Night had fallen.
Emily and Lisa were sound asleep.
Alice and I were on the roof of the house. We'd gotten there using teleportation.
For the first time since we entered the slums, we stopped hiding our strength.
Thanks to that, no one would be able to sense our mana.
We moved at a speed no one in this place could hope to match.
We swept through the seven kilometers that made up the area controlled by the Iron Jackals.
There were, at most, about five thousand people living there.
At our pace, it only took us four minutes to find the mana of the person we were looking for.
We entered the house.
It wasn't much different from Lisa's.
The only major difference was the stench of shit that filled the place.
The man was sleeping soundly, lying in a filthy corner.
He snored like a pig.
Alice gave me a look.
I nodded in approval.
Without waiting, she grabbed him by the neck.
"Teleportation," she murmured.
Teleportation is a pretty useful skill, but it's not perfect.
The farther you go and the more people you bring, the more mana it costs.
It can only be used once per minute, so It is not feasible to use it continuously in combat
And you can only teleport to places within your field of view or ones you've been to and know .
That's why Alice and I had to scout out the right location ourselves.
We chose an old abandoned building, right next to the place where we cleared rubble that morning.
It was remote enough to stay out of sight.
In an instant, we were there.
Alice tightened her grip around Mason's neck, waking him.
"Ahgk!" he choked as he gasped for air.
A moment later, Alice hurled him against the wall.
It only took a few seconds for him to stagger to his feet.
"What the hell...?" he muttered, dazed.
He looked at us, frowned, and shouted angrily,
"You weaklings! What the hell do you think you're—"
He stopped.
His expression shifted instantly.
His eyes widened.
"This is impossible..." he whispered, his voice trembling.
He must've realized he couldn't sense our mana. Something only possible if we were stronger than him.
"Who... who the hell are you really?" he asked, fear turning to panic in a matter of seconds.
Alice and I smiled.
And for the first time, we dropped the illusion.
Our frail, filthy appearances vanished, revealing who we truly were.
There was no doubt we didn't belong in the slums.
He figured it out immediately.
"You… you're not from the slums. You're Evans! What the hell are you doing here?" he asked, voice shaking with dread.
His confusion seemed genuine.
He had no idea why we were here. That meant he knew nothing about the murder at the border.
Which could only mean Oscar acted alone… or told very few people… or the Iron Jackals weren't even involved.
"Why would I explain anything to a corpse?" Alice said with a mocking smile.
"Bitch!" Mason growled.
His hatred for the Evans was beginning to overcome his fear.
But I doubted that would last long...
Alice appeared in front of him faster than he could react.
She landed a blow to his stomach, reinforced with mana.
Mason coughed up blood and was sent flying into the wall.
Things were about to get serious.
"Spatial Isolation," I whispered.
In an instant, pale blue mana surrounded the entire building.
"Spatial Isolation" is a mid-tier skill.
It seals off a zone under a dense layer of mana, blocking all sound and presence.
Anyone below my level wouldn't be able to detect anything happening inside and nothing from within could escape.
It cost me 300 mana per hour to maintain.
"You've got one hour," I told Alice firmly.
She nodded and walked toward Mason.
Suddenly, a voice rang out.
"Fireball!"
A flaming sphere raced toward Alice.
She just smiled.
Raised her hand, reinforced it with mana, and caught the fireball with ease.
Within seconds, it vanished.
"Not worth wasting mana on something so pathetic," she said.
"M-Monster!" Mason stammered, terrified by the difference in power.
"Me, a monster? Hahahaha! What's the matter, Mason? Isn't it fun being the weak one now?" Alice laughed.
"What happened to your confidence, your contempt for us? Did you already forget we were just trash?"
"Or is it that you only feel brave in front of defenseless women? Yeah, that's more like it… that's why you never showed your filthy face while Lisa's husband was still alive. You're nothing but a cockroach… and you're about to be crushed," Alice sneered.
"Lisa...? Are you doing all this because of—"
He didn't finish.
Alice grabbed his face and slammed it into the ground with one hand.
When he tried to get up, she stepped on his head, dragging his face along the floor.
After a while, she let him lift his head.
Only to kick it like a ball.
His face was a bloody mess.
"Exactly, Mason. Scum like you deserves to rot in hell. But before I send you there… I'm going to make you suffer as much as I can," said Alice, her smile twisted with cruelty.
With what little strength he had left, Mason cried out.
"Flame Hounds!"
Three fire-made beasts lunged at Alice.
A low-tier fire skill, but a decent one.
Alice caught it immediately.
A small portal opened beside her.
She reached inside and pulled out a massive spear.
The shaft was black, adorned with gold filigree.
Its silver tip gleamed as if it could light up the entire night.
It radiated a divine aura.
Its name was Gungnir the primary weapon of Alice, inherited directly from her father, the paladin Oliver Evans.
With a single sweep, she obliterated the hounds before they could reach her.
Mason, terrified, tried to run.
Alice appeared right in front of him.
With an upward swing, she cut off his arm.
It flew several meters away.
Blood gushed in streams.
"AAAAHHH!" Mason screamed, his voice filled with agony.
Tears streamed down his face.
"Please… please forgive me! I'll never go near Lisa or Emily again!" he begged.
"Oh… I'm sorry. That's not going to happen. Didn't I tell you I'd make you suffer before sending you to hell?"
"I'm going to cut off all your limbs.
Don't worry, I'll make sure you don't bleed out too quickly."
"And when I say all… I mean all of them."
"Including that pathetic little thing you used to hurt Lisa."
"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
All that could be heard inside the Spatial Isolation were screams of agony.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alice kept her word.
Mason was dead.
He bled out after an entire hour.
Without limbs.
Including that.
Alice stayed crouched, watching the life fade from his eyes.
She waited until he stopped moving.
Until he stopped screaming.
Then, she spat on him.
She was about to use Combustion to burn the body.
But...
I felt it.
Something pierced through my Spatial Isolation.
I could feel someone standing right behind me.
I felt their strength.
My eyes snapped open.
No… this can't be…
I turned slowly.
That person...
Was Rank 3.
With strength similar to mine