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"You," Zeus began, his voice dripping with condescension, "who boasted about being the smartest person here, don\'t know anything, do you?"

The leader\'s eyes widened in fear, his mind racing to understand. He stammered, his voice weak and desperate, "W-What do you mean?"

Zeus\'s expression darkened, and he leaned in closer, his eyes narrowing with cold calculation. "Don\'t you really think things through?" His tone was sharp, cutting through the leader\'s growing panic.

The leader could only stare, unable to comprehend the depth of the mistake he had made. Zeus sneered, continuing, "From what I can see, you\'re just one of the bottom-ranked outer disciples, right? You took on this bounty for a quick payday, didn\'t you?"

The leader\'s lips quivered, but he couldn\'t force out any words. His eyes darted around wildly, desperate to find some escape, but the weight of Zeus\'s words kept him rooted in place, paralyzed by fear.

"And seeing that you gathered a group to help," Zeus continued, his voice dripping with derision, "the bounty must be pretty high. But here\'s what I\'m curious about—did it ever cross your mind why the Malachor family would put such a high price on my head?"

The leader\'s throat bobbed as he swallowed hard, his face draining of color. "I... I don\'t..." he stammered, his voice barely above a whisper, choked with fear.

Zeus sneered, his tone growing even sharper. "Didn\'t it ever occur to you that I must be strong enough to make them feel threatened? Or maybe..." Zeus leaned in closer, his eyes narrowing as he delivered the crushing truth, "I killed or humiliated one of their precious members?"

The leader\'s face turned ghostly pale, his body trembling uncontrollably. He tried to speak again, his words stumbling over each other in his panic. "I-I didn\'t know... I didn\'t think..."

Zeus cut him off with a cold, mocking laugh. "Of course, you didn\'t. You were too busy being \'smart\' and too greedy to think about the consequences."

The leader\'s breath hitched, his chest tightening with dread as Zeus straightened, towering over him. Zeus\'s eyes were like shards of ice, devoid of any sympathy or mercy. "There\'s a fate for people like you," Zeus said, his voice chillingly calm.

Zeus\'s movements were slow, almost leisurely, as he reached into his robe and drew out a knife. The blade gleamed ominously in the dim light, casting a sharp reflection that seemed to mirror the terror in the leader\'s widening eyes.

The leader\'s breath quickened, and his pupils dilated in sheer panic. His voice shook uncontrollably as he began to plead for his life. "Please... please, I swear, I\'ll never do anything like this again! Just let me go! I won\'t tell anyone, I promise!"

Zeus looked down at him, the corners of his mouth curling into a smile that was cold and devoid of any warmth. "Are you absolutely sure?" he asked, his tone laced with mockery. "You\'re really saying that if I let you go, you won\'t breathe a word of this to anyone?"

The leader nodded frantically, desperation etched into every line of his face. "Yes! Yes, I swear on everything! I won\'t say a thing! Just let me go!"

Zeus tilted his head slightly, feigning deep consideration of the leader\'s desperate pleas. His piercing gaze never wavered from the terrified man before him, and for a fleeting moment, it seemed as if Zeus might be weighing the option of mercy.

"Hmm," Zeus murmured thoughtfully, his voice laced with false contemplation. He allowed the silence to stretch, letting the leader\'s hope swell, feeding off the growing anticipation. Then, with a cold, detached tone, he uttered a single, chilling word:

"Sure."

Relief surged through the leader as he scrambled to his feet, his heart pounding with a chaotic mix of fear and twisted satisfaction. His breaths came in ragged gasps, but the thought of escape, of survival, spurred him on. Without a second thought, he turned and sprinted, his legs moving as fast as they could carry him.

As he fled, his fear began to morph into anger. His mind raced with vengeful thoughts, each one more sinister than the last. "I\'ll gather reinforcements," he muttered under his breath, his voice trembling with both fury and anticipation. "I\'ll make him pay for this... I\'ll bring an army and crush him... No one humiliates me and gets away with it..."

The image of returning to the academy with a powerful force—one that could obliterate Zeus—fueled his resolve, giving him a false sense of triumph as he imagined his revenge.

But just as those thoughts of retribution took hold, a sharp, blinding pain erupted in his head. He staggered, confusion and disbelief flooding his senses. "What...?" he gasped, his hand instinctively reaching up to his head, only to find a cold, metallic object buried deep in his skull.

His legs buckled, and he turned, eyes wide with disbelief, struggling to comprehend what had just happened. "Why?" he gasped, his voice a frail whisper, barely able to form the word.

Zeus stood where he had been, his smile as cold and unfeeling as ever. "I said I\'d let you leave," Zeus replied, his tone calm, almost casual. "But I never said I wouldn\'t kill you."

The leader\'s eyes filled with regret, the realization of his fatal mistake dawning too late. His greed and arrogance had sealed his fate. With that final, bitter thought, his life slipped away, and he crumpled to the ground, lifeless.