A crimson trail of cold blood led all the way up to a damaged, battered man heavily breathing against the cave wall. A large horrific gash was sprayed across the man's chest, his flesh could be seen twisting, his organs were pulsating, and some spots of white bone were visible.
The man's expression seemed to warp in pain. But he wasn't in a state of pure panic as many others would be if they were in his situation. He almost seemed like he was trying to relax his body and ease his mind even under immense mental stress.
Beside the man's left was the source of the glittering red light. A small red orb, glistening with hypnotic red lights, exuding a natural aura no Mage could ignore was before them all.
The moment Ervin's group stepped into sight, the wounded man suddenly locked eyes onto them.
The man's face didn't show any astonishment, panic, fear, or really any emotion. Those cold eyes pierced into them all, seemingly wanting to see into the depths of their souls.
As for Ervin's group, they all stared into the man's face for a different reason.
The jagged scars running down his face, those strange tattoo markings on his neck, the ragged, dirty black hair that swayed down to his chin, all of it was absolutely familiar to everyone in Ervin's group.
It only took a moment for it to click. Shock soon streaked through everyone's minds.
Glenn's eyes widened to an extreme as he pointed his slightly trembling finger. "You! You're the Demon Criminal Cyan! The same Cyan who mercilessly killed all Mage Enforcers coming at him and used any Non-Mage to further your goal! You're one of the damn vile demons infesting our city!"
The more he spoke, the more furious feeling of rage swelled through Glenn.
The same intense sensations overlapped in nearly everyone else minds.
Demon criminals are known infamously as Mages who let the power go far to their heads. They used their prowess to commit the most heinous deaths imaginable. Killing anyone, sexually assaulting anyone, taking anything they want, all because they can.
And this Demon Criminal Cyan is one of the more recent demons that had tales that made even senior Mages' skin shiver.
"To think we would meet the guy who not only used an innocent child as a hostage but would then kill him along with the brave Mage Enforcers trying to apprehend you. Truly despicable." Jerry viciously spat out.
The flow of disdain was quite immense among them.
But out of them all, there was a person who didn't really have that much emotion.
Ervin only looked with some faint curiosity. He cared little about some person's backstory. The only thing concerning was the fact that something about this situation seemed completely off.
It was at this time that Cyan still had a calm expression even when confronted with a perilous situation. He cared little of what these kids were saying.
All he said was, "You're all going to die."
Those cold words pierced through the atmosphere. Nobody could suppress the chill that swept through their spines.
But any momentum that could be garnered was quickly swept away when they focused on Cyan's completely battered state.
He barely had a drop of Magical Energy within him. There pretty much wasn't any difference between him to a Non-Mage.
Harvey stared straight into the Demon Criminal's eyes, coldly spatting out, "It's not our place to kill you. Killing in general is immoral. Even someone like you will be put into court for a fair judgment before locking you away forever."
"Killing is immoral?" Cyan's face finally changed, his bloodstained lips twisting into a haunting smile.
He coldly chuckled, his voice bouncing off the words as he said, "Justice, fairness, what else do you have? I always wonder why so many are just so hesitant to kill."
"Isn't it obvious?" Jane forced down her fears to bravely speak up. "All human life is valuable and precious! Taking one away is just wrong, especially if there was no other reason than just to get your way."
"That and the fact it's evil. We are not so naive to believe killing doesn't happen or that it is required at times. But people you...the only place left for you is down in the deepest pits of hell." Glenn spoke with supreme confidence.
There was a general agreement between nearly all of the group. They spoke straight from the heart, believing it was just common sense most others have in their society.
"Is that so?" Cyan still kept his amused smile. Despite everyone else talking to him, he strangely kept his eyes straight on Ervin.
Bloodshot eyes calmly matched the abyss blackness of Evin's eyes. Nobody said anything for a second. But the silence for these two seemed to stretch on for eternity.
And it was finally at that moment, Cyan's hand twitched. His twisted grin bloom into a full-on crazed smile. "I finally found it."
'Found it?' Everyone curled their brows in confusion.
But it was right then that the bloodied, crippled Cyan suddenly snapped up to his feet at unnatural speeds!
His speed couldn't be tracked by anyone. By the time a second passed, everyone finally reacted but it was all too late.
Cyan's eyes blinked, a glittering, crimson light of Mana flowing out of his pupils.
'Chi!'
A wild release of Mana instantly engulfed the entire atmosphere!
Magical power beyond all comprehension suppressed everything in the area. Nothing weak could resist.
"Ah-Ahh!!" Harvey, Jane, Kane, Alice, Glenn, and Jerry unleashed horrified screeches. They desperately tried to do anything. Their expressions went frantic as their souls trembled with fear.
Even Ervin viciously cursed as his cold sweat poured down his face. He too wanted to use the power of his Mana.
There was only one problem. The problem being that no matter how hard they tried to surge their Magical Energy or even twitch a muscle, it was impossible to do so within this Mana flow!
Whatever flow of Mana spewing from Cyan's eyes came from a far superior dimension of magical power. Power far greater than anything they experienced before.
A force that can easily wipe out small cities in only a matter of seconds!
Cyan didn't waste time. A snap of his fingers intensified his crimson Mana. The intense flow of Mana mercilessly broke right into Harvey, Jane, Kane, Jerry, Glenn, and Alicias' bodies.
'Bang!'
Five horrific explosions spewed out a chilling rain of crimson blood. There was no death screams or desperate struggle at the end.
All it took was Cyan to snap his finger and instantly end the lives of Mages. Their bodies exploded in a gruesome display of blood, not even leaving behind a shattered corpse.
Harvey didn't die. His body only uselessly smashed onto the group, completely knocked out cold.
The only one left standing was Ervin. Gruesome deaths happened within an instant. His partner was knocked out cold.
For all intents and purposes, Ervin should largely be utterly terrified of what's going to happen next.
Fear did not leave Ervin. Any being with this kind of insane power deserved to be treated with absolute reverence.
Even when he knew this, Ervin couldn't deny a growing curiosity rising within him.
He didn't care about his team at all anyway. Jane, Kane, Alicia, Glenn, and Jerry's death meant nothing to him. He wouldn't really care even if Harvey had died. It would make sense to just kill them all.
But the fact that Harvey was only knocked out while he was untouched left Ervin wanting to scratch his head.
Cyan calmly stared at Ervin. His hands were stained with blood, but his face settled back into a calm expression.
He smiled, not speaking for a moment.
When a chill swept through the cave, Cyan began to speak. "Your opinion. What do you think of killing? I can tell your thoughts heavily differ."
"My thoughts?" Ervin murmured, noticing that he could finally move his body around.
He was free from the higher magical suppression. But he made no attempts to run or try to fight back.
Ervin simply thought of his answer before saying, "All I have to say is just be prepared for what's going to happen when you kill. Getting caught is the worst scenario that could happen if you killed. But if nobody knows you did it and nobody can make the connection to you, then you'll just have to come to terms that you took away another life. Or if you have no regret about killing at all, then just keep doing what you're doing. For me, I simply don't care about making relationships, bringing help, or anything like that. So, I just continue living on and enjoying my life after my killing."