'I have no idea what to do,' Kyle thought as he looked at the two of them. 'I wanted to have a proper True Battle with Emperor Winterfire, but he just wants to fall over like a sack of potatoes.'
Thanks to his Ether Sense, Kyle could also see the inside of the house, and he saw the scared mother and daughter.
'Is it weird that I feel a bit bad about killing this guy now? I mean, I killed a bunch of people before, and they all have families. Never bothered me at all.'
'But as soon as I actually see the family, I kinda feel a bit bad.'
'Wonder if that's how all of these crazy exploiting CEOs on Earth feel. They make decisions that cause immense suffering, but they never personally witness the suffering.'
'It's just a distant number.'
'Why does shit have to be so complicated?'
'Can't I just be done with this and get back to training?'
Kyle's decision on what to do went back and forth.
"Question," he suddenly said. "If I were a Transcendent, would my Karma increase by killing you?"
Emperor Winterfire just looked at Kyle with a tranquil expression.
"Yes," he said.
"Good enough for me."
BANG!
Emperor Winterfire's head exploded as a meteor shot through it.
The meteor had curved around the son before hitting its target.
Naturally, Emperor Winterfire had had enough time to react since this attack hadn't been extremely powerful.
He had just needed to use a bit of Yin-Fire to deal with it.
But he didn't.
He had looked at the meteor and didn't move.
Emperor Winterfire's life ended just like that.
The ruler of the world had died in silence.
The son watched in horror as his father collapsed behind him.
"Dad!" the son shouted as he saw the headless body of his father.
He held the headless body in horror and shock.
At that moment, a dark blue staff appeared beside the headless body.
'Huh, he only had his weapon with him,' Kyle thought.
Since every Transcendent had an improved soul, they also carried all of their belongings in it, and when they died, they just popped out of their bodies.
The fact that only a staff appeared meant that Emperor Winterfire had abandoned all of his other belongings.
Just like the dead King Skysand, Emperor Winterfire had been more of a Sorcerer than a Fighter in the way he fought, which was why he had used a staff as his weapon.
"Yeah, well, whatcha gonna do?" Kyle asked with a shrug.
Then, Kyle cracked his neck a bit and turned around.
CRACK!
At that moment, a sword broke on Kyle's body, and he looked back.
Timmy had just attacked Kyle, but the difference in power was just too great.
"You killed my father!" Timmy shouted as his arms shook.
"Hey, buddy," Kyle answered casually. "He tried to kill me so many times before. I was the weaker one until today. If he hadn't tried to kill me a bunch of times, I wouldn't be here."
The son gritted his teeth. "That was the old Emperor Winterfire! This is my dad!"
"My dad hasn't hurt anyone! He worked so hard every single day to help us! He was a loving father, and he was filled with regret and shame every single day!"
"He changed!"
"He was a changed man!"
"He was not a monster anymore!"
"Don't people deserve second chances?!" he shouted.
Naturally, Timmy's mind was all over the place due to the many shocking things that had happened.
His father was the notorious Emperor Winterfire. A powerful monster who had killed almost all of his allies. A monster who had caused immense suffering to the world by destroying eight Ether Essences.
And yet, he was also his father.
There was a huge disconnect in Timmy's mind between the person who was his father and Emperor Winterfire.
Emperor Winterfire deserved to die, but his father didn't.
Kyle shrugged. "I guess he deserves a second chance, and he also got it."
Then, Kyle pointed at the staff.
"He just needed to fight for it."
"I wanted to have a proper fight with him. He was powerful enough to kill me. It's not like this would have been a one-sided match."
"With a bit of luck, he would've won, and he would still be there with all of you."
"He was the one who chose to just die. You might not have noticed it due to your strength, but my attack was weak and slow. It would have been so easy for him to defend himself."
Kyle shrugged again. "But he just didn't. Guess he wanted to die."
"Because he wanted to protect us!" Timmy shouted.
"What?" Kyle asked. "Dude, I literally asked him if he wanted to fight somewhere else, and he declined."
"As far as I can see, he just wanted to kill himself but couldn't bring himself to go through with it."
Timmy's heart hurt when he heard these words.
He hadn't ever thought that his father would want to commit suicide, but now, in hindsight, the signs had been there.
Timmy started to doubt his own perception and judgments regarding his father.
"Anyway, gotta fly," Kyle said.
Then, a couple of Ether Gems appeared in front of Timmy. "You can have this. Not your fault that your father was a huge asshole."
When Timmy saw the Ether Gems, his heart filled with rage.
"I don't want your money!" he shouted as he slapped the Ether Gems to the side.
"You have killed my father! No amount of money can buy his life!"
The next moment, Timmy glared at Kyle with unending hatred.
"I will grow stronger! I will work tirelessly every day! I will increase my Momentum!"
"And one day!"
"One day, I will come for you!"
"And I will kill you!"
Kyle looked at Timothy for a moment, who just glared at Kyle with unending hatred.
The death of a father led the son down a dark path of revenge.
One day, he would grow powerful, and then-
BANG!
A meteor shot through Timmy's head, killing him in an instant.
"Okay," Kyle said.
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