For Survival

Leon didn't know if it was because of some strange set of rules or because of its own decision, but there were rarely any instances of the system directly forcing something.

You could take Leon's current situation as an example.

The system wanted everyone to obediently enter the temple and move onto the next stage. Leon was sure that if the system wanted to, it could forcefully move the prior into the temple, but instead of doing that, it released a group of powerful ogres that were meant to be impossible fight, so they would force the group to enter the temple and move onto the next stage as long as they wanted to survive.

In this way, although the system wouldn't be directly forcing the people to follow its instructions, it basically achieved the same effect.

Unfortunately for the system, there was an anomaly called Leon that not only refused to follow its instructions but even defeated the monsters that it had sent as 'unknowing enforcers' .

Fortunately, the system still had rules and rewarded Leon based on the difficulty, rarity and grade of his corresponding accomplishments.

But even with these rewards, Leon didn't let it get to his head.

If he stayed outside the temple and continued challenging the system, who knew if he would earn the system's disgust and cause it to send out a Dragon or some other creature that could directly slap Leon to death. By then it would be too late to cry even if he wanted to .

So taking all this in mind, Leon didn't want to overstay his welcome and quickly moved towards the temple.

But before Leon moved, he took a look at the creature that made all this possible.

The Stone Golem.

As the one thing behind all of Leon's current success, Leon wouldn't feel comfortable just leaving it behind to fade away like this.

Walking towards its side, Leon quickly thanked around inside before he pulled out a dull, fractured crystal.

The golem's mana core.

After inspecting it for a short while, Leon put it in his space pouch and moved towards the temple.

He had Arovier's inheritance stored in his space pouch, so who knows, he might be able to repair the core and use it to create a new golem.

It's just that once Leon entered the temple, he noticed a strange aura as the crowd kept giving him a strange look.

As Leon saw this, he quickly frowned and turned towards Lucas, who was nearby, and asked.

"What exactly happened here?"

Seeing Leon's inquisitive look, Lucas expressionlessly replied.

"Whilst you were out there fighting the Ogre, there was a group of people that wanted to close the temple doors and leave you behind and we got into a little confrontation." As Lucas spoke, he pointed towards the bloodstained floors as if further trying to prove his point.

'Damn Snitch!'

This was the thought echoing in the minds of everyone present as they heard Lucas speak and rat out everything that had happened over the short period.

As soon as Leon heard the words from Lucas, his entire body shook.

In an instant, a boundless rage exploded from Leon's heart, and masked behind Leon's rage was a little fear.

He had really miscalculated this time!

Those spineless bastards really tried to leave him behind!

If he really was excluded from the temple, even Leon didn't know what would happen next.

Maybe he would face a countless onslaught of monsters from the system fighting to the end, but being cruelly squashed by an unbeatable enemy. Or maybe, even worse, he would be trapped forever in that realm, left with no other option than to wander around the initial area like an aimless ghost for all eternity.

For someone like Leon who had been given a second chance at life, who had sworn to change his fate and not live like before, such a life trapped in the initial area would be far worse than death.

Before Leon could truly act out his plans and step out into the true world, he would be trapped away without even facing a fight.

Leon didn't know if he could live out the rest of his days in that space, but he knew that he would definitely lose his mind and go crazy before he reached old age if he were to be trapped there.

It was because of this that Leon was truly scared this time. He wasn't scared of death. No, Leon was more scared of living his life aimlessly and not achieving anything. He was scared of living a life similar to his previous one!

With all these emotions raging in his heart, Leon was prepared to start a slaughter!

Anyone who Leon's eyes crossed quickly ducked, not daring to meet his gaze.

As Leon's gaze scanned the crowd, he even managed to see Jessica, who was ducking and embarrassed to meet his eyes head on.

As Leon saw this sight, a sneer appeared on his lips

"Good! Good!" Chuckled Leon in utter fury

Leon was so furious that he disdained to even speak with her.

To be honest, Jessica could be said to be the only one who had been wronged in this whole ordeal.

Although she hesitated when the proposition to abandon Leon was made and wasn't as quick as Lucas and Lucy to respond. She had actually wanted to help.

It's just that by the time she had won her internal debate and decided to help Leon. It's just that by the time she was ready to make a move, Leon had already solved everything, leaving her to stand awkwardly amongst the crowd.

If there was another situation like this, or if the situation had taken a few extra seconds to solve, then maybe Jessica would be there standing next to Lucas at this moment in time. But in life, there were no ifs.

And at this moment in time, even if Jessica was able to explain herself, Leon was not in the state of mind to listen or to even care!

And at this moment in time, even if Jessica was able to explain herself, Leon was not in the state of mind to listen or to even care!

