"Oh? Looks like you don’t like them either?" Daniel laughed loudly when he saw the baby dragon’s reaction, rubbed its head a little, and once again used his spiritual senses to check on the people tailing them.
Still, he didn’t stop there and kept walking. It didn’t take long until he reached a forested area, somewhat abandoned and empty.
They were far enough from the city that no matter what happened, nobody would notice.
"Well, this should be a good place, right?" Daniel looked around and spoke with a smile on his face, though the mockery in his tone was clear.
From the shadows, seven different figures slowly emerged. All of them were wearing military uniforms, clearly commanders or captains of guards.
Their expressions grew dark and ugly, obviously because they hadn’t expected this young man to notice their presence.
"What’s wrong, scared?" Daniel laughed again, but they didn’t respond. Instead, they drew their weapons, their auras surging as they prepared for battle.
"Kid, this isn’t personal. But since you carry that curse, you have to die," one of them finally spoke.
"A curse? Oh, you mean that mark I got after killing one of your Corruption Worshiper buddies?"
That’s right—every single one of these people surrounding him was a Corruption Worshiper, and all of them were rank A. Daniel already knew that because of the thing attached to him after killing that Corruption Worshiper, sooner or later, the rest of them would come for him.
But he hadn’t expected to run into them during this trip.
"That’s right. According to that mark, you’re the enemy of all Corruption Worshipers and must be killed," another said.
"Stop wasting time. Kill him as fast as possible so we can send his body to the headquarters. We’ll definitely get a nice reward," one of them added with greed and excitement.
Finding people who carry the [Infidel] curse is extremely rare. Such individuals are considered mortal enemies of the Corruption Worshipers and must always be killed.
Anyone who gets this curse doesn’t live longer than a year and will eventually be killed. More importantly, killing someone with the [Infidel] curse always comes with a reward.
As long as they delivered his corpse to the Corruption Worshipers’ headquarters, they would definitely receive something valuable. Their ranks might even increase, gaining them higher status.
The [Infidel] curse wasn’t exactly a killing curse. It simply attracted Corruption Worshipers, working like a kind of beacon.
Without wasting more words, they charged at Daniel. Naturally, they weren’t idiots. Someone who could bear the [Infidel] curse was without a doubt powerful and dangerous, and they couldn’t underestimate him.
All their weapons struck toward him, their full power released as they tried to kill their target in a single blow.
But to their shock, all of their weapons stopped just ten centimeters away from Daniel. No matter how much force they used, the weapons couldn’t move forward.
Instead, their weapons started trembling, as if in fear. Without realizing it, even their bodies began to shake.
"Pathetic—laughable." Daniel mocked, his gaze full of contempt. He waved his hand, and a massive wave of death aura burst out, surging toward them.
Before they could even react, their consciousness was completely destroyed, erasing them all—except one.
That one survivor, seeing the flesh and skin of all his comrades dissolve into nothing, was so terrified he even wet himself.
With soul-crushing fear, he dropped to his knees and smashed his forehead against the ground.
Daniel stepped over the corpses, ignoring the surviving Corruption Worshiper. He cut his finger and dripped a drop of blood onto each body.
[Attempting to create a Fallen]
[Attempting to create a Fallen]
[Attempting to create...]
Soon, a light descended from the sky, and all of their bodies were reconstructed into Fallen. As soon as they transformed, they kneeled before him.
Daniel gave them a short glance and then dismissed the summons. Six Fallen of rank A—an unexpected gain he hadn’t planned for.
He could have devoured them, but it wasn’t worth it. It was far better to turn them into Fallen so they could serve him instead.
Then his gaze landed on the remaining Corruption Worshiper. Among the seven, he looked the youngest, appearing to be in his early twenties.
"Do you know why I let you live?" Daniel asked coldly.
"I-I don’t know," the Corruption Worshiper stammered, bowing with fear and respect.
"Answer my questions, and maybe I’ll let you live." At the same time, he activated [Enchanter Of Hearts] to make sure the boy wouldn’t lie.
The Corruption Worshiper nodded quickly with fear and respect.
"What’s your purpose for being in this city?"
"We were ordered to take control of this entire kingdom."
"I see. Are there more of you here?"
"N-no, sir! It was just us!"
"So do you have a base or something nearby?" Daniel asked his main question.
The Corruption Worshiper suddenly grew even more terrified and stayed silent. It was clear he was afraid to answer this one.
If he revealed it, he knew he would die.
"You’d better answer, or I’ll make sure you die in the most painful way possible." Daniel’s eyes gleamed with cold, deadly light.
"W-we have a mountain base! About two hundred kilometers from here, under a mountain, we have a base for monitoring the kingdom and the continental border!" the Corruption Worshiper blurted out, driven by the overwhelming sense of death.
The boy was terrified. He now understood just how terrifying an [Infidel] really was—and it made sense.
Anyone carrying the [Infidel] curse, someone considered a threat to all Corruption Worshipers, would naturally have to be terrifyingly strong.
Now he regretted ever coming here in the first place. Those fools had dug their own graves with their own hands.
"Good." A sinister smile appeared on Daniel’s face as he glanced at the recording and streaming equipment in his inventory.
Of course, he hadn’t kept this Corruption Worshiper alive just to answer his questions. There were other reasons too.