Footsteps echo ominously.

The floorboards creak, invading the deep silence.

As the six hardened criminals take their stance, they watch as the door above their underground meeting room lifts, and a man slowly proceeds inside.

He descends with silent grace, his robe fluttering with the sudden draft caused by the sudden ventilation. With his raven black hair complementing the eyepatch that covers his right eye, he has a distinct gentlemanly look.

However, unmistakably, this man reeks of blood!

His blade drips with the crimson ichor, and even in his calm procession, the taint of death tightly clings to him.

Even the members of the Sixfold Helm of Darkness feel a certain pressure.

These are the same people who have wasted several lives, mutilating corpses and perpetrating disgusting activities all over the kingdom. The moment they see Javier, they can sense a deep disgust—an overwhelming sense of dread.

'This man is like us!' Some immediately think to themselves as they shudder, while others shake their heads and admit the ugly truth.

'No… he's far worse!'

"So this is where you six were hiding…" Javier speaks calmly, confidence oozing from his moist lips. His handsome face appears calm, unmoved by the ground, and a cruel glint manifests in his cool, gray eyes.

"Tch!" Jasper clicks his tongue, feeling dread much unlike the rest of his comrades.

'I suspected as much! Does that mean he's prepared to take all of us down simultaneously?!'

Jasper shudders in disbelief.

Even he finds the possibility of that extremely slim.

After all, they have a Druid and a Royal Knight among their ranks, alongside equally competent individuals. Within the Randalorion Kingdom, they stand at the apex of humans in terms of pure skills, and even within the rest of the world, they should be top-tier.

—Peak-level humans.

Naturally, there will always be someone stronger, but the difference shouldn't be too drastic.

The only things that can make a difference are Potions, Armaments, and Special Resources for Spells. However, not only is this man traveling light, but other than the blade in his hand and the armor underneath his robe, he doesn't seem to be wielding any Armament.

Plus, there are six of them and one of him.

Logic tells Jasper that they have the upper hand and that he is fretting for nothing.

But—

'What if we are wrong?!' The possibility of loss keeps creeping into his mind as he stares at the man before them.

Javier Aditi.

At this moment, he presents as stoic.

A gentle presence.

Yet, so suffocating that the six already have their guards raised to the utmost.

They glance at each other, nodding and sending quick signals to indicate their intentions. There is no need to waste any time conversing with this person.

Trying to capture him in order to extract information is also too big a risk.

The most effective thing they can do at the moment is to go all-out and attack, leaving no room for counters. As much as they distrust one another, they are still experts in the criminal underworld, and they naturally know how to coordinate their attacks without interfering with one another.

As a result, they don't have a problem attacking all at once.

The problem is Javier Aditi himself.

He appears too calm!

What exactly does he have to resist them? What could he possibly be hiding?

'No matter…' Dreyfus glances at one of his teammates and smiles. 'We'll simply outflank him, cutting off all his escape routes and then devour him!'

Naturally, Dreyfus takes the frontal position.

Out of the six, he has the most overt and explosive power once he ingests the Grade 4 Potion.

Then, Edrin, the Royal Knight, will take the rear position, right behind Javier, preventing him from effectively dodging Dreyfus's blow or escaping the underground room.

Xeno will stay back alongside Madame Zema.

He's the only Shaman, and as a result, his defensive Spells will go a long way in protecting them against any surprise attacks that Javier has in store for them.

Freya will cover the right flank, while Jasper will cover the left flank. Neither of them don't have absurdly high offensive capabilities, but they can at least cut off Javier's mobility and use their tricks to hold him off.

Using this airtight formation, they will secure their victory.

'Even if he is powerful enough to hold us off… hehe, we will still be able to finish him off as long as we can maintain our formation.' With this thought in mind, the Sixfold Helm of Darkness launches their strategy with lightning-quick precision.

WHOOSH!

Edrin charges at Javier with shocking speed, which he barely dodges.

However, this launch wasn't meant to be a direct attack, but to secure a position right behind him.

It was successful; hence, Javier's escape has now been cut off.

Jasper and Freya also step forward, slowly moving to the left and right, respectively.

