"Who the fuc—?!"

The student wanted to curse and see with his own two eyes the person who dared to scare him like this. He has had enough of being bullied. For making fun of him, he would kill whoever this person is.

But before he could turn, a sharp slicing sound rang as the branch collapsed on him.

"Arghk..."

He landed hard against the ground.

It was quite a steep drop right on his tailbone.

Normal people would no doubt be paralyzed from the drop; fortunately, he’s a Supernal.

Gritting his teeth, the student slammed his hands against the mud, creating a mud hammer in his hand, and rose to his feet. He glared at the unfamiliar person across from him with dark eyes and charged.

Just after taking a step forward, a sudden momentum dragged him back.

Out of nowhere, Kai already covered the distance between them and struck the mud hammer.

It shattered the moment it collided with his scimitar, reverting back to mud.

"Are you looking down on me?!" the student roared. Despite having taken him by surprise— Kai didn’t make a follow-up attack, and that pissed him off. His body seethed with mana and then swelled, becoming bigger and more muscular.

Seconds ago, he was about the same height as Kai.

Now, he easily towered at a staggering eight feet.

Like a raging bull, the student threw a straight punch backed with everything he had. The size of his fist alone was almost as big as Kai’s face, but contrary to its appearance, the strength it contained was subpar.

Kai caught the fist with his free hand, stopping it dead in its tracks.

He pulled the massive fist aside and stared at the student with the same deadpan look.

No matter how fiercely the student fought back, he couldn’t wrench his hand free. Even when he exerted himself to the point of his arm trembling violently, veins bulging beneath the skin from the strain, it was simply impossible.

Kai moved the fist away from his face as though he were handling a child.

"W-What in the...?" The student’s pupils dilated as he finally recognized who this person was. It was the Lesser Angel. And yet, that Lesser Angel was so strong to the point of him being helpless. "This can’t be re—"

Just then, mana seeped out of Kai’s body.

And the moment it did, the student was immediately pressed down to his knees.

’What happened?’ He thought in shock. ’This... Did I get suppressed by his mana alone?! How is this possible? He’s nothing but a Lesser Angel, but his mana is unbelievably heavy!’

"Who sent you?" Kai asked with a chilling tone, still pressing the student down with his mana. Since his mana was abnormally high even compared to Matilda, he could easily suppress this student. "Is it Chester?"

Getting no answer, Kai peeled the student’s index finger and bent it unnaturally.

Crack—!

"Kyaarghk!!"

A crisp crack split the air as his index finger broke, bent at an ugly angle like a broken stalk.

"Let me ask you one more time. Who sent you to steal my mana ores?"

"Steal? What the fuc—I didn’t steal anything!"

Kai moved to the student’s middle finger and broke it without mercy.

His life was on the line here. Tomorrow, when the sun was at its peak, he would be executed publicly if he couldn’t submit the weekly quota. For that, if there’s anyone who got in the way of his survival like this, then he’d show no mercy.

As long as he’s not the one who was searching for trouble first, then this is fine.

No need for him to feel guilty over this.

"Don’t lie to me."

"I’m not lying!"

"Not lying?" Kai’s fingers wrapped around the ring finger slowly. "Yeah?"

"I’m not lying," the student breathed heavily—and then raised his gaze to stare at Kai fiercely. "I’m not fucking lying!"

Kai paused; the eyes that were staring at him didn’t seem to belong to a liar. He let go of the student’s finger, letting the student breathe easily again, and then took a step back. "If you did not steal, then how did you get that leather sack? How did you have my mana ores?"

"Someone threw it at me," He rasped while holding his broken hand in pain. "I heard rushed footsteps, and then out of nowhere, this bag was thrown towards me. I saw it contained mana ores, so I kept it."

"And you’re sure it’s not Chester?"

"Chester doesn’t dare to venture too deep; that’s why that bastard sent me to scout."

"I see..."

Kai was thinking that someone was following him the whole way.

And that someone seize the chance to steal his mana ores.

But then he remembered that Chester was also here, walking the Fire Swamp.

Perseus does not have inherent power like some Heroes—but he is the son of Zeus before he was raised to become a God. It made him favoured by almost all Olympian Gods. Thus, as a Supernal of Perseus, Chester might gain a whisper about Kai’s location or his stash’s locations.

And using that information, he stole the mana ores.

Now, he wasn’t so sure.

"If it’s not Chester, then who is it?" Kai scanned the surroundings. "Who is messing with me?"

Meanwhile, a few miles away.

Matilda was going in a random direction opposite to where Kai was going, hoping that she’d find something—but it felt futile. No salvageable trace around the marked tree. It was almost like a ghost had taken the mana ores. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

And that made it clear they were dealing with someone experienced.

