"Don't come any closer!"
In the narrow alleyway between two apartment buildings, a young woman who had just finished her shift leaned against the wall, exhaustion and terror evident on her face. Approaching her was a man with glowing red eyes, saliva dripping continuously from the corners of his mouth.
"Heh heh, human, you could try to run. It might make my meal just a bit more exciting," the ghoul sneered, his voice as mocking as a street thug's, delighted to have this lone human trapped in the dark alley.
"Ah—" The woman screamed as she saw him advancing, a creature with three sinister tails flicking behind him. She couldn't contain her terror any longer.
"Stop wasting your energy," the ghoul growled, annoyed, digging a finger into his ear to block out her scream. "This alley is my hunting ground; no sound gets out of here."
"Please, spare me!" Tears streamed down the woman's face, her body trembling uncontrollably as the shadow of death loomed over her.
"Heh, you humans are so pathetic!" The ghoul sneered, his face twisted in cruel satisfaction as he noticed a puddle forming beneath her. "Faced with death, your cowardice is fully exposed. And yet, you're the ones who dominate this world."
"Mr. Ghoul, don't you think it's a bit hypocritical to say that from your position of 'absolute power'?" came a lazy, mocking voice.
The ghoul's head snapped up, and he saw a figure in white leap down from a nearby rooftop. As the figure descended, streaks of light shot out, attaching themselves to his body, forming a streamlined armor upon landing.
Thud!
"Star Armor!" The ghoul's expression darkened at the sight of the white-armored figure rising from one knee in front of his prey.
"A Star Armor Warrior!" The woman's face lit up with joy, the fear dissipating as she saw the dramatic entrance of the armored figure. She let out a relieved gasp.
Hearing the back-to-back exclamations of horror and joy, the Star Armor Warrior felt a sense of satisfaction at his orchestrated entrance.
"Mr. Ghoul, you say humans show cowardice before death, yet aren't you ghouls the same? I've seen plenty of you begging for mercy on your knees!"
"You…"
Whoosh!
Just as the ghoul tried to respond, a purple beam suddenly pierced his skull from afar.
Pop!
The ghoul's head exploded like a watermelon, scattering flesh and bone as his body staggered, then crumpled lifelessly to the ground.
"…" The Star Armor Warrior stood there in shock, watching the purple beam's residual trail fade into the night sky. He was left speechless, a wave of frustration washing over him—he had barely begun to flaunt his skills!
…
"Serves you right! Now you're left looking neither here nor there," Muria laughed, his expression gleeful, as he lowered his sight from the scope of his Violet Night sniper rifle on top of a skyscraper over a thousand meters away from the alley.
Muria had watched the whole scene through his scope, including the Star Armor Warrior's flashy entrance. He had waited, giving the warrior a moment to show off, before decisively pulling the trigger to eliminate the ghoul mid-act.
"Time to go!"
Having snatched the kill, Muria packed up his rifle, leaping off the building and vanishing quickly from the scene. He wasn't eager to cross paths with the secret organization responsible for cleaning up these urban monsters just yet.
Barely five minutes after Muria disappeared, a group of people in white coats arrived at the sniper's previous position, examining the area with frustration.
"What is wrong with this guy? Every single time, he deliberately interrupts us!" a young man muttered bitterly, picking up a spent cartridge from the ground.
The young warrior had put a lot of effort into staging this scene. It wasn't just finding a ghoul's hunting ground, but arranging for his Star Armor to be placed in the right spot, then timing his leap to activate his armor right before landing.
Each time he showed off his skills against a monster, it cost him both time and preparation. But this time, his target had been killed by a sniper shot mid-introduction, leaving him as frustrated as being told by his girlfriend that her relatives just showed up unannounced.
"There's nothing you can do. If you have an issue with it, you can always go have a talk with the young master."
"If you're all willing to back me up, I'll go talk to him," the young man responded.
"It's you who's upset, so go solo; there's no way we'd all gang up on him."
"You cowards! You're all just afraid of his status. What's there to fear?"
"Well, if you're not afraid, why don't you go duel him?"
"I can't win," the young man admitted unabashedly, "He's got the Heron Phoenix armor—mine doesn't hold a candle to it."
"Pathetic!"
"It's called self-awareness. There's no point challenging him just to get beaten up."
…
"Snatching kills from rookies again?" In a sophisticated tearoom, a blonde woman lounged on a sofa, giving Muria a teasing look as he walked in.
"You're the one feeding me the intel—don't you know what's going on?" Muria glanced at the Golden Dragon Lady. So far, the intel on hidden monsters in human cities had come from her.
Her information came from a secret organization database in Dwaryal that tracked these creatures, causing Muria's path to cross with this city's covert cleanup team regularly.
"Haha, just checking!" she replied with a laugh.
"Where's my father?" Muria asked, looking for his Titan father, who had recently arrived in the city and acquired a substantial martial arts library from him.
"Still developing new techniques," she said with a touch of exasperation. Ansor was determined to create a flawless martial arts manual without any imperfections.
In Ansor's eyes, every martial arts manual he encountered was full of flaws, a fact he found intolerable.
"That's pretty great, actually." Muria smiled, knowing his father was a perfectionist.
Naturally, Muria was, too, but he tended to be lazier about it. If not for his father, he would be perfecting his own techniques. But now, with his father working tirelessly, he could relax a little.
"Of course, it's great for you; you get to enjoy the fruits of his labor."
"And so do you," Muria retorted.
The Golden Dragon Lady laughed. Though her innate talent for controlling the stars was high, she had no intention of giving up on martial arts, as it allowed more freedom compared to being a Star Armor Warrior.
For example, Ansor could survive in the wilderness for five years, but a Star Armor Warrior under the same conditions would be as good as dead. Star Armor required regular maintenance, and without it, a Star Armor Warrior's combat effectiveness would decline, eventually leaving them easy prey.
…
"He's in that restaurant again. No idea what he does in there," a tall, slender man said, putting down his binoculars.
"It doesn't matter what he's doing. We're here to ensure his safety; that's probably one of the safest places in the city," replied a burly man, his expression tinged with apprehension.
"So let's not meddle."
"Yeah, Owl, stop watching. If you bring that 'monster' back here again, any pain he inflicts on me, I'll return double to you."
Everyone in the room fell silent, recalling the incident when they first followed the young master into that restaurant. They remembered the black-robed man inside, exuding an aura as powerful as a primeval lord.
"Is that man even human?" a dark-faced burly man muttered, clutching his chest, still haunted by the memory of the terrifying battle that ensued.
"Probably."
…
"Young master Zellos, the family has acknowledged your talent for martial arts, but they have yet to see your combat prowess."
"So?" asked Muria, now back at his residence, looking at Pais, the family butler who had contacted him.
"The family has decided to assign you an assessment task. If you complete it, they will increase the resources they allocate to you. But even if you fail, your current allocation won't be affected."
"And the task?"
"Using close-combat weapons from your Star Armor, eliminate a gathering point of monsters in your city."
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