Lazry didn't even get the chance to move.
The three masked intruders rushed him in complete silence, faster than he expected, faster than his confused brain could process.
A heavy hand wrapped around his throat, another pinned his shoulder, and a knee crushed into his stomach, slamming him against the wall with a dull thud that rattled the picture frames.
His breath exploded out of him in a gasp. His head spun. The sudden force made his ribs ache.
He choked out words, his voice cracking, louder than he intended. "Wait… what the hell are you doing? I'm the young master of the Lycannis Family! If you harm me, you'll be found instantly!"
They didn't answer. They didn't even flinch. Their grip only tightened.
The silence was worse than a threat. Silence meant certainty. Silence meant intent.
Lazry felt a cold sting across his stomach. One of them pressed a glowing talisman against his skin, and he realized with a surge of panic what they were doing. Something hot pushed through his flesh and sank deeper, as if fingers were reaching inside him and twisting.
His eyes widened. "Stop… what is that…?"
Pain shot through him like a knife scraping bone. It burrowed into the place that was still raw and tender from last night, the wound left by having his demon fox forcibly stripped away.
He gasped, trembling. "You… you're planting something in me. Why? What are you… what curse is that…?"
There was more than one. He felt them. Dark presences. Cold, oily, crawling through his insides like a nest of spiders.
Terror crawled up his spine.
At last, one of the masked men spoke in a distorted whisper. "The young master of the Lycannis Family, Lazry Lycannis… could not take the shame of losing his summoned curse beast. He chose to end his life."
Lazry stared. "What…"
Another voice, smooth and practiced, followed. "A tragedy. A stain removed. A convenient truth."
He felt the curse inside him pulse. Once. Twice. Like a heartbeat that wasn't his.
And something ancient and hungry stirred.
A horrifying realization slammed into him. He knew this curse. He had heard about it from forbidden records he wasn't meant to read. His blood turned cold.
"That's a Suicide Curse Demon Worm," Lazry whispered, his voice shaking. "Why… why are you putting that in me…?"
The cursed spirit inside him twitched, almost eager. If activated, it would tear him apart from the inside. A cursed beast born from his corpse, leaving no trace of murder. No culprit. No crime. Only a tragic suicide of a disgraced son.
His chest tightened.
He was going to die. That was their goal.
The masked figures pressed their hands against his stomach. Curse mana surged like poison, feeding the sleeping demon inside him.
"Awaken," one of them muttered. "Awaken inside him."
Lazry felt the curse beast beginning to stir.
He panicked. His breath quickened. Every instinct screamed to fight, but fear held him in place.
Then he sensed something else.
Their mana.
He could see it. While they are activating the curse. It was clear.
Third stage.
Fourth stage.
That was it.
His eyes widened. "Wait. That low…? You're that low!?"
No wonder their movements felt clumsy up close. No wonder their aura felt thin, flimsy, desperate. They weren't elites. They weren't assassins from the upper ranks. They were expendable pawns. Disposable.
And he… was seventh stage.
Because of the system… Because he didn't do anything.
He's now a seventh stage cursed beast conjurer.
His shock turned into disbelief, then into something boiling and sharp. They were trying to kill him using weaklings. Weaklings who thought they could succeed because they believed he was helpless.
Lazry felt something snap inside of him. If he didn't get a reward from the system, he'd be dead! But now…
"You idiots," he whispered.
His hand moved faster than the masked intruders could process. Fingers wrapped around the throat of the one holding him down.
Their bodies jerked. Their masked heads tilted up, startled. What? How come his strength- Lazry didn't give them time to react. His other hand shot toward the second intruder gripping his shoulder.
"Let go of me," Lazry said.
Then he squeezed.
Bones cracked beneath his fingers. The two intruders clawed at his arms, choking, gasping, struggling. Their hearts pounded frantically in their chests. For twenty seconds, the room filled with muffled croaks and scraping nails.
Then their strength faded. Their legs buckled. Their arms went limp.
They dropped.
The third intruder froze. His entire body stiffened. He stared at Lazry as if looking at a monster.
"You… you…" the man stammered through his mask.
Lazry felt the burning pain in his stomach.
The curse beast inside writhed, trying to awaken.
His hand reached down, grabbed the glowing talisman embedded in his flesh, and tore it out.
A thin trail of dark energy screamed as it disconnected, the infant curse inside squirming before dissolving in the air like smoke.
He threw it aside with a snarl.
The third intruder stumbled back, shaking. Lazry stepped forward.
"Don't run," Lazry said.
He lunged. His hand closed around the man's throat before he could even reach the broken door. They crashed against the wall, the man thrashing helplessly.
"Tell me," Lazry growled. "Who sent you?"
The man's fingers clawed at Lazry's wrist, but his voice cracked. "Y… you were supposed to die… you were supposed to die quietly… How are you so stro-"
"Wrong answer," Lazry whispered.
He tightened his grip.
The man choked, gagged, and struggled for breath for a long half-minute until his movements slowed, then stopped. His body went limp, slumping in Lazry's grasp. Lazry let him drop to the floor.
Silence returned to the apartment. Heavy. Tense. Shaking.
He stood there, panting, his hand trembling slightly as the adrenaline finally hit him. His throat felt dry. His body felt hot, then cold, then hot again.
He had killed three people.
And he didn't even feel guilty.
Instead, he felt dread sliding into anger. Someone really wanted him dead. Not banished. Not humiliated. Dead.
He needed answers.
A faint vibration came from the floor.
One of the intruders' phones buzzed, lighting up with an incoming call.
Lazry bent down and picked it up with a shaky hand.
He pressed it to his ear.
A furious voice exploded from the other side. "Why is there no update! I told you to follow that fool Winston! He always runs to find that useless young master! This is the only time we can deal with him! That little bastard has no curse beast anymore, his nine tailed demon fox just got taken away from him! No resistance, you can kill him easily! If you are noticed, don't! Retreat!"
Lazry's lips pressed together.
He didn't say a word. He only listened.
The caller must have sensed the silence. A pause. Then a quiet realization. A cold, stunned breath.
The call ended.
Lazry stared at the phone, his chest tightening. The implication hit him instantly.
Someone inside the Lycannis Family sent these men.
Someone who knew Winston's route.
Someone who knew he was alone tonight.
Someone who wanted him dead who knew about the nine tailed demon Fox he conjured.
His stomach knotted.
"Which elder was it…" Lazry murmured. "Was it the one who took my fox? Was it the one who said I was a waste? Was it someone else?"
He didn't know. But he knew something else.
He couldn't stay weak. Not anymore.
Something shifted behind him. A soft tremor. Lazry spun around just in time to see all three bodies twitch on the floor. Their skin bubbled, darkened, then cracked like burnt clay.
"What now…" Lazry whispered.
Their bodies turned black. Their limbs stiffened. Their mouths foamed. Then, without warning, all three crumbled into dust. The dust scattered across the wooden floor like ash carried by an invisible wind.
Someone had erased them remotely.
Someone erased the evidence.
Someone very powerful.
Lazry swallowed hard.
"They really want me dead."
He stared at his trembling hand. The same hand that had killed three people. The same hand that now felt too light, too cold, too small for the threat looming over him.
He needed strength. He needed a way to fight back. He needed power that could protect him from the ones who wanted him dead.
Then
[ Ding!
A glowing blue screen flickered to life in front of him.
[ Optional Missions available! ]