The Grand Duelist

Joseph's visit to the Jail Warden's office was short, for the Jail Warden instantly agreed with his request. As for why?

Well, it was because the Jail Warden understood that he was doing this for the sake of Fausto. 

For the sake of his friend...

Why would he refuse Joseph's request for the upcoming scheduled execution?

Returning to the sealed room where Krid was jailed in, Joseph couldn't stop sighing. When he heard from Duke Heathrow that his Majesty of the Kingdom of Nether himself would observe the upcoming public execution. Everything suddenly became complicated.

He didn't know what would be the ramifications of his actions if he intervened in an execution that the King himself was observing. if he interrupted the execution that was due for tomorrow in front of the King. Wasn't that the same as slapping the King on his face?

"Sigh..." 

Joseph opened his Quest Menu and found out that there was a timer, accurate to the minute...

Displayed beside the title of his ongoing quest. The Grand Duelist's Vestige.

"Let's just cross that bridge when we get there."

Joseph decided. Since everything was already at this point.

There was no use crying over spilled milk.

He planned on just dealing with everything as they come.

Joseph opened the sealed door and went beyond it towards the room where Krid was sealed. But as soon as he stepped inside the room. A blast of killing intent assaulted his nerves causing him to take a step backward. 

[Under the effects of your title, "Mythical Authority".] 

[No one can make you submit.]

[Your dignity can never be lower than those who stand before you.]

"Oh, it's you..."

Krid's hoarse voice rang out and he stared at Joseph's directions. When Joseph saw the purple bruises on Krid's body, he couldn't help but feel a rush of sourness in his throat.

Even though the time he spent together with Krid was short...

He learned so much from the latter that he could be considered as a half-teacher of his.

Seeing someone whom he respected being beaten up like that earlier. Joseph's anger flared once again.

But then, Krid suddenly spoke.

"You did a good job earlier, brat."

Krid revealed his brittle and yellowish teeth as he smiled.

"I did a good job...?"

Joseph asked in confusion. 'What good job? I was useless earlier! Not only I didn't manage on stopping that fat bastard on beating you up, but I also couldn't do anything other than watch!' 

Joseph even scolded himself, but then Krid explained.

"You did a good job suppressing your anger, earlier. If you really did move with your emotions at that time then all hope would be lost. I will be forced to brute-force my way towards where they imprisoned my disciple, and possibly...

"Before I would even reach where she was, she would've been dead."

Krid's smile turned bitter, and Joseph finally understood why the Jail Warden and Krid praised him for suppressing his anger. It was because no matter what, Duke Heathrow was still a Duke...

If he moved against him at that time.

The Jail Warden would be forced to punish him for the crime of assaulting a Duke.

If that really happened then Krid's plan would've been considered as ruined.

Fear flashed on Joseph's face when he realized that he really almost fucked himself up earlier.

Thankfully, he trusted his instincts and forcefully suppressed his emotions.

Or else, everything would've been destroyed...

The Jail Warden's plans, and Krid's schemes.

All of them would've collapsed if Joseph decided to move according to his emotions earlier.

Realizing that he just managed on escaping the clutches of failure and death by a hair's breadth. Joseph took a deep breath and suppressed his trembling knees. From now on, no matter what. He would definitely think about everything thoroughly before moving!

He would never let his emotions rule over him so, that something as catastrophic as what would've happened if he attacked Duke Heathrow wouldn't happen in the future!

A barely imperceptible glint flashed on Joseph's eyes and Krid chuckled.

"It seems like you have learned something from me again."

Joseph clasped his hands together and slightly bowed.

"I thank Senior for this junior's enlightenment."

"In that case, since I helped you this time. Can you do me a favor?"

Krid stared earnestly at Joseph.

Joseph looked somewhat disturbed but he still managed on squeezing out a reply.

"What favor, Senior? As long as it's within my capabilities then I will surely accomplish it!"

"I see... Then... Can you promise me that..."

Krid cut-off his sentence and he hung his head low, seemingly hesitating about something inside of him.

Joseph didn't say anything. He just stared at Krid who then revealed a bitter smile before continuing.

"Can you promise me that you will take care of my disciple?"

Krid said these words as seriously as he could, but Joseph merely frowned for a moment before he chuckled.

"Hahaha, what are you saying. Senior? That is supposed to be your job, not mine! You will personally go and take care of your disciple, not me!"

