Chapter 17: Trash Chapter 17: Trash Norn, who watched all of this from back, had his mouth and eyes wide open. He even momentarily forgot the seeping blood from his mouth and the excruciating pain in his chest. "W–what the hell? How is he this strong?! Did Zolton lie to us? I am sure he must have a high-ranking Soul! And that beast—where the hell did it come from?! It matches the cat’s description but... its power—!" He stumbled back. "S–shit—I might actually die here!" Juan’s screams cut off abruptly as Shyra’s fangs tore through his throat in one clean motion. "Th-this beast... it killed Juan!!" Norn gasped, staggering to his feet as he tried getting up. "I-I need to run!" Meanwhile, Lans—bloodied, half-dazed—saw Leo’s shadow approaching. His eyes widened in panic. Just moments ago, Juan had been alive... and then the black beast ripped him apart. Now, it was his turn. Lans tried to move his body, but due to severe concussions and fractures on his head and spine, it was not possible "W-wait... Leo, no--sir Leo, I was just follo--!" Lans’ voice was cut off as Leo kicked him in his gut, knocking him cold. Leo had grown numb to seeing blood when he was on the battlefield. He saw several of his friends die in cold blood, and he himself killed many from the enemy side. He was already used to blood on his hands. So, the bloodshed he was making now was not affecting him in the slightest; rather, it gave him satisfaction for avenging his body’s previous owner, which was evident by the subtle curve of his lips. The previous owner died horribly at their hands, though it didn’t look much from the outside, Leo’s body was injured to a great degree from within, even if it wasn’t much for ’Leonel Draven’, but for a regular, average man, these injuries were death sentences. They clearly had taken their time to torture ’Leo’ and enjoy themselves. Norn watched all of Leo’s actions with horrified and trembling eyes, his thoughts a mess. "I-is this really the same guy we tortured previously, f-fuck, I shouldn’t have agreed to kill someone for money..." he muttered under his breath, half in regret and half in fear. "I should have known something was wrong when he was alive even after I made sure he was dead, who knew he was such a monster. But that bastard baron son, Zolton Milti, he got me good right when I was in debt and then threw an offer of 20 Bronze coins... who could refuse in such a situation, when he even said he would cover for us for only a supposed killing of a commoner. Damn, I need to figure out some way to get out of this..." Norn said this as he tried thinking of ways to come out of this situation. "Y-you really think you can get away with killing us?" Norn stammered. "We are working under Zolton Milti, the Baron’s son, and now that he has even awakened, he will definitely figure out who killed us and will come after your ass," Norn gulped down as he tried thinking harder. Leo was just looking at him menacingly, with his Beast already out of sight and able to attack from anywhere. "B-but, if you let me live... I swear—I won’t say anything! I’ll tell them these two died fighting each other! I’ll—" Leo just sighed. "You are right, he will come after me..." Norn eyes lit up with faint hope. "So, do you–" "But didn’t you say," Leo interrupted, his tone turning sharp, "that no one recognises a man who’s missing his head?" The grin that followed was enough to drain the colour from Norn’s face. Leo’s foot came down—hard. Crunch. Lans’ skull gave way under the blow, spraying red across the dirt. "Y-you’re a madman!" Norn screamed. "Please—spare me! I have a wife! Kids! They need me!" But Leo wasn’t taking any of that. "Are you suggesting I should spare someone who came to kill me for coin and pity their family who I don’t even know exist? Forget stranger, if the person trying to kill me is a close relative, I will kill him without hesitation." Leo scoffed, and the next moment, Shyra appeared and slashed Norn’s tendons. Norn, who was struggling to even stand, fell on his butt as Leo bent to pick Lans sword up. "Tsk. These swords seem even lower than that of white quality." Leo examined the blade as he stepped toward Juan’s corpse. He made a few slashes to disguise Shyra’s handiwork, then proceeded to drive the sword into Juan’s chest, followed by crushing his skull. He did the same with Lans’ body with Norn’s sword and threw the sword beside his corpse. Norn watched all this helplessly, dread filling his eyes with each moment passing by. When he saw Leo approaching him like a grim reaper, he scrambled and bowed, breaking down completely. "I--I will do anything please." Leo stopped in front of him. "I would have loved to torture you, but the story that I am trying to frame would get foiled, so consider yourself lucky for a quick death." With that, Leo’s fist shot forward into Norn’s head, splattering brain matter as any Norn’s body fell back. "Fhew, dealt with the trash, now for the gains..." Ding! Killed Hunter Juan - 467 credits - 47xp Killed Hunter Lans - 498 credits - 50xp Killed Hunter Norn - 531 credits - 53xp Level Up! Level 4 - 67/220 +4 unassigned stat points. He didn’t forget to loot them thoroughly, but was very disappointed when he saw the amount. "Tsk. Only 32 Bronze coins from all three, poor assholes," Leo said bitterly. For the trouble he went through, it was very less! "Well, at least I level up." He quickly shifted their bodies to a different position, once again making sure their faces were unrecognisable, all according to his plan. His plan was simple: make it so it seemed that they died fighting each other, and when the last one was alive, barely, someone did a third party and killed the last member, making their faces unrecognisable and looting their money. "Good, everything done!" Leo said as he gently stroked Shyra’s fur as she found her way over his shoulders, purring softly and nuzzling at his neck. [Chain Bond - 85% -> 87%]