The voice came from Sylphia, desperate and pleading as she stood abruptly from her seat.

"Please! Please just don't kill him!" Her words tumbled out in a rush, panic clear in every syllable. "My friend will die if that happens! You can keep the technique—I don't care about it, but please just don't kill him, I beg of you!"

Deep down, she was already preparing herself mentally to fight if she saw Leon actually trying to kill Luke. It was a situation she would never want to be in—fighting someone who had just saved her own life earlier. But she had to do it for Bunbun's life.

Her body tensed, mana beginning to circulate through her channels as she readied herself for the worst possible outcome.

But her worry was unfounded.

Leon simply accepted her words with a slight nod, his grip on Luke's throat loosening immediately. His mystical eyes met hers with calm understanding—he knew everything that was going on, had heard every detail of the slave contract's fail-safe enchantments.

Sylphia stared at him in shock, unable to believe he'd agreed so easily. Relief flooded through her like a breaking dam, and joy mixed with gratitude overwhelmed her earlier terror.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" She bowed her head deeply, her voice thick with emotion.

At the same time, she grabbed Bunbun and forced her to bow as well, pushing down on her friend's shoulder.

Bunbun, still dazed and confused about everything happening around her, bowed automatically and stammered out her own thanks. "Th-thank you! Thank you, sir! I don't know what's happening, but thank you!"

Leon could see through his grip that Luke would die soon if he maintained the pressure—the man's face was already turning a disturbing shade of purple-blue. So he loosened his hold slightly, allowing air to flow.

Like a dying fish gasping on dry land, Luke caught his breath in desperate, wheezing gulps. Ghk—hah—hah—ghk.

He was absolutely terrified. But beneath that terror, his eyes carried something else—a crazed, manic quality that spoke of a man who had given up on living.

There wasn't even an option anymore. In a minute or so, he would die anyway. The poisoned dagger was still lodged deep in his leg, and he could feel the toxin spreading through his bloodstream with cold, creeping inevitability.

But if he was going down, at least he wouldn't go alone.

A weak, horrible laugh escaped his foam-flecked lips. "Haha... your friend... your friend is going to die too..."

His body was going limp, muscles losing their tension as the poison worked its way through his system.

Sylphia's eyes widened in horror. She shot to her feet, the chair clattering backward behind her.

Bunbun froze, her red eyes filling with terror as she processed what Luke had just said. His dying means I die too.

"What did you do, you bastard?!" Sylphia snarled, though she already knew the answer in her mind. She just didn't want to think it, didn't want to accept it.

Her hands naturally reached out and pulled Bunbun into a protective hug, holding her friend close as if physical contact could somehow prevent what was coming.

Luke laughed weakly, the sound wet and gurgling as the poison's effects grew stronger. Foam gathered at the corners of his mouth.

"Your friend... will die in half a minute... along with me!" His crazed eyes fixed on Leon with manic satisfaction. "And everything... everything will be this bastard's fault!"

His body began convulsing, muscles spasming uncontrollably as the toxin attacked his nervous system.

Leon's mind immediately kicked into overdrive, processing everything at full capacity. My fault? How? What did I miss?

Then his eyes landed on the dagger still lodged in Luke's foot, the blade glinting with an unnatural blue sheen along its edge.

"The dagger was poisoned," Leon stated calmly, his voice cutting through the chaos. "Do you have an antidote?"

Luke heard the question and his expression twisted into something between a smile and a grimace—completely unhinged, mad with the certainty of his own death. Inside, fear still consumed him, but he had no antidote. Time had run out. He knew it was over for him.

While waiting for an answer that wouldn't come, Leon quickly opened his cosmic shop interface. The golden transparent screen materialized before his eyes—visible only to him—and he scrolled rapidly through the search function.

Poison antidote. Rare. Specialized for neurotoxins.

He found the perfect item for this situation within seconds, his mind hovering over the purchase button. But he didn't buy it outright yet—he held back, waiting to see if it would truly be necessary.

All of this happened in less than two seconds.

