After the bloody event took place, Jor shed his cultist persona and returned to his identity as Viers.

Earlier that night, Viers threatened Church Boy D with a fate worse than death. Church Boy A became the unwilling example of bodily horrors D would experience if Viers didn’t get what he wanted. Unsurprisingly, D relented.

Church Boy D brought Viers to a room where a furnace-like magic item was operating, just at the adjacent room. Naturally, the door was locked but D could open it because the lock was keyed to the member of the church. There were two guards protecting the magic item inside the room but Viers killed them. They were just level 0s, the church was severely lacking personnel.

Seeing Viers ruthless behavior, lack of hesitation, and seemingly no regard to human lives made Church Boy D question his life continuation despite submitting to the cultist. In a panic reflex, he tried to run away while Viers was killing the two guards and Viers stabbed him through the heart from behind.

“Thank you for your service,” Viers whispered to his ear before D slumped to the floor.

Nothing needed to be said about Church Boy A’s fate, Viers dislike leaving loose ends. At the very least, he killed them cleanly and quickly without making them suffer needlessly. Without suffer more in Church Boy A’s case.

Besides the furnace shaped magic item, there was a mirror showing the fight inside the nave. Viers could see and hear the ongoing fight next room. Viers watched the free educational movie. He’d never seen the battle of level 2s before so Scarlett and Ativan’s bout was broadening his horizon.

It’s hard to gauge how much stronger they are compared with me… but their energy output is no joking matter. Better not pick fights with level 2 if I have no death wish. Hmm, Azure and Soris weren’t doing too bad either.

I didn’t really think about it but what’s the big deal about that holy water anyway? Can’t it be holy earth or holy wind or something? In a cliché pattern, this water would be a cure for my red tumors. I had already a plan for that, thanks to my level 1 advancement but it’s pretty gruesome and damaging. I’d rather not use it if possible. It would be ideal if I could get my hands on that holy water, although the possibility is quite slim at this point.

Scarlett and the other two advantage grew more and more until Ativan shouted. The furnace next to Viers activated and the chains of light bound the cultists.

Viers immediately tried to take control of the furnace. He was relieved that it wasn’t too hard to operate it. Seeing the battle was in cut scene mode where the combatants were being chatty, Viers didn’t immediately cancel the effect. He examined the furnace while half-listening to the television mirror.

Viers found a compartment near the bottom of the furnace and saw tens of Mana-crystals. Viers thought that the crystals must be the fuel of this magic item; he witnessed the crystals dimmed and turned to dust one by one. He took five because he had an itchy hand.

When Angelo shifted the topic of the conversation to him, Viers started paying more attention. When Soris started to lose it, Viers was already responded by changing the target of the chains and break the barrier. He ran out of the room and positioned himself in front of the nave’s entrance. Played the role of the savior and preventing Soris’ outburst.

The timing of Viers entrance was too precise to be a coincidence? Because it wasn’t. It was by design.

He acted like a fool late to the party and let the events continued until their escape. He already decided to kill Soris but he got stabbed in the back by Soris first before he killed him.

Even with five level 1 as his pursuers, he had the contingency plan to survive despite the odds. The tier 2 fire monster core was his answer, he paid quite a sum to turn it into a mighty bomb. The bomb was the size of an apple and the maker assured him it had the power of a level 2 fire Arte. He planned to lure them in, then blast them all to smithereens.

But, the church and the cult faction of his pursuers got relationship issues and broke up. After a bad dinner date, the church-uncles got slapped in the face by the cult-thugs and left crying rivers. In the end, Viers didn’t need to use his expensive bomb.

With only three people as his opponent, Viers changed his plan to human testing. He wanted to test his combat prowess in monster form.

In my middle school, I dissected a frog once. This time, the frog will be the one doing the dissecting. How many frogs died worldwide for the students’ intellectual learning every year? This is the frog’s righteous retribution! They’re bad guys and with a thousand generations of frog spirits watching over me like in St*r Wars IX, I don’t even feel bad killing them.

