Dan began by describing Raydon's appearance when they first met him, beginning with his thin physique and ending with his ordinary facial features, dark brown pupils, and black hair.
'Is it possible that this is just a coincidence? ' The coincidence left Belicia speechless, and she could not help but be surprised by it.
Raydon looked exactly like Dan described, right down to the clothes he was wearing on the same day Belicia discovered his awakening.
As Dan continued with their story, he noticed Belicia's shock growing, but he pressed on, recounting everything that had transpired.
He detailed how Raydon saved them and Rayn from Herman's men, even taking a bullet to the head without any harm due to his extraordinary defense. Dan related the story of how Raydon made an offer to assist them in their conflict with Herman, as well as the night when Herman's men arrived and kidnapped Rayn.
"That night, using the technique our master had taught us to defend ourselves and fight our enemy, we eliminated Herman's men and were victorious with only a few injuries. '' Dan experienced a sudden outburst of emotion as he reflected on how, for the first time in his life, he felt strong and, for the first time in his life, he was able to use his own strength to defend those whom he considered to be his friends and family.
''But despite having everything seemingly under control, one of the enemies managed to kidnap Rayn right before our eyes that night.'' Dan paused, his gaze shifting to Rayn with a thoughtful expression.
"Now that I reconsider, it seems the main objective of the enemy was not to attack us but rather to kidnap Rayn from the very beginning. ''
Dan remembered that the enemy had selected several hostages before absurdly adding Rayn to the chosen captives. It became evident that the other hostages had merely served as a cover to conceal their true intentions, which were to abduct Rayn.
When Belicia heard that, she immediately understood why Dan thought that way.
Her fury rose to a fever pitch, and she gritted her teeth before drooping her head and speaking in a voice that quavered with an overwhelming sense of loss. ''Your guess is correct; it's all because of me.''
''What do you mean?'' Dan asked, clearly confused.
Belicia raised her head to look at Rayn and took a deep breath before continuing. ''Herman's men who attacked you were working for the young master I'm currently serving in the family.''
Belicia revealed the distressing truth, explaining that her young master, Loran Demugen, had discovered Rayn's identity as her brother. Because of the resentment that Loran felt toward Belicia, he gave an order to Herman to kidnap Rayn and then experiment on him in a cruel manner. She related the story of the day that Loran had called her over and coldly informed her of his intention to have her brother and all of their friends who lived in the slums put to death.
''I see. Now everything makes sense.'' Dan nodded, finally understanding why they had been attacked and Rayn kidnapped that fateful night.
In fact, the attackers on that night were not Herman's men but rather a group of mercenaries that Raydon had hired on his own. Raydon was looking for a reason to confront Herman, and he orchestrated the entire incident to give himself that reason. He also gave the order to abduct Rayn with the express purpose of gaining Belicia's approval; he intended to rescue Rayn in the end and win her favor by doing so.
Naturally, Dan and Belicia were unaware of this information, and they believed that the mercenary group was Herman's men, just as Raydon had planned.
''On that day, the only remaining enemy, who also happened to be the leader of the group, kidnapped Rayn and then began to flee in the direction of Herman's territory. I was the first person to notice them, so I went after them, and fortunately, I was able to save Rayn. Unfortunately, by the time I finally located Rayn, we had already entered Herman's territory and were surrounded by those terrifying monsters, '' Dan recounted, his face reflecting the desperation he felt during that harrowing moment.
''Fallen soldiers? '' Belicia asked after understanding what he was referring to.
She was aware that Herman's primary objective was to extend the length of his life. In order to accomplish this, he was constantly kidnapping people from the surrounding areas and conducting experiments on them. If the experiments were unsuccessful, Herman would transform the victims into creatures that he referred to as fallen soldiers.
"I do not know exactly what they were, but that sick-minded man obviously transformed all of the people he kidnapped into mindless creatures and released them around his region to protect his headquarters. ''Dan's rage flared up as he clenched his fists and imagined the fate of their friends and acquaintances who had been kidnapped and turned into those monstrous beings.
Regret tinged Dan's words as he reflected on the powerlessness they once faced, resulting in their friends falling victim to Herman's brutal experiments. "If only we had the strength we possess now earlier," he muttered, his grip so tight that his nails pierced his palm, causing blood to trickle.
"But now, everything has changed because of him," Dan said, taking a deep breath and gazing at the hundreds of people training on the grounds.
They had no control over anything at the time, and only one item holder could decide their fate. Nevertheless, Raydon had given them the ability to defend themselves against their enemies. Every day, they devoted themselves to training and increasing their power to prevent a recurrence of their previous vulnerability.
Belicia reflected on the challenges that they had faced together as she observed the changes in Dan's emotional state. She was unable to help them any further than was absolutely necessary due to the restrictions that her family had placed on her. This continued to cause her feelings of guilt.
"You don't need to blame yourself. I believe you've done everything you could to protect Rayn and us from Herman's wrath. It's probably because of you that we are still alive," Dan reassured, redirecting his gaze to Belicia.
He had a feeling that Belicia was working behind the scenes to keep Rayn and her friends safe from Herman's wrath and to ensure that they remained alive up to this point in the territory that Herman ruled over.
The only thing that Belicia did in response was simply to nod her head while fighting back the tears that were about to spill over.
After forcing herself for a moment to overcome her feelings of guilt, Belicia finally asked.
"But I still don't understand. How did your master…'' Belicia paused for a moment to correct herself before continuing. '' Young master Raydon managed to defeat Herman and annihilate the entire region he ruled over for years, overnight?" Belicia's astonishment persisted, acknowledging the shocking revelation that their master and Raydon were one and the same.
On the other hand, she was baffled as to how an F-Rank item holder who had only recently awakened could accomplish something of such astounding magnitude.
"I don't know why you consider him weak," Dan replied, genuinely puzzled by Belicia's perception of Raydon.
"That night, when we were surrounded by all those terrible creatures and thought we were going to die, I had the opportunity to witness the true power of our master for the first time," Dan recounted, his tone filled with excitement.
"When I first witnessed his power that day, I was just an ordinary person. Now, as an item holder, I realize that what I saw and understood was probably only a fraction of the power he really possessed," Dan continued, reflecting on the immense strength he had witnessed.
"There was a detail I didn't notice that day, but it became clear to me after becoming an item holder. Our master didn't use any item skills while fighting those hundreds of creatures that surrounded us. Additionally, although his movements may have seemed too fast for our untrained eyes to follow, I later realized that he was actually just moving slightly faster than a normal person," he explained, delving into his analysis of Raydon's fight that day.
Since Dan is an item holder at this point, he has the ability to perform a more in-depth analysis by recalling Raydon's battle from earlier that day. He did not know what items Raydon had or how high his stats were, but the one thing he was certain of was that he had easily killed hundreds of F-Rank creatures that day by using the shadow assassin technique alone, without using any skill advantage or stat advantage.
''He most likely restrained his strength that day to that of an average person so that he could demonstrate his technique to us. Even now, I doubt I will ever be able to use the technique he used that day with the same level of mastery. ''
Because Dan was familiar with Raydon's extraordinarily high defense, he reasoned that all of Raydon's other stats must also be extraordinarily high. As a result, Dan concluded that Raydon was purposefully limiting his stat advantage on that particular day.
Upon hearing Dan's explanation, Belicia paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. Then she spoke with a serious tone. "I believe you are gravely mistaken about something."
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m