As for Dreyfus, he boldly charges to the front.

Xeno mixes a few ingredients in the air, all of them sparkling like dust. He then tosses some of his 'ornaments' into the smoky mix, thus creating a dark cloud of condensed energy.

Rumbling sounds echo from the cloud, almost like it is a miniature thunderstorm, as it floats right next to him, likely to serve as a protection for himself and Madame Zema, who stands right next to him. The dark cloud floats in their middle.

After creating the thundercloud, he mixes a few more ingredients separately, sacrificing even more of the jewelry in his possession.

This is done extremely fast, and the result is a brilliant burst of light that splits four ways and targets his colleagues, who now surround Javier. Their bodies now glisten with a certain membrane of dark energy. The soft veil of darkness flickers ominously, but it has no noticeable effect on the ones it shrouds.

None of the four makes any complaints or even reactions at all.

They are well aware of what this is.

—Shroud of Darkness.

It is a protective Spell that defends against attacks with special properties, dampening their effects to a minimum. This is done by interfering with the attacks on a mystical level, disturbing their effectiveness.

Shaman Spells can be obstructed by interference, so it's only reasonable that Potions and Armaments also have their weaknesses.

Even Divination has its counter, which is Anti-Divination.

All things exist in a balance.

'The time is now!' The Sixfold Helm of Darkness members clench their weapons, their hearts tightening as they are about to launch their combined assault.

Then—

"Before you all begin, I'd like to ask if there's anyone here who can answer my questions without dying. If there is, I'm willing to spare your life." Javier suddenly speaks up, his voice clear as still water, showing no hint of worry.

This calmness nearly unnerves the present six, but they convince themselves that he is just bluffing. Maybe he's trying to buy time.

They can't afford to fall for this trick, so they ignore him and launch their strike.

GULP!

Dreyfus gulps down his Grade 4 Potion, quickly growing in size and turning monstrous as a result. Hair rapidly grows from his body, and a pair of horns appears atop his head. At the moment, he appears to be a fusion of man and Magivore.

—A Hybrid Monster!

"Hehehe…" Dreyfus chuckles with a deep tone, his ominous voice echoing in the expanse.

His skin has turned black like a buffalo's, but he possesses golden fur and a lion's mane, giving him a strange appearance. Regardless, his size is about four meters, more than twice his initial build, and his muscles have expanded far beyond human limits.

In terms of comparison, he now possesses the strength of a Cadre 4 Magivore!

This sudden transformation causes Javier's eyes to widen, but before he can say anything else, Edrin activates his B Grade Armament, causing a flash of bright silver mist to course through his body and charge at Javier.

Even before the mist reaches him, Javier feels a deep chill and notices the temperature plummet.

—Ice!

Even though he dodges the assault, avoiding the frost that covers his immediate side, the area he proceeds to has Freya tossing out Expenditure-type Armaments that blow up in his face like fireworks.

He hurriedly retreats to the opposite direction, but Jasper is an even worse choice.

Potions slosh in the air, their vials shattering to form a corrosive reaction that would kill anyone who comes in contact with them.

Miraculously, he escapes yet again!

However, the gap grows tighter, and with the enemies closing on on him rapidly, it appears there is no escape route for him in the slightest.

Then—

"Looks like I'll need you to take me a little more seriously."

SQUELCH!

Before they can even react, Edrin's face gets pierced with Javier's blade.

"H-huh…?" The Royal Knight is stunned, but before he can leak out another word, his bleeding head is sliced into two, and his body crumbles in a loud thud.

In Javier's hand is Edrin's special blade—the B Grade Armament called Frost Bite.

It glows with deep blue and a serene white. The craftsmanship is delicate, pristine, and has an air of nobility about it. Now, it has been corrupted by the darkness that is Javier Aditi.

"…!!!"

The moment they witness their colleague's sudden death, the remaining five shrink back.

Even now, it is unclear what occurred.

'We definitely had him at our fingertips! What happened?!'

It also doesn't seem like the result of a mystical ability, else the Dark Shroud defensive Spell would have reacted.

So what is it?!

