Reina looked at his hands and felt something strange. 'What was I doing?' It was as if something had taken over his mind. The anger, the fear, all the emotions he had just felt were so extreme and unnatural. But before he had time to think deeply, the sound of clapping suddenly rang out in the laboratory. Snap! Snap! Snap! 'What?' At this time, Reina finally realized that it turned out that he and Annie were not the only ones in this place. There was another person hiding behind the scenes, and it was he who caused Reina's previous madness. 'I actually forgot?' He suddenly realized that he had completely ignored the existence of the attacker, which was an extremely unnatural feeling. “It really worked…”
As the clapping continued, a figure slowly emerged from the shadows. The attacker wore a sinister mask that completely covered his face. The hood hung low, completely covering his hair. He seemed to blend into the darkness, and his dark clothes blended perfectly with the shadows around him. A dark aura emanated from him, but beneath that darkness, a faint silver-grey mana could be seen. It gave off a strange sense of foreboding, as if the air had solidified. As soon as Reina saw the outfit, he immediately realized that this was the attacker. The fast-moving shadow and the arrow covered with mana perfectly matched this figure. Click! Click! To further create fear, the figure that had remained silent until then slowly moved forward, and the sound of footsteps could be heard clearly. After the clapping stopped, a low and eerie whisper came from under the mask, breaking the dim silence. "Thank you, you saved me a lot of trouble." The figure taunted, with a sinister satisfaction in his voice. "By killing each other like mad dogs, you proved that you are worthy of following a pack of dogs." Reiner's eyes narrowed in anger and desperation as he glared at the masked figure. 'That's the bastard.' The aura of his attacker ignited the rage within him. 'I'm going to kill him.' "Well……" Reina gritted his teeth, mobilized the last bit of demonic energy in his body, roared like a wounded beast, and rushed towards the attacker in front of him. “Ahhhh!” The rage he felt and the fear of death, he attacked with a desperate determination, as crazy as a trapped animal. However, when his blade made contact with his attacker, it cut only air. 'Um?' "You really don't learn your lesson."
The figure's voice echoed with cold amusement, and the vicious words hung in the air. Whoosh! Swish! Before Reina understood the meaning of this sentence, the attacker quickly counterattacked. Reina's exhausted body was close to the limit, but the mental pressure and fear he had accumulated made him forget his fatigue. The silver-gray dagger in the hooded figure's hand drew a blurry trajectory in the air, leaving behind a deadly cold light. "Ah!" Reina groaned in pain. The daggers, which contained strange silver-grey magic power, easily cut through his demonic skin. At this moment, Reina felt real fear again. "No...I can't die...I can't die..." The door of death has been opened, and it seems that someone is peering behind it. "You bastard!" Reina yelled, trying to push away his fear. "Ahhhh!" Reina's desperate roar echoed in the dim room as he mobilized the last of the demonic energy in his body. The scarlet light around him flickered, forming a strange scene that contrasted sharply with the silver-gray glow of the attacker's dagger. “You are really just a wild dog.” The hooded figure said coldly, and the cold whisper hung in the air. Then, he disappeared at an incredible speed, as if he merged into the darkness, leaving no trace behind. Surrounded by fear, Reina struggled to comprehend his opponent's sudden disappearance. "Come out!" Reina shouted, his voice mixed with anger and despair. He looked around frantically, his keen senses stretched to the limit. The room seemed to shrink around him, the shadows growing suffocating. Reyna could hear the rustle of air, the slightest movement, but he couldn't pinpoint the attacker's location. With every passing second, his mind was becoming exhausted from everything that had happened, and the pain from his wounds was making it worse. "Come out!" Reina roared, breathing heavy and rapid. rustle! 'Here.' When he suddenly heard a voice behind him, he attacked like a madman. “Ahhhh!” Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! He swung his demon blade wildly, striking at empty air, his movements devoid of strategy, just a desperate attempt to hit anything that might be lurking in the shadows. However, the attacker still hid without a trace. Reina was now sweating all over, turning around constantly, his senses tense, not missing any slight movement. "What's wrong, Reina?" the hooded figure's voice taunted him from nowhere. "Can't handle the unknown?" As the disembodied voice continued its taunting, Reyna felt a paralyzing fear take over his body and mind. The figure's taunts continued, every word filled with malice. "You think you're the hunter, but in the darkness, you're nothing more than the prey. How do you feel, Reina? Terrified, helpless?"