Joseph stretched his hand out and patted Krid's shoulder, who also chuckled in return before saying.

"Yeah, you're right..."

"Yes, that's the spirit! But Senior, the reason why I came here is that I want to learn more about the effects of the Heart Binding Worm... I mean, wouldn't it be useless if I saved Madame Alice with the Bead of Absolute Escape if the enemy could just kill her with a single thought?"

Joseph swiftly changed the topic. 

A strange expression surfaced on Krid's face when he heard the words "Madame Alice" But he quickly suppressed it before explaining...

"No, that will not happen. Communication from and to, while in the void created by the Bead of Absolute Escape is impossible. In other words, the Heart Binding Worm within the heart of my disciple cannot be commanded to explode while both of you are in the void."

Krid explained, and Joseph nodded his head in understanding.

"But there's something that I still do not understand, Senior. Just how does the Heart Binding Worm, work? Can Senior explain it to me, properly?"

Krid lightly chuckled towards Joseph's earnest request, but when he was about to speak.

A voice suddenly appeared from behind.

"Let me do the explanation."

Krid's killing intent exploded the moment that voice reverberated in the surroundings. Joseph who was too close to Krid had to take a few steps back so that he could hold fast on his wits.

"Why are you here?!"

Krid glared at the Jail Warden and formless energy surrounded his body.

The Jail Warden chuckled and said: "Before you attack me, honorable Legend. Let me explain myself first..."

"I am not here to be your enemy. I am here to help. Specifically, I am here to help this brat." He glanced at Joseph and Krid had an incredulous expression on his face when he heard what the Jail Warden was saying. 

Nevertheless, his killing intent didn't weaken. It was still pointed at the Jail Warden like sharp knives ready to attack at a moment's notice.

"S-Senior Krid! The Jail Warden really is here to help us! He's not our enemy!" Joseph vouched for the Jail Warden's innocence and Krid's killing intent finally weakened.

But he still glared at the Jail Warden while saying.

"Help us? This bastard will help us? He's one of those bastards that captured my disciple!" 

Witnessing Krid's defiance and savagery...

The Jail Warden sighed and shook his head before saying: "Senior is a Legend so Senior should understand. I am a mere Jail Warden of this damned place. Someone that can only hope on defying those bastards up above me, but can never do it."

Sadness flashed on the Jail Warden's eyes.

Back then, if he managed on mustering his courage and defended Fausto against Duke Heathrow's schemes. His beloved friend would still be here beside him.

Krid's expression softened when he saw the struggling and conflicted light within the Jail Warden's eyes. But he still wasn't convinced about the Jail Warden's sincerity so he asked: "Who is your enemy? Tell me who is your enemy and I will decide if we can be comrades or not!"

Hearing Krid's words...

Deep-seated anger and indignance surged within the Jail Warden's heart. One could see the emotional upheaval that he was feeling right now on his lips continuously twitched as he slowly declared...

"My enemy? Heh... My enemy is... My enemy is that fat fucking bastard, Duke Heathrow!" 

An imperceptible glint flashed on Krid's eyes but he suppressed himself as he asked once again.

"So your enemy is that bastard, Duke Heathrow? How about the King? Are you not mad at him? The King is someone higher than a Duke so he should have enough power to stop that fat bastard's schemes. Yet, he didn't do it. So, are you not mad at him?"

The Jail Warden shook his head before saying: "No, the King is an upright, but cautious man. Even though he is someone that would definitely interfere upon seeing injustice. He is not stupid to do something while the odds are stacked against him..."

"Duke Heathrow's influence is now far too great for him to suppress. If not for that, then he would've directly ordered Duke Heathrow's execution and slaughter everyone who colluded with him." 

Krid nodded his head, complicated emotions flashed on his face.

"Yeah, you're right about that. That bastard is really someone that I still cannot comprehend till this time. Sometimes he acts whimsical, but sometimes he acts cautiously like he would lose everything that he had if he moved without any careful planning."

Krid lightly chuckled at the end of his sentence and Joseph was horrified when he heard Krid.

'D-D-Did he just call his Majesty as 'that bastard'?! Holy shit! How can he call the King of the Kingdom of Nether like that?' Beaded sweat formed on Joseph's forehead as he nervously stared at the Jail Warden.

But he was astonished to find the Jail Warden laughing.

"Does Senior's words mean that Senior is convinced that I am not here to harm you?"

Krid lightly smiled: "Yeah, I believe you. However, if you answered that you hated the King too, then I would've kicked you out of this place as soon as you said those words."

