Nathan's gaze fell helplessly to the ground. His vision blurred as he slipped in and out of consciousness. The muffled commotion of his enemies gathering around him sounded like a cacophonous lullaby. Streaks of blood curved around the swollen bulges on his face, cutting through dirt spots on his chin and uniform, pitter-pattering to the ground.
The Art Users cackled with satisfaction as they lifted him by his arms—his feet dangling like loose vines beneath him. He could still feel the barrage of punches and kicks after being beaten for a full minute. The Art Users viewed it as the perfect payback for humiliating their leader.
Jorge grinned with satisfaction as he approached the defeated assassin—a deep vertical cut scarred across his chest from Nathan's final attack.
"That's not fair!" Blake shouted, bashing his boot against the sturdy metal cage in defiance. "Nathan beat you fair and square! Let him go!"
Jorge grabbed Nathan by the hair and yanked him to his feet, each strand straining painfully against his scalp.
"You put up much more of a fight than I thought you would," Jorge said menacingly, his stale breath pressed against Nathan's face. "And even though I feel like ripping your arms and legs off, I won't. It would be a waste to kill someone with your talent. I'm selling you for the highest price I can get!"
To Jorge's and his gang's surprise, Nathan chuckled—his laugh an insult to their pride.
"What the hell's so funny? Are you that happy we let you live?" One of the Art User's snickered.
"Honestly, I knew you wouldn't keep your promise," Nathan grinned, gazing into Jorge's eyes like a hungry predator. "I knew it was a long shot, but I had no better options. But if you ask me, this was the best choice since I got to smack you around a bit."
Infuriated by his words, Jorge drove a solid punch into Nathan's gut, forcing the air from his lungs. Nathan doubled over, coughing violently as pain rippled through his core. His face knotted into distress before Jorge seized him by the hair again, gazing into his dimming brown eyes with cold intensity.
"Stop acting like you're some tough guy!" Jorge shouted in his ear—a barrage of slimy spit splashing across his face. "You couldn't even kill me when you had the chance. You're nothing but a softie. Don't force me to remind you what true fear is! ¡Maldita perra!"
Nathan gasped for air, barely able to keep his eyes open. He could feel the tendrils of unconsciousness wrapping around him with each passing second. Despite this, he refused to yield, not now—not ever. He was as stubborn as a mule.
"I may be soft," he gasped, looking into Jorge's eyes with a frigid glare. "But I'm not the type of guy… you can bully. I'm never going to… bow down to a loser like you! Especially not through fear, asshole!"
Jorge slammed his fist into Nathan's face, throwing him to the ground with a painful thud. For a moment, the world went black before quickly restarting. Nathan gazed up at Jorge, who shot a devastating kick into his lower gut, knocking the wind from his lungs—the force sending him spiraling through the camp, crashing through a nearby tent.
"Not so tough now, are you?!!" Jorge shouted, marching over to him. "You think you're hot shit? You're nothing—f**ing* nothing!!!" He screamed, unleashing a relentless barrage of kicks to Nathan's face and ribs.
The cackling laughter of the Art Users slowly faded into a sea of concerned faces. They watched, eyes wide, as fear crept over their faces that Jorge might kill Nathan by accident.
By the end of Jorge's fit, he took a deep, ragged breath and turned away from Nathan. He swept his hair to the back of his head before stooping to regain control.
Nathan lay on the ground, battered and motionless—the daunting idea that he might be dead hanging heavily in the air.
"B-boss," stammered one of the Art Users. "You probably shouldn't hit him anymore. He might die."
"Just tie him up and toss him into the cage with the others! Damn it!" Jorge screamed, his rage boiling over.
The Art Users quickly moved to do what their leader commanded. However, this was when a series of strange clicks echoed across the camp, breaking the rhythm of their movements.
"What was that? And… what's that smell?" Someone asked, noticing a sweet fragrance wafting through the camp like the smell of soft, alluring flowers.
Immediately following his words, a choir of aggressive growls erupted from behind. The Art Users spun around, fearing the worst. Their hearts pounded against their chest, and their eyes broadened with terror.
"The Demon Beasts are loose!!!"
In the blink of an eye, several Demon Beasts of Level 6 and below lunged at the Art Users, exploding the camp into chaos. They sank their fangs and razor-sharp claws into their arms, stomachs, and necks, tearing through their bodies like paper.
