Justin [A ] rank assasin one of the fastest assassins in the Black Fang Guild, second only to the vice guild master himself couldn't keep up with Kael's speed.
Kael stopped midair, calm as ever.
Justin landed behind him, gasping for breath.
"Oh, good. You're here," Kael said casually. "Open your camera."
Justin fumbled out his phone and started recording.
"You see down there?" Kael pointed. "That's a lizardman settlement. Around two to three thousand of them all C-rank. Their leader? An A-rank."
Justin's eyes widened. A settlement that size normally required at least three to five B-rank parties to clear. Lizardmen were intelligent, organized, and their spear skills were notoriously difficult to deal with.
"Mr. Kael… you mean you're going to take on all of them by yourself?"
"Yes," Kael replied simply. "If it gets dangerous, make sure you run."
Justin nodded. As a B-rank assassin, he was confident he could at least escape if things went wrong.
Kael floated higher over the swamp-like terrain. The lizardmen had diverted the river, flooding the land into marsh. Below, they went about their daily routines until a shadow passed overhead.
The warriors looked up.
But it was already too late.
Kael unleashed hundreds of fireballs midair.
In the next heartbeat, thousands of blazing orbs rained down on the settlement like a storm.
"Gyaaaahhh!"
Screams echoed as fire consumed huts and bodies alike. Panic erupted. For thirty seconds straight, Kael continued the onslaught. Hundreds of lizardmen burned alive.
Some survivors staggered with charred skin, while others were saved only by their leader a towering chieftain with a massive spear, who managed to deflect the barrage.
Justin's jaw dropped. Ordinary fireballs? Used like this? And he cast them all at once… Just how enormous is his mana capacity?
The chieftain roared, glaring up at Kael.
Kael smirked back.
The lizard chief leapt, spear in hand, aiming for Kael's heart.
"Agility boost — 40%. Strength boost — 50%."
Flames wrapped around Kael's fist. Fire Fist.
He dived.
Just before the spear pierced him, Kael twisted, dropping instead onto a lizard shaman below. His fist tore clean through its chest in a burst of fire and gore.
He didn't stop. Kael turned his fury on the lizardman warriors, his fists blazing. Each punch crushed bone and roasted flesh, killing C-rank lizardmen one after another.
With a snap of his hand, fire javelins burst into the air. He unleashed them like a machine gun, each one ripping through scales and armor.
Some of the warriors tried to flee, but the speed of his spells was terrifying unforgiving.
In just a few seconds, the battlefield was littered with corpses. Hundreds of warrior-type lizardmen lay dead, their bodies charred and broken.
The Lizardman Chief's roar split the air.
"Grrraaahhh!"
Among the fallen was his own son struck down in Kael's rampage.
The chief's grief twisted into rage, his eyes burning with hate as he raised his weapon.
Kael met that gaze without flinching. He understood. This was war.
If he spared this settlement, it would grow into a threat to humanity.
If the chief fought back, it was only to protect his people.
No one here was truly wrong.
But only one side would survive.
For kael this monsters is invaders who ruined their peace.
The chief howled with rage, swung his spear at Kael.
Kael manage to dodges.
Then the lizard man throw his spear with insane amount of speed again kael manage to dodge.
It was a part of lizardman plan, he slammed his palms to the earth.
Earth Prison[A]
The ground erupted, sealing Kael inside a dome of packed soil and rocks.
Justin's eyes widened. He's trapped… that's it. "He's done for. Fighting an entire settlement alone reckless. Suicidal."
He turned to flee....
BOOOOM!
The dome shattered. A shockwave tore across the swamp, flattening huts and snapping trees like twigs. The ground quaked as if struck by a typhoon. A massive crater yawned where Kael had stood.
From within the dust, Kael emerged, fist still smoking.
"What… what is that skill?" Justin whispered, recording with trembling hands.
The lizard chief staggered, eyes narrowing in fear.
Kael's aura flared. "Agility boost. Strength boost."
In the blink of an eye, Kael blitzed the chieftain. His flaming fist slammed into its gut, forcing it to its knees.
He followed up with a brutal axe kick that slammed its head into the ground.
Bang!
The chieftain coughed blood, reeling from pain before Kael launched it with a savage kick, sending the massive body crashing into a boulder. The impact cracked the rock apart.
"Rrraaaahhh!"
