Brown was dead.
Beneath the shadows of the dense forest, his headless body crumpled to the ground. His massive head rolled until it came to rest at Leon's feet, the scarlet eyes—still wide open even in death—staring straight ahead, like the gaze of a vengeful spirit unwilling to pass on.
The secret realm granted every intruder a single Death Protection, but before an overwhelming gap in strength, such protection was nothing more than a comforting illusion—merely delaying the inevitable.
In Alex's eyes, it was just an excuse to swing his blade one more time.
The man who once proclaimed himself invincible had fallen in an instant, and the sight made Leon shudder violently, as if the marrow had been ripped from his bones. His knees weakened of their own accord.
The arrogant swagger he once carried through the academy as a sycophant of the strong crumbled into dust in a heartbeat.
And when he saw the figure with the black blade—a man who seemed to have stepped straight out from the Hall of War Gods—striding toward him, fear swallowed him whole.
"Alex! Alex!"
"I beg you… the great shouldn't hold grudges against the small—spare me!"
"I'll do whatever you say! I have money… I can give you plenty of gold!"
"Look—here! A Bronze-tier Elven Longbow, I'll give it to you right now!"
"Please, let me live! I don't want to die!"
Desperation drove him to his knees, all dignity and pride discarded like worthless rags.
Alex looked down at him, the corner of his mouth curling in faint amusement.
"Spare you? Sure—first, let me hear you bark like a dog."
Without a second thought, Leon actually opened his mouth and imitated the sound of a hound.
"Not bad."
"Unfortunately… I don't like dogs."
His tone shifted mid-sentence, and the black blade flashed.
"Alex, you forced me!"
Humiliation and terror boiled over into madness. Leon suddenly tore open the crystal vial hidden in his chest and dumped the entire contents of [Demonlure Incense] onto the ground.
The acrid scent spread like a living thing, curling into the forest wind, dispersing in all directions.
He threw his head back and laughed, the sound ragged and manic.
"Hahaha! If I die, none of you are getting out alive!"
Before his laughter could fade, the black blade sliced cleanly across his throat.
Leon joined Brown in death a heartbeat later.
Alex frowned slightly.
That scent—he recognized it instantly. It was the adventurers' go-to lure in high-tier dungeons, a rare alchemical concoction used to draw monsters.
Here, in the core of the Dark Forest, unleashing such a lure was no different from throwing open the gates of Hell.
From Level 6 elite beasts to Level 9 apex predators, all roamed this territory.
A beast tide of such scale could annihilate an entire rookie squad without leaving a single survivor.
Yet instead of fear, a strange thrill rose in Alex's chest.
A beast tide was certainly a crisis—
But it was also a hunter's feast.
The monsters that usually prowled far apart would now be herded together… into a horde of walking experience bags.
Boom—Boom—Boom—
The ground began to quake, loose stones trembling and hopping at his feet.
Deep in the forest, ancient trees swayed violently as flocks of birds erupted into the sky—a herald of the coming end.
From every direction came the low, savage roars of beasts, so dense and rhythmic it sounded like a war drum pounding in the marrow.
A heartbeat later, they burst from the treeline—
Saber-toothed beasts with fangs like swords, iron-scaled lizards bristling with spikes, moon-horned rhinoceros demons with charge enough to shatter stone… all surging toward Alex in a flood of muscle, horn, and fang.
Any ordinary person would have gone weak in the knees, stripped even of the strength to run.
Alex's expression never changed. He slowly lifted the [Thunder Calamity] in his hand, battle lust burning bright in his eyes.
"Perfect timing."
The words had barely left his lips before he charged forward—straight into the oncoming tide.
Behind him, Gregory—still collapsed on the ground—saw a party invitation flash before his eyes.
He froze for a moment, then understood instantly.
Alex was going to share the experience with him, letting him recover through battle!
The iron-tower of a man felt his nose sting, his vision blurring with the heat of unshed tears.
"Kill!"
With a roar, Alex became a thunder-wreathed reaper, hurling himself deep into the heart of the beast tide.
[Bonebreaker]'s shockwave slammed into an eighth-level Moon-Horned Rhino, sending the massive beast staggering backward. The aftershock swept up several lesser monsters, their health bars instantly halved.
Each arc of his blade carried the roar of lightning, every strike tearing through flesh and spraying the ground in crimson.
[Kill: Lv5 Elite Venom Python]
[EXP +58]
[Kill: Lv7 Moon-Horned Rhino]
[EXP +71]
[Kill: Lv8 Venomous Behemoth Wasp]
[EXP +99]
…
The battle log scrolled like a torrential downpour.
In Gregory's eyes, Alex had become a war god wielding dominion over thunder. Every sweep of his blade wove a shimmering net of blue lightning, a lattice of death from which no beast escaped.
So this… this is Alex's true strength?
For the first time, Gregory understood the weight of the word prodigy.
A burst of white light engulfed Alex—Level Up. Level 6.
His four core stats surged to 1,800 each, his total attributes nearing seven thousand. His offense grew even more ferocious, as though he were carving a blazing river of thunder straight through the beast tide.
Moments later, another flash of white erupted behind him—Gregory had leveled up too.
Leaping to his feet, his aura fully restored, Gregory quickly left the party with a simple, honest grin.
"Your blade's too fast—I can't take advantage of that. From here on, I'll hunt my own!"
A faint warmth stirred in Alex's chest, but his killing intent only burned hotter.
"Alex! The monsters are rioting, we—"
A familiar voice reached him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lois blur out of the forest like a darting shadow. But when her gaze fell on the scene before her, the rest of her sentence died in her throat.
"You… you got stronger again?"
Her gaze shifted—just in time to see a towering, five- to six-meter-tall Wrathful Buddha crash down from the sky.
Six massive arms swept out in unison, swatting dozens of monsters through the air like leaves in a storm—Gregory's [Wrathful Aegis] had returned to the battlefield.
Lois bit down on her chocolate lollipop, a grin tugging at the corner of her lips.
"With a tank clearing the way? Then why the hell should big sis be scared?"
Before the words had even finished leaving her mouth, her figure blurred into a streak of pitch-black shadow, vanishing into the blood-and-thunder-woven hellscape.