Somewhere in the Ares Dungeon, Leon was fighting against a group of humans. Those humans had tricked him and slaughtered an entire village, they put the blame on him, and people began hunting him. He ran away until he finally knew where those responsible for his current situation were.
Leon was furious, slaughtering innocent people for a random reason. He broke the neck of one of the last survivors of the despicable group that caused him to be hunted.
''I wish I could torture you for eternity, but I don't have the time for that.''
Leon said as he turned around.
"Don't worry; I will send you a leader to join you soon.''
The last survivor, the leader of the group's pupils, dilated as at the exact same moment, Leon appeared before her and grabbed her head.
Bam!
He thrashed her face into the ground, leaving a huge imprint on the ground. Before she could release a cry, he pulled her out and tossed her into the air. He followed her in the air, his hammer crashing into her belly.
Her mouth fell open, and blood sprayed out.
She tumbled to the ground, her body convulsing with pain.
"Ple…please spare me!" The leader begged. The pain had wiped out her madness, replacing it with the sensation of approaching death. She regretted having angered this madman; at first, they had thought he was naive and used him but facing him right now, she was scared beyond words
"And why would I do such a thing?"
Leon asked as he slowly approached her like the God of death.
''P... Please don't kill me; they are just data anyway. They will resurrect shortly after, so why are you angry over them?" The woman asked, confused; she came from a world people believed Exodus was just a game; her world was like Earth, where games are popular.
Leon, who was walking toward the leader, froze in his steps.
''So, they are just a bunch of data?" He asked. The leader nodded, thinking maybe she would be able to survive; she only had one life left, she was still had not completed her mission.
She must collect a lot of data to bring back. Scientists from her world were thinking of a way to recreate Exodus; their world was dying, slowly getting corrupted by the black energy which appeared five years ago. The scientists' goal was to create a similar world, a world made of data where they could live after converting their souls into data. This project has existed since hundred years ago; the phenomenon from five years ago just accelerated it.
Erasing a whole village was a part of this mission; after they did this, they would hide and observe how the world would react, how faster the respawn of the villagers would happen; unfortunately, this might look like a game, it was not one, the residents of Exodus were all living beings. Only some exceptional Boss in the tower could revive after dying; it was not perfect immortality either; once they reached the numbers of death, they would be gone forever.
Leon understood that the villagers were living beings, not data like this woman claimed. This infuriated him to no end; he decided to use the ability he vowed not to use if necessary because it corrupts his nature.
The woman who was thinking maybe she would be able to survive froze, she started trembling because Leon's eyes were now devoid of any emotions, if previously his face was cold it carried a bit of emotion, anger but the current Leon's eyes were devoid of any emotions, literally no emotions, no anger, no hatred, nothing.
''Noooooo, please don't come any closer.'' The woman began to shout as if she had seen the devil. Leon ignored her and muttered.
''Hell Soul Flame!''
A black flame darker than the night itself appeared; the moment the woman saw this flame, she saw death, not death inside Exodus but real death, and she was not going to wait for it to come to take her. Although gravely injured, she still mustered the bit of strength she had shot toward her left; however, just as she was about to leave, a black flame covered her whole body. First, she felt nothing, but suddenly she screamed, a scream that sent a chill down to Leon's spine.
''Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
She was not burnt, at least not physically, but her soul was erased forever from the universe.
Leon frowned because he sensed a familiar presence hiding nearby, to help himself buy some time, he said.
''Why not come out now that you are finally here?"
Nobody answered; Leon continued after secretly drinking a stamina and mana recovery potion.
''Are you perhaps afraid of me?''
Finally, there was a response.
''Hahahaha, Leon, you are sure a funny one. Who is afraid of you?''
Leon furrowed his brows, but when he saw the identity of the other party, he burst into laughter.
''Hahahaha! Who is it if it not the traitor?"
Leonardo frowned upon hearing those words but still said nothing.
It was him, the person who entered right before Alex, and the others entered the dungeon. Ares Dungeon was known for being hard and unpredictable; you could be sent to a random floor after passing through the first-floor door; it was exactly what happened to Leonardo. After walking into the first floor and killing a bunch of monsters, he was sent here; it was a nice surprise he would use this beastman to vent some of his frustrations.
As if he could read through his mind Leon chuckled.
''You know, after what happened back then, I wanted to have the chance to fight you, to make you pay. Unfortunately, I didn't get the opportunity until now that is. I don't believe in God, but I thank him for this wonderful opportunity. Now I can vent.''
Leonardo frowned before bursting into laughter.
''What a coincidence. I also feel the same. I will kill you.'' He declared with releasing a bit of killing intent.
Although shocked, Leon was still calm; he knew if he asked him how many people he killed to have killing intent so heavy, he would not answer, but there was a question he wanted to know.
''Tell me, what is the deal between you and Alex?"
Leonardo's body trembled for a second, even if he immediately hid it by acting as though nothing had happened.
''I don't know what you are talking about.''
Naturally, he denied having a deal with Alex, but Leon already got his answer.
''I See.." It was all Leon said after Leonardo's denial; the latter frowned, worried but soon discarded his worries; he needed to crush Leon, an epic fight was about to begin.