Reiner's movements became chaotic, his once confident stance replaced by a feeling of fear. The room twisted and distorted around him, shadows dancing like demonic tentacles, and he swung his blade blindly, trying to dispel the invisible threat. "You thought you were something great when you gained power, but now you're afraid," the voice of the hooded figure whispered, surrounding Reiner like a vengeful ghost. Hearing this, Reina shuddered, and memories of the past flooded back into his mind. The scene of the father beating the mother. Memories of him being powerless... memories of being bullied by the awakened children. 'How does he know?' The rustling sounds and invisible movement became more intense, irritating Reina's tense nerves. "Ha...ha...how did you know?" His breathing became rapid and heavy, and the oppressive darkness gradually closed in. He staggered, and his once powerful body was now a trembling shell. "People like you, who seek power to escape their past, are like you." The hooded figure's voice echoed, like a reminder of Reyna's deepest fears. The room seemed to tighten around him, the shadows themselves pressing against his presence. "How did you know?" Reina uttered this sentence with difficulty, his voice filled with desperate pleading. His vision became blurred, and the accumulated wounds began to show their effects. Whoosh! Stab! At this moment, the figure emerged from the shadows, and the silver-grey dagger in his hand flashed with a strange light. Without any words, the figure quickly closed the distance, and the cold steel instantly pierced Reina's heart. "Ah!" Reina screamed in pain, as severe pain ran through his body. "Ugh!" Blood gushed out of his mouth, and he felt his demon heart stop beating. As he felt consciousness slipping away, he heard his attacker's last words. "We may be the same... it's a pity that you chose the wrong master." With these last words, Reiner's consciousness gradually faded, and the last thing he saw was the cold, shining blade. ...... In the real world, no dream comes for free. Everything has its price. If you pursue power, you will have to pay a price. This could be time spent training, or money or resources spent… But what about the demon followers? Did they train to gain powers granted by demons? Do they spend money to buy resources to increase their power? No, they don't. Anyone without money or talent can become a devil follower. That's why those who are outcasts from the world choose the devil's path. The world is not fair. Some people don’t have the money to buy those resources…some people don’t have the time…some people don’t have the talent.
So, instead of accepting the reality, they let their nature push them to look for other options. Choices that make them stronger. The demons took advantage of this, preying on their desire for power. They grant demon followers the power they crave. But, as I said, everything has a price. What do demons gain from giving them demonic energy? Or, what negative impact does this have on humanity? Like all intelligent social structures, there is hierarchy in the structure of the demon's followers. For those at the lower levels, they have access to very few resources. Their demonic energy is raw and unrefined, which makes it very difficult to control. Essentially, since humans are born to use magic, it is unnatural for demonic energy to exist in the body. Therefore, the body rejects this foreign presence. And the more it is exposed to this energy, the more changes the body will undergo in order to adapt to it. These adaptations bring people closer to demons, which is one of the reasons why it is impossible to restore one's original human body once demonic energy is used for a long time. The change was too drastic for them. Furthermore, the primitive nature of demonic energy makes low-level demon followers more prone to emotional fluctuations and more confused in their rationality. That's the idea that came to my mind. As I fought these two in the dungeon, I realized that their demonic energy was far lower than when I fought Fred. Considering that Fred wasn't considered a high-ranking half-demon, that meant these two were at the lowest level. So I decided to test a few things. 'Rage Potion.' There is a common rage potion in the game that can make monsters more violent. Players often use it to make monsters attack each other, and then finish them off at the end to gain experience. So I thought, if they were low-level half-demons, could I do the same thing with them? I took the recipe for the Berserk Potion and changed some of the ingredients to make it more effective against Demon Followers. Next, I put this substance into the arrows and smeared its poison on the arrowheads. This is just an experiment. Even if it doesn't work, it won't be a big deal, but if it does, it will point me in a direction for the future. And now, I'm standing here. Faced with those who had nearly killed me, they had fallen to the point where they could no longer distinguish friend from foe. Like the lesser demons they follow, these lackeys acquire the same disgusting traits. 'Like master, like dog.' When I look at these disgusting demon followers, the anger in my heart has not subsided, the hatred is still there.
'That's not enough.' I said to myself. This is far from enough. 'This is just the beginning.' And what I have done is not meaningless, I have confirmed my ability. 'I need to clean up and leave.' I thought so while looking at the bodies on the ground. But before leaving, I did not forget to take their watches. After all, I still need to deal with the mastermind behind this. Just like that, the first step of my revenge was truly completed.
