Chapter 3: You Failed My Basic Test
Through his cheat ability, aside from daily cultivation, fighting enemies could also enhance his power.
Because of this, Renga didn't reject unexpected incidents. On the contrary, if something happened, he was happy to get involved.
Even though countless thoughts had flashed through his mind, less than three seconds had passed in reality.
Seeing Renga standing motionless in place, the woman thought he had been boasting earlier and was now scared stiff upon realizing she wasn't afraid of him.
Since her prey couldn't escape, she wasn't in any hurry.
Instead, she was contemplating where would be the best place to start eating.
Her tongue swirled around her mouth.
Taking in the handsome face and physique of the man before her.
Should she... have some fun first before eating him?
That did seem like a good ide...
Swoosh!
A faint glimmer pierced the darkness as a longsword emitting a soft fluorescence materialized in the man's hand.
The glow wasn't bright, but it stood out starkly in the pitch-black environment.
Half the blade remained exposed, yet it seemed enveloped by an invisible barrier that repelled the rain.
The woman sensed an extraordinary aura emanating from that sword.
Or rather, any normally thinking human would start imagining things upon seeing a sword appear out of thin air.
"Who are you?"
Unable to comprehend the current situation, the female ghoul began to panic internally.
What in the world was happening?!
But Renga clearly had no intention of answering her question.
He held no mercy for man-eating monsters. His earlier act of kindly supporting her had merely been a test.
Unfortunately, the woman had failed the test, and now she would face only death.
Seeing Renga remain silent, the female ghoul's eyes darted around before she launched a surprise attack.
Tentacle-like kagune shot out from her back, elongating rapidly like venomous stingers.
With hardness comparable to steel, these kagune could easily pierce through thin metal plates.
Yet Renga sidestepped with effortless ease, not even needing to shift his feet, his left hand still holding the umbrella undisturbed.
Had this been Renga when he first crossed over, he would undoubtedly have been impaled through and through.
But after months of training at the mage association and subsequent successful completion, followed by continuously hunting curses, ghouls, and other monsters in this world, his abilities were far beyond what they once were.
The ghoul's attack moved like slow motion to his eyes, so sluggish even an old granny could dodge it.
What's going on?!
The man had dodged her ambush without even moving, something the woman never anticipated.
Renga didn't speak but instead stepped forward. Without waiting for her next attack, he cleanly severed both her hands with his sword.
"Ahhhh!"
Screaming in agony, the woman howled in pain, staring at the man ahead with terrified expression.
Damn it!
What was happening? She was supposed to be the hunter, humans were merely her prey, she never expected to encounter such a terrifying human.
An exorcist concealing his aura? Or something else entirely?
Regardless, the female ghoul now only thought of escape.
With this in mind, her back kagune automatically propped against the ground before springing violently, launching her like a grasshopper seven or eight meters high onto a nearby rooftop. Then she bounced again, frantically fleeing into the distance.
She didn't care what happened behind her, whether anyone was following, she only knew she needed to get away from this place immediately.
Finally, after running roughly four or five kilometers to a wooded area far into the suburbs, the pale-faced ghoul looked back. No pursuer in sight, she'd probably shaken him off.
Then she collapsed to the ground as if all strength had left her. Her arms had stopped bleeding, but even with a ghoul's regenerative abilities, they wouldn't recover anytime soon.
Moreover, she desperately needed energy now, otherwise regeneration was impossible.
"That damned man! Damn it! Damn it!"
Besides her fear of Renga, all she felt now was hatred.
If not for that man, she could have feasted on any random person she found on the streets.
Not only had she failed to eat a human, but she had also lost both her hands in the process.
"You run quite fast, but can you really escape?"
A voice drifted over eerily.
Hearing this, the female Ghoul turned her head and saw Renga, who had somehow appeared behind her, strolling toward her as casually as if he were in a garden.
Moonlight cast dappled shadows through the trees, the darkness shifting continuously with the man's movements.
At this sight, the woman was scared out of her wits.
But just as she was about to flee again, her vision suddenly soared uncontrollably high, then tumbled over and over, and she saw a bleeding body.
What is this?
Only in her final moment did she realize—it was her own body.
Her head rolled to the edge of a pool.
Renga looked at the dead woman with disgust, her eyes still wide open.
In fact, the Ghouls in this world were different from the original version. Due to the fusion of various elements, Ghouls had long been able to eat ordinary food just like normal people. However, there were still some outliers who were not satisfied with the status quo and sought the thrill of eating humans.
And such outliers, in his eyes, deserved to be completely eradicated.
Renga silently raised his head, casually swung his sword to sever the woman's kagune, and crushed the kakuhou inside. The body, which had been twitching, immediately grew still.