"BOOM—!!!!!"
A deafening explosion roared through the silent night sky!
Violent arcane energy instantly tore through the tent entrance, blowing the defenseless Lily backward!
"Aaaaah—!"
A shrill, agonizing scream pierced the night.
Lily slammed into the ground like a broken ragdoll. Her left arm, which had been holding her bow, along with half her shoulder, had been mangled into a bloody mess, leaving stark white bone exposed to the air.
"Lily!!"
Arno and the other two, who were just about to rush into the woods, skidded to a halt, turning back in utter horror.
A trap?! A spell trap?!
That useless young master is a mage?!
Before they could even recover from this massive reversal—
"Swoosh—!"
A sharp, piercing whistle, like the call of the Grim Reaper, suddenly rang out from the shadows to the side!
Arno’s pupils shrank: "Get down!!"
It was too late.
That 【Arcane Spear】, bolstered by Leo’s years of combat experience, was launched with pinpoint prediction and a cunning angle.
It didn't aim for Arno, who had the fastest reflexes, but instead locked onto the largest and most obvious target—the tiger-man, Talen!
"Pfft!"
There was no flashy explosion, only the sound of pure kinetic penetration.
The spear, shimmering with purple light, pierced through the tiger-man's massive head as easily as a knife through tofu. Carrying a spray of red and white brain matter, it sent him flying backward before pinning him firmly to a mangrove trunk behind him with a dull thud.
Talen didn't even have time to scream. His copper-bell-like eyes still held the remnants of his previous confusion and greed.
An instant kill!
"A mage!! He’s a high-tier mage!!"
Buman, the lizard-man, let out a terrified shriek, his voice cracking.
Arno's heart sank to the bottom of his chest.
I freaking knew it! What 'fallen noble'?! How could someone like that show up in a place like this and emerge unscathed without having something up his sleeve?!
This little brat really was hiding his strength!
Damn it!
"Spread out! Don't bunch up!"
True to his reputation as a veteran of the Jianghu, Arno instantly suppressed the horror in his heart and made the correct tactical call: "Flank him from both sides! He’s a mage, he’s squishy! Once we close in, he’s finished!"
The two of them split left and right with practiced coordination, forming a standard pincer movement. Like two hungry wolves, they lunged at Leo from the darkness on either side!
And at this critical life-and-death moment—
"Leo... Leo?!"
A tearful, terrified scream erupted from the tent behind Leo.
Lucrezia Sylvania stumbled out.
She had just been jolted awake by the explosion, and before she could even grasp the situation, her retinas were slammed by this hellish scene.
The tiger-man uncle who had been smiling kindly and handing her roasted meat just hours ago was now pinned to a tree like a tattered specimen, his head split open.
The gentle older sister Lily was now a bloody mess, writhing on the ground and letting out shrill, agonizing wails.
And Leo—the 'small fry' who usually did nothing but bicker with her and seemed harmless when he wasn't annoyed—was now standing in a pool of blood, playing with lethal arcane energy, his face wearing a chilling indifference she had never seen before.
The massive gap in information caused the girl’s sanity to snap instantly.
"This... what is all this..."
Lucrezia's mind went blank, her body trembling uncontrollably.
She subconsciously looked for an explanation, wanting to believe this was all a nightmare.
Arno, who was charging at high speed, keenly captured this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
His hideous face instantly contorted into an expression of extreme grief and indignation, as if he were the one being wronged. His loud voice echoed piteously through the night:
"Princess! Run!!"
Arno roared as he ran, tears and snot streaming down his face as he played the role of the 'loyal servant' to the extreme:
"This madman! He wants to keep all the Red Salt Crystals for himself! He might even have designs on you! We were only ambushed because we tried to protect you!"
"Talen is dead! Raz is dead too! Run, Princess! Don't worry about us!!"
These words were like a poisoned dagger, precisely stabbing into the cracks of Lucrezia’s chaotic thoughts.
On one side was Leo, who had "suddenly turned violent and murderous with a cold expression."
On the other side was the adventurer team, "brutally slaughtered while trying to protect their master."
Under the weight of the massive visual shock, the teenage girl—who had just lost everything and was desperately lacking any sense of security—instinctively wavered.
"Leo..."
Lucrezia looked at Leo’s back, tears streaming down her face, her voice trembling beyond recognition:
"This... this isn't true, is it? Tell me... it’s a misunderstanding... right?"
She didn't stand on a moral high ground like a saint and accuse Leo.
She was just afraid.
Afraid that the last bit of 'security' she relied on in this world was also a lie.
"They... they are living people! They were just smiling at us..."
The girl’s broken cries were like a sharp needle, stabbing deep into Leo’s eardrums.
'Living people...'
These words were like a bolt of lightning, striking Leo’s brain—the brain that had been layered in a 'player mindset'—without warning.
Leo’s movements froze.
He subconsciously looked at his hands.
The blood that had splattered on him when he killed Raz was currently dripping from his fingertips.
Thick... warm... smelling of iron...
This sense of reality suddenly became scalding hot following Lucrezia’s desperate cry.
The scene that had previously looked like he was just killing an 'NPC' suddenly lost its game filter, revealing its bloody, raw foundation.
The resistance as the blade sliced through muscle, the twitching sensation of life fading in his hands... and the people before him... they truly had their own joys and sorrows, they could cry and laugh; they were living 'NPCs.'
'That's right... why... was I able to kill so easily?'
'Why was there... not a single ripple in my heart?'
'Have I... truly become a murderous monster?'
The sense of cognitive dissonance caused Leo’s consciousness to lapse for a split second.
And it was that very split second of hesitation!
"Die!!"
The battle-hardened Arno precisely caught that momentary daze in Leo’s eyes!
Even if he didn't know why this powerful mage was zoning out, it didn't stop him from sending this fool to hell!
"Pardon me, Princess!"
A cruel, cold light flashed in Arno’s eyes as his left hand suddenly flicked!
A throwing axe that had been hidden at his waist for a long time flew out, turning into a streak of lethal silver light that spun directly toward Leo’s face!
Rate on N.U.
