CHAPTER 98: THE HUNTER AND THE HUNTED

Words weren’t needed to explain the plot at play.

With Marcus and the elves turning on one of their own, their identities were laid bare.

They were the most feared spies of the demonic creatures.

"What a nasty surprise."

When Ray first learned—thanks to Lia’s insight—that spies of the demonic races could be hiding among the seekers, he had mentally prepared himself for the possibility of facing them one day, but he hadn’t expected it to happen this soon, nor in a situation where he was unable to rely on his two strongest skills.

As a result, he felt caught off guard.

"Damn it," He cursed under his breath. "I am wholly unprepared for such a confrontation."

Lia shared his sentiments.

After all, she had tried to shoot down Marcus and the elves, but her innate power simply refused to bloom, leaving her feeling devastated.

She had relied on that power to win nearly all her major battles so far. Without it, she had no confidence of even taking on one of the spies to lessen Ray’s burden!

"The Metal King Slime is sealed in the mirror dimension. The Reptilia is dead. Only two more targets remain," Faelar said.

"Seeing as how they did nothing but watch as we killed the Reptilia, should I assume you have already marked them with the curse of weakness?" Seliana asked, glancing at Marcus.

He stared back at her and nodded.

"The noble with the rare rank seal won’t be able to use his skills for the next ten minutes. As for the elven princess, she won’t be able to rely on her greatest strength for the same amount of time."

His transformation came to an end as he spoke. His demonic spirit vanished into his Niwan Palace.

"Cursing them so severely must’ve drained you of all your magic power," Seliana said.

"Damn right it did," Marcus said before continuing in a manner of speech befitting his arrogant nature, "I’ve already helped place the fishes on the chopping board. I won’t fight in the next battle."

"Sure. You can leave the chopping to us."

Marcus, Faelar, and Seliana were loud, not even bothering to hide a thing, making it clear that Ray and Lia had recognized them correctly.

Their task was a simple one. They were to cut down any iron or bronze ranker who—if they were allowed to survive and be given enough time to grow—could one day rise into formidable powerhouses capable of threatening, obstructing, or even shattering the carefully laid grand plans of their masters.

They were always rewarded every time they succeeded and turned in the heads of their victims to their masters.

Power, resources, beauty, wealth, rare treasures—their masters granted all of these things to them whenever they accomplished what was demanded.

The Reptilia had been a threat of that scale, so they killed it without remorse to earn the favour of their masters.

Ray and Lia were also too dangerous to be left alive. So they had every intention of killing them as well, because by doing so they would have eliminated three future threats in a single day, and it would cement their place as indispensable tools in the hearts of their masters.

This change would help them ensure their survival in the inevitable future in which the demonic races would’ve become the rulers of the cosmos.

After all, once that happened, the ones who had shown their loyalty through blood and slaughter would be allowed to stand proudly at the side of the demonic creatures, sharing in the glory and dominion of the victors while the defeated races were trampled into dust!

"I see... so that’s how it is." Ray had been eavesdropping, so he realized what was going on. "I can’t use my skills because I am cursed."

Marcus had used his power to render his Dragon Fire Magic and Azure Wind Skills ineffective, but his curse didn’t extend beyond that, meaning Ray could still use Lightning Step as well as the skills available to him via the system’s [Skill Sharing] function.

Just to confirm it, Ray opened his character panel to check the changes.

Name: Ray

Race: Heavenly Being (Nascent)

Racial Trait: Sixth Sense

Level: 30

Total EXP: 200,000

EXP Required to Level Up: 350,000

Rank: Iron Rank 4

Beast Taming Seal: Eclipse Devouring Seal (1-star)

Strength: 16

Stamina: 11/17

Agility: 50

Soul Quality: 230

Magic Power: 0/2700

Magic Power Regeneration: 15 units per second

Stamina Regeneration: 1 unit every hour

SP: 0

Traits: Lightning Step, Passive Stamina Recovery, Consecutive Lucky Shots

Skills: Beast Taming (Lv.1), Fire Dragon Magic (Lv.2), Azure Wind (Lv.2), Weapon Refining (Lv.2), Destiny Swap (Lv.1)

Debuffs: Curse of Weakness — You have been cursed by a warlock. The curse restricts you from using Fire Dragon Magic and Azure Wind. Once the curse is broken, you can use those skills again. The method to break the curse is to kill the caster.

