"You—what have you done? Do you know those men were from the Brotherhood?" James stammered, shaking.
"Who cares?" Ethan said, ignoring him. "They weren't strong, and they dared trouble Miss Gloria." If this had been his last life, Ethan might've hesitated. Not now. Now it was payback time.
"You won't get away with this. Corrie's coming—he'll have your head!" James straightened his back, trying to look brave.
"If he comes, I'll just kill him and feed his head to the shadow wraiths," Ethan replied as he moved to untie Gloria.
Freddy watched, stunned. Ethan's changed. Two weeks ago this kid couldn't even kill a goblin—how did he get so hard? Freddy thought, looking at him like he'd glimpsed the devil.
James tried a sneak attack, summoning writhing green vines from the floor to bind Ethan. Ethan stayed calm. Crack—he snapped the vines like twine, surged forward with impossible speed, and before James could blink two of his arms were gone.
All James could see were Ethan's sharp blue eyes boring into him.
[You have activated Devil Slaughterer. Fear has been instilled in the target — all stats reduced by 10.]
A wave of weakness rolled through James; he couldn't move or scream. Ethan shrugged. "Ah—there, no more trouble," he said casually.
Gloria sneered. "What did you just say? You scared that poor boy shitless."
"Just kill me already, asshole," James rasped, finding a burst of strength.
"Who said anything about killing?" Ethan chuckled. "You've got about fifteen minutes left. Make good use of it."
"Are you all right, Miss Gloria?" Ethan asked, offering a hand as he helped her up.
"I'm fine. Thank you," she answered.
"You caused me some trouble today, made my job harder," Ethan said quietly, pressing the point. "So, 500k Ace Coins extra. And remember our deal."
"There's no need. Take the money and consider my debt paid," Gloria began.
"Nope. This is spoil of war. Anything my slaughtered enemies had is mine," Ethan said, pressing the blade against James's throat.
"Forget it. I don't need you," Gloria snapped, irritated by his greed.
"All right, fine — I'll take it, this once," Ethan said. He'd been testing the waters: maybe the rich girl would pay three million for saving her life. He had underestimated her.
"And I want Corrie's head too. And I'll cover your secret about the Brotherhood men," she added. Ethan nodded. After searching the corpses and gathering the loot, he found 101 million Ace Coins. He didn't touch their armor or weapons—selling those would draw Brotherhood attention.
Today got a whole lot better, Ethan thought, smiling.
"Fifteen minutes. Any last words?" Gloria asked, eyes cold.
James spat blood and hatred. "Fuck you. I'll rape you when you rot in hell."
Gloria gave Ethan a small nod. Two seconds later James's head tumbled from his shoulders. Freddy stared, shock frozen across his face. Ethan had beheaded him with calm, surgical efficiency.
[You have slaughtered the awakened James. +20 EXP, +2 Mana Essence.]
The system chimed sweetly in Ethan's ear.
"Alright, move. Corrie's coming—I can scent him," Ethan said.
"You said you weren't awakened," Gloria said, puzzled.
"Did you see me use powers? I only used strength," Ethan replied dryly.
"Why don't we wait for Corrie here? We killed the boss; no need to hang around," Freddy suggested.
"True," Gloria agreed. "There are five tanks with Corrie, and Corrie himself has mutant armor and a mutant weapon. Even if I handle him, how are you going to handle the tanks?" Ethan asked.
"True," Freddy echoed.
"Don't worry. I can handle two," Gloria said, surprising Ethan.
"How?" he asked.
"Everyone's got their secrets," Gloria chuckled, and the three fell silent, listening for the rumble of approaching footsteps.