A chorus of desperate cries symphonized with a harmony of deadly roars; each note deadlier than the last. Men and beasts tore one another apart—blood and black dust splattering in every direction like endless raindrops.
"GRAH!!" Jorge groaned, kicking over a nearby chair in rage. "Who did this?!" He mused—his thoughts flickering to Nathan. His eyes frantically inspected every corner of the camp in search of his target, but Nathan was nowhere to be found. "F**K!! Where did he go?!!"
"Help!!"
Jorge spun around sharply, his attention drawn by the frantic cries of his men. Most of the Demon Beasts had already been dealt with, but the ones still standing were a different breed entirely—threat levels 7 and 8. Five of them loomed ahead, each towering between 10 and 17 meters. They were a grotesque fusion of alligators and bears, their hulking forms bristling with deadly claws and jagged teeth, radiating an aura of pure malice.
They trampled through the camp, cutting through the remainder of Jorge's men with little difficulty. Blood splattered like countless droplets of sorrow while limbs dangled through the air, serving as nutritious bedtime snacks. It was like watching a group of adults bully a bunch of toddlers.
Soon, Jorge was the only one left—his entire team slaughtered. His face knotted into an angry scowl as he unsheathed his rapier to challenge the powerful Demon Beasts. "How dare you do this to my men?! It won't end like this!" He roared, channeling his Spiritual Energy into a physical form.
"Sand Art: Sand Barrage!!"
Jorge summoned a barrage of small bullets made from sand—each powerful enough to penetrate solid concrete. They showered the Demon Beasts, killing all three Level 7s instantly, but the Level 8s proved more resilient, sustaining only minor damage from his attack. They bellowed in rage, lunging at him with their jaws open wide.
" No!!! Stay away!!!" Jorge begged, trying to run away, realizing he wasn't strong enough to defeat them. Their presence felt like a demon was trying to climb up his back—dark and sinister. It drove him to his knees, reducing him to the state of a screaming child.
His body quivered violently, and his heart thumped against his ribs. Tears crept into his eyes as the Demon Beasts towered over him—their shadows looming overhead like the shadow of death.
Jorge cowered into a ball, preparing for a pathetic end. But just as he was about to be flattened, a barrage of beautiful flower petals flew into the camp, cutting the Level 8s into hundreds of tiny pieces.
"So even an undeserving piece of crap like yourself is afraid of death. It's quite unsightly," murmured a calm female voice from above.
Jorge quickly fixed his gaze on the top of the gate. To his surprise, Amanda sat at the edge of the lookout tower, frowning at him with intensity. By her side was Sindy, who was tending to Nathan's injuries.
Realizing what had happened, Jorge covered his face with his hand and started laughing hysterically. He finally understood why things had turned out so horribly.
"I get it now!" he exclaimed, letting out a deep sigh. "No wonder the Demon Beasts suddenly got loose! You were responsible for releasing them. Of course, you were! Why does a beautiful woman like yourself have to do something so ugly, Amanda?"
"The only ugly one here is you, Jorge! How dare you do this to Nate?!" Sindy shouted, her voice tinged with rage. She glared at him with enough hatred to make even the most terrifying killers cower.
"You should be grateful that I didn't kill him. He gave me plenty of reasons to, but I kept my cool. Look what he did to me!" he gestured, pointing at the red scar on his chest. "He gave me this painful wound! I just beat him to a pulp for a little payback."
Sindy reached behind her waist and wrapped her fingers around the hilt of her knife—her eyes searing with the intensity to kill.
"Sindy, you need to heal Nathan," Amanda reminded, grabbing Sindy's hand to keep her knife sheathed.
Sindy gritted her teeth as she refocused her attention on Nathan—tears surfacing in her sapphire blue eyes. A green glow emitted from the palm of her hands as she tended to his injuries.
"I do have one question," Jorge continued. "How exactly did you get away from the men I sent to watch you? They were supposed to watch your every move so that something like this didn't happen."
Before answering, Amanda tossed a brown bag dripping with blood at Jorge's feet. It bounced and skated across the ground, kicking dust into the air. Jorge's face warped into a look of confusion as he approached the bag. Carefully, he opened it, his eyes broadening with horror to find the decapitated heads of his subordinates.
