"Just... who are you?"

Philip muttered, trembling in fear.

His greatest trump card, Philo's magic, had failed to stop the attack. He had seen it clearly—the magic shield had been sliced like tofu, as if it had no effect against the crimson sword.

And yet, that same shield had saved him countless times before.

But now, it was as if the mana particles of the shield itself had stopped working in the presence of that sword.

This wasn't normal.

His gaze remained fixed on Raizel, his sheer terror growing.

Raizel wasn't normal either.

Only now did Philip truly realize that.

Raizel, on the other hand, didn't bother answering the question.

Because at that moment, more Shadow Lightning Wolves emerged, surrounding him.

It was as if they were trying to stop him from getting any closer to their master.

Instantly, Raizel entered in a killing mode. Like a primal hunter, he slashed, cut, and bashed through the Shadow Lightning Wolves as if they were nothing.

[ Exp + 190 ]

[ Exp + 150 ]

[ Exp + 140 ]

[ Exp + 170 ]

....

Experience points flooded in at an astonishing rate, pushing him close to his next level. But his attention wasn't on that.

His crimson eyes were locked onto Philip with cold-blooded intent. He had to die.

His blade never stopped moving, almost appeared he was desperate to reach Philip, who was fleeing, scrambling as if he were being hunted by a ferocious beast.

"Philo, how much time do you need? Do it now!" Philip shouted desperately as he ran.

Philo, hovering beside him, was casting a unknown spell far beyond its capacity. But to fulfill its master's wishes, it poured everything into the incantation.

"Not good..."

Philip turned back and saw that Raizel was almost free, slaughtering all the hard-tamed beasts he had worked for.

All of his effort, all the time spent taming them in the forest, had gone to benefiting someone else.

Raizel was cutting them down like a farmer harvesting his crops.

"I need to stop his magic."

Just as Raizel was about to close in within 15 meters, he deactivated Red Berserker and activated Antimagic Field, aiming to interrupt the little spirit's incantation. It was clear that Philo was trying to teleport Philip away from the battlefield.

However Raizel was close.

Just 10 meters more, and victory would be his.

He smirked evily.

9 meters.

8 meters.

4 meters.

2 meters—

Plop!

However at the last moment, Philip and Philo completely vanished from the spot.

Raizel's figure met with empty air.

He had been very close to catching Phillip. It was disappointing.

Philip hadn't logged out. Because that was impossible in the middle of a battle.

Which meant…The teleportation magic by the little spirit had worked just in time.

"Heh, heh...Run, coward, run. But when I see you again, you won't live to see another day!"

Raizel spat before turning back toward the village to search for any remaining survivors.

But the sight that greeted him was grim. Shadow Lightning Wolves still roamed the burning remains of the village, hunting down the last traces of life.

The chance of finding more survivors? Almost zero.

Even so, he couldn't allow any of those creatures to remain alive.

With a cold intent, he tracked down and eliminated each of the remaining wolves. His blade cut through them effortlessly, yet his eyes lingered on the gruesome sight surrounding him. Charred bodies of villagers, their destroyed homes, and a once-thriving village now reduced to smoldering ruins.

Except for pity, but what else could he do?

But this massacre carved another lesson deep into his bones.

"Weakness is a sin."

If the villagers had been stronger, if they had magic, skills, or any kind of power, would they have suffered this fate? Maybe not.

It was already a miracle they had survived this long, surrounded by the dangers of the Wild Forest.

By the time Raizel had finished clearing out the remaining beasts, the sun had risen in the east, casting its warm glow over the devastated village. The once-dark sky had finally cleared, but the weight of what had transpired remained heavy in the air.

With a deep sigh, he turned his attention to the fallen villagers. He could not leave them like this—they deserved a proper burial.

Determined, he picked up a simple farming spade and began digging.

Alone, the task was grueling. Each movement of the spade into the earth felt heavier than the last, but he pushed forward without pause.

After nearly two hours of relentless work, he had dug a large enough pit to hold the bodies. His muscles ached, and sweat dripped down his face, but he barely noticed.

As he reached for the first body, a thought suddenly crossed his mind, making him hesitate.

"The Convergence Spear... Could it absorb energy from these dead bodies?"

It was an unsettling idea. These were innocent villagers, people who had laughed and lived just yesterday. Using their bodies for power—it felt wrong.

But at the same time, he needed to grow stronger. If he didn't, he would miss one great opportunity to increase his Stamina.

Gritting his teeth, Raizel summoned the Snowy White Convergence Spear from his inventory.

Instantaneously, the weapon shimmered under the sunlight, its radiant glow almost too pure for the grim scene before him.

He took a deep breath and pointed the spear toward one of the bodies.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then, a faint wisp of energy flickered from the corpse, barely visible, before being absorbed into the spear.

Raizel frowned. The energy was weak—almost nonexistent.

He tried again with another body. The result was the same.

"So, it only works on beings with magic or high energy."

Disappointed, he lowered the spear. All those hesitation and anticipation for nothing.

Setting his experiment aside, Raizel resumed his grim task, dragging the bodies into the pit one by one. The weight of their loss pressed heavier on him than the work itself.

By the time he finished, he stood before the mass grave, breathing heavily, sweat mixing with the dirt on his skin.

There's one last dead body before him. It was village Chief's.

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