The chieftain's skin darkened, its body shrinking but hardening with muscle. Its aura twisted into something far more sinister.
Justin's heart skipped. No way… it mutated.
The lizard chief had evolved into a Lizard General an S-rank monster, only a step below the legendary Lizard King. Its power rivaled even an Orc Champion.
Dark red energy pulsed from its body. The eight-foot-tall monster exuded raw menace.
Kael clicked his tongue. "Tch. This wasn't in the plan."
He opened his status window. After the earlier massacre, he had leveled up twenty-two times. Over a thousand lizardmen dead, along with their warriors.
Name: Kael
Level: 18
Titles: Dimensional Rift Owner, Great Farmer
Profession: Farmer – ★1
Mana Rank: F (2,074,965 / 2,550,000)
Strength: 100
Endurance: 47
Agility: 42
Defense: 108
He dumped his new points: +70 Defense, +20 Endurance, +10 Agility.
His body surged with fresh strength.
But the General was no less terrifying.
They faced each other in silence.
Then, with a split second
Kaboooooooom!!!!!!
Their fists collided. A shockwave split the ground.
Kael and the Lizardman General clashed head-on, fists colliding with ground shaking force. One punch after another.
Their fist collide and each punch it creates shockwave.
neither side backing down, the ground trembling with every strike.
Kael ducked under a savage swing, driving his knee straight into the General's snout. The crunch echoed as blood sprayed, but the monster only roared louder, gripping tighter. Kael stomped down hard, breaking free of its grasp.
The Lizardman countered with a brutal kick that launched Kael across the field. He steadied himself midair, wings of mana flaring Flight keeping him from crashing.
Kael gritted his teeth and unleashed a storm of Fire Javelins, rapid shots tearing through the air. The first one struck the General's arm, searing flesh. The rest chased it as it zigzagged, left and right, dodging with frightening speed.
Impatience burned in Kael.
"hmmm you good, how about this one."
He raised his hand and gathered mana. Instead of scattering his spells, he compressed them forcing multiple Inferno Cores [B] together, fusing them into a single massive, burning sphere. A solid sun of fire blazed in his grasp.
With a shout, Kael hurled it.
The Lizardman's instincts screamed. It slammed its claws to the ground, raising a towering wall of earth in desperation. Dirt and stone surged upward, blocking its path.
The fireball struck.
The wall melted instantly, turning to slag before the explosion ripped through. Flames swallowed the battlefield, the shockwave blasting outward.
The Lizardman staggered, scales charred, its body smoking. And yet it only grew angrier, its eyes glowing with murderous rage.
The General roared, summoning massive boulders with Earth Magic, hurling them one after another. Kael dodged, caught one midair, and hurled it back. As the General blocked, Kael slid low and swept its legs before unleashing a flurry of flaming punches.
Then he stopped. Drew in mana. His fist burned brighter and brighter.
"…15%."
The General roared back, sensing death.
Kael vanished speed blitz. He reappeared in front of the General, fist glowing like a star.
Kabooooooooom!
The impact was cataclysmic. A thunderclap ripped through the swamp, trees splintered, earth split apart.
When the dust cleared, half the General's body was gone its arm and chest obliterated.
It swayed, tried to stand, then collapsed in a heap.
Kael, drenched in sweat, exhaled. "Haaah… that one was intense. I need more training."
Justin, still recording, ran up to him, heart pounding. For a split second, Kael's aura almost killed him just by existing.
Then Kael waved. "Oi! You got it on camera?"
"Yes! All of it!" Justin shouted, exhilarated. "That was insane! I've never seen anyone fight an S-rank monster barehanded!"
Kael scratched his head, letting out a sheepish laugh. "Hahaha… well. Let's head back. I already collected the loot. I'll have the workers pile up the bodies and burn them otherwise they'll rot and cause disease."
Justin stopped recording, still stunned. Even with proof, no one would believe what he just witnessed.
Kael dragged the Lizardman General's corpse closer, his hand glowing faintly as he willed it into his Subspace.
An S-rank monster's body was worth a fortune.
Every piece had value the fangs for alchemy, the bones for blades, even its hide could be forged into armor.
Hundreds of millions… maybe more.
With that done, Kael pulled out two canned colas from his storage and tossed one to Justin.
Psssh! The sound of the cans opening felt almost surreal against the silence of the battlefield.
"Ok," Kael said, taking a sip. "Let's head back."