the blades.

The veins in his arms bulged.

"And then this guy just shows up."

He swung again.

A wooden spear rack exploded into fragments.

"No background."

Slash.

"No name."

A stone training block split open under his blade.

"And suddenly he’s everywhere."

His eyes burned with frustration.

"Missions."

Slash.

"Recognition."

Slash.

"Attention."

CRASH!

His blade slammed into the arena wall. The reinforced stone cracked from the impact. Aerith froze there for a moment, breathing hard. His reflection stared back at him from the polished metal of his blade.

Sweaty, angry, and tired.

He knew it. He knew it was stupid. Bahamut hadn’t even done anything to him. He hadn’t insulted him, hadn’t challenged him.

Hell... they’ve never even spoken.

Aerith clenched his teeth.

"...I know."

The admission came out quietly. His shoulders sagged slightly.

"This is dumb." He knew the feeling was ugly... Petty, irrational, but it sat in his chest anyway. Like a thorn he couldn’t pull out. He spat again to the side.

"Tch."

His grip tightened again. The golden-red halo flickered faintly behind his back once more as energy gathered around his body.

"Still pisses me off."

With a sudden roar, Aerith launched forward again. His blades became streaks of flashing steel. Training dummies exploded, stone cracked, wood shattered, and the arena echoed with the sounds of destruction as he vented the storm boiling inside his chest.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he was being ridiculous, but anger didn’t care about logic.

And right now...

He just needed something to break.

The last strike echoed through the arena.

CRACK!

A stone pillar split down the middle before collapsing in a slow, grinding fall. Dust and fragments rolled across the training ground, settling among the wreckage of shattered dummies and broken weapon racks.

Aerith stood in the center of it all. His chest heaved violently, while his arms trembled.

The curved blades in his hands dripped with splinters and stone dust rather than blood, but they looked just as battered as he did. For a moment, he tried to lift them again... his muscles refused.

With a dull thud, both blades slipped from his fingers and sank halfway into the cracked earth beside him. Aerith dropped to one knee. The world around him rang faintly from exhaustion.

Sweat poured down his face, running along his jaw before dripping into the dirt. Silence slowly crept back into the ruined arena. Even the wind seemed to pause.

Then, a low rumble rolled across the sky. Aerith blinked slowly and lifted his head.

Dark clouds had gathered overhead without him noticing. Thick and heavy, they rolled across the sky like a slow-moving tide.

Another rumble followed... then the first drop fell. It struck his shoulder, then another hit the ground beside him. Soon the rain began to fall steadily, thin streams of water running down his skin and soaking his hair until it clung messily to his face.

Steam rose faintly from his overheated body where the cool rain touched him.

Aerith didn’t move. He just stared upward. Rain slid down his cheeks and across his half-lidded eyes. For a moment, his expression looked hollow.

Just... tired... defeated.

His fingers dug slowly into the wet dirt beneath him.

"Damn it."

The words barely escaped his mouth. He could still see Bahamut’s face in his mind.

That stupid confidence. Everywhere he went lately, people talked about him.

Bahamut did this, Bahamut accomplished that.

Bahamut went on a mission.

Aerith’s teeth clenched slowly. His hand tightened.

"I’m not... weak."

The words came out quietly at first.

The rain grew heavier as lightning flickered faintly beyond the clouds. Aerith’s breathing steadied. Then his head lowered slightly.

"I’m not staying behind."

The hollow look in his eyes slowly changed. His frustration returned, then it turned to determination. He reached out and grabbed the handles of his blades again.

Slowly, painfully, he pulled himself back to his feet. Water dripped from the ends of his hair as he stood in the rain. His grip tightened around the weapons.

"I’ll surpass him."

The words came out low and steady.

"I don’t care how long it takes."

His shoulders straightened.

"I’ll become stronger."

The air around him suddenly trembled.

A faint glow appeared behind his back again.

BOOM!

His aura exploded outward. Golden-red energy surged from his body like a violent storm, blasting rain away from him in a circular wave. Loose stones rattled across the ground, broken dummies shifted from the force, and Aerith’s eyes burned with renewed fire as the halo of energy formed behind him once more.

"I’ll become better than him."

Thunder roared across the sky as the rain poured harder.

...

A pair of golden eyes stared at him from above.

"I don’t know if Bahamut is a curse or a blessing... but I like this development."

A deep voice muttered as the owner of those eyes disappeared.