Azura sat on the ground with his wavering eyes fixed on the redhead guy's corpse.
His breaths came in ragged gasps, and his entire body felt cold.
I- I killed him... A human being, I killed him!
[Eliminate all hostile entities: 1/2]
Now that the adrenaline was slowly dwindling as the situation gradually de-escalated, Azura came to the realization that he had killed someone. Despite being used to killing wild animals through hunting, even killing some with a knife, this felt extremely different.
Looking at his blood-stained, trembling hands, his breath got stuck in his throat.
What are you doing, Azura? He might be a Hybrid, but he's still undoubtedly a human citizen.
Fear slowly resurfaced inside his mind.
A vivid image of Caelum's bright smile flashed across Azura's mind, evoking a tidal wave of emotions that drowned his mind. It was clear that he would go to prison for doing this, and more importantly, what would Caelum think if he knew his brother was a killer?
Just the thought of it scares Azura as his brother is all he has.
He endured everything for his little brother.
Observing the situation he was in, Azura held his head as his expression darkened.
It was not good, he didn't want any problems but ended up forced into this kind of situation.
[Sanity: 40%]
Suddenly, a notice appeared, notifying him of the status of his sanity—written in orange.
But he thought nothing of it as low sanity must only mean that he was stressing out.
Crash!
Upon hearing a loud crashing sound that made the dim light of the third floor of the parking building, Azura lifted his gaze and found a figure flung out of the emergency stairs. She was Isadora, flying across the place before crashing into a car.
Groaning in pain, she rolled her body off of the windshield and fell to the hard ground.
Blood drizzled down her forehead, passing her left eye.
Seemed like she was also in a fight.
However, as she pulled herself up from the ground, her eyes widened at the sight of Azura.
Isadora looked at his bloodied right hand before shifting to the corpse not far from him.
A look of surprise adorned her face when she saw this sight—not expecting Azura to be able to defeat the redhead guy, and even manage to kill him. 'Brad is just an F-grade Zombie, but no normal person should be able to kill him. Is Azura... a Hybrid as well? But I never knew he was a Hybrid. Which faction did he belong to?'
Numerous questions appeared inside Isadora's mind.
She found Azura's existence to be odd as every Hybrid in the university knew each other.
But then, a figure kicked the emergency door and blasted it open.
Clang!
Both Azura and Isadora could see the metal door come flying and hit the wall.
Emerging from the emergency stairs was the other guy, Zack, who appeared unscathed from top to bottom, unlike Isadora. He strolled leisurely to the center until his gaze fell upon Azura sitting beside the lifeless body of the redhead guy, Brad.
At the sight of this, Zack was stunned, his abrupt halt showed that clearly.
It took a good half a minute for him to register what had happened to Brad, his dear friend.
Just then, Zack grimaced and pivoted his body towards Azura.
On the other hand, Azura snapped out of his daze and rose to his feet, swallowing hard as he observed Zack's contorted expression. While Azura wasn't familiar with Brad, he was familiar with Zack as he also usually bullied him alongside Matthew.
Compared to Matthew who was sharp with his words, Zack was more into physicality.
Due to the years of bullying, his instinct reacted strongly at the sight of Zack.
...
"Hey, Orphan. Go and do my part too, I'm too lazy for that shit"
Having a group project together, Azura gathered with the other members at the corner of the canteen. Unfortunately, Zack was also a part of the group—and Azura already expected that in the end, he would be the one to do everything.
Zack did nothing but play with his phone while his other hand wrapped around a girl.
It was obvious that he would not be helping.
Smiling wryly, Azura nodded his head timidly, "O- Okay..."
As he was about to start to do the project, Zack suddenly raised his head and turned to look to his side at the food stalls, "Oh, before you start, go and buy me the rice bowl from the old lady. It's damn good, and I'm craving for it,"
Upon hearing this, Azura's body stiffened.
"I... I don't have money. I only have the money for going back home" He replied meekly.
The girl beside Zack chuckled when she heard this, casting a pitiful gaze at Azura.
On the other hand, giving no warning at all, Zack slapped him across his face, causing him to fall to the ground with a burning cheek. He then glared at Azura, "Are you talking back to me, Orphan? I don't fucking care what your money is for, just bring me the damn food"
Prostating on the ground, Azura lowered his head.
"I'm sorry, I'll get it for you right away," He said, swallowing his pride whole.
Upon hearing this, Zack smiled and stomped on Azura's head with a satisfied smile, adorning his face, pleasure gleaming in his eyes. "If you would just obey like the pathetic dog you are, this wouldn't be necessary... But I supposed I couldn't blame you for acting up since nobody was there to teach you manners, hahaha~!"
Azura pressed his hands against the ground, his body was heating up in anger.
But even then, he didn't retaliate and remain silent.
"What do you mean by that, babe?"
"He's a poor orphan, raising his deadweight brother alone"
"Oh, is that so? No wonder he doesn't have any money, I guess he's destined to be a loser"
...
Recalling the bad memories of the past, Azura shook his head, trying to push away the fear.
