He was quickly crowded by all the onlookers who recognized him as the young hero, and this made their cheers even louder. Now that they knew his name, they thundered it across the street as they surrounded him.

There were a few cameramen and reporters from various channels on the scene at the moment, as they had all received information about the portal break.

Since portal breaks were rare and always disastrous, they naturally came to cover it.

Nonetheless, with Marlon present, they discarded capturing the main event and instead focused on trying to get an interview with him, knowing it would boost their viewership.

"Mr. Marlon, please look this way."

"Would you like an interview with us?"

Their voices rang, drowned by the chanting of the celebrating crowd.

Crimson had left his side the moment people began surrounding him, wanting to let him enjoy the moment since he had taken care of the whole situation by himself.

Nonetheless, seeing how the reporters had begun to disturb him, she decided to step up and help.

"He is tired. If you want an interview with him, you know the right procedure to follow," she said.

Her stern voice silenced them quickly. The reporters were dejected, but none dared go against her words. All of them returned to what they had originally come to the scene for, leaving Marlon alone.

Crimson allowed the celebration to continue for a few more minutes before she ended it all and took Marlon away.

Strolling beside her, away from the troublesome crowd, he finally had time to breathe properly.

"You'll get used to them very soon," Crimson said with a small smile.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to them…" he responded. Crowds like that were stressful to deal with. Honestly, he now kind of understood why certain protagonists tended to run from fame—the stress was almost as much as the benefits.

The two of them strolled away further.

Since the crowd was still at the scene, interacting with the reporters, the part of the street they walked toward was empty.

It was the perfect time and place to ask what was bothering him.

"The voyage mission you mentioned, what is it about?" he asked.

"It's still very confidential for now, so I can't share the details," she responded after a small pause, then continued, "I only told you about it because, currently, you're the only selected candidate for it. Others will be selected before the date arrives."

"Hmm."

A confidential mission. What did it really entail? Marlon wondered.

He had a few speculations for it, but for now, he was mostly curious as to why he was the first person selected—and most of all, who had selected him.

He asked, and he was met with a response he was not expecting.

His eyes widened as he rushed forward and turned to face Crimson.

"Are you for real? Axel Storm handpicked me himself?"

Crimson nodded, a small smile on her face. "Your prowess at the competition a few days ago must have intrigued him."

Marlon did not know how to respond.

Right now, he was reacting like a fan who had just received an autograph from a celebrity—but it was well worth it.

The strongest hero had not only noticed him but had shown interest. It was amazing and inspiring.

His curiosity piqued. What kind of mission would get the strongest hero's attention?

He turned to Crimson. "I've shared a secret of mine. Wouldn't it be fair if you shared something of equal importance?"

Crimson observed his curious expression and sighed.

Then she opened up, briefing him a little about the mission—one that had never taken place before in the entire world and one that would change the future of Arden.

=====

Deadlight District

It was the late hours of the morning, but the entire area was covered with a dense fog that seemed to hide the region from the world.

The streets were crowded and busy with a lot of activity, mostly criminal.

People were being beaten, killed, and assaulted.

At certain areas, full-on battles between various gangs that had formed within the forgotten lands took place.

At the black market, trades happened. Everything was sold. Young children were caged and towed away by their owners.

At that moment, on a busy street, another chaos unfolded.

The Leon brothers gang, one of the most dominant gangs ruling over much of the southern side of the district, was in action.

They were a group formed of thugs, most of whom had awakened their system and talents.

Among the gangs in this area, they were the strongest due to the high number of awakeners in their midst.

It gave them leverage over their rivals, making them unstoppable and feared.

But at that moment, more than fifty of these powerful gang members could be seen lying on the ground, their bodies covered with multiple wounds.

A few of them struggled to crawl away from their own pools of blood, fear etched on their faces.

Some dragged their broken limbs.

Others cried as they rolled on the ground, their usual dignity and pride gone, replaced entirely by the pain of their injuries.

"Please! Let me go!"

The fearful cries of one of them, crawling away from a young boy, echoed.

With pale white hair now stained with blood and tiny bits of flesh from previous victims, and blood-red eyes glowing fiercely, Draven continued stepping toward the fleeing gangster with no remorse, his face soaked in blood.

The gangster, over thirty, shivered like a child.

He usually did not believe in any religion, but at that moment, he prayed that a divine being would save him from the devil in front of him.

But it was fruitless.

Draven closed the distance effortlessly.

The man quickly summoned a fireball and tossed it at him, using his fire magic talent in a last attempt to save himself.

The fireball exploded against Draven's face.

It charred him.

But in a flash, his skin returned to normal.

Enraged, Draven pounced on the man and sank his sharp teeth into his chest.

"Ahh! Let go of me, you devil!"

The man cried, using all his strength to try and push him away, but Draven remained unmoving.

"L-let go…"

Gradually, his voice weakened, and he died.

Meanwhile, Draven continued. He sucked the man's blood until none remained and then, without changing expression, dug into his chest and pulled out his heart.

It still pumped, but he did not care.

He tossed it into his mouth and chewed it.

At that moment, a notification appeared:

[Devour activated… you've gained a new skill.]

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.