"Hehehehahaha~"

A Death Cultist giggled with her unhinged laughter echoing against the jagged mountain walls.

She crouched low on the uneven rocky path as her dark eyes were fixed intently on the cold stone below her boots.

There, glistening under the fading afternoon light, was a singular drop of blood. It was small, a tiny crimson speck that would be easy to miss if you weren’t actively searching for it...

She tilted her head.

The blood had splattered in a wide, scattered pattern. It had fallen from a high altitude, suggesting someone had passed through this stretch of air rather than just walking across the ground.

"I knew it," she muttered with a grin stretching across her pale face. "They must be nearby. Hehehe~"

She leaned her face closer to the stone and then she reached out a dirt-stained hand and placed her bare finger directly onto the red droplet.

Pressing her skin against the cold rock, she scooped the thick liquid up.

’I will use my ability to Soul Tether to find them and then have their heads’ She thought with her grin widening until her teeth showed.

It was a terrifying, specialized tracking skill. By consuming the blood, or even a personal item owned by the person she wanted to find, she could track their very soul.

It bypassed stealth magic, invisibility, and distance.

She brought her stained finger to her chapped lips and pushed it into her mouth. She tasted the warm, metallic tang of the blood.

It tasted sweet as it was packed tight with an incredible density of soul energy.

"Haan~" She moaned with her eyes rolling back into her head from the rich flavor.

She tethered to the unique energy signature immediately. Her mind expanded, casting out an invisible net across the mountain pass, searching for the exact location of the person who bled. She felt the tug of the tether. It pointed straight up.

The target was above... her?

Before she could process the sudden realization, something sharp cut down from the sky.

A silver blade flashed in the dim light. It slashed clean through the Cultist’s neck, separating her head from her shoulders in one seamless motion.

The severed head shot forward, tumbling and rolling rapidly across the rough mountain stone. It finally came to a stop near a puddle, still wearing that half-surprised, blissful expression and her tongue still stained with red.

Before the headless body could begin spouting out a geyser of blood from the severed stump, Klaus dropped from his vantage point. He reached out, took firm hold of her dark cloak, and ripped the fabric away.

He let the ruined body fall hard onto the rocky ground, leaving it to bleed out over the stones.

’This will attract monsters roaming in the surrounding area to this location...’ Klaus thought, folding the stolen cloak over his arm.

Over the past hour that he had left Neo and Seo behind in the cavern, he had been busy. He didn’t just sit around waiting.

He had been hunting, tracking down a lone cultist in order to take their uniform cloak for camouflage but he hadn’t just hunted; he had also listened in.

He had hidden in the shadows of the high peaks, using his enhanced senses to eavesdrop on the cultist patrol groups.

The intelligence he gathered was grim. The main path, the exact route their carriage had taken to arrive at this treacherous location, was apparently being heavily monitored by a Third being.

They spoke of her in hushed fearful whispers. She was on the exact same power level as the Heir Of Death, and they referred to her as the Crimson Starshooter.

She was a Zombie... An undead sniper that simply did not have the conceptual ability to miss a target.

If she saw them trying to escape down that path, it was wraps.

They would be dead before they heard the gunshot. The cultists had mentioned that one of her shots could easily break straight through high-tier defensive magic and because she was on the level of the Heir Of Death, naturally Klaus wouldn’t be able to match her in a straight fight.

’Maybe the Protagonist could handle her though...’ Klaus thought, a grim frown touching his lips. ’But that is a problem for him and Seo to brave.’

He had to focus on his own survival. His mind drifted to his depleted resources as the phantom anger bubbled up again.

’My high quality potion... all of it down the drain,’ He thought. ’And now my sources of healing are go—’

A sudden chime echoed in his head as glowing blue text materialized directly in his field of vision.

「The Goddess Of Light, Luneth fears for your safety」

「You have been bestowed a Blessing from a Goddess」

「Blessing: Divine Healing」

「Tier: 3」

「Description: As long as there is mana in the air, it is your friend. All of your wounds will be healed, the more deeper they are, the slower they will heal but eventually all ailments that plague you will begone」

Klaus blinked, staring at the floating words.