Frankly, her guess was Chester.

But considering that Kai is a Lesser Angel, and he had gotten the attention of the Chancellor, their stalker might as well be a professor. It would make sense. If a professor did not want to be detected, there was no way they could uncover them.

All professors are at the higher echelon of the Scion rank.

Around grade two or three, Scion Supernal—two major ranks higher than her.

It’s impossible to contend with them.

"He did talk with Professor Evie," Matilda muttered aloud as she traversed the swamp.

Now, Matilda had already turned back, heading to check the stashes and regroup with Kai’s summon, Perion. She clung to the hope that some trace had been left behind by the one behind this on the other marked trees.

Praying quietly that whoever this person is not a professional or a perfectionist.

Just one lead, and she would be happy.

But even after checking each one attentively, Matilda didn’t find anything.

And she also didn’t stumble upon Perion.

"Sigh... Whatever," Matilda turned and headed to where Kai went. "I doubt anyone would see us, anyway. I’ll regroup with him."

A few minutes after she started to trace Kai’s steps, she felt something.

Matilda felt a pair of eyes were watching her from the shadows. Her golden eyes swept right and left as she continued onward, searching for the person who was watching her. And when she sensed the presence was getting stronger, she made an abrupt stop.

She stood motionlessly, darting only her eyes to the sides, searching for any sign of movement.

"Come out," She finally said loudly. "I know you’re there."

Tap—!

Just then, the sound of boots sinking into the mud cut through the quiet. Ahead, a soft chuckle followed. It was light and feminine, curling through the dark like smoke. And slowly, a figure emerged from the darkness and stepped into the light.

One thing that Matilda caught instantly was that she wasn’t wearing the academy’s uniform.

In fact, she wasn’t wearing any uniform at all.

Just a tight-fitting black tank top that boasts the tattoos on her arm and black sweatpants.

It was a sign that she took her trip to the Fire Swamp like a walk in the park.

She is also wearing a faceless mask, and the air around her is sharp.

’Hmm, she’s not from our academy,’ Matilda thought, looking the woman up and down. ’Or, she’s a senior. Either way, she’s the one who stole the mana ores. I can’t underestimate her.’

Instinctively, Matilda summoned her golden shield, expecting a fight.

But this made the woman raise her hands, pretending to be scared.

"What are you going to do with that shield—kid?" the woman asked, tilting her slightly. Her eyes narrowed, betraying the smile behind the mask. "A piece of advice from me. Go back to the academy and take a good night’s sleep. I’m sure you’ll wake up grateful then."

"Who are you?"

"Just someone who happens to be here to do something."

"Do what and for whom?"

"What? Am I supposed to answer that?" the woman snickered. She placed a hand on her hip, and the other was shooing Matilda away like she was a stray animal. "Don’t be stubborn and leave, you don’t need to be a part of this. You’re not our target."

"But I am a part of this."

"Look, you now have two choices. Leave and forget that this has ever happened, or I’ll report you to your academy. Helping the Lesser Angel is a violation of a few rules, you know," the woman tapped her dagger against her shoulder. "One punishment would also involve your family. Are you okay with that?"

Matilda clenched her fists hard until her knuckles turned white.

Once again, she was placed in a dilemma.

Everything she had done up until this point was in order to protect her family from having to experience hardships. She is the backbone of her family. All of them are depending on her, so she can’t be swayed by emotions.

At this point, she has to walk away.

As Kai said, it’s basically over if she were caught helping him.

And since he has no expectations for her, it’s fine to walk away.

’At least I tried to help, right?’ She clenched her fists harder. Blood drizzled down from her palm and trickled down to the mud. "What are you planning to do to him? And why? Answer this, and I’ll leave."

"You cared that much for a trash that doesn’t know his limitations? Alright—I’ll tell you if you really wanted to know that badly," the woman scoffed, but shrugged anyway as she simply didn’t care. "He’s going to die tonight. And as for your second question, let’s just say that kid offended the wrong person."

Matilda can already somewhat guess the answer.

Now that she had it, she turned around to leave.

Inside, her mind churned.

Logically, she could offer no more help, and that’s the reason she was walking away. But there’s a part of her that wanted the woman to give her another reason to stay. Anything. Just so she could convince herself to stay.

"Geeze, so dramatic. You already betrayed him once, so what’s the second time going to do?" The woman also turned around, happy that she didn’t need to fight, as she didn’t want to get dirtied by the mud. "Seems like the Culling of Nonentity ceremony isn’t working as well as it was."

Upon hearing the comment, Matilda stopped dead in her tracks.

This was the reason she wanted, and yet her face still darkened due to the anger rising within.

She looked over her shoulder, and her golden eyes glowed brilliantly.

And in them, killing intent glazed the surface.