First Kill

Elise kept her head low. She didn't bother to resist despite their lustful stares peering inside her tattered dress.

There's not much she could do. Sooner or later, her life would come to an end.

She had lost hope.

Originally, they just intended to experience the wilderness and broaden their combat understanding. They allied with Kleo's squad just to improve their survivability rate as they ventured outside the mountain safe zone.

Who would have thought that it would come down to this?

Kleo was not the man she thought he would be.

She just wanted to be fair and just as that's what they agreed with. But, Kleo wanted to hog all the loot even though they had not contributed to the kill.

As a girl who grew up in a lawful family, it's difficult not to be intimidated by this kind of act.

Thus, without thinking about the consequences, she charged like a bull.

She's confident in her abilities and she's certain that Kleo would not be foolish enough to kill her.

After all, her family status and his were evenly matched in terms of rank and strength.

Surely, he wouldn't kill her, right?

If he did that would provoke a civil war. However, contrary to her expectations, Kleo proved to be a much more brutal person.

Her friends died. One after another, their lifeless corpses slumped on the burned ground.

Raiya was decapitated while Ruby's neck broke as Kleo smothered her to death.

Powerless to do anything, she could only watch in despair.

If she had thought a little smarter, would it have made a difference?

If she let Kleo do whatever he liked, this wouldn't happen, would it?

However, it was already too late. They are gone.

Now, Elise regretted everything. As she grieved over their deaths, her dress got soaked in the valley of tears welling up from her misty eyes.

'I'm sorry… I am…sorry.' She muttered.

Her friends still got their lives ahead but because of her impulsiveness, she cut them off. Endless self-blame permeated her body.

She just wanted to die and be done with it. Maybe, it was better off that she's dead. After all, at this point, she's just worthless.

"Pathetic." A crisp voice sounded in her ears.

Step—, step—

Hearing footsteps arriving on her way, Elise wiped her tears and raised her head to face whoever it was.

Unlike others, this man was taller. Although not as tall as her, he's already much better compared to Kleo.

In comparison, although Kleo looks more good-looking and alluring due to his handsome face, on the other hand, this man looks more like a seasoned veteran.

The muscles on his scarred arms screamed power and coupled with his gray beast-like eyes, it's no exaggeration that his charm lies in his masculinity.

Elise examined the man and her eyes suddenly widened as soon as she identified who he was. Her hope rekindled but after a while, it instantly died down.

She didn't need help anymore.

"I don't need you here. Go away." She said aggrievedly as she choked on her words.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm not here to save you." The man answered.

Elise looked into his eyes.

The man continued, "Well, it's more like an impulse telling me to get rid of these pieces of trash. So, saving you is probably the least possible reason I am here."

His voice tone sounded different from earlier. This time, it whistled soft yet raspy. She stared at him, marveling at what this man was thinking before a trace of doubt flashed on her face.

"Then…why are you shaking?" She asked, looking at the man's trembling arms as he held a staff dripping in someone's blood.

The man frowned but a smile quickly shaped on his lips.

"I'm just excited."

It was a lie. She could sense it. Even his smile appeared forced.

"Don't worry about that. You should escape now while I'm here. I won't bother to save you if you get caught in our fight."

Before Elise could answer, the man strode toward Kleo and the others.

…

"You surely love killing huh?" Zeus muttered as he glared at Kleo with a hint of disgust.

"What does it have to do with you? It's not like we're involving your life here. And why were you even here? I thought you won't interfere."

"But you're being too much."

Kleo narrowed his eyes. "What do you know? This world is nothing but a cage. Since it sheltered both the demons and the righteous, you should expect what would happen in that situation right? The strong would always rule and the weak could only kneel. If you don't even know that fact, should I consider you an idiot?"

"That's a good point." Zeus nodded as he stepped forward and assumed a stance. "But I don't really care. As far as I know, you plan to kill me right? I bet you're already planning to chase me after killing her."

"What are you talking about? I let you go away safely and now you're spitting nonsense." Kleo frowned. He didn't know how Zeus found out his plan when he hadn't even told anyone about it.

'Or am I just being predictable.' Kleo thought.

"Drop the act. I already knew it."

The tension in the surroundings increased as soon as Zeus said those words. Kleo's lackeys glanced at each other before a command forced them to move.

"Nat, James."

"Lord Kleo…"

"Kill him."

