The sight triggered something primal in Satou. Memories of his own people being slaughtered, of finding goblin children dead in their caves, of the helplessness he'd felt before gaining the power to protect those who couldn't protect themselves.

His aura flared involuntarily, dark energy crackling around him like black lightning.

Then he heard it—a female voice screaming in terror and pain, coming from deeper in the killing field.

Satou didn't hesitate. [Shadow Step] activated instantly, reality blurring as he moved faster than the eye could track. One moment he was standing among the corpses, the next he materialized in a clearing thirty meters away.

Five figures stood in a rough circle around a young lizard-folk girl who couldn't have been more than sixteen or seventeen years old. But these weren't lizard-folk—these were serpent humanoids. Their bodies were covered in smooth scales that gleamed with an oily sheen, their faces elongated with fanged mouths and slit-pupil eyes. They moved with fluid grace, their lower bodies more serpentine than humanoid.

The girl was on the ground, bleeding from multiple wounds. Her scales were cracked and burned in places, evidence of prolonged torture. One of the serpent warriors had his clawed foot on her back, pressing her face into the dirt while another raised a curved blade, clearly savoring the moment before the killing blow.

They were laughing. Taking pleasure in her terror and pain.

Satou's vision went red.

He moved.

One of the serpent warriors—the one raising the blade for the killing strike—suddenly found his head separating from his shoulders before his brain could even process movement. Satou's hand, wreathed in dark energy, had passed through his neck like it was made of water.

[Void Fang] activated, the existence-erasing properties of the skill consuming the separated head before it could even hit the ground. No blood spray. No dramatic death. Just... cessation.

The headless body stood for a moment, then crumpled.

The remaining four serpent warriors froze in shock, their minds struggling to process what had just happened. Their companion had been standing there one second, ready to deliver the fatal blow. The next second, a demon they'd never seen before was standing in his place, and their fellow warrior was dead.

It took them three full seconds to react—three seconds in which Satou had already assessed, categorized, and decided their fates.

"W-what—" one of them began.

Satou's response was immediate and brutal. [Aura Burst] erupted from his body in a concentrated wave, the dark energy washing over all four remaining serpent warriors simultaneously. But this wasn't the indiscriminate destruction he'd used in past battles. This was controlled, refined, surgical.

The aura penetrated their bodies, invading their meridians and magical channels, corrupting their life force at the fundamental level. They screamed—horrible, gurgling sounds as their own energy turned against them from the inside.

But Satou wasn't satisfied with just killing them. These bastards had been torturing a helpless girl, had been part of the slaughter of innocents scattered across this field. They deserved to understand the terror they'd inflicted.

He activated [Nightmare Sight], extending his consciousness into their minds just enough to see their immediate fears, their desperate thoughts, their realization that death was coming and there was nothing they could do to stop it.

Good. Let them feel that helplessness.

[Devour] activated as the four serpent warriors collapsed, their life forces being drawn into Satou's body even as they died. He felt their essence, their skills, their accumulated power flowing into him.

<System Notification> New Skills Acquired: - [Serpent's Flexibility] - Grants enhanced bodily flexibility and joint mobility [Scale Armor] (Enhanced) - Natural armored scales, increased defensive properties - [Heat Sensing] - Ability to detect heat signatures through visual spectrum - [Constriction Mastery] - Enhanced grappling and crushing techniques

The skills integrated immediately, Satou's demonic nature allowing him to absorb and adapt abilities far faster than normal beings. He felt the knowledge settle into his mind—how to generate and control various poisons, how to sense heat patterns in his environment, techniques for grappling and immobilizing opponents.

The entire fight, from his arrival to the deaths of all five serpent warriors, had taken less than ten seconds.

Satou immediately turned to the lizard-folk girl, dropping to one knee beside her. She was unconscious, her breathing shallow and ragged. Multiple deep wounds covered her body, and several of her scales were cracked or burned. But she was alive.

"Kelvin! Grimnir!" Satou called out, knowing they'd catch up any moment.

Sure enough, both goblins burst into the clearing seconds later, their weapons drawn and ready. They took in the scene with experienced eyes—the five dead serpent warriors, the injured girl, the carnage spread across the surrounding area.

"Brother, what happened here?" Kelvin asked, though the answer was fairly obvious.

"Massacre," Satou said grimly, his hands already glowing with energy as he examined the girl's wounds. "The lizard-folk here were slaughtered by these serpent bastards. This girl is the only survivor I've found so far." He looked up at his companions. "Do either of you have healing potions?"

"I've got three," Kelvin said immediately, pulling small vials from his belt pouch. "High-grade ones from the settlement's alchemist."\

"Good. Bring them here."

Kelvin quickly moved to Satou's side, kneeling on the opposite side of the unconscious girl. Together, they carefully administered the healing potion, tilting her head back and letting the red liquid flow down her throat. The potion's magic activated immediately, visible as a soft golden glow that spread from her throat throughout her body.

The worst of her wounds began closing, cracked scales regenerating, burns fading to pink new skin underneath. Her breathing steadied, becoming deeper and more regular. After a few moments, her eyes fluttered open.

Then she saw Grimnir standing over her.

The massive, seven-foot-tall hobgoblin with bulging muscles, scars covering his body, and an intimidating presence that screamed "dangerous warrior" was looming directly in her line of sight.

"AHHHHH! DON'T HURT ME!" she screamed, trying to scramble backward despite her injuries.

Kelvin burst out laughing, unable to help himself. "See? Told you! I keep saying you look like a bad guy with that body and those scars! You're gonna give people heart attacks just by standing near them!"

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