Danmaku, my skills refresh weekly.

So he tentatively asked:

Where are your companions?

"I've gone to inform the others."

"Have all the tasks been completed?"

"I don't know, I'm just relaying orders."

Seeing that the man seemed about to say something, Charles urged, "Let's get going, I have other tasks to complete."

"Let's go, brother! Don't keep me from seeing Xiaomei again."

"Fine."

The two hesitated before continuing their journey. The moment they turned around, Charles drew a cursed dagger from his robes and plunged it into the back of the man who appeared to be a believer.

Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. He stared wide-eyed at his chest in disbelief, instinctively reaching for his waist, only to be grabbed by Charles.

puff.

Before Charles could even feel smug, a long sword pierced through the man's chest, threading through the believer's body like a gourd, and finally through Charles's chest.

cough--

Blood trickled from the corner of Charles's mouth as he stared ahead. That cautious member of the Dark Faction had actually attacked his own comrade along with him?

"How...did you figure that out?"

"Working in pairs is a strict order; how could you possibly act alone?"

"Oh...I see. Thank you."

Suddenly, Charles reached out and grabbed the blade of the longsword, while drawing a dagger with his other hand and swinging it forward.

The red light streaked through the air but missed its target.

The man released his grip on the sword hilt and jumped to create distance.

"Tsk, I don't want to trade my life for a dead man's."

"..."

Charles drew his longsword, pushed aside the heartless believer in front of him, and staggered, clutching his stomach.

The brief exchange made Ciel realize the absolute gap in strength between the two.

Forget it, what's the point of struggling? I've already given him the kill!

Before Charles could even think of a solution, he lowered his head and let go, and blood gushed out uncontrollably...

"Heh, don't waste your time. What I have is a cursed weapon. It can't be cured without an antidote."

Charles looked up in astonishment: "How...is this possible?"

The member of the secret faction sneered, "You're clever, but you can only fool that fool on the ground. Give up, you're already dead."

"Who exactly are you...?"

“Me? You can call me [Hyena].”

title?

Ciel feigned serious injury and collapsed to the ground, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"Yes, I'm different from you, but I'm a level 2 who has undergone sublimation!"

He watched with interest as Charles gradually lost his strength, licking his lips: "Don't worry, once you're dead, I'll enjoy your corpse."

Charles suddenly felt a chill. Sure enough, there weren't many mentally sound people in the Dark Faction.

He felt he needed to reconsider whether he should join them as planned.

Blood soaked the ground, and Ciel stared blankly ahead with empty eyes. But the hyena showed no intention of approaching Ciel.

A moment later, he pulled a demon sword from his bosom.

"Stop pretending. You're not going to die that quickly from this level of injury. Adventurers are more resilient than you think."

He grinned maliciously and swung his demonic sword, causing countless spikes to rise from the ground and pierce through Charles.

"Cough..."

He was suspended in mid-air like a rag doll, or like a blooming cactus.

Charles stared resentfully at the [Hyena]...

No way, you're using a demon sword to deal with a dying lackey like me?

Where did you come from, Shen Yong?

"He's still alive..." He swung the demon sword once more, the blade shattered, and the earth spikes once again impaled Charles.

follow closely……

"Ingredients must be fresh." With that, [Hyena] stretched out its palm: "Sin stains, cooking with karmic fire, devouring fellow human beings and indulging in sin."

—【Vuel Wieslat】

Fireballs shot out from the hyena's palm, igniting Ciel.

A crackling sound filled the air as the fabric burned, scattering hundreds of gold coins across the ground.

[Hyena] Stare wide-eyed.

"That's... a Holy Gold Coin?"

Greed for money caused the hyena to lose its last bit of vigilance.

Based on his extensive cooking experience... dressed like that, after being grilled, there's no way he could survive.

However, compared to the perfectly cooked, slightly undercooked food in front of him, the gold coins were more appealing to him.

He took two steps to stand in front of Charles, took out a new bag, and bent down to pick up the gold coins scattered on the ground.

"1,2...,489 pieces..."

When he picked up the last one, he couldn't hide his excitement.

500 Holy Gold Coins, a whopping 500 million Fali!

"Ha...haha! They're all mine! They're all mine!"

He had just looked up when a dagger with an eerie red glow slashed open his carotid artery.

He clutched his splattered wound, staring incredulously at Charles's sinister face.

"H-how...cough!"

He couldn't speak a complete sentence; he just pressed his wound desperately and stared at Ciel in disbelief.

"Thank you for helping me put the money away." Charles struggled to get himself off the spikes, his demonic face approaching the [Hyena] as he snatched the money pouch.

Although he was very unwilling, the loss of blood made him unable to disobey Ciel's actions.

He continued to remove the hyena's clothes, rummaging through its belongings.

"Wow, a magic sword, and three bottles of high-grade elixirs—could these be spares? This armor is pretty good too, it's actually a level three adventurer's armor? Impressive!"

While ruthlessly looting the bag, Ciel sighed.

Indeed, murder and arson bring wealth! This cautious and cunning clan leader is incredibly rich!

After tidying up his gear, and finding a [Flame Stone] on the believer he had killed earlier, Charles glanced at the [Hyena] and noticed that it was still staring at him with its eyes open.

"Oh, still alive? No wonder you're a high-level adventurer, you're really hard to kill."

That's not as hard to kill as you...

Looking at Sharl, whose face was carbonized and whose body was full of holes, [Hyena] couldn't understand how this thing was still alive, no matter how hard it tried.

"monster……"

“I like this name!” Charles approached the [Hyena] and looked down at it from above.

He raised the cursed longsword he had seized from the other man and stabbed it down with all his might.

One cut... two cuts... three cuts...

As he aimed at the head, preparing to deliver the fourth stab...

whoosh-

A whooshing sound came from the end of the corridor.

Chapter 13 Fire in the hole

With a whoosh, a flying blade resembling a kunai shot out from the end of the dark passage.

Charles instinctively raised his sword to parry, but the flying blade grazed the blade and pierced his shoulder.

"Holy crap! They've gotten too cocky!"

He hurriedly pulled out the throwing knife and picked up the alchemical potion on the ground, which contained coagulated blood. Before his serious injuries could heal, a small pink afterimage rushed into Charles's arms at lightning speed.

when--

The fist blade and the cursed sword clashed, and this time Ciel did not miss.

Their eyes met. Before them stood a Parum girl with short, fluffy pink hair and a fierce look in her eyes. She grinned maliciously as she twirled her fist blades, and Ciel recognized the powerful force emanating from them!

"Level 2?!"

The power boost that being near death provides to Sharl, while not as significant as level 2, is still considerable. Given that the opponent is Palum, it's barely manageable.

Can……

Looking at the familiar face from his memory, Ciel hesitated.

"You are... [The Cunning Rat]!"

"Oh, so I'm famous now? But trying to get close to me won't work!"