The red light in Reaper's eyes dimmed and his bony hands clenched together, resulting in rattling sounds and explosion of the air between them.
His subordinates didn't even dare to breathe or blink as they stared at his back with creeping horror.
Their legs wobbled as the killing intent seeping out of him enveloped them and the vitality in their body began to riot.
The ten rank 5s were somewhat fine. They were having difficulty standing and looked like they were struggling to breathe still but were otherwise okay.
The forty rank 4s, however, felt their heart slow down with each passing second. Their blood, pumping with vitality and energy, grew sluggish and inched to stagnation.
Their visions were growing blurry and they were only able to stand thanks to the insane instincts they'd trained over the centuries.
"He escaped," Reaper's jaw bone moved down and up, then up and down, making a creepy noise that only a select few in the group could understand.
But everyone guessed what he said.
"The attack was supposed to hit even a peak rank 5 escaping at full speed. But how?" The red flames surged in Reaper's eye sockets.
The hunter who hunted down civilization after civilization stumbled for the first time.
At that critical moment, that man's body glowed with a mysterious light that blinded Reaper's senses.
The next thing he knew, the prey's body sped up at speed reaching the peak of rank 4. It was weird but still acceptable.
But the next thing was outrageous.
His attacks slowed. A mysterious white and black light struck his attack.
Reaper scoffed at that time. There's no way this weakling could do anything to his attack.
But then it happened.
The black light tore apart his well-organized attack and scattered it in different directions. The white light slowed down the partial attack still heading towards its master.
He was hit by it and instantly lost half his body. He'd have lost the other half had it not been on the other side of the vortex.
It was an Insta kill. But the man survived because of that one tiny, almost instantaneous gap.
Reaper had prey that escaped his hunt for the first time. Even the second time and even the tenth time. But he had no prey that faced him even in that last moment with such confidence.
That man turned around at the last moment and stared into Reaper's eyes before he disappeared into the vortex.
What Reaper saw wasn't the anguish at his body nearly being devoured nor was it fear at the near death.
Reaper saw confidence in those eyes. Those eyes seemed prophetic, like he'd seen their deaths already and was just saying the inevitable.
'I'll kill you. Soon.'
Those words never left his lips but Reaper could bet his soul that he said them.
"Master, the prey you picked this time isn't a prey…" The skeleton warrior lowered his skull and whispered. "He's the predator."
The loyal warrior feared for his master's life.
Even though logic told him that such a weakling could never harm his powerful master, the intuition he developed over the centuries was certain.
If not killed, this man would be the bane of everyone.
Even his master wouldn't be spared.
— — —
"This tower is weird," Varian said as he adjusted the full-body robe covering him. He looked like a shady guy showing only his face.
But in the safe zone, no one bothered to provoke a guest in the inn.
Maria took a sip of her beer and muttered, "You're the one weird one thought."
"I can hear you," Varian chuckled and flinched as he felt his back sting as some cold air sneaked into his robes.
"Does it still hurt?"
"Very." Varian was pain tolerant, not pain-loving.
The moment he stepped into the safe zone, all the 'damage' done to him stopped. This safe zone, just like the one he entered when he first entered the tower, had a special rule.
'No damage shall be done by one challenger to another.'
So, the death energy got stuck in his body but it's as if it didn't exist at all.
The problem, though, was that Varian couldn't regenerate like he usually did because of its presence. Apparently, preventing regeneration didn't go against the rules.
If he stepped into the 31st floor like this, the death energy would attack the first moment and kill him.
Varian was already solving the issue. Well, not him personally, but the credit was his.
[Host, to think you'd ask the System to do the butler job of removing the foreign energy from your body, you're really growing lazy.]
'I want to take a break, Logos. And it's not anything big, just expelling the death energy.'
[If it's not anything big, why don't you do it yourself?]
'…' Varian wanted to slap this guy.
Usually, he's too silent and unhelpful. But when it comes to things like this, he wouldn't stop talking and bringing up some useless logic.
'Logos, be a good boy and do the job.'
[…Are you treating this System like a dog?]
'No!' Varian almost raised his hands on instincts. 'I'd never compare you to a dog. How can a loyal, helpful, and adorable dog be compared to you?'
[…W-What?]
'I'm saying it's unfair to the dogs to compare it to you.'
[You ungra—]
'You're more like a cat. Lazy, unhelpful, grumpy, and demanding. Of course, cute sometimes and a good companion at others.'
[…] The System was unsure for a while.
Was he scolding it or praising it?
No, wrong question. He compared it to dogs and cats. A fusion of two slivers to an animal? How the fuck would that even be praise?
[This System is not a primitive animal!]
'But you're the one who started the comparison, not me.'
[…Host, drop that crooked smile on your face.]
Varian touched his lips and realized he was indeed smiling. Of course, he didn't get embarrassed or cornered by the system's words and said with a straight face. 'Of course, I am happy because the silent system is talking to me after so long.'
[This System has one piece of advice for you. Don't flirt with girls you come across. They'll either fall for you or try to kill you.]
'…'
After they got out of the cafe, they booked a training space and Maria placed her hand on his head.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Varian took a step back.
"Healing," Maria said with an unimpressed face and poured a tremendous amount of vitality into his body.
As a rank 5, her healing ability was comparable to expensive elixirs. But the wall standing in front of that healing was a very dangerous death energy.
It blocked Maria's energy from healing him and after ten minutes, Maria was panting heavily with a pale face but not even a scratch on Varian's injury disappeared.
"Alright, don't bother," Varian said and walked into a private room.
"B-But if you remain like this, you'll die the moment you step out of the safe zone!" Maria was anxious and she felt even more anxious that he wasn't anxious.
Varian halted and turned around. "Are you worried about me or what? That'd be problematic."
"Of course not! I just want you to survive so that you can help me fight that skeleton!" Maria was very, very honest.
"Worry not, kiddo. This but a scratch. This old man has been through much worse but always came out on top." Varian made a few 'hohoho' laughs and left the room with his hands behind his back.
"He's crazy, this bastard has gone crazy!" Maria wanted to beat him into the ground but this safe zone wouldn't allow it, so she didn't bother.
"But is he really a powerhouse?"
She didn't want to brag about herself but she had been through a lot of these missions and every single time, people in the field marveled at her abilities.
It wasn't just her strength that was mind-blowing, it was also her skills in infiltration, acting, and of course, her observation and analysis.
Despite that track record, she couldn't say anything conclusive about Varian.
The speed at which his strength advanced made it clear that he must be a powerhouse who sealed his paths. There's no other possibility.
When she was a Famine, the vitality and life signature she read from him was that of a very, very young creature.
It was as if he wasn't even a half-century old. That ridiculous observation prompted her to believe that Varian was more mysterious to the point he could easily deceive her famine powers.
But after she reached rank 5, she still felt the same!
Maria had several observations of this man but they all contradicted each other.
A powerhouse at least rank 6 or more! But he behaves nothing like them!
A young man who wouldn't even be 50 years old! But his strength thrashed the rank 4 peaks!
Nothing made sense.
"Haaah~" Maria sighed and decided to just focus on her mission. "I am not paid enough for this shit."
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