The huge man and his five men looked at the teenager who stood on the tree branch not far away from them. Seeing Roman, the young woman's eyes brightened.
"My Lord, you're finally here!" the woman cheered as she rushed towards Roman who frowned, was he going to be used as a shield.
The woman stood behind Roman who looked back at her.
"Everything is in your hands now" the woman mouthed as she attempted to back away, that was when she felt someone grip her arm, she turned around to see Roman's deadpan gaze.
"Do you think I can be your Cannon fodder?" Roman said with a sneer, as a collar suddenly appeared in his hand and he latched it around the woman's neck.
As soon as the collar was around her neck, the woman was pulled out from her daze, she yanked her hand out of Roman's grip and tried to pull off the collar but it wouldn't budge.
"Quit wasting your time, Salem, you won't be able to remove it until I wish for it, you're mine from now on,... Alright, let's get down" Roman grabbed Salem and jumped down from the tree branch.
"You... You... How do you know my name?" Salem asked as she backed away with fear in her eyes.
"Is that important, shoo to the side, I've got a quest to complete" Roman said as he turned around and faced the six men who were looking at him with vigilance.
What Roman didn't say, was that after he had put the collar around Salem's neck, he received a notification from the system.
[First Slave subjugated]
Name: Salem
Race: Asura Direwolf
Level: 5 Star Master
Talent: Asura Saint Talent (S Grade)
Followed by her attributes, Salem was way stronger than he was but he had subjugated her in her daze, if she had been clearheaded, he would have been trashed.
While he had been conversing with Salem, the system had given him a compulsory quest.
[Kiling Intent targeted at host, number of killing intents discovered - 6]
[Kill Enemies (0/6)]
[Rewards would be allocated after quest is complete, penalty of failure to complete quest is DEATH]
Roman was still reminiscing when he felt a shadow cover him, looking up, he was greeted by the sight of an axe swiping towards him.
"To be in daze while facing me, boy, you must have a death wish!" The huge man growled as he hit Roman causing the latter to crash through trees before crashing into a wall that crumbled.
Salem watched with trepidation in her heart as she stared at the huge man. "Gourmand, you are not a Master, you have ascended into the Grandmaster level!"
The huge man, Gourmand, turned towards Salem and grinned, he placed his axe across his shoulder.
"What do you know lass, Lord Gourmand is already a 2 star grandmaster, he is the genius of our Mammoth Guild!" One of the men said, it was the man with a buzz cut and a scar across his left eye.
"No need for long talks, Sid... Let's get the girl" Gourmand said as they approached Salem who backed up before she felt her back hitting against a tree.
"Not backing up, anymore.. "Gourmand sneered as he and his lackeys continued to advance towards the girl.
"If... If... If you come any closer, I promise you, I would destroy the everspring flower!" Salem threatened causing Gourmand and ths rest to stop in their tracks.
Meanwhile, Roman who had crashed into the wall, was gasping as his turn out arm and sides were being restructured. He had blocked Gourmand's axe blow with his arm but it had turn off his arm and his sides.
His vision was hazy as he recalled the notification of the system from before, if he didn't complete the quest, he was going to die.
His regeneration stopped as his body was as good as new. But he still felt weak, taking out an elixir from his inventory, he dawned the entire bottle and his strength recovered and his gaze brightened.
Having escaped death twice, Roman didn't want to be like that again, a black and red aura began to seep out of him. His red eyes darkened, coupled with the blood on his face, he looked like a demon.
"If I don't want to die, I have to kill, if I want supreme power, I'll have to leave a lot of bodies in my wake"
Roman removed the ragged cloak and the tunic that was already in shreds, he stared at Gourmand and his men who were surrounding Salem. He summoned a pair of black gauntlets that reached the middle of his arm.
[Archdevil Gauntlets (King Grade) - forged and owned by the deceased Emperor Archdevil, grants its user a 50% increase in all stats for 20 minutes and also the possibility of allowing the user to awaken an innate skill]
Roman had picked the gauntlets from an armoury while he was killing damned cannibals in the wild ruins.
[Innate Skill obtained: Archdevil Descent (Unknown Grade)]
Roman walked towards Gourmand and Co. who seem oblivious to what was going on.
