The Monstrous Hero-Chapter 44 - 43: The Worst Part

The silence that followed B67’s trembling question was suffocating.

It wasn’t the kind that felt calm or thoughtful.

It was the kind that made the back of your neck itch like something terrible was crawling up just out of sight.

No one said anything for a good ten seconds. You could hear the wind brushing through the grass, the faint rustle of someone’s boot shifting against gravel. Then 27-C spoke, her voice low and deliberate, like she already knew she was about to say something none of them wanted to hear.

"Does this ring a bell?" she said, not looking at anyone in particular. " ’If you lose a teammate in there, their points will be divided among you.’ "

The words hit like a drop of ink in clear water.

Instantly, everything darkened.

Z-34 froze mid-step, eyes flicking up like a thought had just slammed into his skull. His jaw tightened, his whole body going still for one long, unsettling heartbeat. Then he muttered, "Son of a bitch," and started walking.

Straight for B67.

His steps were slow at first, almost measured, but the sound of them on the dirt — crunch, crunch, crunch — was loud enough to make the kid flinch before he even looked up.

"I get it now," Z-34 muttered, voice low. "I get it now."

The kid blinked up at him, confusion twisting his face. "W-what... what do you mean?"

"I hope you understand, kid," Z-34 declared. And then he raised his blade.

But he never got the chance to swing it.

Liu Xian moved faster than anyone could react. One second Z-34’s arm was coming down, the next his wrist was caught mid-swing. "Are you insane?" Liu spat, his voice cutting through the silence. He shoved Z-34 back, eyes burning, disbelief written all over his face.

But what chilled him wasn’t the attempted kill — it was the others.

They were just... standing there.

Watching.

"What the fuck do you think you’re doing?" Z-34 snarled, regaining balance. "You playing hero right now?" His words dripped venom.

B67 stood frozen, trembling so hard his hands couldn’t even stay steady on his crossbow. His mouth opened, but no sound came out like he was about to cry but didn’t dare. The kid looked terrified — small — and completely out of his depth.

"He’s just a child," Liu gritted out, stepping in front of him.

"Oh, don’t give me that shit." Z-34 barked. "Or what? You wanna take his place?"

Liu’s expression didn’t change. His eyes locked on Z-34’s, unreadable. Then, quietly — too quietly — he said, "I think if anybody needs to go down... it’s you."

The words hadn’t even finished leaving his mouth before Z-34’s fist connected with his face. A brutal, echoing thud that made G-25 flinch. Liu Xian’s head jerked to the side, a fine spray of blood flicking through the air.

He stumbled, one hand bracing against the dirt. Blood dripped from his nose — drip, drip, drip — vivid against his skin.

"What the fuck did you just say, you weird-looking freak?!" Z-34 shouted, stepping forward again.

That was when the others finally moved.

E-26 and G-25 stepped in, each grabbing one of his arms and dragging him back before he could land another hit. He kicked and swore and spat, struggling against them.

"Let me go! Let me fucking go so I can teach this scrawny little shit some manners!"

Liu Xian stayed still.

Didn’t wipe the blood. Didn’t move. Didn’t even look up.

His head was bowed, hair hanging over his face, shadowing his expression.

If you didn’t know better, you’d think he hadn’t even felt the punch.

But his lips were moving.

Barely.

Muttering something under his breath.

"What’s that creep mumbling?" Z-34 snapped, still thrashing.

Then Liu Xian raised his head.

And Z-34 stopped.

His blood ran cold — not from fear, not really, but from that instinctive dread that came when something didn’t feel human anymore.

Liu’s face was a mess. Blood trailed from his nose to his chin, painting a line down his throat. But it wasn’t the blood that made Z-34 flinch.

It was the eyes.

Wide, glassy, lifeless.

Like the light behind them had gone out completely.

"I said," Liu Xian murmured, voice quiet but sharp enough to slice through the air,

"If you touch me one more time..."

He tilted his head just slightly.

"...I’ll fucking kill you."

Nobody spoke.

The only sound was the distant rush of the river below and the faint click of E-26’s safety locking back into place.

Even Z-34 froze, his breathing hitching. His anger flickered, replaced by something else — disgust, maybe. Unease. It didn’t matter.

He stepped back, yanking himself free from the others’ grip.

It was one thing that Liu Xian looked like a ghost. It was another that he sounded like he meant it.

"Fucking lunatic," Z-34 muttered, spitting to the side as he turned away. His boots crunched over gravel. "Sick freak."

He kept muttering under his breath as he walked off, disappearing behind a cluster of trees.

27-C just stared for a moment, jaw tight, before looking away. E-26 just stared after Z-34, then shook his head, reloading his rifle with a soft click.

The quiet that followed was heavy... thicker than before. Like the fight had sucked all the air out of the world.

B67 finally moved, his steps hesitant as he approached Liu Xian. "A-are you okay?" he asked softly, voice barely above a whisper. His hand reached out, trembling slightly.

But Liu swatted his hand away without even looking at him.

The sound of skin against skin was soft but cruel.

The kid froze.

His hand hung awkwardly in the air for a second before he pulled it back, clutching it against his chest. His lip trembled, but he didn’t say anything.

Liu still didn’t move. He just stared at the ground, watching a single drop of blood slide off his chin and hit the dirt. Then, finally, he exhaled, slow, and steady, wiping his nose with the back of his hand.

"Whatever’s going on here, we’ll settle it after the exit portal opens," 27-C said quietly.

No one argued.

And Liu... he sat in silence.

The metallic taste of blood lingered in his mouth.

The echo of his own words — I’ll fucking kill you — still hung somewhere in his skull, repeating like a half-remembered song.

He didn’t regret saying it.

But that wasn’t even the worst part.

The worst part was that he meant it.