Suddenly Leon's bone chilling voice rang out throughout the temple.

"Who was the first one to propose the idea of leaving me behind?"

The instant those words sounded, the faces of the majority of people watching paled, as some even started shaking.

Lucas's eyes quickly scanned the crowd before he quickly pointed towards one person.

The instant Lucas's hand moved in his direction, Andrew quickly dropped to his knees in a pitiful attempt to beg for mercy.

But before his knees could even touch the ground, a person moved quicker.

In an instant, Leon appeared before Andrew, grabbing him by the throat and hoisting him up into the air.

Andrew struggled to breathe in Leon's grasp as he desperately pleaded

"Please spare me! I wasn't thinking straight when I acted back then. I'm willing to do anything to make it up, even if that means I have to be your slave!"

But no matter what Andrew said, Leon's cold eyes didn't seem to move.

As Andrew looked at Leon's unmoving gaze, he realised there was no hope in begging for mercy and instead just let out his grievances

"I have to die because I wanted to do what was best for us? I'm unwilling! What did I do wrong? Nobody wants to die! I was just trying to survive!"

As Leon heard Andrew wail, his face actually changed briefly as his movements froze.

Yes, Andrew wasn't wrong.

At the end of the day, why was Leon so angry when he heard what had happened? Why did Andrew even try to close the temple in the first place?

In the end, wasn't it all for survival?

When it came to survival, there was no right or wrong, only what was best for yourself. Besides, nobody owes anyone anything, not Andrew and not even Jessica, who had been in his team earlier.

He'd been willing to drop anyone that would drag him down from his goals, so why couldn't others do the same?

But even if Leon knew this truth, it still didn't change the fact that this man in front of him had tried to kill him.

There were some things that you couldn't accept no matter how logical they were and dying for someone else's survival was one of them!

Leon could excuse other things, but trying to kill him was just too far!

Without any more thought, Leon twisted his wrist.

"Crack!"

There was an unsettling sound as Andrew's neck snapped into a "7" shape.

After killing the man, Leon just threw his body to the side as he turned around to meet the rest of the crowd.

His anger hadn't calmed down, not one bit, but Leon's reason was still intact. Who could look at the people that nearly killed them and remain calm? I'm afraid only a saint would be able to meet such demands.

But just because Leon wasn't a saint, didn't mean that he was the devil either.

He couldn't just slaughter these people because he was angry.

He'd already killed the ringleader to vent his anger. Slaughtering these sheep won't do anything.

Leon just took one last look at the crowd before he sat down in a section of the temple waiting for the next stage to start.

As the group watched Leon leave, the group breathed a collective sigh of relief. Being in the presence of someone that could kill them with just a mere thought made them feel like there was a knife constantly pressing against their back. It was impossible to be at ease.

As they watched Leon leave, they couldn't help but look at the corpse.

The poor man's body was thrown away to the side, dumped like a piece of garbage, but nobody dared to touch it.

If they touched the corpse and incurred the wrath of that monster like man, it would be too late to cry even if they wanted to.

Besides, these people weren't that close, anyway.

At most, they would only say a few good words for the man, hoping that he doesn't meet such a devil again in his next life.

As Leon walked away, he stopped in front of Lucas before he handed him a rather large strength crystal

Lucas looked at the crystal with a puzzled expression and asked,

"A reward?"

Hearing this, Leon just shook his head and responded,

"It's a thank you." Said Leon

"A thank you for saving me."

As soon as Leon heard this, he shook his head as he pushed it back towards Leon.

"I don't need a thank you. I'm just repaying a favour. You brought me back from the dead. This is just a little task in comparison."

"Accepting this gift is doing myself a favour."

Leon's resolute words cut him off before Lucas could speak any further.

Seeing Leon's firm stance, Lucas could only accept the crystal with a complicated expression.

As Leon handed over the crystal, he could see a little girl look over with a pair of eager eyes.

Seeing this look, Leon just chuckled as he reached into his space pouch for a mana crystal and chucked it towards the little girl.

As soon as Lucy saw this, her eyes widened in surprise before a beautiful smile appeared on her face.

"Thank you Mr Leon!"

Seeing this infectious smile, a rare smile appeared on Leon's face as his rage and anger at the whole situation began to dissipate.

But this wasn't to last long as suddenly, the entire temple began to shake!

Whilst the temple was shaken they everyone present began to receive a new set of notifications.

[Ding!]

[Congratulations warriors! You have officially left the first stage. For the Next stage you will have to fight against all odds to succeed! Your challenge is only beginning. Good luck warriors!]

The second this notification sounded, the temple quickly stabilised as the doors quickly flung open.