Let's Hunt down protagonists!

"All according to keikaku," the boy suddenly said, his eyes turning red and his shadow starting to show horns on his forehead.

"H-Human, have you gone mad?" One of the goblins, evidently the leader of the pack, exclaimed in disbelief.

But its disbelief quickly shifted to a bloodthirsty anticipation. "Anyway, kill this bastard! We will have a feast tonight."

"Yes, chief," the other goblins chanted in unison, their grotesque faces twisting into grimaces of excitement at the prospect of their meal.

Approximately four goblins, emboldened by their numbers, charged towards him with stone weapons clutched in their grubby hands.

Their feet shuffled across the cave floor, kicking up dust and small stones in their haste.

"Pathetic little shits," Asmodeus scoffed with disdain. In a swift motion, he grasped the stone sword of the nearest goblin.

With a forceful pull, he not only brought the weapon to him but also the goblin, which was unwittingly dragged along.

As the creature neared, he delivered a powerful kick to its stomach, sending it soaring through the air. The goblin collided with a jagged rock, the impact instantly lethal.

Without missing a beat, Asmodeus then turned his attention to the remaining assailants. His movements were a blur, a testament to his unmatched speed.

The goblins, unable to react, found themselves cut down one after the other. They barely had time to process their impending doom, much less mount any form of resistance.

As the last of the goblin attackers fell, a silence settled over the cave. The only sounds were the dripping of water from stalactites and the heavy breathing of the boy standing amidst the carnage.

Sniff "The smell of blood, no matter the race, is always so refreshing," Asmodeus remarked. He took a moment to inhale deeply, savoring the iron-rich scent that filled the air.

The blood painted the cave floor, a dark contrast to the earthy tones of the stone. Around him, the bodies of the goblins lay in various states of disarray, their lifeless eyes staring blankly into the void they had been thrust into.

The goblin chief's disbelief was palpable in the dim light of the cave as he stammered, "Y-Y-You, how did you do that?"

He was utterly unable to comprehend how his entire squadron of minions, previously ready to tear the boy apart, had been decimated in moments by what someone who was begging for his life some minutes ago.

Thud

With a swift, barely seen movement, the goblin chief's head was severed, soaring through the air before thudding onto the cave floor. This display of precision and speed was a stark reminder of the power Asmodeus wielded.

"My martial skills have gone a bit rusty," Asmodeus remarked nonchalantly, taking a seat on a rock that protruded from the cave's floor.

This ease with which he had dispatched the goblins spoke volumes of his skill; in the early days of his immortality, martial arts and weapon mastery were essential to his survival.

Although he had seldom used these skills over the millennia, his proficiency remained undiminished.

Settling into a lotus position on the rock, Asmodeus mused, "Anyway, my plan really worked." This reflection was spurred by his recent confrontation with Nian.

During their battle, Asmodeus had sensed that something was amiss, a suspicion that solidified when Nian unveiled the golden spear.

In his past life, he was at the 3rd tier, and was someone who couldn't be killed by anyone below the 3rd tier; even among 3rd tier beings, no one could injure him to such an extent.

But that spear almost injured him, or you could say, almost killed him. So, it could only mean that someone above the 3rd tier made that spear, most likely someone at the 4th tier.

And if you were to compare Asmodeus at his weakest and someone at the 4th tier, there was as much difference as between an ant and an mountain—it was so vast that nothing could bridge it.

So, even if Asmodeus could somehow survive, the creator of that golden spear would most likely come after him. Thus, it seemed better to die and reincarnate.

However, Asmodeus was not entirely confident in his ability to reincarnate successfully, if there really was an being at 4th tier, but he did manage to do so.

"Let's check this body's memories now," Asmodeus said to himself, placing a finger on his forehead to initiate the process of absorbing the memories of the body he currently inhabited.

One hour passed.

After an hour, Asmodeus had fully absorbed all the memories of the body, learning many things in the process.

He discovered that the name of his current host was Ryujin Ignisar, the young master of the esteemed Ignisar Clan, descendants of dragons and one of the seven founding clans of the empire.

Ryujin was originally destined to become the master of the Ignisar Clan. However, he failed to awaken the dragon blood in his body during his coming-of-age ceremony.

When he finally did, it was underwhelming, both pitiful and pathetic. Additionally, he possessed no powerful innate abilities. Despite lacking any remarkable talents, he was known to be somewhat tyrannical.

Deemed the young master who fell short of expectations and disliked by many, Ryujin, due to his noble lineage, managed to gain entry into the Imperial Academy.

However, during a class excursion to what was supposed to be an E-rank dungeon that unexpectedly turned out to be a D-rank dungeon, the challenge proved nearly insurmountable for Ryujin's classmates.

In a desperate move, Ryujin's fiancée and her best friend decided to use Ryujin as a pawn to draw the monsters' attention.

But their plan backfired, leading most monsters to pursue them, while only a few goblins chased after Ryujin.

"Hmm! Are these the characters whom humans used to refer to as protagonists?" Ryujin pondered, referring to the original body's fiancée and her best friend.

"So interesting," he remarked, finding the situation akin to the novels he had encountered in his past life.

"Let's hunt those guys," he said with a psychopathic tone. "It will be so much fun."