"So, Can I kill him?" Alex asked with a simple smile.
For a brief moment, he was taken aback by the unexpected words that had escaped his lips. He had always prided himself on his strong moral compass, but now he found himself ignoring it, compelled by some unseen force.
"He deserves it," he muttered, his voice growing more resolute with each passing word. As he spoke, a realisation dawned on him. He was finally seeing the true depth of his character.
"It's the right thing to do," he continued, his demeanour growing darker by the moment. The veil was slowly being lifted, revealing the true human lurking beneath the facade.
He finally realised who he really was.
Someone willing to do whatever it takes to achieve what he deems necessary.
Someone willing to travel between light and darkness to achieve his goal.
Compared to the person he was, he felt alive at that moment.
In his past life, he followed rules. Did what was told and lived like a nobody.
Not because of his own choice, but because of the conditions he was born into. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't escape the grasp of reality.
And his last act of rebellion against society was his trip to his hometown. Leaving behind everything, he ran there to find himself.
Even though he couldn't do that due to the abruptness of his death. The second chance in life really pushed him to change. He didn't know if it was for the better or worse.
But he was sure that the change was necessary.
Doing the same thing repeatedly and hoping for a change was a mistake that he did in the past. He didn't want to live the same way anymore.
Morality, Rules, Social norms and Laws were concepts made by humans to control other humans. Not because they cared for everyone. And in his past life, it might have been necessary. But in this life, he should learn to live in this world and not be trapped in the past.
'The new me doesn't need to be nice or good! I just need to trust myself.' He declared in his mind.
While Alex was immersed in his own thoughts, Laya was startled by his words.
To be confident in his abilities to kill a tier 4 warrior, Who was he? She thought in disbelief.
"Hm… Why are you not saying anything? Can I kill him or not?"
"Why do you want to know that? You don't need my permission, right?" Laya inquired back.
"Because your answer will determine your position in this matter. And that will determine what relationship we have in the future. After all, I am not afraid of making you or your tribe my enemy. Let's just say that this is me being polite." Alex sharpened his gaze while replying.
Alex's crystal clear eyes peered into the soul of Laya, gauging her movements, and determining the next course of action.
"You can." Laya agreed.
"Huh…I was hoping for you to disagree." After saying that, Alex stood up. He stretched his body for a second before looking at the intense battle going before him.
"It's time that they ended it. Injured princess, you should scoot off. This is not a place for you to enjoy the view. I don't have any more time to babysit."
Alex turned towards Taka and asked. "Sir Taka. Do you need my help?"
"Much appreciated if you can," Taka said while dodging the charging rhino.
Among the beast that was alive, Kalina was easily taking care of the fire salamander. Her ice element skills helped her immensely when dealing with it.
As for the monkey, the prince trapped it inside some kind of a fiery globe and was slowly draining its energy.
They didn't seem like they require help. So, Alex decided to help Taka first. After all, he was the one fighting the physically strong beast. Each one of its charges had a devastating effect on the cityscape. It was ploughing through buildings as if it was nothing. And only Taka was skilled enough to stop its charge.
"Throw me the spear you have, use your defensive skills to buy me some time. Like the last time, if you could stop the rhino for a moment. I will do the rest." Alex said.
Taka didn't mind Alex's rude words. After all, he was a trustworthy ally that fought with before.
"Here, take it." Taka threw the silver spear at Alex.
Made with extraordinary material, it was anything but normal. The moment it contacted his hand, Alex knew that it had some mysterious power hidden inside it. But he didn't have enough time to think about that. For now, all he cared about was the durability of the spear.
After grabbing the spear, Alex ran a couple of meters away and began releasing a smoke screen. His own ability.
Energy quickly drained from his body as he covered it around the battlefield. Slowly he controlled it to cover the eyes of the rhino.
The first part of the plan was a success.
"Sir Taka, taunt it. And follow me. The beast has thick defensive skin that is better than most metal. It's hard to break through by normal means. We need to improvise." Alex said while running in a particular direction.
The thick smoke screen he released made it hard for the rhino to see. Even its other senses were dulled by it. So, it followed Alex and Taka, the only enemy it could see.
"Sir, Taka, can you use the defensive space skill one more time? I need you to go forward and use it right there." Alex said while pointing at a spot.
Taka followed the instruction and did as he was told. Half of the ground below him was frozen and the other was burning with purple flame. He suddenly realised what the evil kid was planning to do.
He was going to kill using a borrowed sword.
"Sigh! He is as evil as ever." Saying that Taka used his space bind skill. It was a skill that temporarily froze a specific volume of space beside him. By moulding the volume of space frozen, Taka can use it as a defensive or offensive technique.
Seeing that, Alex smirked.
He carefully led the charging rhino towards that direction. He even slowed down for the rhino to catch up and charge towards him.
And just as the rhino charged towards him, he disappeared and appeared right behind Taka.
The rhino was surprised to see Alex disappearing. And its surprise didn't end there. The smokescreen that covered its eyes dissipated and it was greeted with the sight of fire spitting salamander right in front of it.
Unable to stop its charge, the rhino smashed heavily against the soft belly of the salamander. And due to the space bind shield created right next to it, the poor salamander couldn't even dodge.
"Thcuk…Crack…" The bones and organs of the fire salamander turned to mush.
But it didn't end there.
Fully utilising the chance, Alex disappeared and reappeared right behind the rhino. He charged forward as fast as he could and threw the spear right to an orifice of the beast that should not be named.
'Does it have thick skin inside?' The doubt Alex had was quickly cleared, hearing the high-pitched cry of the rhino.
Kalina, Taka and even the prince who saw this clenched their butt cheeks by instinct.
After crying pathetically for a second, the beast lost consciousness and fell. Nobody could confirm if it died due to internal injury or due to the shock it received.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m