"What the hell happened?"
Adam didn't understand the situation, but he guessed that the Magi had some kind of falling out inside the dungeon.
But to provoke all Magi at once, Arthur must have obtained some incredible treasure.
"This could be an opportunity."
Since they were infighting, he could wait for the right moment to get rid of all of them at once and claim whatever treasure they had.
Adam pointed the rifle toward Arthur and waited. He had already marked him as the most dangerous individual here.
****
"Arthur! You damn bastard. How dare you!"
Jude supported her brother and glared at the culprit behind their miserable appearance. If it hadn't been for Arthur deliberately letting a few ghosts attack them while he snatched the guarded treasure, they wouldn't have been left in this sorry state with barely any mana left.
"You wouldn't understand!" Arthur smiled and looked at the glowing crystal fragment etched into his palm.
This fragment was the source that powered all undead and seemed to have a mystical connection with his Gift.
He could feel his spirit rising at an incredible pace, and it wouldn't be long before he ascended to a two-star Magus.
"I really need to thank you, John," Arthur said. "If it weren't for you leading us to this dungeon, I don't know how long it would have taken me to evolve. So, you don't have to worry—I won't do anything to you."
"Really? Will you really let us go?" Fisk asked, gasping as he knelt, vision spinning. He was out of mana and nearly collapsed.
He had no strength or desire to fight Arthur for the treasure. All he wanted was to return to the island and recover.
"Of course..." Arthur nodded.
Before Fisk could rejoice, a hand crackling with lightning pierced his heart from behind.
Fisk coughed blood as the intense pain assaulted him. He glanced back with difficulty to see the culprit.
"Agh! Frank, you!" He gritted his teeth in hatred but quickly noticed something amiss.
Frank's eyes looked blank, as if hypnotized.
Suddenly, Fisk understood and glared at the true culprit.
"Arthur!"
"Haha, sorry, old Fisk. But I really can't let you go." Arthur smiled and waved goodbye. "Be more careful in your next life."
"Damn... you!" Fisk's eyes dimmed as he fell to the ground, dead.
"Such a useful tool." Arthur walked to Frank and patted his head. Frank didn't react to the touch. "It's a pity it's not permanent control."
"Soul Collapse."
Frank's body stiffened, his blank eyes trembled, and then he fell lifelessly to the ground.
"Incredible!" Arthur clenched his fist, a burning desire spurting in his mind. Magus were just ants in front of him.
"What should we do?" Jude tremblingly asked her brother but was only met with silence. They used all their mana and items to escape alive from the dungeon but now fell into the abyss.
"Haha. Yes… that's real power." Arthur spread his hands, eyes burning with frenzy. "With this fragment in my hand, I'll make those self‑righteous bastards pay for what—"
Bang!
A sudden gunshot rang out, and Arthur's brain was blasted apart.
The Faraday twins stared blankly at the corpse in stunned silence. They had been racking their minds for a way to escape their desperate situation, but nothing had worked. Without mana, they were no different from mortals.
Yet an unexpected development had occurred.
Arthur, who had seemed invincible a few seconds ago, died just like that.
Swish!
John warily looked at the stranger who suddenly landed in front of him with bat-like wings and recognized him as one of the adepts that came with them.
"How!"
It didn't take a genius to guess who just killed Arthur. But an Adept defeating a Magus was unheard of. Even though it was a sneak attack, it was a feat.
"So, what now?" The Jude twins didn't relax their guards just because their enemy died. But became more wary of this strange adept.
"I was wondering the same thing." Adam said flatly. "I replayed this scenario in my head for days, thinking of what to do… Should I torture you for days? cut your limbs and let you live as cripples? Or shackle you and throw you to the sea."
The twins changed their expression and felt chills, but before they could move, two giant shadow hands wrapped around their bodies.
They struggled but found themselves unable to move.
Adam ignored their futile attempts and continued, "...But in the end, I found no satisfaction in any option. No matter what I would do to you, that wouldn't bring my mom back."
"So, I'll just kill you and get this over with."
The shadow hands tightened, crushing the twins in their grip.
"No! Wait, please…"
Their bones creaked under the pressure. Jude screamed, but her voice was quickly drowned out by the sound of cracking ribs.
"Please..."
Adam turned a deaf ear to their plea and watched the powerless twins struggle until their bodies hung limp.
He released the spell, and the broken corpses dropped heavily to the ground.
But there was no joy. No satisfaction. The revenge he had prepared himself for brought only emptiness. The tough fight he had imagined never came. Instead, his enemies died too easily, leaving him with an unexplainable disappointment.
"There's no use dwelling on the dead."
Adam shifted his attention to Arthur's corpse and inspected the strange fragment attached to his palm.
"So that's what rallied them up, huh."
He conjured a shadow hand and reached for the fragment. But the moment his mana touched it, the fragment burst into dazzling light and rushed toward him.
"What the—"
Before he could react, it entered his body and began to devour his mana at a terrifying pace.
His reserves were drained in seconds, and then he felt his vitality being consumed.
"I can't let it keep this up."
If he didn't act, he would shrivel into a husk. He tried to use [Visionary], but before he could, a heavy thump echoed from his chest.
His eyes widened. He felt a second heartbeat pounding inside him.
"What the hell is wrong with me?"
***
At the same time, in a distant void, a primordial roar cracked the endless dark.
"Soul… damn you!"