Thud!
The arm wrapped in dark purple cursed energy suddenly fell to the ground as if severed by an invisible blade. Blood gushed forth, staining the surrounding pavement red.
"AHHHHH!" The man let out a soul-rending scream.
The intense pain made this seemingly invincible man howl like a wounded dog.
A small dagger stood quietly embedded in the ground. Under the moonlight, it gleamed with a chilling edge.
"Big Brother!" The other man who'd accompanied him cried out in shock and rushed forward.
Ryder remained lounging in his rocking chair, looking half-asleep. Yet somehow, the man felt a chill spread through his entire body.
"A Grade 1 cursed tool! Impossible! Even the Zenin family has very few tools of this caliber!" The one-armed man steadied himself with his subordinate's support, using cursed energy to stem the bleeding.
His face pale, he stared at the dagger on the ground.
With his experience, he recognized the blade's grade immediately.
Though he couldn't discern the specific curse imbued within it, any tool that could so easily sever a Grade 2 sorcerer's limb was undoubtedly a Grade 1 cursed tool.
"Zenin Ryuichi, don't push your luck! Stealing cursed tools is a capital offense. You'd better confess now." The man immediately assumed Ryder had stolen the tool from the family before leaving.
He tried to use the family's authority to pressure Ryder into surrendering it.
Despite his severed arm, a deeply hidden glint of greed flashed in the man's eyes.
"Little brat! You think having one Grade 1 tool makes you invincible? Laughable! Using such a powerful cursed tool as a throwing knife—what a waste!"
"If I kill him now, that tool would be..."
The man's face instantly shifted from deathly pale to flushed red. His eyes darted around.
Ryder caught every detail and found it rather amusing.
"Zenin Ryuichi died unfortunately while battling a cursed spirit. The curse was eliminated by me when I arrived too late. That way, the tool becomes mine."
Ryder spoke softly, his tone mocking.
The man's expression changed drastically. Ryder had just voiced his exact thoughts.
Having his darkest intentions exposed, the man's face twisted into a cruel smile.
"Idiot! Without your cursed tool, what can you possibly do against me?!"
BOOM!
The man instantly charged at Ryder. Simultaneously, countless spears of dark purple cursed energy erupted from him, piercing straight through the chest of his non-sorcerer subordinate behind him.
Thud!
Even in death, the poor underling never understood what he'd done wrong.
Murder and robbery!
This matter absolutely could not have a second witness!
For a Grade 1 cursed tool, never mind a subordinate—even if his own parents stood before him, this man who'd devolved into a beast of desire wouldn't hesitate.
"HAHAHA! DIE!"
"Eight Demons: Descent!"
CRASH!
Dark purple cursed energy condensed into a massive palm that slammed down from above. Everything in the vicinity seemed enveloped within its range.
The overwhelming cursed energy carried intense corrosive properties. The surrounding air began to twist and distort.
Facing such a terrifying attack, Ryder didn't even bother rising from his chair.
He slowly raised one finger and waved it casually through the air.
Yet the man suspended in midair felt an ominous premonition rise in his heart.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three sounds cut through the air.
Daggers identical to the one that severed his arm flew forth as Ryder's finger danced. Like butterflies, they drifted gracefully through the air.
Beautiful and lethal, cold light flashed.
They shot straight toward the man's chest.
The man panicked. He frantically pulled back his cursed energy and twisted his body, assuming a ridiculous posture with both arms wrapped around his head.
He barely dodged the daggers' assault.
"How could you possibly have four tools of this grade?!"
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
"Four?" Ryder looked questioningly at the man dodging his flying knives like a circus clown.
Snap!
He snapped his fingers crisply.
Under the man's disbelieving gaze, countless daggers slowly materialized behind Ryder, blotting out the sky like a murder of crows.
"NO!"
"Divine Forge: Crowfall!"
The Grade 1 cursed tools the man considered impossibly rare—the very tools that had sparked his murderous greed—instantly engulfed him.
His body flickered like a candle in the wind, trying to resist that terrifying assault. But in mere moments, the endless "flock of crows" devoured him completely.
Ryder inhaled gently. Within the swarm, all the man's cursed energy was drawn into his abdomen.
Gluttonous Devourer could consume all cursed energy and convert it for his own use.
Naturally, Ryder wouldn't waste such a resource.
After consuming the man, the crow swarm dissipated and vanished. The terrifying arsenal of cursed tools disappeared as if it had never existed.
Despite this being his first time killing a human, Ryder felt no discomfort whatsoever.
After seeing so many cursed spirits, killing humans was hardly difficult.
Besides, some people were far less virtuous than curses.
Cursed spirits would always be cursed spirits. But humans weren't always human.