After his fight, he enacted his plan to kill Soris. He could kill him indirectly but why bother if he could do it that very night? Not to mention letting a snake loose in his vicinity was not good for his mental and biological health. To kill the bastard in a straight forward manner, one avenue was available to Viers, death duel. As long as both parties agreed, the blood contract that preventing cultists kill each other was nulled.

Usually, both parties would decide the time and place but Viers provoked him to agree first! After Soris said the word ‘I agree’ Viers tested his hypothesis by trying to kill him. Not feeling the blood chilling sensation when he tried to kill Wesk in the past, Viers moved to phase two. He activated the sneak attack ring he received way back in the past from the bandit mage and unleashed his first original Arte.

Farley was named as the arbiter but it wasn’t actually necessary. It was more of a tradition than actual rules. As long as the two combatants agreed for the duel to the death, the blood contract won’t activate so the fight was already begun. Viers adhere to the words: all is fair in love and war.

The Arte was based on two things, speed and power. In essence, Viers slashed the enemy with maximum quickness and force. Drawing the sword from its sheath at his hip was the optimal starting point of this technique. A quick draw skill.

It could also be used after the sword out of the sheath, merely it won’t be optimal. The shape of the sword and the sheath were also a factor. Viers wished he had a samurai sword but beggars can’t be choosers so he had to make do with what he has in hand. Nevertheless, Viers pour his greatest effort in constructing this Arte so the power was astounding, twice as powerful as his Water Slash.

This Arte was made with the potential to improve. The stronger Viers became, the more powerful this technique would be. He would keep improving it with his attainment and mastery because this Arte would accompany him to his death.

Arte — Cut the Crap.

So named for cutting anything and everything that became a hindrance in his Path of Power. Walls and obstacles that dared to bar his path shall be regarded as rubbish that should be eliminated. Men, women, kings, emperors, monsters, demons, angels, and beyond.

Cut the Crap… a superb name! I could name it Sea Splitting Slash or Dragon Void Claw or Sun Swallowing Cut or Dimension Slicer BUT! At the end of the day, those techniques with fancy name is just a slash. It’s the user’s capability to turn that simple slash into something more.

With the ring hiding his Arte activation and the Arte swiftness, Soris was bisected from his right upper abdomen to his left shoulder. Cleaved in two!

Blood splattered all around; some of the gallery screamed while the others were unable to find their voice. To make sure Soris was certified no longer amongst the living, Viers stomped on his head and destroyed it like a rat run over by a car.

Farley next to Viers tried to stop him, before killing Soris and after killing him but she was too late in both times.

“…Why?”

“He tried to kill me.”

“…Was the last part necessary?” Farley said after a few seconds of silence.

“I’m just making sure my opponent is really dead. I don’t know what’s the fuss is about. I won, yes? Now all his possession belongs to me, including his corpse.” Viers kept looking at the bloody carcass of a human with cold eyes. Spilled blood and organs didn’t faze him.

Farley clenched her fists, she looked uncomfortable or confused or something else, Viers didn’t understand.

“I’m tired, later then.” Viers left, leaving a bloody trail as he walked.

Four bad guys dead in one night, forty six more to go.

“Cheater!”

“Hm?”

He heard a remark from the peanut gallery, Viers turned around and stared at the speaker. “Cheater? On what basis you say that?”

“You sneak attacked Soris! He was about to determine the time and place of the match!” The speaker was a young boy around his age, a new recruit like Viers himself.

“Of course I know that, I simply destroyed him before he could do so,” Viers shrugged the remark off as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

“…You! Didn’t fight with honor!” The boy pointing his index finger at Viers, trembling with rage. Viers guessed he must be a friend of Soris.

Viers nudged Soris’ carcass with his foot.

“No, perhaps he would. We will never know.”

Before the scuffle could develop further, Gavin the butler approached Farley and delivered a piece of ill news.

“Lady Farley, Lord Bernard was defeated in battle. His condition is critical.”