Reign's words echoed in the chamber as he stood over the defeated Wardens' leader, his expression unyielding. The man writhed in agony on the ground, his limbs twisted and broken, his face contorted with pain.
"You… you're a monster," the man gasped between clenched teeth, his voice strained with pain and hatred.
Reign's gaze remained steady as he looked down at his fallen opponent. "Perhaps," he replied calmly, "but I'm a monster with a purpose, unlike you, who prey on the innocent for your own gain, I fight to protect them."
"And don't worry, those you have tormented will finally have a place to call home, and those who had been by your side till now will rot in hell, just like you."
With a swift motion, Reign delivered a final blow, beheading the tall man. He then turned away, his attention shifting to the rest of the base.
Meanwhile, Jin faced off against the thin man, their battle reaching a fever pitch as spells clashed and magic crackled in the air. Despite the thin man's formidable abilities, Jin held his ground, his fists blazing with energy as he countered each spell with precision and skill.
Each time the thin man cast a spell, Jin's fist would strike forward, either striking straight at the man or hitting his spell, not allowing it to get close to him.
"You're stronger than you were before," the thin man commented, sweat beading on his brow as he struggled to maintain his composure.
Jin nodded, his expression focused. "No, in fact, I am as strong as I was before, I was just unable to utilize my full strength when going up against two of you, not to mention that you two bastards also used innocent people as shields multiple times in the past."
Jin's face darkened as he thought back to the battles he had against the two men.
The first battle they had happened quite a while ago when Jin had just reached Tier III.
The two men had actually reached Tier III before him, and they had already been ruling over a part of the forest when Jin arrived and created a new base there.
They attacked ferociously, attacking with their large numbers, and the two leaders went straight at him, eager to rip him apart.
They were both confident, after all, that they had already been Tier III combatants for over a week, almost two weeks at that point, and believed that if they attacked together, they could definitely defeat another Tier III combatant.
Jin didn't come out unscathed out of that battle, but neither did the two of them. In fact, they might have been able to win that day had they not been cowardly, not willing to fight after gaining some injuries and realizing that Jin was not a weakling.
Both men were bastards and valued their lives and health above anything, thus they called their men back and retreated.
The second time they fought, however, Jin was more prepared, and he was stronger.
Unfortunately, both the second and third time they fought, the two men had brought their 'slaves' with them and even went as far as using some of them as human shields in order to make Jin and his men hesitant to attack them, which almost allowed them to win against Jin and the Dawnbreakers the second time they fought.
Now, however, they not only did not have access to the people they had captured, but they were also unable to use their higher numbers to fight against them.
Jin stared at the thin man with fury as he clenched his fists and got ready to finish the battle, which was exactly when the thin man noticed Reign.
Upon doing so, he glanced around, slightly shocked, as well as fearful of what might have happened to the tall man.
"Looking for this?" Reign asked as he suddenly moved his right hand, which had been behind his back, and was holding the severed head of the tall man.
"I don't know about you, but I think I prefer him this way, he's more obedient, as well as quiet like this." Reign said as he glanced at the severed head before throwing it at the thin man who didn't attempt to catch it or anything.
The only thing that was on his mind was the fact that Reign won, as well as the fact that he looked … clean.
He was too clean, too unbothered, and there were no injuries on his body, not even a bruise.
The thin man immediately knew what that meant.
The tall man, his partner and the only person of their faction that was on his level had been killed effortlessly by the young man, unable to even land a proper hit on him.
His eyes trembled, as did his entire body, and for a moment, he was stunned, unable to say a thing, only suddenly moving as he felt Jin move, attacking him.
"W-wait!" The thin man yelled out as he conjured a shield of dark energy and smoke to block Jin's attack while sliding back.
"I – I think we-"
"There won't be any talking, there won't be any bartering, you will soon meet your friend, as well as all the people that had acted as your subordinates, don't worry about that." Reign said with a smile so cold that it sent shivers down the spine of the thin man.
Jin didn't stop, he agreed with Reign and his words, these people were not fit to be called human, even calling them monsters was not quite right as most monsters act out of instinct, but these people had decided to do what they had done just because they liked it, because they found it fun.
Today, no mercy will be shown, and no prisoners will be taken.
Every single member of the 'Wardens' will be killed.
In fact, there will be prisoners taken, but not in the way one would think.
Reign was the one that would do it, in fact, he had already been doing it for quite a bit.
He was taking the souls of every member of the 'Wardens' that died during the battle, and he would have them interrogated by Aethion, all of their secrets laid bare to him.
The thin man tried to retaliate, but Jin was relentless. With a series of precise strikes and powerful blows, Jin overwhelmed the thin man, his attacks too fast and too strong to be countered. The thin man staggered back, his defenses crumbling under Jin's assault.
He couldn't do anything, no spell that was strong enough to do anything to Jin would be cast quickly enough to matter, and no fast spell was able to so much as damage Jin.
Out of desperation, and because of the fact he knew that he wouldn't survive this day, the thin man suddenly clenched his staff before smacking his head with it.
The staff suddenly broke, a ghostly wail coming from it while dark energy started coming out of the staff, escaping its confines and suddenly entering the thin man's body.
The staff he had in his hands was an SS rank weapon, a special one at that.
By breaking it, as the thin man had done, one would gain an immense boost to their overall stats, as well as the special powers of the staff itself, for a period of time.
The thin man knew he didn't have much time before the effect would wear off, and now, without his best weapon present, it seemed that the thin man was bound to be defeated quickly, only for him to suddenly take out another staff from his spatial ring, this one also an SS rank staff, but a lower quality one compared to the broken staff that was now on the ground in pieces.
The thin man's desperation was palpable as he wielded his new staff, unleashing a barrage of spells with renewed vigor. Jin dodged and countered, but the thin man's attacks were faster and more powerful than before.
But that was not all.
Reign could sense the mana that was being gathered inside the staff, each time he cast a spell, a portion of the mana used would actually stay inside. The thin man was simultaneously casting spells while casting another one secretly, not showing it on the surface.
Whatever the spell was, it seemed quite powerful from the mana signature that Reign was sensing, and yet, he didn't move a muscle.
He had full faith in Jin, and he didn't want to interfere and bring the man down, making him believe that he couldn't finish the battle without any help.
The thin man was much calmer, much more calculating, and more dangerous than the tall man.
Just as he finished casting another spell, the thin man suddenly pointed the staff at Jin with a sly smirk on his face.
A giant mana circle suddenly appeared behind him, about 3 meters in diameter.
The magic circle was ominous and even Reign felt slightly threatened by it.
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