Thinking about it now is useless.

The deed has been done, and Edrin's death has disrupted their formation. Javier Aditi can now retreat at any point he wishes.

However, it doesn't even seem like the young man wishes to turn back.

Instead, his level of confidence has only soared, and the threatening pressure in their hearts has only deepened in severity.

'This man… is dangerous! No doubt about it now.' All of them think to themselves, glancing at one another in caution as they speculate on their next move.

"This is a good sword." Javier calmly swings the new Armament in his grasp as though it were nothing but an amusing toy. "It's my first time wielding a B Grade Armament. It certainly feels different, I won't lie."

"…."

It only takes a few seconds for the five to come up with a different strategy.

"GO!"

Right as they're about to move, Javier sends his ice attack, charging upward. The ceiling above him instantly freezes with great intensity, while he keeps his gaze on the approaching Dreyfus and smirks broadly.

"Clearly a diversion, but… I won't complain." He raises his head and mutters a single word.

"Kneel."

"Guh!" Dreyfus finds his body suddenly disobeying his commands, as an instinctive desire to submit takes over, and he falls to his knees.

'W-what? What is this? What's happening to me?!'

His eyes bulge in confusion.

"Oh? So it works on hybrids too…" Javier's loud mutter can be heard, causing a deep shiver to course through the veins of everyone present.

Their expressions instantly pale.

This reaction isn't merely due to Dreyfus' situation—though a terrible outcome in its own right—but rather because of what now hangs in the ceiling.

The corpse of what resembles a scorpion that possesses a lion's head.

A Manticore—Cadre 4 Magivore.

Its extremely fragile body has been frozen solid as a result of the Frost Bite Armament, causing it to die a very unsightly death.

"M-my baby!" Madame Zema cries out loud, her expression the most distraught.

Who can blame her?

That was her tamed Magivore—her trump card.

It was also what the Sixfold Helm of Darkness was relying on to put down Javier for good.

They had created entire strategies around this conclusion!

You see, the Manticore has an extremely fragile body compared to others in its own cadre, even capable of being killed by a Cadre 3 Magivore. It is also quite small, the largest only being the size of a komodo dragon.

For an animal, this could be considered large.

But for a Magivore—especially one in Cadre 4—it is unimpressive.

The Manticore also has a very tame and loyal personality, which means it is susceptible to Druid Arts, easily bound to its master without a chance of betrayal.

This makes it a preferred Magivore to control despite its obvious physical shortcomings.

However… do not take its feeble frame as a sign of weakness.

In terms of lethality, this Magivore ranks extremely high even among Cadre 4 Magivores.

Not only can the Manticore cloak itself perfectly, obscuring it from the perception of anyone around it, but even with the use of Potions and Armaments, one can only vaguely sense it.

Only A Grade Armaments or Grade 5 Potions can allow a man to clearly detect the beast and unravel its cloaking effect. It also possesses immensely terrifying speed, alongside a stinger that will instantly kill the target even by a scratch.

Its poison is extremely lethal!

Unless one has a Grade 5 that specifically counters this poison, death is guaranteed.

Lesser Grade Potions can only slow down the effects; even Grade 4 Potions cannot eliminate them entirely. As a result, this Manticore is a killing machine—a trump card that can be used to kill practically anyone without them suspecting a thing.

This is why Madame Zema is so feared, even among the Sixfold Helm of Darkness.

No one possesses a proper counter to her Tamed Magivore.

But right now… that Magivore is dead.

It descends from the ceiling and shatters the moment it hits the ground, its frost-covered body flying into numerous places like brittle glass.

Everyone can only exclaim in shock, seeing as their trump card has been so easily destroyed.

Only Javier remains perfectly calm.

"I wanted to control it, but it looks like her Taming effect interfered with it. A shame…" He mutters under his breath, though with the current commotion, no one hears him.

Then, he takes a confident step forward.

The moment he does so, his adversaries shrink back.

After all, he has already proved his strength by killing one of their members and easily stopping the Cadre 4 Magivore on his own.

At this point, it has become evident that they grossly underestimated him.

This Javier Aditi… he's the real deal!

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.