After going through the new information displayed on his character panel, Ray realized he could regain his strength by killing Marcus.

"He will be the first to go down," he decided in his mind.

He beamed as Faelar and Seliane approached him and Lia.

"Why are you smiling?"

The elves were shocked to see him smile.

Faelar narrowed his eyes while Seliane’s body stiffened as a sense of great unease gripped her heart.

Meanwhile, Marcus misread everything, believing Ray was only putting on a show to delay the inevitable.

"I am smiling because you fucked up big time."

Ray’s words had barely fallen when he vanished.

It startled everyone present, especially Marcus, who was confident he had subdued Ray in every possible way.

His reaction was the most intense. His eyes bulged so far they looked like they might pop out of their sockets, his jaw slackened, and his entire face twisted into sheer disbelief.

He had considered Ray to be nothing more than a rare-rank seal holder. By blocking two of his skills and trapping one of his tamed creatures in the mirror dimension, he believed Ray couldn’t do much to fight back. He had never expected that Ray had another trump card hidden up his sleeve. Clearly, he had greatly underestimated him!

"I have taken things too lightly. I won’t make the same mistake again," Marcus thought to himself.

"Where did he go?"

As the spies frantically searched for Ray, he appeared behind Marcus.

"Watch out!"

Seliane’s warning came too late.

Ray’s metalized fist had already landed on the back of Marcus’s head.

Because of mixing the Consecutive Lucky Shots trait with the Fortification skill, his fist carried a force comparable to the maximum power a peak physical-type demonic creature specializing in strength and speed could display.

The outcome of being hit by such a terrifying fist was obvious.

Boom!

Blood sprayed out as Marcus’s head exploded like a smashed melon, but no kill notification sounded.

"Destroying his head is not enough to kill him? I will destroy his body then. Let’s see if he can survive that. Hmph!" Ray struck again and again, his fists exploding flesh and bone into smithreens.

In no time, Marcus was reduced to nothing more than the blood mist that could be seen lingering in the air.

♦️ You have killed the caster.

♦️ Debuff [Curse of Weakness] has been lifted.

♦️ Skills [Fire Dragon Magic] and [Azure Wind] can now be used again.

"Impossible! That human cur... he actually killed Marcus!" Faelar said, disbelief and rage painting his face.

Marcus’s death didn’t hit him as hard as it hit Seliane.

Watching him being brutally reduced to a most of blood, her face went pale as she staggered back in shock, her hands trembling. "No... no, this can’t be. Marcus subdued his powers. We sealed his king type battle companion. How could he still crush him like that?"

She shivered as Ray’s gaze fell upon her.

"It’s your turn next," he mouthed, smiling deviously.

Seliane could read lips.

At his threat, her legs turned to jelly.

Her fear wasn’t without cause.

Ray could teleport, and his raw strength rivalled a peak bronze rank demonic beast. She couldn’t survive such a dreadful man. If he wanted her dead, she could only die a painful and pitiful death like Marcus, and that thought overwrote every bit of her strong and cunning personality, reducing her to a pathetic mess with no self-control.

She collapsed on the spot, her bladder betraying her as a puddle of piss formed beneath her because of the fear overwhelming her.

"No no no! I don’t want to end up like Marcus!"

In desperation, she lunged towards Lia, wanting to seize her as a hostage to keep death away.

But she didn’t know she was making a grave mistake.

The curse that had shackled Lia dispersed the moment Marcus was killed, meaning she could use her innate power again.

She had sensed it dissipating so she knew she was capable of using her innate power again.

"I won’t let you use me to hold him back," she sneered, immediately making a move to escape the fate of falling into the clutches of evil.