Chapter 103: Third Key
Leon didn’t close his eyes. Instead, he focused entirely on enduring the pain ravaging his body.
Meanwhile, Eira attempted to move toward her fallen fan. But the moment she took a step...
Whoosh!
That invisible something sliced through the air again. A thin cut appeared on the back of her hand. Blood trickled down, her expression darkening instantly.
She tried again. But...
Whoosh!
Another cut appeared.
Then another.
And another.
Every time she attempted to move toward the fan, an invisible object would strike her, leaving behind a fresh wound. Eventually, she stopped trying altogether.
’How did it come to this? People tremble in fear just hearing my name. Yet here I am... pinned in place by some nobody?’
Her fists clenched tightly. If looks could kill, Leon would have died a thousand times over by now.
But Leon paid her no attention. His entire focus remained on resisting the poison.
Time passed.
One hour.
Then two.
Finally, a series of notifications appeared before him.
[Grade 3 Poison has been neutralized.]
[Poison Resistance has increased significantly.]
[Poison Resistance: 28.31%]
[Enduring the poison has increased the Host’s physical endurance and defense.]
[HP: 66 → 67]
[HP: 67 → 68]
[HP: 68 → 69]
A grin slowly spread across Leon’s face. ’Who would’ve thought? Not only did my Poison Resistance increase, but even my HP went up. This really was a blessing in disguise.’ His mood immediately improved.
Only then did he turn his attention toward Eira. She was standing silently in the same spot. After countless failed attempts, she had finally given up on reaching her fan.
Leon looked at her and smiled. "Go ahead and shoot those poisonous needles of yours again."
"What?" Eira stared at him, completely bewildered. ’He wants me to attack him? Willingly? What is he? Mad or just suicidal?’
"What are you zoning out for?" Seeing Eira standing still, Leon said impatiently. "Go ahead and pick up your fan if that’s what you need to cast your magic."
Eira stood frozen for a moment before finally walking toward the fan in the distance. This time, no invisible attack stopped her.
She picked it up and immediately swung it in a wide arc. A furious expression twisted her face. More than ten silver needles shot through the air. "Die, you arrogant bastard." She roared. ’This is my strongest attack. No way he can survive this.’
Leon remained completely still. Not only did he make no attempt to dodge, he almost seemed to welcome the attack.
Then...
Thwack!
Thwack!
Thwack!
One after another, eleven needles embedded themselves into his body. For a brief moment, satisfaction appeared on Leon’s face only to vanish the next moment...
Several notifications appeared before him.
[Grade 3 Poison detected within the Host’s body.]
[Due to achieving a certain level of resistance, Grade 3 Poison is now harmless to the Host.]
Leon’s expression darkened. "What a drag." He looked down and sighed helplessly.
The poison that had tortured him for two straight hours no longer had any effect whatsoever.
Eira on the other hand simply stood there, staring at him in disbelief. ’N-nothing happened?’ May be for the first time, she genuinely had no idea what kind of monster she was facing.
Leon looked at her. "Do you have any other spells?" He asked. "Maybe a poison stronger than the last one?"
Eira remained silent. For some reason, she felt that answering that question would only bring her more trouble.
Yet her silence alone was enough.
Leon smiled. "Looks like you don’t. Then I guess it’s time for you to reunite with the rest of your group."
Eira instinctively took a step backward. "Don’t... don’t do anything reckless." Fear crept into her voice. "If you kill me, everyone connected to you will be in grave danger."
She tried her best to sound intimidating. Tried to sound confident. But it didn’t do her any help.
Leon’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. He calmly began walking toward her. At the same time, the Frost Monarch’s Blade appeared in his hand.
The white blade radiated a chilling aura.
"No..." She took another step back. "Stop."
Her composure completely shattered. But Leon never slowed down. He closed the distance between him and her in seconds.
And then...
Whoosh!
A streak of white flashed through the air.
For a brief moment, nothing happened.
Eira stood frozen in place.
Then...
A thin red line slowly appeared across her throat. "Y-you." She could only produce that single word before her head slid from her neck the next moment and fell to the ground.
Thud!
Her headless body remained standing for a brief second before collapsing onto the stone floor.
Silence! Complete silence.
"You threatened my sister’s life, and you still thought you could get out of this unscathed?" Leon shook his head.
Just like that, an A-Class assassin feared by countless people, the Poison Queen herself died.
Leon didn’t spare her corpse another glance.
Instead, he calmly walked toward the statue standing within the circle, as if killing her just now had been nothing more than a trivial matter.
His stared at the massive cyclopean figure. "So this is a demon, huh? It looks pretty ugly."
Curious, Leon crouched down and examined the strange symbols carved around the statue. After studying them for a while, he gave up. None of the symbols made any sense to him.
Leon rose to his feet and turned toward the exit. "Whatever." He shrugged. "I’ll just report this to the Hunter Association. They can investigate the place and figure out what’s going on."
With that, he began walking away.
However, after taking only two steps...
A series of notifications suddenly appeared before him.
[The unauthorized individual has perished.]
[Host has arrived at the location of the next mission.]
[Mission: Kill all monsters and establish dominance.]
[Reward: Third Heaven Grade Curse Eradicator Key.]
Before Leon could even process anything, numerous black holes appeared across the stone floor.
One.
Ten.
Fifty.
A hundred.
In the blink of an eye, more than a hundred dark rifts or portals had materialized throughout the underground space.
