BOOM!

It all happened so quickly.

The strike of both the great serpigon and Marlon clashed at the same time.

The devastating punch of the great serpigon blasted the position that Marlon once stood.

With a loud, explosive sound, a deep dent appeared, debris flew, and dust spewed, covering the area in a fog that blocked the vision of the onlookers, causing worry to surge in their hearts.

Since both of their attacks connected at the same time, it became pretty difficult to determine what exactly had happened, and all of them came to the believable conclusion.

The great serpigon won.

Ashton and Logan stared at the dusty cloud as their eyes began to moisten.

The onlookers felt a pang in their hearts — the brave young hunter who had placed himself in danger's way had died.

And Crimson…

She was the only one who could see clearly despite the obscurity.

What everyone believed was false.

She could see through the cloud with her special vision. She saw everything that took place in that short amount of time.

Something caused a strong curiosity to appear in her heart.

She flashed from her current position toward the fog.

...

Meanwhile—

Marlon's fist connected cleanly with the scaly body of the great serpigon.

—12,500

Five-digit points of damage.

The effect was immediate.

With the sound of something fast and strong tearing through flesh, followed by a low, painful cry, the sturdy defense of the massive creature shattered as a gaping hole appeared.

In an instant, its health fell from 97% to 0%.

And then, with a loud thud that sent the dust cloud drifting violently, its gigantic body collapsed.

[You've slayed a Great Serpigon… +37,000]

[Drain activated… You've obtained a new skill]

Marlon landed on the ground right beside the collapsed body of the great serpigon, using his hands to block the wave of dust spewing everywhere.

The effect of Venom Rage was still active, thus he was still in his transformed state.

According to his calculation, there were still another four to five minutes remaining before the skill deactivated and entered cooldown.

And having tasted the potency of the skill, he now understood why it had such a long cooldown time.

It was a cheat skill!!

But just before he could check the notification that he had gotten from slaying his opponent, a figure flashed through the dusty fog, moving so fast that he could only see an unclear silhouette until the person now stood in front of him.

Crimson halted in her steps, her eyes lingering on Marlon's figure.

"Y-you…" her voice trembled.

She felt the energy radiating from his body. It was strong and strangely animalistic, something that a human should not possess.

She was confused. She had met so many hunters and even faced off against even more dark hunters who usually dabbled in dark arts, but she had never felt like she was standing before a monster each time she was in their presence.

But at this moment, she felt like she was standing before one.

Although his face was calm and his eyes still carried the lively glint she had somewhat gotten used to, she could not help but feel that she was standing before a variant.

And just as her gaze continued to linger on him, he flashed her a gentle smile.

"Thank you for leaving this big oaf to me," Marlon thanked her.

She stared at him, speechless for a few seconds.

And then she asked a question that no one had gotten to ask him so far, the same one that bothers her.

"What is your talent?"

At the competition, she thought he had awakened a warrior-type talent, as he exhibited physical strength beyond what someone his level could possess.

Other hunters thought the same, including her own brother, who was an expert at analyzing talents despite not possessing a special vision like hers.

And ninety percent of the time, he was always correct.

But just now he used an entirely different one.

And not only that, the power he used, she could not feel any trace of it when she observed him earlier.

'My talent?'

Marlon listened to the red-haired beauty in front of him and repeated the question in his mind.

No one had actually asked him so far except Ashton and Logan, and he had always diverted the questions.

Now that he was asked, he could not help but think deeply about what his answer should be, one that would not contradict itself in the future.

As someone who had entered and remained on the radar of the entire world, this moment was crucial.

Should he tell her that he had two talents and let her know what they were?

If he did, he would have to hide the future talents he would awaken.

It would become very stressful and he despised that.

And so he thought deeper, and then, after some time had passed, he turned to meet her gaze.

"Can you keep a secret?"

His response was a question, one that made Crimson's expression distort partially for a few seconds before returning to normal, and then she gave a short reply, "Yes."

Marlon then nodded with a small smile and spoke, "I have no talent…"

Crimson was puzzled, and this time she opened up. She disliked when her curiosity was left unsolved.

"You have no talent? What about your display so far? The competition, now….."

Marlon could tell the seriousness and desperation from her raised tone.

While he had never actually gotten the chance to have a conversation as long as this with her, from what he saw in the media, she was a reserved person.

And at the moment, he understood her desperation to some extent, so he decided to add more details to his pretentious reply earlier, this time adding some mix of truth.

"My true ability is that I can use all talents," he said.

Crimson's expression remained the same, a bigger frown appearing on her face as if asking him to explain further.

And he did..

Mixing lies and half-truths, he managed to forge a believable explanation and it seemed to have worked as gradually, her confusion softened to enlightenment.

"You can obtain skills and talents simply from slaying monsters…" she repeated, her eyes wide open with surprise.

Even though it sounded unbelievable.

After witnessing the so many of his fights and the different category of powers he had displayed, she instantly believed him.

After getting his explanation, most of the doubt she once had about him be the originless one, was cleared.

"You promise to keep it a secret right?"

Marlon voice brought her back to the moment.

She looked at him and nodded calmly.

"Yes…"

And she continued,

"However, since you've been selected to join the voyage mission in a month's time, you'll have to register a talent."

Marlon's eyes snapped open.

"Voyage mission?"

He had never heard of it before.

Unfortunately, he didn't have the chance to get an answer from her, as the fog that had been gradually clearing was now completely gone.

At the same time, Venom Rage deactivated, and his body returned to normal.

His gaze shifted towards the others.

The panicked and solem

n expressions on their faces quickly turned to shock as they met his gaze, then softened into relief and joy. Moments later, their cheers rang out through the streets.

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