Using his wind element control with surgical precision, Leon extracted the dagger from Luke's leg. Fwoosh. The blade came free smoothly, revealing the blue poison coating its interior mixed with fresh blood.

Sylphia was hugging Bunbun desperately now, practically cradling her friend as terror gripped them both. Half a minute. She knew she couldn't do anything in that time frame. She had no antidote, and even if she tried to find it, it was nowhere near enough time.

"Don't worry, Bunbun. Everything is going to be fine," Sylphia whispered over and over, one hand stroking her friend's white hair while the other rubbed her back soothingly.

But deep down, both of them knew the truth. Neither said anything more—words felt pointless now.

Leon, before committing to purchasing the antidote and wasting resources on this attempt to keep the man alive, decided to try his life element first.

Green light enveloped Luke's dying body, washing over him in waves of concentrated healing energy.

Sylphia's golden eyes snapped toward the glow, a tiny spark of hope igniting in her chest as she watched while still hugging Bunbun. Her friend's face was buried in her shoulder, the bunny girl shivering and crying softly.

"I don't want to die," Bunbun whispered brokenly. "I don't want to die..."

The wound on Luke's leg sealed completely, flesh knitting together as if it had never been pierced. For a moment, it seemed as if he might actually be fine—the color returning slightly to his face, his breathing stabilizing.

But then the bluish tint spreading across his skin didn't fade. If anything, it seemed to darken. His body convulsed again, harder this time. Ghk—kh—kh.

It hadn't worked.

Leon wasn't particularly surprised. Life element healing might have bought a few extra seconds, slowing the poison's spread marginally, but nothing more. Just as Lin Fang's autobiography had warned, poison operated on fundamentally different principles than physical wounds.

Seeing the continued deterioration, tears began streaming down Sylphia's golden eyes. It's over. Bunbun is going to die, and I can't do anything to save her.

But Leon wasn't finished.

Next, he activated his skill Holy Light, channeling it with focused intensity. Bright, radiant energy enveloped Luke's dying body, far more intense than the previous green glow.

From what he'd read about light elements' purifying properties, this should work against poison specifically.

The effect was immediate and dramatic.

Luke started crying out in pain—not the numb, cold sensation of the poison shutting down his system, but actual burning agony. "Argh! ARGH! It burns! It BURNS!"

The screaming attracted Sylphia's attention instantly. She'd thought it was over, but now something was clearly happening.

The bluish discoloration spreading through Luke's body began to visibly reduce, retreating inch by inch. But Luke felt absolutely horrible—like he was burning alive from the inside out, every nerve ending on fire as the light magic purged the toxin from his system.

He screamed continuously, unable to contain the agony.

The process lasted for a full thirty seconds that felt like hours. Finally, his body showed not even an inch of that telltale bluish tint. The poison was completely gone, burned away by the purifying light.

Leon observed the results with clinical satisfaction. Light element really does work effectively against poison. Good thing I didn't waste my causality on that antidote.

Luke lay on the floor, gasping, confused about how he'd survived. He was happy—overjoyed to still be breathing—yet utterly terrified. The man standing over him was beyond dangerous beyond comprehension.

Who is he? What is he? How can someone do these absurd things so casually?

The realization that Leon had not only defeated him but also saved his life despite having every reason to let him die was almost more frightening than the poison itself.

He understood now with perfect clarity: it wasn't over. This monster could end him whenever he chose.

Luke made his decision instantly. Survival meant surrender—complete and total.

"You can keep the technique, sir," he said quickly, his voice hoarse from screaming. "Please. I'm sorry for my rudeness earlier. I was a fool. Please forgive me."

He was genuinely sorry now—or at least, sorry he'd crossed someone so far beyond his ability to handle. The High Magistrate's protection meant nothing against a monster he couldn't even begin to comprehend. Even this four-star adventurer seemed tame by comparison.

If I try my luck any further, I'm dead. Actually dead this time.

Leon didn't reply to his words immediately. He did understand that this man was clever—clever enough to recognize when he was completely outmatched, clever enough to surrender before being forced to.

But his luck had been catastrophically bad.

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