SSS Awakening: All My Clones Have Divine Bloodlines!-Chapter 34: Slaughter

Night had fully settled, punctual as always.

The cold had grown sharper in that part of the forest, and the smell of blood had begun to seep into everything around them.

Everyone froze.

Those who had been struggling against invisible restraints, those ready to act, those who had been enjoying the show just moments ago, none of them dared move now. Their souls trembled, not one of them willing to make a sound, as if a single movement might be enough to decide whether they lived or died.

No one had time to worry about the bodies on the ground. They were each locked in their own private terror, asking themselves what, or who had just set its sights on them.

The two figures that had approached were now far more visible. Far more terrifying. But also, slowly, far more recognizable.

The man. That face. That aura. Wasn’t he that new adventurer who had been making a name for himself these past few days?

The mad adventurer?

That was the realization slowly forming in Garrett’s mind, and in the minds of the others. But one person among them wasn’t looking at the man at all. His eyes were fixed on the figure standing just behind him, stunning and terrifying in equal measure.

’No... that, damn it, it’s that fcking b*tch.’

Nicolas’ mind went blank for a moment, overwhelmed by the succession of all these events.

The woman who had rejected him, the one he had left behind that day to save his own life, but who had somehow returned alive;

the one who he had targeted again, yet she was still alive,

But if she was alive... then what the hell had happened to Jack’s gang? Could they have been killed? If so, by whom?

He shifted his gaze to the man with her, wondering if he was the cause of all this.

The two of them moved as if none of this had anything to do with them, crossing the clearing at an unhurried pace, as if they were simply passing through.

Evan, who had already done his investigations, knew that Nicolas would show up here, but he had to admit, this scene was not something he expected to witness.

’Well, seems like this guy can’t stay calm even for a single day,’ he thought, already imagining what was about to happen.

He had decided to help Luna in her revenge, but seeing how she had progressed recently, it was clear that he didn’t need to intervene.

She was more than enough to settle this matter here.

He stepped aside, letting Luna, who was behind him, make her course toward her prey.

As far as he was concerned, everyone here could die, he wouldn’t care much.

’She’s even angrier than before. I almost feel sorry for the guy. Almost,’ he thought, watching her close the distance while the other party found himself rooted to the spot without quite realizing when that had happened.

And at that moment, the short boy still caught in Garett’s grasp seized the chance to free himself, falling to the ground.

He gasped for air, wounds and lack of oxygen nearly making him faint. He looked up with a glimmer of hope at the two who had arrived and opened his mouth with the little energy left.

"Please... help us," he said, struggling with every single word. But he didn’t care.

He could either try his luck now or sit back and wait for whatever was going to happen.

Luna, however, didn’t look at him.

Garett, snapped out of his trance, looked at him as if he wanted to kill him, but ignored him for the moment, signaling to his companion still in trance behind him.

It was obvious what he meant, and the other side understood and nodded, preparing themselves.

Their task was to protect Nicolas at all costs, and they had already failed halfway. Now they had to act quickly, or they would die at the hands of Nicolas’ father.

They looked at Evan. He looked the weakest. They made their decision and moved toward him, fast, direct, committed.

They wanted to take him hostage, to ensure both their own lives and Nicolas’, but who would have thought they were marching straight into the lion’s mouth?

Evan, who was preparing to watch the spectacle, saw this and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

’Oh, come on, why does it always have to come to me? Is it too much to ask to be left alone?’ he thought, moving his hand to draw the black blade.

But at that moment, the sound from before echoed once more, and just like last time, two more heads fell to the ground, followed by two headless, bloodied bodies.

This time, everyone saw it. They saw who had done it, and the awareness of it made Nicolas tremble.

He had just watched a single clean motion take the heads off two peak E-ranks as if it were nothing.

Did that mean she was stronger than them?

What the hell was happening here? Could he be imagining things? Since when had that girl, barely an F-Rank, become so terrifying?

"Wait, wait, listen, we can talk about this." The words came fast, stumbling over each other. "Whatever you want, you can have it. My father is the Magistrate of Lirath, he has connections everywhere. He can get you anything, money, protection, status—"

Luna didn’t slow down.

"I made mistakes, I know that, but you can—"

She wasn’t listening. She looked at him the way you look at something you’ve already decided on.

"Please..."

She stopped in front of him.

The silence lasted just long enough to make it worse.

Then her gaze shifted past him, to the girl who had been standing frozen a few steps away, arms wrapped around herself, eyes wide.

"Go," Luna said. Her voice was flat and low, completely stripped of anything but the bare instruction. "Take your friends and leave. Now."

The girl looked at her for a second, those red eyes, that pressure in the air, that aura radiating off her that had no business being in a human body, and didn’t wait for anything else. She grabbed both boys as best she could, and the three of them disappeared into the forest without looking back.

Evan didn’t stop them. Didn’t particularly care either way.

When he turned back, Nicolas was already running.

It wasn’t a particularly intelligent choice, it was probably the only thing his body could manage without his mind’s consent, but he was doing it anyway, legs carrying him toward the tree line with the desperate energy of someone who knows they have no hope but can’t stop trying.

Then one of his legs gave out.

Not the way legs give out from exhaustion or fear. It gave out in the most literal and final sense of the word. The cut was clean, precise, almost surgical. Nicolas hit the ground sideways, mouth open in a scream that came out anyway, hoarse and animal, hands clawing at the grass, trying to drag himself forward.

Then the hands stopped responding too.