"Huh?" Klaus muttered aloud to the empty mountain pass.

He waited for a voice but there was no reply. The blue text just hovered there for a few seconds before fading away into the wind.

’What did she mean, fear for my safety?’ Klaus wondered with his brow furrowing. ’Do I know her or something...?’

He racked his brain, digging through his memories.

Then, it clicked. He remembered that she had bestowed him a specific trait a while ago. It happened right after he nearly died in that Partial Resource Dungeon, right after Kahn attacked and he stepped in and saved Serra but still, receiving a direct Tier 3 Blessing out of nowhere was insane.

’Does this mean that I am some sort of Protagonist or something?’ he thought, looking down at his hands

Regardless of the divine politics, Klaus was intensely grateful. A heavy weight lifted off his chest. Now he didn’t have to be constantly pissed off about losing his best healing item to Neo’s stupidity.

Especially when he possessed a Tier 3 Blessing.

There were massive differences between Blessings and Spells, after all. Spells were a natural process, using the ambient mana in the air to cast magical phenomena based on your specific elemental affinity but Blessings were different. They bypassed the rules. They were bestowed upon you directly by higher beings.

The Goddess Luneth was a higher god, sitting far above the numerous lower gods that populated the pantheons... Having her direct favor was a game-changer.

GROWL~

A low, guttural snarl vibrated against the rocks, snapping Klaus out of his thoughts.

Immediately, Klaus jumped straight up.

He channeled mana into the soles of his boots, flipping in mid-air and pressing his feet flat against the underside of a protruding rocky formation.

He hung upside down, pushing a steady stream of mana into his legs to remain standing against the jagged ceiling, perfectly hidden in the shadows.

Below him, a massive monster stalked out from the side of the mountain, looking around the pass.

It approached the bleeding corpse of the cultist and the monster was a giant wolf, possessing thick white fur that was stained with dirt and dried gore.

Its piercing crimson eyes locked onto the fresh meat and Klaus studied the beast’s movements. This one had a badly wounded back leg.

It staggered and dragged its paw across the stone, so it was most probably wounded from a recent territorial fight.

That was good enough for him.

He was planning to kill a few monsters anyway. Traversing through the rough, rocky mountain area for days would require some food.

Soon after they escaped, he would probably be in the nearest human town, assuming the Cult actually let him slip through their fingers and from there, he would start the long journey back to Galen.

’All of this stress...’ Klaus thought.

The wolf settled its massive weight directly atop the headless corpse, opening its jaws to take a bite of the fresh flesh. As it moved, it caught a faint scent and the beast paused, snapping its head up and turning its gaze toward the rocky ceiling.

It noticed Klaus hanging there but it was already too late.

Klaus released his mana grip on the ceiling and dove straight down. He fell like a meteor, aiming his sword directly at the beast.

He pierced the blade straight down into the center of the wolf’s head as he focused all his downward motion and kinetic force into that single, precise point.

The sharp steel punched through the thick bone. The brain was instantly destroyed inside its skull and the beast didn’t even have time to register the pain. It went limp, the massive body remaining intact as the dead wolf fell over to the side with a heavy thud.

’If I am going to hunt some monsters, the meat needs to be appetizing...’ Klaus reminded himself.

He couldn’t have the wolf’s blood tainting the meat or spilling all over the rocks and attracting even worse predators.

Immediately, before the massive wound could start bleeding in earnest, he pressed his hand against the fur and channeled his magic.

The giant carcass vanished, safely stored inside his spatial storage ring.

Klaus bent his knees and jumped back up, landing lightly on top of the rocky formation to survey the area.

As he looked down the winding path, his Metal Sense flared.

He could feel the distinct vibration of metal boots hitting the stone, rushing rapidly toward him. He looked past a jagged spire and saw a familiar figure.

Seo was jumping from rocky platform to rocky platform, her cloak tearing against the wind as she rushed in his exact direction.

’What the hell?’ Klaus thought as his eyes widened in pure confusion. ’Isn’t she supposed to be with Neo?’

He climbed higher up the rocky formation, securing his footing.

A moment later, Seo cleared the final gap and landed right on the formation next to him. She stumbled forward, dropping her hands to her knees as she let out a few deep ragged breaths.