"As you wish."

The two started running toward him with their weapons raised. One of them had a sword while the other one had a spear.

Without holding back, Zeus casts his skill right away.

Once they were closed enough, the spearman attacked Zeus from his left while the swordsman pounced on him to his right.

Shu!

Zeus avoided the spear stab with ease before blocking the other sword with his staff.

Clang!

Due to his superior physical strength, Zeus easily pushed the swordsman back. He slammed the staff on his gut, sending him far away.

Seeing an opportunity to finish him, Zeus didn't stop and smashed his staff onto the swordsman's weapon. Sparks flickered at their clash but it was clearly visible how the sword was slowly getting nipped.

With just a little more pounding, it would break.

Clang!

Zeus slammed the staff sideways. It resulted in the man losing his weapon.

"Ha!"

Zeus kicked him to his chest. The man's face crunched in pain as he felt his bones crack in the sheer force of that kick.

'Now!'

Just as Zeus was about to kill the man, a spear stab suddenly appeared behind his back. The moment it emerged, he grinned.

'I haven't forgotten about you.'

Clang!

Zeus was able to block it. And, before the spearman could follow up, Zeus leaped into the air and slammed his fists onto the spearman's unguarded face.

Bam!

The ground shattered as Zeus drilled the man's face onto it.

Zeus grabbed the man's hair and lifted him off the ground. Seeing the unconscious figure, he quickly lost interest.

'Fuu~' Zeus sighed in relief.

Fortunately, their combat experience seemed almost nonexistent. Otherwise, if they could hit him with those aether-coated weapons, it would be disastrous.

"It's your turn."

He looked at the dumbfounded Kleo and aimed his weapon at him. However, the trembling of his arms was more intense than before.

…

Kleo looked at Zeus with amusement. Just from the fact that Zeus was trembling, he could vaguely guess what the reason was.

"Is this the first time you killed someone?"

Zeus didn't hide it and answered, "Yes and I feel extremely disgusted. Now that I know what killing feels like, I don't know why you even enjoy this kind of thing."

"Hahahaha, you're still putting on a tough act huh?"

Zeus seemed like a veteran in terms of fighting. However, in his eyes, he's only a brat who hasn't seen the true nature of this world.

Kleo clenched his sword with both of his hands and coated it with aether. The light shimmering in his eyes became colder.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it. Let me teach you a thing or two about killing."

At that moment, Kleo swiftly moved behind Zeus. His back was wide open after all.

'No reaction?'

He expected a long battle but after seeing the unresponsive man, a sneer escaped his mouth.

'Let's end this in one hit.'

After all, he still had to clean his mess here.

'Die!'

Kleo slashed his sword, attempting to decapitate the man.

When suddenly,

Clang!

The staff and sword collided in the air. Sparks flew off and one could see Kleo's wide-open eyes if they stared longer in it.

"How?"

His movement skill was clearly unseen by the man. How did he manage to react on time?

What's even more ridiculous was that the man didn't even use a slight trace of aether. It was nothing but pure physical strength.

'Is he underestimating me!?'

Unable to hide the shock, Kleo immediately changed his attacking angle but the man always had a counterattack.

Kleo furrowed his brow. Looking at their evenly matched strength, he fell into a decision.

'I need to go all out.'

He's been preserving his strength in case Elise decided to strike as well. However, he didn't have that leisure anymore as Zeus proved to be a troublesome foe.

Kleo hurriedly stepped back, the same with Zeus. They both examined their gains after that brief clash.

"You're strong. However, you cannot use aether, can you?" Kleo commented.

"Yeah."

Hearing Zeus' confirmation, a hint of doubt appeared on his face.

"How old are you? 15…14? Even if you're 15, it's impossible to have this strength at 15 years old."

"I am… actually 12 years old."

"..."

Hearing Zeus' response, the amused expression on Kleo's face vanished.

He's been fighting a 12-year-old boy all along!?

He's turning 17 this year! What kind of shit luck does this boy have to attain this kind of strength!?

However, this proved one thing.

"12 years old. A genius indeed. Maybe you even have the potential to become the strongest fighter in the kingdom. However, aether is everything in this world. You…" After a brief pause, Kleo continued, "...cannot defeat me."

"I know…"

At that moment, Kleo felt the temperature of the surrounding area rapidly rise.

"But she can."