“Join us,” Black Crow stated his intention with bright eyes. “People with skills like yours are just what our organization needs.”
“But do I need an organization like yours?” Vaan coolly retorted while giving Black Crow a ridiculous look. “Your head must have been kicked by a donkey or something. Why on earth would I join the losing side? Your joke is not funny at all.”
Right after Vaan spoke, the other Peak C-rank hunters looked like they wanted to attack him immediately.
However, Black Crow stopped them calmly, seemingly unaffected by Vaan’s insulting and provocative words.
“Do you think we are losing because the witches have us cornered on this mountain?” Black Crow calmly asked as he shook his head. “You can’t be more wrong. It is true that we had nowhere else to run, but that doesn’t mean we are trapped. On the contrary, we wanted you all to come here.”
“Do you think the witches can win against our Peak B-rank hunters when they can’t use magic within this region affected by the Curse of the Purple Umbala?” Black Crow asked.
“This is why your side will lose; arrogance, excess self-confidence, and sheer ignorance,” Vaan shook his head and also chuckled. “You only know the Curse of Purple Umbala affects witches’ magic and aura users’ aura; you know nothing about their specific nature.”
As he spoke, he played with his gunblade, allowing it to hover above his hand weightlessly.
At first, he had thought that his Specialized Magic could be used in the cursed region because he used mental power for them like a psychic ability.
But after sensing mana fluctuations of magic from Headmaster Astoria and the Grand Inquisitor far away, he realized other witches could also use their Specialized Magic without a problem.
“You… You can use magic?” Black Crow and the other three wolf-men with him revealed their surprises.
“Why? Does it surprise you that much to see a man use magic?” Vaan casually asked while secretly prying for information that might only exist outside the seven witch kingdoms.
“So you were a Wizard from the Wizard Association. Even more reason for you to join us and rise up against this disgusting matriarchal society built by the witches that enslaved men. You should know that the rest of the world is ruled by…”
Black Crow stubbornly tried to persuade Vaan when he paused at a sudden realization.
“No, wait a minute… Even if you can use magic as a Wizard, you shouldn’t be able to use magic at all in the cursed region!”
“As I expected, there are Wizards out there, huh?” Vaan muttered thoughtfully before he shook his head with a wry smile. “Unfortunately, I am not interested in sacrificing my little brother for magic.”
He had always wondered why women could become witches and use magic while men could not.
Black Crow’s expression, which seemed to say that he even knew about the secret to becoming a wizard, further strengthened his theory.
Although he had yet to understand why testosterone was incompatible with mana, it was indeed the reason why men couldn’t use magic.
Men had thirty times more testosterone than women pre-puberty, which is then reduced to around fifteen times that of women post-puberty.
The reduced testosterone level is what gave birth to men’s next best option to become strong, aura training.
But even though Vaan could finally confirm it through Black Crow, he would never sacrifice his little brother to become a wizard.
“Whatever you are thinking now is right. This isn’t regular magic. Unfortunately, you’ll only know what it is unless you ask the god of death when you meet him.”
Vaan’s eyes suddenly flickered with heavy killing intent, causing Black Crow’s expression to change abruptly.
“Watch out!” Black Crow immediately warned.
However, he and the rest of his team had sorely underestimated Vaan’s capability despite watching him kill the goblins for some time.
That was because Vaan had purposely shown less of his strength and abilities after they entered his detection range.
Extreme Lightning Flash Step!
Vaan’s figure disappeared, closing the gap between him and a Peak C-rank hunter in a flash before he swung his gunblade and cut off the person’s head.
Pfft!
Blood sprayed from the person’s neck.
“Poison Claw!” Black Crow bellowed with regret.
Throughout their exchange of words, Vaan had purposely revealed some of his abilities and knowledge in order to fish in new information and, at the same time, buy time to recover his stamina.
Shortly after, killing one Peak C-rank hunter, Vaan flashed to his next target.
His opponents were only around Peak-level Rank 2, but there were skilled. Thus, he couldn’t afford to go easy on them.
Puchi!
Blood sprayed another Peak C-rank hunter’s body when the person tried to receive Vaan’s attack—only for his gunblade to suddenly disappear, replaced by his Rank 4 Purple Sword, which directly sliced through the person’s black dagger, body, and all.
“Silent Feather!” Black Crow cried before cursing, “Dammit! He’s too strong, Blood Knife! We have to get away from here quickly!”
“No shit!” Blood Knife cussed back.
Neither of them cared about Vaan revealing his potential spatial storage, which was not that rare to begin with. They just wanted to get out alive.
The two immediately fled in two different directions.
However, Vaan took out both his gunblades and emptied entire magazines on each of them, striking their legs, body, and unluckily for Blood Knife, his head.
Rapid Fire! Enhanced Hot Shot!
Ding!
…
“Dammit!” Black Crow fell to the ground with high momentum, dragging his face along it. His legs were shot, his heart was punctured, and even a major artery on his neck was nicked.
Although he barely evaded a headshot, he wasn’t far from death. His passive regeneration ability could save his life, but of course, his enemy wasn’t going to let him live.
Black Crow dragged his body to rest against a tree, stopped the bleeding on his neck with one hand, and stared back at Vaan.
“I don’t get it…” Black Crow coughed up blood and said, “With such abilities, why do you continue to live under the oppression and reign of witches? Why can’t you help us restore the reign of men?”
“I don’t care about the reign of witches, nor the reign of men,” Vaan replied indifferently as he approached Black Crow, step by step.
Black Crow gritted his teeth and snappishly asked, “Then what do you care you about?!”
“My reign,” Vaan coolly replied.
As Black Crow’s eyes slowly widened, Vaan cut off his head with a single slash, ending the dwindling remainder of his life.