"You went really far," Seo panted, looking up at him with wide eyes. "Haah... I was really worried about you. Haah."

Klaus stared at her. He felt a sudden urge to laugh out loud.

’Worried about me?’ he thought, raising an eyebrow. ’What kind of stupid talk was that...?’

She had literally sold him out to a death cult just hours ago. Now she was worried about his well-being?

The noble didn’t give him time to voice his sarcasm.

She collapsed forward, going onto her knees immediately. She bowed her head forward until her forehead rested flat against the cold, dirty ground striking the posture of a lowly commoner begging a king.

"I’m very sorry about what Neo did," Seo said as her voice shook with genuine panic. "I promise if we leave here, I’ll pay you back twenty... no, a hundred times more... just please don’t leave me behind."

Klaus looked down at the top of her head. The wind howled through the pass, tossing her fine hair around. He ran the numbers in his head.

A hundred times the value of a high-tier healing potion was an astronomical sum of gold so he was silent for a long moment.

"Sure," Klaus finally said.

He wasn’t forgiving Neo.

The Protagonist was still on his list, and that grudge wasn’t going anywhere but massive piles of money were the best way to move forward in this world and he would take it, even if it wasn’t his.

Seo lifted her head, relief washing over her dirt-streaked face.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her eyes darting past his boots to the valley floor below.

Several new monsters were already gathering around the decapitated cultist’s corpse. They were very different from the lone wolf from earlier.

These were giant, mutated rabbits, standing as tall as a man’s waist, with thick, muscular legs and jaws filled with jagged teeth.

Klaus leaned down, putting a finger to his lips.

"Shh," he whispered. "I’m hunting."

Seo blinked, looking at him with utter confusion. "Didn’t you have packed food in your inventory?" she asked softly.

Klaus blinked. He froze. He stood there on the rock, staring at her, and almost fell over.

The realization hit him like a physical blow. He had been so stressed out, so consumed by the need to survive, manage Neo’s idiocy, and escape the cult base, that he had genuinely forgotten.

Mirela had packed food for him before he left the town. He still had several fresh, high-quality meals stored perfectly inside his ring.

He didn’t need to do anything like hunting desperate, mutated monsters in the dark.

He looked back down. The giant rabbits bit viciously into the body of the Cultist, tearing massive chunks of flesh away and swallowing the dark clothes, the bones, and all the gore in single, ravenous gulps.

More of the terrifying creatures came hopping out from the shadows of the rocks, drawn by the smell of blood.

"Let’s go back," Klaus said flatly, turning his shoulder to the pass.

However, Seo didn’t move. She looked down at the swarm of giant rabbits with her hands trembling slightly, and then looked back up at him.

"You were hunting them, right?" Seo asked, her voice tight. "Can’t we hunt them together?"

Klaus frowned as he thought about it and Seo sighed.

Seo was incredibly tired... She was mentally stressed out to her breaking point. Her entire view of the world had been violently shattered within the past few hours. She was still trying to comprehend the sheer horror of it all.

Right now, the sun was setting behind the peaks, casting long, dark shadows over the mountains, which meant it would be pitch-black night soon but all she wanted to do was to stay here. She wanted to stay close to the person she saw as the most prepared and the most capable of keeping her breathing.

Sure, Neo was technically stronger. He possessed multiple elemental affinities, and he had recently awakened a rare, powerful holy affinity.

He had even knelt down and asked to be her sworn Hero.

’But all throughout today...’ Seo thought, her eyes locking onto Klaus’s broad back. ’My Hero was actually Klaus.’

Klaus looked back at the ravenous rabbits tearing the corpse apart. He sighed, rolling his neck until it cracked.

"Fuck it, let’s go," Klaus said.

He wasn’t entirely comfortable being around Seo but since he already had real food, he could still hunt these monsters to store their meat in case they needed distraction bait later.

Klaus looked at her empty hands.

"Do you have any weapons?" he asked. "You aren’t allowed to use spells. The flash of magic will alert the cultists."

"I don’t," Seo admitted, shaking her head. "But I do know how to use a shortsword."

