The boss of the villains felt frustrated, but he didn’t dare approach the village or fight Skyler. Something about that kid was off.
"Just how many elements does he possess? And who the hell is he?"
He glanced at the glowing crystal in his hand and simply turned to leave. Anyway, he could find more sacrifices elsewhere.
There was no need to take risks.
After all, if he failed to complete his task, even after receiving many captured people to sacrifice from so many lower levels, the higher-ups would surely punish him. Even if the kid appeared much weaker than him, he gave him a feeling that he was far stronger than the power he was currently displaying.
Still, the old man remembered Skyler’s face. Even if he didn’t show it, he was quite angry.
"I’ll put his face on the underworld kill list and put a huge bounty on him. The rogue Dark Lights will deal with this brat. I really don’t ever want to see his face again—"
His angry words were cut short as blood suddenly spurted from his mouth, his face twisted in horror. His trembling gaze slowly lowered to the pale hand piercing his heart. He wanted to scream, but the five fingers tightened around his still-beating heart. He couldn’t even gasp for help before dying.
The crystal in his hand dropped alongside his body, revealing the slender figure clad in a long robe, enveloped in darkness, floating behind him—a pair of bright, blood-red eyes and black hair with tips ablaze with flames.
The lady wiped the blood from her pale fingers rather indifferently, then waved her hand to take the glowing crimson crystal.
She crushed the gem, releasing the life force stored within into the atmosphere.
"How dare you, pathetic beings, commit such a vile act—gathering the life force of others to assist a fallen god for your own gain, and then blaming me? Have you no fear left of the one who terrorized Hell?"
She scowled with disdain.
"Disgusting. I have been busy fighting the rebels who dared to defy me. And now, you pests have started using my name, hah. It seems I have been far too lenient recently on the little bugs roaming the Battle Royal."
Clicking her tongue, she stretched out her hands and tore through the space to leave, her sharp eyes blazing with a single word:
Kill.
She would kill every last one of those who had used her name to take countless lives. If Skyler had witnessed the scene, he would have finally understood why this event—the Dark Lights sacrificing countless people—never saw the light of day or appeared in the novel. It was because she had erased every person connected to this atrocity.
Just as the lady was about to leave, her ears caught the distance noise of battle.
Her crimson eyes narrowed as she turned back, looking toward the destroyed village engulfed in flames and darkness. Amid the many figures fighting there, her gaze locked onto a tall human standing at the center of the chaos—and her heart skipped a beat.
"Huh...?"
She blinked slowly in confusion at her suddenly racing heart and frowned.
"Who’s this..."
She wanted to call him a bug, just as she called all lesser beings. But this time, she paused mid-evaluation—subconsciously acknowledging that unfamiliar presence.
"...Person?"
Her eyes were so intensely focused on the human that she failed to notice the chain holding a gem wrapped around his wrist—let alone the woman, exuding a presence similar to her own, fighting beside him.
Had she seen them, perhaps she would have stayed longer, if only to snatch the crimson gem and capture that woman.
Instead, she just chuckled, imprinting the face of the man who had stirred her heart, intending to locate him if he ever reached the five levels of the Battle Royal she ruled, before turning her probing gaze away and stepping into the space she had torn open.
"A pity. I can’t stay any longer—I don’t have the time. Otherwise, the main system will penalize me. If you ever reach my domain, perhaps I’ll capture you... for a little fun."
Her eyes curved with an amused gleam as she disappeared. At the same time, Skyler, fighting in the distance, felt a sudden chill. He looked around warily, rubbing the back of his neck with a grim, tense expression.
"What was that?"
He called out to 505, whom he had tasked with monitoring the surroundings, but 505 reported nothing unusual and didn’t detect anyone nearby—making his frown deepen.
"Weird. Just now, I felt like someone was watching me. Am I just overthinking?"
He waved his hand, incinerating a Dark Light that tried to flee the flames around him, while scanning the area and trying to eliminate as many villains as possible.
The battle was nearing its end, with many Dark Lights who had attacked them upon entering the village now attempting to flee—yet no overwhelmingly powerful figure, like their boss, appeared to come to their aid.
Skyler felt that something was off.
After all, in key situations like these, isn’t a stronger party usually hiding nearby, ready to intervene when their side is losing and turn the tide of the battle in their favor?
As Austin, Charles, and Yuris pursued the remaining villains, determined to eliminate every last one responsible for the countless lives sacrificed in the village, Skyler seized one by the collar and questioned him icily.
"Where’s your boss?"
The captured man screamed, struggling to break free, but was struck with a punch. He trembled and spilled whatever he knew.
"I-I don’t know! Hic—he left after setting an inscription in the village! I am just working for system points! Please... spare me!"
Skyler narrowed his eyes.
"So, there really is a boss. Sacrificing so many lives without any fear—perhaps this situation is connected to something big."
Zack arrived beside him, followed by the exhausted group of spirit race members.
The princess wiped the blood from the spear in her hands, her eyes wandering toward the gem around his wrist as she absentmindedly nodded at his words.
Among her people, Nate snickered rather disdainfully from behind, muttering as if they didn’t already know what Skyler had just said. He shut his mouth the moment the princess directed a cold look at him.
Zack crossed his arms.
"Well, what we can do now is contact the Bases of Lights on this level—established by the majority of guilds to gather system points and monopolize resources on every level—and inform them of the situation."
Isaac, who had finally emerged from his hiding spot and joined them, brushed the dust off his clothes and nodded at him.
"You are right. They may not be effective, but they can alert the outside world to the villains’ actions. Then, the stronger forces from our planet can handle the matter."
The members of the spirit race watched quietly as the trio discussed the matter.
Their calmness was so striking that it contradicted their youthful appearance.