"I say lass, you want to destroy the flower, do you think I would let you go after you destroyed it..." Gourmand said as his eyes roamed Salem's body and he licked his lips, "... Your body ain't bad, it would come as compensation if you destroy the flower"
Salem shuddered before she stared past Gourmand and her eyes widened.
"Are you afraid...don't worry I would be gentle" Gourmand grinned.
"Uhmm.... Boss...." One of the men called him and he looked at the man whose gaze seem to be staring wide eyed at something behind them.
Gourmand frowned and turned around, he noticed the guy he thought he had killed standing not too far from them.
"How tenacious, do you want to die so badly?"
Roman ignored him and looked towards Salem who was clasping her hands to her chest. "Close your eyes, what would happen next isn't going to be pretty"
Salem's eyes widened and for some odd reason she nodded and shut her eyes tightly.
"How insolent!" One of Gourmand's men shouted as he aimed his fists at Roman, "Cannonbolt!!"
A large ball of lightning bolts charged out of his hands towards Roman.
Roman just stood there, when the ball was inches away from him, he swatted it to the side where it exploded as soon as it hit the ground.
Gourmand and his men looked on with disbelief, they all knew that attack skill, they have never seen someone swat it away the way Roman did, their opponents would either dodge or block it.
"Who are you?..." Gourmand's expression was suddenly grim.
"Is my identity worth it at this point?" Roman sneered as he shook his head.
"You may have swatted that bolt like it was nothing, but you're only one man while there are six of us, you're at a disadvantage here!" Gourmand said as he unhatched his axe, so did his men as they got into a battle stance.
"Disadvantage, not necessarily.. " Roman said as his gaze suddenly darkened and the pressure around him increased.
"Attack! " Gourmand roared as he and his men charged towards Roman.
Sid was the first fo reach Roman, he punched out to which Roman dodged and punched him in his torso, Sid's eyes widened as he coughed out blood and crashed back. He fell before Salem causing the girl to open her eyes, she stared at Sid who was coughing out blood , there was a huge dent in his stomach which spread cracks on his body as they seeped out blood.
Salem looked up and the sight stunned her. Roman stood where he was like and invincible god of war as he countered the attacks of five men.
Another man fell, his whole head had been blown to bits by Roman's punch. Roman ducked as he dodged Gourmand's axe before he turned and grabbed the arm of one of the men, and slammed him heavily into the ground, before he raised his right leg and brought it down on the man's chest, another of Gourmand's men died.
Gourmand and his remaining two lackeys backed away as they stared with terror at Roman.
"It's my turn now, right?" Roman asks but he didn't wait for a reply as he disappeared from his position, Gourmand's eyes widened before he heard a scream by his side. He looked only to see Roman's fist coming out of the man's chest from behind, he hacked at Roman who disappeared.
Gourmand immediately turned towards the last of his men only for blood to splash on his face. He froze. The last of his men had been blown to bits from his waist up.
Roman appeared some meters away, and he swayed in his step, seeing this Gourmand rejoiced inwardly. He should be very exhausted by now , this is still my victory.
[Archdevil Gauntlet skill time - 00:50]
"50 seconds..." Roman muttered as he looked at Gourmand who had a fiendish grin on his face.
Gourmand took out a bottle and downed the whole content, suddenly his aura became chaotic as his eyes turned red, with a roar, he gripped his axe and charged towards Roman.
Getting to Roman, Gourmand swiped his axe at the latter, to which Roman grabbed the axe with his left before grabbing Gourmand's face and slamming him into the ground.
Roman yanked the axe out of Gourmand's hand and threw it aside. He began to rained down punches on Gourmand.
[.... 00:10]
Even when blood kept spilling out from his punches, Roman didn't stop.
[... 00:00]
Roman's fist stopped just before it would reach the gore, he got up and looked towards Salem, by now Gourmand's body, from his head to his chest was a bloody mess.
Roman stopped just inches away from Salem who was staring at him with fear in her eyes. He smiled seeing the fear in her eyes, "Am I that scary?"
Then the world before him went black and he crashed to the ground, with his head falling onto Salem's lap.