Cain grit his teeth as he tried knocking the blades back. However, he was unsuccessful in getting most of them.

Some burrowed into his back, drawing blood, others stabbed at his arms and feet.

'Damn it!'

Standing between the two, Nebula gave the man before him a casual glance, then turned his attention to the gasping Baldur.

A strange smile appeared on his face as he walked over to him.

His face was swollen so much, his eyes were completely shut. Yet, Baldur could still sense that there was someone different from the Demon that had done this to him standing over his body.

"Murshd rusfssh bluhf."

Nebula nodded, "I have no idea what you are saying, man."

'Ah, good. It's Nebula.' Baldur thought to himself.

Although he had failed to slay the Demon on his own, he was certain if they joined hands, they would be successful.

However, Nebula's next words shattered all his hope,

"My goodness. You really are quite useless, Baldur. Well, that's what I get for placing hope on some cow."

If his eyes were not swollen shut, they would have turned wide with anger.

Sensing Baldur's reaction, Nebula chuckled and pinned his struggling body under his foot.

Baldur senses something amiss and began struggling even more.

A savage light appeared in Nebula's eyes,

"You must probably be thinking— why? Why is he doing this? What does he stand to gain?"

Nebula chuckled,

"I'll admit you are powerful, Baldur. And you could probably serve as a useful piece in the future. I was ultimately planning on using you for something much bigger in the future. However, your display just now showed me just how dangerous it could be to let rot fester."

He let out a sigh and closed his eyes, basking in the wind.

The air stank of earth and blood.

It brought relief and disgust simultaneously.

"So I must kill you now and save myself the stress later. I must be the only one to rise up. And to rise, I squash everything else beneath me. And that of course, includes my allies."

Nebula turned his dark eyes to Cain,

"Wouldn't you agree?"

Cain spat out a mouthful of blood and raised a brow,

'What the hell is this dude talking about?'

However, ignoring the insane rambling,the could see quite clearly what was going on here even without completely understanding it.

This was a betrayal, much like what Nockt, Night and the others were planning to do. But in this case, he could tell this person's intentions were less than pure.

'This dude is definitely evil.'

His eyes were just like the eyes of an insidious snake lurking in the darkness.

And the blades that filled the sky were its sharp fangs laced with venom.

Cain's expression darkened.

Seeing the lack of reply, Nebula shrugged.

Then he snapped his fingers.

Dozens of the silver blade fell from the sky, impaling right through Baldur.

The Stone Ox King stifled a groan as he tried to summon his defenses again, but Nebula chuckled darkly,

"That's not going to work this time."

The runic patterns on the blades began to glow. The blades suddenly began to blade vibrate at frightening speeds as the energy building up within them skyrocketed.

Cain watched in horror as Baldur's body was pumped full of foreign energy.

His shit eyes widened as his body began to swell uncontrollably.

Seeing this, Cain could no longer take it anymore,

"You damned bastard!" He charged forward.

Nebula smirked, "Too late."

Pop.

The body of Baldur, the Stone Ox King popped like a balloon. Guts, organs, blood, flesh, and skin splattered everywhere.

Cain's eyes widened as he stared at the still beating heart that had landed on his foot.

"That was disgusting, wasn't it?" Nebula said casually as he wiped off the pieces of viscera and blood that had splattered onto his face.

Then he turned right to Cain.

Even with his face covered in blood, he smiled,

"You must be Cain, right?"

Cain fell silent.

Nebula continued,

"I believe we have been chances to meet quite a number of times, but this should be our first official meeting. My name is Nebula. But you can call me the Steel Viper."

Cain sucked in a deep breath.

Then he summoned something from his inventory.

Facing Cain's silence, Nebula raond unfazed,

"To be able to keep up with Baldur that much, I believe you must have a lot of potential. However, there is only so much potential can do. It can only take you so far too. Without sufficient intellect, you are bound to become a stepping stone and a stain on the ground for others to step on." He said this then turned to Baldur's bare skeleton.

Then he chuckled,

"Sadly, the same goes for you too. In reality, I couldn't thank you more. You've done more than you can realize..."

Pulling a regeneration potion from his inventory, Cain downed it all quickly.

Then he dismissed {Eidwyrm}. As his wounds healed, he also dismissed the heavily damaged armor he was wearing, replacing it with something more efficient and neat.

Finally, he turned his gaze to the man before him.

"That was quite the nasty move. I'm honestly impressed."

Nebula raised a brow, then chuckled darkly,

"Why, thank you. I appreciate the praises."

Cain nodded and scratched his head,

"To tell you the truth, I'm really pissed at the moment, but that truly was a smart move— coming in when you figured we were both exhausted of energy. And you wouldn't have been wrong to do that. After all, I can sense you are quite powerful, perhaps just as powerful, if not more powerful than Baldur."

Indeed, he could sense that the man before him was terrifyingly strong.

Still...

Nebula's eyes twitched,

"Is that so..."

Cain nodded, "Yea. But that doesn't matter to me at all. Not one bit. Do you know why?"

Nebula's smile faded away,

"Why?"

Cain's eyes, bloodshot from the pure fury flowing in his veins, glared right into the dark eyes of the Steel Viper,

"Because to me you are already a dead man. Prepare yourself. I will be taking your life now."