“Now you’re scared? Where was that fear when you were devouring people?” Luca’s face wore a smile, but his gaze was chilling.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than he appeared right in front of the Charmed Cat Demon in an instant.
Without hesitation or pause, Luca swung his arm, and the steel rod in his hand came crashing down like a spear!
Thud!
The steel rod pierced through the Charmed Cat Demon’s head, pinning it to the ground. The creature didn’t even have the chance to let out a final cry.
It was killed instantly!
Blood splattered across Luca’s face, still warm.
Combined with the faint smile he maintained, the scene had an eerie, almost sinister air about it.
Luca exhaled deeply.
Even though the Charmed Cat Demon was just an ordinary monster, taking it down felt more satisfying than killing a Lord-level creature.
He had been given a second chance at life, and he couldn’t afford to be careless. This—this moment of justice—was exactly what he lived for.
In his previous life, he had lacked the power to destroy these wicked creatures.
In this life, none of them would escape!
Once his emotions calmed, Luca turned to look at the woman’s corpse lying by the stairwell.
Her clothes were shredded beyond recognition, her face completely devoured, her skin mangled beyond repair. There wasn’t an inch of her body left intact, leaving her unrecognizable.
Based on her skeletal structure and overall build, Luca estimated she was around sixteen years old.
After a moment of thought, he left the construction site and found a phone booth without any surveillance cameras nearby.
He dialed the police.
It’s always easier to let the police handle the aftermath.
Once the call connected, Luca gave the operator a quick rundown of the situation and the location, then hung up.
Pulling his hood over his head, he melted into the crowd, disappearing without a trace in seconds…
Not long after Luca left, the wail of sirens echoed down the distant streets.
Soon after, a fleet of police cars with flashing red and blue lights arrived, quickly sealing off the entire construction site.
The police had received a report about a body discovered, likely killed by a monster. This triggered an immediate response from the higher-ups, with Police Chief Coarmy leading the operation in person. Over a hundred officers had been dispatched, making for an impressive scene!
After surveying the crime scene, the medical examiner removed his mask, sighed, and said, “No doubt about it, this was the work of that monster. Damn beast! The poor girl was only 15 years old…”
Many of the officers hung their heads in guilt upon hearing that.
Some even had tears welling up in their eyes.
The creature had already claimed over a dozen victims, and they still hadn’t managed to find a single lead.
They could only stand by, helpless, as more lives were brutally taken.
And if that monster was left to continue its rampage, there was no telling how many more would die.
Staring at the mangled body of the young girl by the wall.
Coarmy felt as if he had aged a decade. A deep sense of helplessness settled over him.
Their own officers had fallen to this monster—what chance did ordinary citizens have?
Was he supposed to just stand by and watch this creature wreak havoc across Celephais, slaughtering at will?
Just then, an old detective suddenly shouted with excitement, “Chief! Come quick, we’ve made a new discovery!”
Coarmy snapped out of his daze and hurried over, only to stop dead in his tracks.
A few dozen meters away from the corpse, a black cat with three eyes lay pinned to the ground, impaled by a steel rod. Its blood-red eyes were wide open in death, filled with disbelief.
“This… is that monster?! Someone actually killed it?” Coarmy gasped. He had seen footage from his team’s desperate attempts to capture it and was certain this was the creature responsible for the recent killings!
After thoroughly inspecting the scene, Coarmy’s mind raced even more.
As an experienced officer, he quickly noticed more details.
The blood splatters on the wall and the way the steel rod had pierced the ground—they all indicated that whoever killed this monster was far from ordinary!
To kill such a terrifying creature with nothing but a steel rod… who could this person be?
“Could it have been one of those… enhanced humans?” Coarmy muttered to himself.
As the chief of the Celephais Police Department, he was privy to information most people weren’t.
He knew about the sudden mutations in both humans and monsters.
While much of the information was classified, Coarmy’s position allowed him to know things the general public could never imagine.
“Either way, the monster is dead.” Coarmy let out a long sigh of relief as he gazed at the Charmed Cat Demon’s lifeless body. discover stories on NovelFirem-pyr
The creature had caused such a commotion that even higher authorities had taken notice.
If it had gone on any longer, Coarmy’s position would have been in serious jeopardy.
It didn’t matter who had killed the monster—what mattered to him was that it was finally over.
But the thought that someone could kill this creature, when even their firearms had failed, was deeply unsettling. The potential threat posed by such a person was far greater than the creature itself!
Coarmy’s expression hardened as he gave a firm order: “Find them! No matter what it takes, we need to uncover this person’s identity!”
…
Little did Luca know, the casual report he had made to the police was about to stir up a massive storm in Celephais.
At that moment, he was already back home, slipping into his gaming pod once more.
[Ding! Welcome, player ‘Luca,’ to Eternal World!]
The familiar game prompt appeared, followed by a flash of light.
When Luca opened his eyes again, he found himself standing in the plaza of Southwind City’s Inner District.
Red Maple Academy was only a few streets away, so Luca decided to walk instead of calling for a carriage.
