The riverbank, which under different circumstances would have been a serene landscape of damp earth and lush grass, was now painted in shades of crimson. A chain of solidified blood was currently threaded through the chests of three kobolds, siphoning their vitality into a glowing essence. Leo sat motionless in the saddle of his Hell Warhorse, observing the harvest.
'This marks the second nest cleared within the hour,' Leo thought, looking back at the ruins of the kobold settlement.
''My lord, the spoils,'' Malphas said, presenting the reward chest.
Leo swept the remains and the chest into his inventory with a flick of his wrist. ''Move out. These meager rewards are not worth the time spent,'' he said. His momentum was, however, dampened by a sudden chime from the system interface.
[Racial Announcement] [Lord Silentmarch has achieved the first low-grade dungeon clear for the human race. Reward: Unique Chest (Blue).]
"Ah, fuck," Leo muttered, irritation flashing across his face.
As the warhorse sprinted through the dense treeline, Leo reflected on the global scale. 'At least Silentmarch was not the first across all races,' he noted, recalling the earlier announcement of a Celestial Lord clearing a dungeon in record time.
Leo signaled his mount to slow as they entered a darker part of the woods. Malphas and the Captain fell into formation behind him.
'Report,' Leo commanded mentally, his eyes scanning the shadows.
''Two signatures detected, my lord. One is in a state of extreme panic, fleeing toward our position,'' Malphas replied.
Leo ordered Malphas to cut off any potential escape routes before dismissing his warhorse to keep a lower profile. Within moments, a human girl burst through the brush, her clothes shredded and her skin marked with scratches. A massive bear, eyes bloodshot with hunger, was hot on her heels.
The girl caught sight of Leo and screamed, ''Run! It is an E-rank beast!'' She did not stop, sprinting past him in a desperate bid for life.
Leo let out a dry chuckle. He had prepared for a threat, yet he found only a terrified girl and a common beast. As the bear approached, Leo released a sliver of his aura.
The creature skidded, its predatory drive replaced by a primal terror. It turned tail and vanished into the undergrowth.
Captain Goblin huffed, thinking the bear had fled from his own presence, but the girl stood frozen. ''How... how did you do that?'' she whispered.
Leo turned his cold gaze upon her. ''Who are you, and what are you doing here?''
"I am Luna... a Lord,'' she stammered, her eyes darting between Leo and the monstrous goblin nearby. ''But why did you let it go? You could have killed it easily.''
Leo kept his hand in his coat pocket and shrugged.''I had not yet determined which of you was the more valuable kill,'' he said, his voice smooth and dangerous.
Luna recoiled, clutching at her ruined clothing. ''I am one of your own kind! How can you speak of me as if I were a monster?''
Leo smiled, though the expression did not reach his eyes. 'Malphas, keep a close watch. I doubt she survived this long on luck alone.' He looked back at her. ''In this world, Luna, everything is either a tool or prey. Now be a good girl and tell me everything about you that even your friends did not know.''
Under the weight of Leo's gaze, Luna broke. She confessed to possessing a talent known as Twin-Star Fortune. It was a Broken gambling skill. Once per day, she could manifest two dice over an item; if the numbers matched, the item would multiply by quality or quantity.
''You expect me to believe you possess a talent that can break the economy of the trial?'' Leo asked, his eyebrows arching in genuine interest. 'Her pulse is steady. She is telling the truth.'
''It is the truth! It is the only reason I have made it this far! I do not have a guardian to protect me as you do!'' she cried out.
Leo leaned forward, his interest fully piqued by the prospect of such a specialized asset. '' Well, let us say I believe you. But are you not a bit dumb?''
''You!'' Luna shouted, her fear momentarily overtaken by indignation. She pointed a trembling finger at him. ''You are nothing but a big bully!''
Leo scoffed at her Curses. He was prepared to fire back a mocking retort, but his instincts flared. He looked sharply to his right, his eyes narrowing as a predatory smile touched his lips. "It seems I was mistaken. You aren't dumb at all. You're just an exceptionally talented actress, using your 'confession' as a distraction to buy time for your shadow," he said, his voice dropping to a dangerous low.
Luna's composure withered instantly. Her fingers dug into her palms, and a cold sweat broke across her brow. "What... what are you talking about?" she stammered, her feet moving of their own accord as she backed away.
Without a word, Leo pulled a common steel knife from his storage. With a casual flick of his wrist, he sent the blade whistling toward the girl.
"No!" Luna shrieked, shielding her face. But the impact never came. A shadow blurred from the canopy above, the flash of a blade clashing with Leo's knife and snapping it in two before it could draw blood.
"Now what do we have here?" Leo chuckled. He studied the newcomer with interest. She was a vision of wild, lethal beauty, her gold shade hair cascading down her back. Two fox ears twitched atop her head, and twin silken tails lashed behind her with agitated grace.
"Vermin. How dare you lay a hand on my lady?" the fox-kin hissed. She became a blur of motion, her dagger aimed directly for Leo's heart.
Leo didn't even flinch. He simply snickered and vanished. [Blink].
Before the assassin could reposition herself to protect Luna, Leo was already standing behind her. His fingers were tipped with elongated, obsidian-sharp claws pressed firmly against her jugular.
"Even though your beauty is quite distracting, it is remarkably rude to strike at an innocent passerby," Leo whispered into her ear.
The fox woman froze, her teeth gritted. She didn't dare move, her eyes darting toward Luna in silent desperation.
Luna collapsed into a sob, the facade of the 'helpless girl' replaced by genuine terror. "Please! We are just trying to survive! Don't kill us!"
"Don't worry, I'm a forgiving man. But as I said before, everyone in this forest is either a tool or prey. Now, my little star, it's time to choose," Leo said. Internally, he let out a breath of relief. 'If Malphas hadn't signaled me earlier, that blade might have actually found its mark,' he thought, glancing at the assassin.
Luna bit her lip. She had just narrowly escaped the clutches of a different lord, and now she was falling into another trap. "You don't understand the trouble you're inviting. There is a high-ranking lord from another race hunting me. If not for Ren, I would be a slave already."
Leo eased the pressure on the assassin's neck. "Firepower isn't an issue for me. Why keep running when you can have a protector?"
"You're just a human! Those other lords are monsters! You can't protect me against them! Just let us go!" Luna cried out.
"You mean that monster?" Leo asked, pointing toward the treeline.
Malphas emerged from the brush, dragging the lifeless, mangled body of a rival lord behind him.
Luna's scream was shrill, her entire body shaking as she recognized the man who had been her nightmare. But it was Ren who truly understood the horror. She stared at Malphas, her voice trembling and faint. "Epic... an Epic-grade entity."
Luna's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "An Epic rank? How? How is that possible after only three days?" She thought her Rare-grade Ren was a miracle.
Malphas dropped the corpse and knelt before Leo. "This weakling was stalking the girl's trail, my lord. I have neutralized the threat."
"Excellent work, Malphas," Leo said, turning his gaze back to the girls. "Now then, princess. I believe we are done playing games. Are you ready to submit?"
Luna looked at the dead lord, then at the Epic-grade knight, and finally at Leo. She closed her eyes and let out a long, defeated sigh. "Yes... I submit."