Ryan moved with terrifying fighting prowess that felt like it ca from nowhere. His spear whirled and struck with terrifying precision, thrusts and sweeps flowing together without pause. His every movent looked natural, refined, and lethal.
It wasn’t just the automatic mastery granted by a magical weapon—the kind of knowledge engraved into muscles and nerves through Ether after the wielder got those weapons.
This was different. Magical weapons from unknown realms could imprint techniques into a wielder’s body, allowing even amateurs to fight like veterans. That was why such weapons were rare and priceless. But what Ryan showed them now went far beyond that artificial expertise.
It didn’t look like borrowed knowledge. It looked like a real experience.
His footwork was grounded and efficient. His grip adjusted subtly with every attack. His timing was cruelly precise, exploiting every opening before Victor or Nadine could even recover their balance.
It felt as if Ryan had wielded a spear for years—perhaps decades—long before this weapon ever touched his hands. Which definitely wasn’t the case.
Victor and Nadine were pushed back almost imdiately. They were already exhausted. Their MP was low. Their bodies were battered. Against Ryan’s relentless pressure they were barely holding on.
Ryan stepped in hard and drove his knee forward. Victor barely raised his guard in ti, but the kick still slamd into his stomach.
The impact drove the air from his lungs and sent pain tearing through his chest and stomach as he staggered backward.
At the sa ti, Ryan twisted his spear and brought the shaft crashing into Nadine’s wounded shoulder.
"AAAH!" Nadine scread.
The blow landed exactly where she was weakest. Pain exploded through her arm and shoulder, her grip on her quarterstaff faltering as she stumbled sideways. She clenched her teeth to keep herself from collapsing.
Ryan didn’t slow down a bit. He lunged forward and drove the spear straight toward Victor’s chest.
Victor forced his cleaver up with trembling arms.
CLANG!
tal scread as he deflected the thrust just enough to save his life, but his strength gave out at the last mont.
The spear slipped past his guard and plunged sideways into his shoulder.
"GRAAAH!" Victor roared in agony.
Blood spilled freely as the weapon tore through his flesh. His knees buckled and he nearly fell, barely staying upright through sheer stubbornness.
From the ground, Myles watched it all unfold helplessly.
Anger burned through him more than his pain. He clenched his teeth and forced his mind to scream at his body to move.
"Move. MOVE! DAMNIT!"
Sohow, he managed to push himself upright. For half a second, he managed to stand.
Then his legs gave out again and he crashed back onto the ground, his vision swimming as darkness crept in at the edges.
Ryan followed through rcilessly.
He kicked Victor hard, sending him flying backward, then spun and struck Nadine with the spear shaft again, throwing her several ters across the cracked street. Both of them hit the ground hard and rolled, unable to rise imdiately.
Ryan straightened slowly. Then he laughed.
"HA HA HA!"
Not the empty emotionless calm from before but laughter filled with delight.
"HAHAHAHA..."
His face twisted into sothing unsettling. It was full of joy and satisfaction. Finally, there was an expression on his face.
"You can’t do anything," Ryan said, his voice echoing unnaturally. "Stop resisting... and maybe you won’t lose your lives."
But the sound that ca from his mouth wasn’t only his voice. Layered beneath his voice was another voice that sounds soft, feminine, and utterly alien.
It spoke in perfect sync with him as if two throats shared the sa breath.
The air felt colder. The realization hit them all at once.
Ryan wasn’t alone inside his own body. Sothing else had been possessing him.
But who was it? And what were they aiming for by possessing Ryan at this mont?
The sa question filled Myles’, Nadine’s, and Victor’s minds at once. Yet almost imdiately, they realized it didn’t matter.
Nothing would change even if they knew who—or what—was inside Ryan’s body. Knowing the truth wouldn’t make their bodies stronger. It wouldn’t restore their MP. It wouldn’t heal their wounds.
What mattered was far simpler. And far crueler. How do they defeat him?
With their current condition, the answer felt obvious.
They couldn’t.
"Who... are you?" Nadine asked through clenched teeth, forcing herself to sit up despite the pain. Her face twisted into a grimace as she stared at Ryan.
Ryan glanced at her and smiled.
He snorted softly, clearly amused, and didn’t bother answering.
Instead, he turned away from them and walked toward the monster’s remains. The severed upper body that still hadn’t fully died.
Ryan crouched down and casually smacked it with his hand.
The corpse crumbled instantly, collapsing into black dust that scattered across the cracked street.
At the sa ti, glowing notifications flashed into view.
[You have killed Special Mutated Human - Rank A ]
[EXP gained: 10,000.]
[Bonus rewards acquired]
Myles, Nadine, and Victor all saw it but they ignored it completely. That really wasn’t important at this point.
Their eyes were locked on Ryan.
Sothing was left behind where the monster had fallen.
Ryan crouched and reached out, scooping it up.
It looked like an egg or perhaps a ball. A smooth, spherical object, pitch black on the surface, with veins of deep purple light slowly pulsing within it, as if sothing inside were breathing.
Ryan stared at it with glinting eyes.
"Finally," he murmured, his voice layered once more with that soft, feminine echo. "I got another one of these Seeds."
He chuckled quietly and shook his head, sounding genuinely amused.
"To think The Voidheart planted the Seeds so randomly like this... it always baffles ," he continued. "But I suppose that fits the nature of a being of that caliber. Always acting on whim. Always doing whatever they want."
The words sent a chill crawling down Myles’ spine. "Seed... Voidheart... What the hell is he talking about...?"
Ryan stood up.
The black egg dissolved into countless particles of dark light and flowed straight into his body and sank into his chest. The glow faded.
Ryan let out a long breath, looking satisfied.
From the ground, Myles watched with widening eyes, dread tightening around his heart.
"I think I have to kill you all because you just witnessed this," Ryan said.
—
Reviews
All reviews (0)