Then he stepped forward.
The moment his foot touched the ground, the air bent around him.
Pressure erupted outward like a collapsing mountain.
Several soldiers collapsed instantly.
Their bodies twisted unnaturally as if crushed by invisible hands.
Some screamed.
Others could not even breathe.
The ground cracked beneath their feet.
Leon tightened his grip on his sword.
This man…
was no ordinary assassin.
Behind him, crimson light suddenly erupted from beneath his armor.
The Beast Mark awakened.
A storm of violent energy surged outward.
Flames of blood-red power ignited around his body.
And then—
a massive phantom beast emerged behind him.
A towering creature with horns like curved blades and eyes burning with fury.
The beast roared.
The entire village trembled.
Leon vanished.
One moment he stood twenty meters away.
The next—
he appeared directly in front of the stranger.
His sword came down like lightning.
The air screamed as the blade sliced toward its target.
But the stranger…
smiled.
Leon's instincts exploded with warning.
A veteran warrior who had survived countless battles, he immediately felt it.
Danger.
Death.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The stranger disappeared.
Leon's blade struck nothing but empty air.
Too fast.
Even for him.
Before Leon could react—
the stranger reappeared.
BOOM!
Their collision sent a violent shockwave across the village.
Roofs cracked.
Windows shattered.
Dust exploded into the air like a storm.
For the first time…
General Leon staggered backward.
The stranger stood calmly.
Completely unmoved.
"You… your Beast Mark is impressive," he said quietly.
His voice carried faint amusement.
"But incomplete."
Leon wiped blood from the corner of his mouth.
Fury burned in his eyes.
"Don't underestimate me!"
He roared as the phantom beast behind him unleashed another earth-shaking roar.
The ground beneath Leon's feet cracked apart.
Energy surged through his entire body.
This was the full power of a Zeroth Dominion Realm cultivator.
The air trembled with violent force.
Even the soldiers nearby were forced to retreat.
No ordinary warrior could survive this.
The stranger simply watched.
Calm.
Silent.
Almost bored.
Then—
a strange symbol flickered across his chest.
It appeared only for a moment.
Dark.
Ancient.
Unknown.
But the moment it appeared—
the world itself seemed to pause.
Leon saw it.
His eyes widened instantly.
"What… is that?"
The stranger did not answer.
He stepped forward.
And suddenly—
the distance between them vanished.
Leon swung his sword again.
Crimson energy exploded from the blade as it tore through the air.
But something felt wrong.
His movements felt slower.
Heavy.
Like he was trapped inside thick water.
The stranger's hand rose gently.
Then his palm pressed against Leon's chest.
Soft.
Almost casual.
And yet—
CRACK.
The Beast Mark shattered.
Like glass.
The crimson aura surrounding Leon collapsed instantly.
The phantom beast behind him let out a final roar before dissolving into fragments of fading light.
Leon's eyes widened in disbelief.
Impossible.
The next moment—
his body was launched across the village.
He crashed through a wooden house in an explosion of splintered wood and flying debris.
Dust filled the air.
Silence followed.
The stranger lowered his hand.
The strange mark on his chest faded, disappearing once more as if it had never existed.
"You chose the wrong opponent," he said calmly.
Across the battlefield, swords slipped from trembling hands.
Steel clattered against the ground.
The remaining soldiers stared in horror.
Their general…
the mighty General Leon…
had been defeated.
In a single exchange.
Horses screamed and pulled violently against their reins.
Smoke drifted slowly across the ruined village street.
And when the dust finally settled—
Leon lay buried beneath shattered beams and broken walls.
Unconscious.
Defeated.
The soldiers didn't dare move.
No one spoke.
Fear had frozen them completely.
The man standing before them was no longer just an assassin.
He was a monster.
Far away, hidden behind a wooden fence near the edge of the village…
Saltraf watched everything.
His small hands trembled.
His heart pounded violently in his chest.
He had seen General Leon's power.
He had seen the phantom beast.
He had seen the terrifying strength of the Zeroth Dominion Realm.
And yet…
the stranger who defeated him had barely moved.
A terrible realization slowly crept into the boy's mind.
The man who defeated General Leon…
had not even used his full strength.
Saltraf felt a chill run down his spine.
For the first time in his life…
he understood something about the world he lived in.
Power.
True power.
The kind that could decide life and death with a single motion.
And as the boy stared at the stranger standing silently in the center of the destroyed village…
he did not yet realize something terrifying.
The battle…
was already over.
But the true horror…
was only about to begin.