Immediately, a small flash of white light illuminated the rock between them. A sleek, high-quality shortsword appeared hovering in front of her.

She reached out and grabbed the hilt, testing the weight. He dropped down from the rocky formation wordlessly, falling toward the swarm below.

Seo gripped her sword tightly, swallowed her fear, and dropped down right behind him.

The moment Klaus’s boots slammed into the mountain path, the kinetic force of his landing cracked the stone, sending a shockwave that kicked up a dense cloud of dust.

Five giant rabbits snapped their heads toward him, their jaws dripping with the cultist’s blood. They shrieked, a horrible, high-pitched sound and launched themselves forward on powerful hind legs.

Klaus didn’t wait for them to close the distance.

He exploded forward in a blur of motion. Klaus ducked under a massive, swiping claw from the first rabbit, pivoting on his heel as his silver sword flashed in the dying light, slicing a perfect, horizontal arc.

SHLUCK!

He decapitated the first beast instantly, sending its massive head spinning into the rocks as thick blood painted the grey stone path crimson.

A second rabbit leaped at his blind spot with jaws wide open.

Before Klaus could turn, a flash of steel intercepted the beast. Seo landed, sliding across the rough stone on her knees.

She thrust her shortsword upward, catching the falling rabbit directly under its jaw. The blade sank deep, piercing its brain and she ripped the sword out and rolled away, dodging the falling, twitching carcass.

"Watch your left!" Klaus shouted, already moving to his next target.

"I know!" Seo yelled back as adrenaline flooding her veins.

The sheer speed of the fight escalated.

They moved through the swarm with terrifying efficiency. Klaus used his Metal Sense to track the little iron in the blood spraying through the air, anticipating the monsters’ movements before they even twitched.

He dashed between two lunging rabbits, spinning his blade in a dual-strike that hamstrung both of them, dropping them to the floor for Seo to finish off with quick, precise stabs.

Blood pooled across the path, slick and treacherous under their boots and suddenly, a shadow fell over them..

A larger rabbit, twice the size of the others that had been hunting silently along the vertical walls of the narrow pass appeared.

It possessed dark grey fur that blended perfectly with the stone, and it crawled down the cliff face like a terrifying mutated spider.

It pushed off the wall, dropping like a meteor right toward Klaus’s head.

Klaus felt the air pressure change and he looked up with his eyes widening. He raised his sword horizontally, gripping the flat of the blade with his free hand to brace for impact.

CLANG!

The giant rabbit slammed into his guard, its massive claws striking the steel. The kinetic force drove Klaus to one knee, cracking the stone beneath his boot.

Sparks flew into the dark air as the claws scraped against the metal but Klaus gritted his teeth, pushing back with immense leg strength.

He threw the beast off balance and immediately lunged forward, thrusting his sword directly at its exposed chest.

But the giant rabbit was unnaturally fast. It twisted its torso in mid-air, bending its spine at a sickening angle to dodge the fatal stab.

The blade only grazed its side, drawing a thin line of blood. The beast hit the ground, coiling its massive hind legs to launch a counterattack.

"Not happening..." Klaus growled.

In the next instant, he channeled a surge of mana directly into his arms and the blade. He didn’t thrust; he pivoted, putting his entire body weight into a devastating, wide swing.

SHWAAK!

The mana-infused blade cut through the air, singing a deadly note. It struck the giant rabbit directly in the waist and tore straight through muscle, bone, and spine without slowing down.

He cleaved it perfectly in half.

The top half of the beast flew backward, crashing into the canyon wall, while the bottom half collapsed onto the stone path, spilling steaming guts and dark gore all over the rocks.

The pass suddenly went dead quiet, save for the heavy breathing of the two fighters. The remaining smaller rabbits, seeing their massive leader butchered so effortlessly, scattered into the shadows, fleeing for their lives.

Klaus stood amidst the carnage.

He raised his sword and gave it a sharp flick, snapping the thick blood off the steel. The red droplets splattered against the rock wall then he turned back to look at Seo.

She was covered in dirt and monster blood, panting heavily, but her eyes were bright.

Klaus sighed, looking at the mess.

"Why don’t we head back?" Klaus asked.