In Orario—indeed, throughout the entire world—there are only wrong given names, never wrong nicknames.
Among the three remaining members of the Rudra Familia, Black Hawk specialized in reconnaissance, while River Fiend excelled in underwater combat.
Night Wraith was the strongest among them in terms of status. He had once, under the cover of night, killed two Lv.2 members of the Ganesha Familia who were hunting him down.
That single battle made him infamous, and also earned him the undying hatred of the Ganesha Familia. Now, he had been killed instantly by Roy.
The Muramasa Sword pierced straight through his heart, blood soaking his clothes. Night Wraith stared at Roy in disbelief before collapsing to the ground with a dull thud.
Roy did not linger for even a moment. The instant Night Wraith fell, he shifted his target to River Fiend, yanking out the Muramasa Sword and slashing at him.
A sharp arc of sword light streaked toward River Fiend's neck.
River Fiend was utterly horrified, but as a specialist in underwater combat, his body possessed exceptional flexibility. He twisted himself forcibly, narrowly avoiding the fatal point.
"AAAAAAAH—!"
A scream tore from his throat as he stumbled backward. A bloody chunk of flesh flew through the air—the blade had still sliced off one of his ears.
"Damn brat!"
From the moment Night Wraith was killed to the instant River Fiend lost his ear, less than a second had passed. Only now did Black Hawk finally react. He let out a roar and charged forward, smashing into Roy with a full-on shoulder check.
Their bodies collided head-on.
To everyone's shock, Roy—far smaller in build than Black Hawk—did not budge an inch. It was as if his feet had taken root in the ground, standing firm like an unmovable mountain.
"This isn't right!"
Black Hawk's face changed drastically. In an instant, he realized that Roy's status values far surpassed his own. The smile on Roy's face looked, to him, like the smile of death itself.
Black Hawk hastily retreated, trying to flee.
Roy activated his magic. Golden lightning surged from his palm, crackling violently, laced with a faint crimson current and overflowing killing intent.
The special effect of the Gale Boots had not yet worn off. With a single step, Roy closed the distance effortlessly and slammed a ball of lightning into Black Hawk's back.
BOOM!
Black Hawk let out a hysterical scream as his entire body smashed face-first into the ground.
Roy did not hesitate. He followed up immediately, swinging the Muramasa Sword and cleanly severing Black Hawk's head with a cold flash of steel.
While Roy was dealing with Black Hawk, the man known as River Fiend had already fled in panic, scrambling toward the back of the mountain without a thought for anything else.
That was the dark faction for you—never fighting a losing battle. The moment things looked bad, they ran.
That was precisely why Roy had infiltrated the camp in the first place. If he had killed even one of them openly, the other two would have fled at once.
If the two had worked together, being Lv.2 adventurers, they might have been able to hold out a bit longer against Roy. But they chose to run, and the result was being picked off one by one.
And with no suspense—each kill was instantaneous.
The sudden upheaval on the platform shocked everyone below, especially the bandits. In the blink of an eye, two of their leaders were dead, reduced to cold corpses.
Only two choices lay before them: fight Roy to the death, or run.
And their choice, unsurprisingly, was to run.
Roy intended to pursue River Fiend and had no time to deal with such small fry—but that didn't mean he had no solution.
"Come out."
Roy's voice was low and commanding, like that of a supreme monarch issuing an order to his subjects.
Thanks to his Elf King bloodline, Roy's Magic stat as a Lv.2 had risen to S-rank. He finally had enough mana to attempt the combat method he had been envisioning for a long time.
Crackle! Crackle! Crackle!
As Roy's words fell, brilliant golden lightning burst from his body and spread rapidly across the ground. Within a radius of twenty to thirty meters, the area transformed into his personal domain of lightning.
Within this sea of thunder, more than a dozen massive wolves emerged—each as large as a lion or tiger. Lightning crackled across their bodies, feral light gleaming in their eyes as they bared their fangs.
They were monsters equivalent to Lv.1 with all stats at A-rank.
"Kill them," Roy said coldly.
Under his command, the pack of ferocious wolves pounced on the bandits. Their speed was lightning-fast, and they had no fear of death.
Even Lv.1 remnants of the Rudra Familia would be instantly killed by these wolves, their throats torn out—let alone ordinary people without any Blessing.
Confident in the thunder wolves he had summoned, Roy set off to pursue River Fiend.
Inside the camp, a one-sided massacre unfolded.
More than a hundred bandits stood no chance against the assault of the wolves. They were torn apart, crushed beneath fangs and claws. Some were even ripped to pieces by multiple wolves, experiencing the most brutal despair and terror imaginable before death.
The bandits' faces were deathly pale as they struggled just to survive. Naturally, they had no attention left for the people they had kidnapped.
The captives stood frozen, staring blankly at the scene before them. To their surprise, the thunder wolves showed no intent to harm them at all, passing right by their sides and charging straight at the criminals.
"Yes!!"
Someone shouted, as if it were a signal. Emotions erupted among the crowd, releasing days of pent-up anguish, until many of them broke down in tears.
The psychological trauma of witnessing people burned alive was self-evident.
Many among them had lost family members or friends to the bandits. Now, seeing those same brutal criminals annihilated by the wolves filled them with a fierce sense of catharsis.
After venting their emotions, their attention returned to what they had witnessed earlier—the two Lv.2 remnants of the Rudra Familia had been instantly killed by that young man.
"Who was that?"
"At least a Lv.4 adventurer, right?"
They discussed Roy in shock.
An adventurer who had spent years in Orario recognized him and scoffed. "No. He's Lv.2."
A middle-aged man gaped in disbelief. "Are Lv.2 adventurers in Orario really that strong?"
"Are you kidding? That's the 'Sprout of Justice' from the Astraea Familia!"
Aside from these traveling merchants, adventurers who had been in Orario half a month earlier—and had personally witnessed Roy defeat Hyakinthos—wore strange expressions.
A fifteen- or sixteen-year-old black-haired boy, capable of instantly killing Lv.2 adventurers, wielding golden lightning magic—features that distinctive could belong to no one else but Roy, the Sprout of Justice.
At those words, everyone's hearts shook. They were all extremely familiar with that name. Over the past half month, it had been discussed everywhere, spreading far and wide.
The fastest-leveling adventurer in history—his fame rivaled even that of Lv.5 and Lv.6 adventurers.
"Eina, we're saved!" Misha exclaimed joyfully, hugging Eina and jumping up and down.
A relieved smile appeared on Eina's pretty face as well. The joy of surviving against all odds flooded her heart.
Seven or eight minutes later, Roy returned to the camp.
The Muramasa Sword in his hand was still stained with blood that had yet to cool, faint heat rising from it. There was no doubt about it—the last remaining Lv.2 remnant of the Rudra Familia, River Fiend, had already died by his blade.
"It's over now."