It was the memories that he didn't want to remember.
However, that attempt was futile as the fear came right back at the sound of Zack's voice.
"Did you do this, Orphan...?" Zack suddenly said with a threatening tone.
Gritting his teeth, Azura pointed at Brad's lifeless corpse in anger, "I was about to come with him, but he tried to kill me! This is all self-defense, and I didn't mean to kill him. It was either me or him, what do you want me to do?!
"Please, don't do this, just stop!" He added, pleading to stop this madness.
However, a fleeting silence enveloped the place.
Azura could feel the tension rising in the air, and he couldn't help but take a step back.
I could sense his aura, or should I say his mana, and it's way stronger than Brad's.
Looking at the brass-colored energy encasing Zack's body, Azura frowned as he could really feel that Zack was stronger than Brad. His senses were telling him to run away, and he came to the conclusion that running was the best choice.
Moreover, he also doesn't want to kill anyone anymore, one is enough for tonight.
Just then, notifications started appearing.
[Hesitation is detected inside Your Majesty's heart!]
[Penalty has been staked!]
[Failure to complete the Kill Quest and ensure your safety will bore a penalty]
———
Kill Quest
Description: In the world of Hybrids, only the strong is revered. No entities may bore hostile intent toward Your Majesty without preparing themselves to face the consequences—and the penalty for hurting Your Majesty will always be death!
Eliminate all hostile entities: 0/2
Rewards: 200 Adaptation Points and 3 Bonus Stats.
Penalty: Caelum would suffer a tragic death!
———
"W- What...?" Azura's eyes widened completely at the sight of this.
Reading the penalty at the very bottom, his lips quivered as he sucked in a cold breath.
In that moment, a rage unlike any he'd ever experienced consumed him, a seething magma that threatened to explode. It felt as though he was drowning in an intense sea of flames—every fiber of his being consumed by the intensity of his fury.
Nothing he does could suppress it, and there's also no hiding it.
Azura channeled that anger into a primal scream that echoed through the air thunderously.
"WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH CAELUM?!!!" He roared.
But even though he offered the System a demanding question, he gained no reply.
Upon hearing this scream, Zack squinted his eyes.
Swoosh!
Ignoring the sudden outburst from Azura, he made a quick dash with everything he had.
Zack crossed his arms in front of him before a chant escaped his lips.
"Necro Skin, Harden!"
Almost instantaneously, the brass-colored aura that his body emanated gathered to both of his arms, turning his very skin compact and dense. Sprinting faster, he body slammed Azura who wasn't able to react in time.
Boom!
Crash!
"Kahhk!!"
Hurtled like a broken doll, Azura crashed onto a car's side and flipped it over.
It felt like he was hit by a truck—the air in his lungs was forced out and he could even feel his ribcage rattled from the impact that landed solidly on his chest. For a fleeting moment, Azura struggled to breathe properly, his chest constricted by the sheer force of the hit.
Before he could recover, the car was lifted and flung to the side.
Crash!
Zack approached him with murderous intent, "I'm going to make sure your death is painful..."
Roughly, he grabbed Azura by the neck and lifted him off of the ground.
Despite his retaliation, trying to break free from Zack's clutches, he wasn't able to do much—Zack's arm was like iron, constricting his throat, gradually becoming tighter. In the back, one could see Isadora trying to help.
However, she was too hurt and found it hard to go to them.
Meanwhile, Azura's mind was in a whirlwind of panic.
I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die! But I can't, Caelum... I can't die!!
Out of nowhere, a fierce determination flickered in his eyes as he opened the status window and made his way to the Gene Pool section where the B-grade Ghoul Gene was stored. He clicked on it and chose skill extraction.
[Choose a skill to be extracted]
———
[Ghastly Howl (Level 1)]
Description: Unleash a bone-chilling cry that fills enemies with primal fear. Anyone within the radius is afflicted with a Slow debuff, slowing their attack speed and movement for a brief duration, and a Fear debuff, lowering their abilities' potency by 30%.
Grade: B
[Ravenous Slash (Level 1)]
Description: Infuse the next attack with the power of corrupted energy and also the potential to inflict Deep Wound debuff, causing bleeding and dealing significant damage over time— leaving the target vulnerable and weakened.
Grade: C
———
Azura didn't hesitate and chose the Ghastly Howl skill.
[Processing... 1,000 dark mana points and 5% sanity have been used!]
[Congratulations on learning a Ghoul Skill - Ghastly Howl!]
Upon receiving these notifications, he wasted no time and cast his newly acquired skill.
Roar!!
Out of nowhere, a black soundwave exploded from his mouth, catching Zack by surprise.
Feeling something was wrong with his body, Zack released Azura and leaped back, creating a safe distance between them. However, when he dared to glance back at Azura, what was waiting for him was a horrifying gaze, sending shivers down his spin.
"I'll kill you..."
"I'll kill you..."
"I'll kill you..."
Listening to the mumbles coming out of Azura's mouth, Zack frowned.
"Something changed... the air around him, it's different than before" He mused, a bead of cold sweat drizzling down the side of his face.