The Jail Warden nervously chuckled: "Then, I should be thankful that I didn't answer like that.."

"You should be..." Krid chuckled once again.

Seeing that the tension between the two has dispersed...

Joseph asked: "Can I now hear sir Jail Warden's explanation about the Heart Binding Worm?"

The Jail Warden turned to look at him and smiled: "Yeah, of course..."

"The Heart Binding Worm is extracted from the heart of the Scarlet Cursed Snake. The reason why that snake is so venomous is because of the worms living in its heart. Kill that snake, extract those worms and you will have two worms that cannot exist without the other..."

"If either one of them dies, or gets killed. The other living worm will self-destruct. Since the worms communicate through their soul or telepathically. They can communicate, no matter how far they are from each other..."

"Once the Heart Binding Worm is implanted in the heart of someone whom you want to take hostage. That worm would merge with the heart of that hostage and the only way to extract that worm is to lure it away through the use of the other worm..."

"But once it explodes, it would certainly take the host's life along with it."

The Jail Warden completed his explanation, yet a frown could still be seen on Joseph's face as he asked.

"It would certainly take the host's life along with it... It's that vicious?"

The Jail Warden chuckled: "Yeah, it's that vicious. No matter how strong you are, I don't think that you can endure an explosion inside your heart, right?"

Joseph nodded his head, and a bitter smile emerged on his face: "Yeah, that definitely is not survivable...

But Krid suddenly intervened: "No, that's where you are wrong! You can survive the explosion of the Heart Binding Worm for as long as you are weak!"

"Yes, that is also a legitimate method. But that is one of the reasons why the Heart Binding Worm is so vicious!" Terror flashed on the face of the Jail Warden as the curious Joseph asked.

"Just how does that work, Seniors? Shouldn't you die faster or more easily if you're weak? Why would being strong increase your chances of dying from the explosion of the Heart Binding Worm?"

"Well, it's like this... The Heart Binding Worm draws its strength from the host. One popular method says that to survive the explosion of the Heart Binding Worm one can deliberately weaken oneself while maintaining the strength of your fleshly-body..."

"This works since the Heart Binding Worm directly taps on your stats instead of the strength of your body itself. In other words, if you weakened yourself by at least twenty-percent while keeping the strength of your fleshly-body before the worm explodes..."

"You will have a pretty good chance of surviving. Albeit, with heavy injuries..."

Understanding flashed on Joseph's face when he heard the Jail Warden's explanation, and a strange glint surfaced within his eyes as he kept his silence and mused.

The Jail Warden stared at Joseph for a moment before sighing.

"Since I have already done my explanation, I will be leaving now... But before I leave, I just want to say to Senior that if Senior manages on living the day after tomorrow. I am sure that the King would finally move and help you, after all. He would have the leverage of doing that at that time..."

"But now? Unfortunately, everyone is still supporting that fat bastard. Furthermore, his influence is going strong since he just collided with those cursed beings and gathered a lot of minerals from the mines in the Forbidden Region..."

"They planned on displaying it to everyone tomorrow and sway public opinion so that Senior would be coerced to confess."

"Of course, Senior's disciple is added as a cherry on top."

The Jail Warden sighed and anger once again flashed on Krid's expression. 

But after gnashing his teeth and clenching his fists. He didn't say anything anymore as the Jail Warden shook his head and finally left them alone.

Meanwhile, Krid stared at Joseph and smiled.

"Now that he's gone, can you fight me once again?"

Joseph was startled with the abruptness of Krid's request.

"What's this all of a sudden, Senior? Fight you? Please don't jest with me, Senior. I am but a mere junior! Even though I am a myth, I'm still a half-baked one and cannot possibly hold a candle against you, Senior!" Joseph repeatedly pleaded. He really didn't want to fight against Krid. After all, who would want to willingly expose themselves to pain?

"Yeah, you are definitely not that strong when using the style of the Grand Duelist." Krid lightly chuckled.

"What does Senior mean?" Joseph cautiously asked.

"What I mean? Well, I want you to fight me with the fighting style that you're used at. Back when we fought earlier, I can pretty much see that you're not used to fighting with the Grand Duelist's style, right?" Krid explained.

Joseph looked somewhat hesitant but seeing the earnest light within Krid's expression. He finally nodded his head and said.

"Fine, but I hope that Senior won't blame me afterwards!"