As he made his way through Southwind City, he noticed a significant increase in players, many of whom were quite high-level. Most likely, these players had reached level 20 and had traveled from various cities in the Southern Territory to reach this bustling hub.
Luca didn’t think much of it at first, but then he unexpectedly ran into a group of familiar faces.
From a distance, he spotted Celephais, Dien, and their crew, looking disheveled and worn out, almost like beggars.
Luca blinked and couldn’t resist teasing them, “Well, well, if it isn’t Celephais! How did you end up looking like this after just a few days?”
It was clear that Celephais and the players from The World Guild had only recently arrived in Southwind City, and they’d had a rough time getting there.
Aside from Celephais and Dien, who were still clad in their leather armor, the rest of the group were dressed in nothing but thin, tattered rags.
It wasn’t hard to guess—they must’ve been ambushed and robbed by bandits during their journey through the wilderness.
Hearing Luca’s words, Celephais and the others were stunned for a moment before turning their attention to him.
As soon as they recognized who was speaking, their eyes turned bloodshot with rage.
Celephais, laughing bitterly in his fury, said, “Well, well, well! Luca! You’ve got guts! I was planning to come find you, but here you are, walking right into my hands!”
With a sweeping gesture, he barked, “Surround him! Whoever kills this bastard gets 5 million!”
Hearing that, even Luca was taken aback.
He had no idea his life was worth that much—it almost made him want to kill himself just to collect the bounty! freewebnvel.com
The players from The World Guild, already seething with hatred for Luca, swarmed toward him like a pack of wolves, their eyes gleaming at the thought of that massive reward.
“Ha! Luca, I didn’t think I’d see the day you’d be cornered like this!” Dien laughed heartily, clearly reveling in Luca’s apparent predicament.
Dien had been nursing a deep grudge against Luca for the past few days.
Getting exiled from Riverfall City had been a nightmare for him.
He thought that joining another city would be a simple matter, with no major setbacks.
But after the sudden outbreak of the monster horde, the nearby cities around Riverfall had been flooded with refugees and were no longer accepting newcomers.
They had tried to enter several cities, only to be turned away at every single one.
In the end, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and make the arduous journey to Southwind City.
But that was just the beginning of their misery.
On the road to Southwind City, they were relentlessly attacked by monsters, bandits, marauders, and even roving mobs of vagrants. They suffered immensely—Celephais had been killed four times, and Dien had lost track of how many times he’d died.
The one responsible for all their suffering stood right before them, the boy they now faced. How could they not be angry? How could they not hate him?
As the players from The World Guild encircled him, Luca’s expression remained unchanged.
With a faint, mocking smile, he said, “Are you sure you want to try and take me down here?”
At that moment, the guards from Red Maple Academy had already started approaching.
Their expressions were hostile, and their hands rested on their weapons, ready to act.
The players’ faces quickly shifted. The familiar sight stirred old memories.
In their rage, they had momentarily forgotten—Luca was now a mentor at Red Maple Academy, a position that granted him immense status in Southwind City.
Seeing that The World Guild players had cooled off, Luca chuckled and gave Celephais a playful slap on the cheek. “Smart choice. I’ll let you off the hook this time.”
Without caring about Celephais’ bloodshot, rage-filled eyes, Luca turned and made his way toward Red Maple Academy.
Celephais wanted him dead, but Luca had no intention of sparing Celephais either.
The scum from the James Family—even a thousand deaths wouldn’t satisfy his hatred!
The game had just begun, and they would take their time.
As Luca’s figure disappeared into the distance.
Celephais clenched his fists, gritting his teeth so hard that his jaw ached. The shame and anger nearly consumed him.
He knew that, at least in the game, there was nothing he could do to Luca.
That’s why he had put a bounty out for Luca’s real-world identity.
But the frustration of having his enemy right in front of him, yet being powerless to act, was almost unbearable.
Celephais had never suffered such humiliation in his life.
Dien, attempting to console him, said, “Don’t worry, Master Celephais. Let him enjoy his moment. Once we find out who he really is in the real world, we’ll make him kneel and beg for mercy!”
“Useless fool! Get lost!” Celephais roared, delivering a hard slap across Dien’s face. His fury didn’t diminish in the slightest.
He had spent so much money, only to end up surrounded by a bunch of worthless idiots, and now this failure had the nerve to speak?!
Just then, a raspy woman’s voice suddenly sounded behind Celephais.
“I can help you kill him, but I need money,” she said.
Celephais’ expression darkened as he turned to look. A figure in a black robe was walking toward him.
The robe concealed the person’s identity.
But Celephais was surprised to see a similar rage and hatred burning in her eyes—just like his own.
This was a kindred spirit.
In an instant, Celephais had already made his judgment.
Still, he didn’t answer immediately. Narrowing his eyes, he asked, “And why should I trust you?”
The hooded figure lifted her head, revealing a haggard woman’s face.
It was Lina Franco.
Her eyes were filled with venomous hatred as she spoke. “Because he killed my husband and my son. Is that reason enough?”