"After realizing that you and your group were just a bunch of bandits, it was only natural for someone skilled in assassination like myself to search the area for spies," Amanda scowled, swinging her legs back and forth over the edge. "The only reason I haven't taken your life yet is because I need to bring you in for questioning. You might be valuable in helping us catch other organizations similar to yours."
Jorge clenched his teeth in rage, and sweat bathed his filthy skin. He knew he was in serious trouble. His main priority was finding a way to escape.
"Amanda…" Nathan called weakly, struggling to open his eyes. "He tricked Instructor Brady… and the others, lowering them into a trap... You need to help them..!"
"Nate, don't force yourself to speak! I'm not very efficient with my Regeneration Art yet, so I need you to stay still if I'm to heal your injuries," Sindy begged, desperation riddled in her voice.
"You don't need to worry, Nathan," Amanda comforted. "A weak group of bandits like this can't hope to harm a single hair on the Instructor's head. Andrew and Leo will also be fine as long as they're with him. He's an S-Class Assassin, you should know."
Jorge laughed nervously, trying desperately to think of any ideas he could use to escape. He knew running was not an option—not with Amanda around.
"Come on, Amanda. We can make a deal!" Jorge proposed apprehensively, taking two steps forward. "If you let me go, I'll call off my other men in the area! I promise you'll never hear from us again! I'll even forget about the bad blood between me and the Mind Hero!"
"Tch!" Amanda hissed, her eyes growing into a cold glare. "You're seriously starting to annoy me, Jorge. Why let you go when I can hunt down every last one of you and deliver your heads to Alondo on a spike? Leo and I are both A-Classed Assassins, while the Instructor is an S-Classed Assassin. It would take just one of us to wipe out your entire team. A deal with you is as meaningless as your existence!"
Jorge shivered with anxiety. Hopelessness overcame him in a flash. He had to accept that there was nothing he could do. Even the thought of fighting Amanda was terrifying. Fighting someone like her would be a death match. "Wait, we can work something out! Things don't have to end like this! They can't end like this!"
Amanda had no intention of continuing their pointless argument. She slowly rose to her feet, ready to restrain him. However, by the time she prepared to descend the watch tower, a chaotic chill reverberated through the air.
Suddenly, the ground convulsed with violent tremors, tearing apart the earth like a catastrophic earthquake. Trees splintered, their roots wrenched from the soil, while massive boulders shattered and tumbled like mere pebbles. The surrounding fences groaned like rusted iron before collapsing in a cacophony of shrieking metal.
The assassins exchanged wary glances, their gazes flickering toward Jorge. No—it couldn't be him. This was something far worse.
Without warning, a colossal shadowy hand as vast as a house erupted from the depths like a volcanic explosion. Jagged rocks and clumps of dirt blasted into the air, then rained down like molten brimstone. Jorge turned, his breath hitching as the monstrous appendage loomed over him—a harbinger of death.
Then, with a deafening crash, the enormous hand came down, swallowing him whole—his fate left unknown. A shockwave tore through the camp, hurling the assassins backward forcing them to shield their faces from the destructive force. The ground heaved once more. Something immense was rising from the abyss.
"What's happening, Amanda!?" Sindy questioned, her voice rattling with fear as she barely held onto Nathan.
"No… It can't be…" Amanda dreaded, her eyes widening as apprehension swept her like a hurricane. "I hope this isn't what I think it is!"
Little by little, a colossal humanoid figure clawed its way from the depths, its sheer size defying comprehension—sixty meters tall and thirty meters wide. Its massive, shadowy form radiated an aura of pure menace, its bulky frame forged from darkness itself. Twin eyes, burning a hellish crimson, pierced through the gloom like an omen of destruction.
Its mouth stretched into a grotesque grin, revealing fangs the size of human bodies, each one gleaming like a predator's blade. Its enormous hands, broad enough to crush entire houses as if they were mere paper, flexed with terrifying strength.
Etched across its forehead in ancient Greek letters was the word 'απληστία'—GREED—the very essence of insatiable hunger.
"RRRAAAAUUUGGHHH!!!"
The trio of assassins trembled in horror, yielding at the ferocity of its thunderous shriek. Amanda was the only one who understood the monstrosity that stood before them.
"That thing…" She mumbled. "It's… It's a Disaster Class Demon Beast... It's a Threat Level 10..!"