Chapter 61: New Target

Chapter 61

Meanwhile, near the outer edge of the village, the battle had thinned out.

A scavenger stumbled. His blade slipped from his hand and struck the ground with a dull clang.

He reacted instantly, reaching for it.

Then it hit him.

A sudden, all-consuming dread.

It froze his body solid. His muscles locked. His breath caught in his throat as his body started to fall losing balance.

Before he could even understand what was happening, his sword pierced straight through his neck and burst out the other side.

He died without a sound.

Twelve down. More to go.

Rayden looked away from the falling body, his face calm.

Honestly, he would have preferred to fight properly. To cut loose.

But there were reasons he could not.

The first was simple. If he used the battle art he created from the ten skills Hell granted him, the strain would be unbearable.

Even with Soul Conduit active, he was not confident he could stay conscious. Fainting in the middle of a battlefield was the fastest way to die, and dying was the last thing on Rayden’s mind right now.

The second reason mattered even more.

If he unleashed himself fully, his parents would be caught in the crossfire. And worse, his secret would be exposed to them.

No. He could not risk that.

So for now, he would keep killing like this. Quiet. Precise. Invisible.

Unbeknownst to Rayden, a gaze had been locked onto him for a while now.

Poto.

Poto’s expression was calm, but beneath it was tension. He had been watching that child for far too long. Waiting. Hoping the boy would do something strange. Anything.

But nothing happened.

The kid did not move. Did not fight. Did not run.

He just stood there, staring at the carnage and destruction around him as if he were a happy child watching his favorite show.

Why can’t I shake this feeling?

Poto frowned slightly as the qi in his awakening sphere began to churn.

Why do I feel danger from him?

He was just a baby, for crying out loud.

Then, some distance away from where Rayden stood, a scavenger was suddenly crushed into minced meat by a falling boulder.

Poto’s eyes narrowed.

A thought crept into his mind.

Could it be him? Could he be the one killing my men?

The idea was ridiculous.

He dismissed it instantly.

How could a baby do something like that? Impossible. He could not sense even a trace of energy from the child. That meant he was not a cultivator, which made perfect sense.

He was just a baby.

Then Poto’s eyes shifted.

The child was staring straight at him.

Not past him. Not around him.

At him.

As if looking into his soul.

Poto blinked.

When he opened his eyes again, the baby was looking back at the village, his gaze no longer on him.

Poto let out a silent chuckle.

I must be overthinking things.

He was more than fifty meters away. There was no way the child could have seen him.

Yes. He was imagining it.

Meanwhile, Rayden smiled to himself.

Another name had been added to the very first list he ever created.

Kill list.

Poto.

A new message appeared on his screen.

New enemy detected.

Kill the enemy to receive special reward and offer.

Rayden raised an eyebrow.

Then his smile deepened.

He had already been planning to kill the man named Poto. How he knew his name, he could not explain. When he looked at him earlier, it was as if the information simply appeared before his eyes.

Alright. Same treatment.

I’m tightening the screws, not changing the engine. This stays violent, emotional, and character-first. No em dashes. No sterilizing. Just sharper edges and clearer motion.

Here it is.

He had planned to kill him later.

Maybe after the battle was over. Maybe when the man least expected it.

But plans change.

He was killing him today. Very soon, in fact.

Poto, get ready to die, Rayden said internally.

——–

Meanwhile, deeper within the city, Selene finally stepped into the battle Callack had been holding alone.

It had taken her time to comprehend Sisco’s death.

It happened too fast. Too brutally. One moment the man was alive, the next his head was gone. Her mind had frozen, refusing to process it.

But that was not the real reason she had hesitated.

She felt pain for Sisco. Real pain.

She had only known the man for a few days, yet his grief cut deeper than she expected. He had lost his daughter. The thought alone made her chest ache.

What would she do if she ever lost Rayden?

No. The idea was unbearable.

That would never happen.

She understood Sisco’s pain because she could imagine it too clearly. He was a grieving father, drowning in agony, and that bastard had sliced his head off like it meant nothing.

And now her husband stood bloodied because of it.

Callack rose to his feet. Gashes covered his body, blood still dripping to the ground, but he remained steady.

“I can still fight,” he said.

Then his eyes hardened as he looked at Ricu.

“Be careful of that weird skill of his.”

Selene nodded.

Together, they rushed forward, their movements perfectly synchronized.

They zigzagged around Ricu, attacking from different angles. Whip and sword struck in rapid succession, fast and vicious.

But Ricu was no amateur.

His Sickles moved instantly, stopping both attacks dead in their tracks.

He tried to seize control of the exchange.

That was his mistake.

Selene’s whip slipped free from the hold of his Sickle and lashed forward again, not toward Ricu this time, but toward Callack’s small sword.

She caught it.

Then, with explosive speed, she yanked it free and slashed toward Ricu’s face.

He barely dodged.

At the same moment, Callack seized his second blade and struck low, aiming straight for Ricu’s lower body.

Ricu’s head spun.

That lunatic actually aimed there.

He twisted aside just in time.

Too late.

Selene’s whip cracked across his face, lifting him off the ground and hurling him straight into a nearby building. Wood splintered. Walls collapsed.

“You thought this would be easy?” Callack said coldly as Ricu disappeared into the rubble. “This isn’t one opponent anymore. You’re facing two.”

Confidence filled his voice.

Ricu did not respond.

He rose slowly from the broken wood, stretching one hand to the side as if loosening up.

Then he smiled.

“Really?” he said calmly. “Let’s see if that’s true.”

His eyes sharpened.

“Let’s see if you can still stand once I stop holding back.”

And then he vanished.

To be continued.

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