EVIL SYSTEM

In a dark room, a man stood staring at a wall covered with photographs of people and places.

The majority of the photos featured advanced mages and influential figures. Among them were the mayor of Magnolia, the governor, and something unheard of—the president of Venezia.

He gazed at the images, lost in deep thought. Another man entered the room and silently handed him a photograph.

The picture showed Ben wearing his demonic mask.

"Who is he?" the man asked, frowning.

"He's being called the Executioner by everyone, but he's also known as the Butcher of Azakur," the other man replied respectfully.

"And?" The man held up the photo. "How strong is he?"

"Intermediate mage," the man answered.

"Just that?" The man tossed Ben's photo aside with disdain and contempt.

"Sir," the man who'd brought the photo bent down and picked it up again. "This individual is a danger to our operation—not just because of his strength, which seems abnormal for his rank…"

He showed the older man the forum page and the recent events.

"He's also dangerous because of his growing influence and his erratic, unrestrained behavior."

"Erratic and unrestrained?" the older man asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, sir," the younger man nodded, his brow furrowing. "He's brutal in all his actions and reckless too. Not only did he challenge and declare war on MK16, but he also did the same with JJJ."

"His capacity to kill is only surpassed by his ability to sow chaos at a time as critical as this."

The older man considered it for a moment before taking the photo again and placing it at the very end of the lineup.

*The lowest threat of all!*

---

Ben woke up in a great mood that morning. He had breakfast with everyone else, occasionally stealing glances at Judy, who returned them with a sweet smile.

After breakfast, he began practicing his martial arts, bending and twisting his muscles in ways that looked painful and unnatural.

Then he dedicated some time to meditating, slowly increasing the number of stars in his small constellation.

In the afternoon, they went out to explore the city, and Ben slipped away with Judy to grab ice cream and other treats.

At night, Ben donned his mask and systematically eliminated criminals in brutal fashion.

His legend steadily grew, and his fanatics became even more obsessed with him.

Day by day, more followers joined, seeing him as the only one truly doing something to put criminals in their place.

And while that was one of his reasons, Ben grinned ear to ear as he saw the massive amount of evil points he'd racked up in just a few days.

He didn't just earn points from the killings—every torture and torment he inflicted on a criminal boosted his points significantly.

Just like that, six days passed. Tomorrow, the inter-university competition would begin, and everyone was buzzing with excitement.

Tickets to the stadiums had sold out over a week ago. Ben managed to snag some from scalpers at astronomical prices.

But more than that… Ben locked eyes with Ryuji and Shen Huiliang, sharing a knowing look.

Together, they'd been plotting something big as a gift for Dante, but it was still too early for that.

That same night, Ben went hunting, but this time it would be special. Tonight, he'd take down a major, well-known target.

The biggest star from one of the universities ranked in the lower half of the standings.

Ben was thrilled to test his strength against one of these competitors.

He vanished into his own shadow, smiling.

---

Several girls stood naked and trembling in the room of a luxurious hotel.

All of them were stunningly beautiful, with spectacular bodies. None of them wanted to be there, but they'd been forced by the university administration and the person standing before them.

A tall, muscular man, just as naked as the women, eyed them all predatorily and gestured for them to turn around and show him their asses.

"No!! Let me through!! What do you think you're doing?! Is this a university or that man's playground?!" A guy burst through the door, running into the room.

Two large men tried to block his entry but failed.

Upon entering, he stared at the women, who shrieked in shame, grabbed their clothes, and fled the room as fast as they could.

All except one pretty girl, who stood staring at the guy with wide eyes.

"Román, what are you doing here?" she asked, embarrassed and a little scared.

"I've made up my mind, Nora. I'm not letting this son of a bitch take your innocence just like that," Román said, flexing his arm to show his muscles to Nora. "If that bastard wants to sleep with my girlfriend, he'll have to go through my dead body first."

"That can be arranged," Patrick, who until now had been watching the situation with evident amusement, stood up and grinned at Román. "In fact, I can do it very easily."

Particles that looked like tiny grains of sand detached from Patrick's skin. In an instant, a large amount gathered on the floor and surged rapidly toward Román.

Román raised an earthen wall in front of himself, but the sand flowed around it and quickly reached his body.

Román tried to escape, but the sand trapped both his legs.

"Please, leave him alone!!" Nora begged Patrick as she saw Román in danger. "I'll do whatever you want—I'll sleep with you!"

"No, Nora!!" Román shouted, struggling to free himself from the sand. "Anything but that!"

"Heh heh heh," Patrick laughed coldly. "I don't need your permission to sleep with you. I don't even need you to cooperate—in fact, I like it more when they fight and writhe in pain."

Clenching his hand into a fist, Patrick made the sand snap Román's legs.

With a howl of agony, Román writhed on the floor.

The two guards who'd come in to stop Román stood watching without expression. They approached Román's still-twitching body and tried to drag him away.

"Wait!" Patrick stopped them. "Leave him here. Since he wanted to come, he'll have to face the consequences."

The guards nodded and left the room, leaving just the three of them behind.

Using his sand, Patrick lifted Román and slowly brought him closer.

"Since you thought you were some kind of hero rescuing a damsel in distress…" Patrick grabbed Nora and positioned her in a deeply humiliating pose, fully exposing her ass to him.

"Please, nooo!!" Nora screamed, mortified, but she couldn't break free from Patrick's grip.

"Then you'll have to watch how all heroes end up in this world." Patrick's penis was fully erect from the thrill of thinking about taking another man's girlfriend's virginity while he watched.

"Nooo!!! You bastard!!! Let her go!!! Let her go!!" Román was wild with rage and desperation.

"Heh heh heh heh heh," Patrick laughed and positioned his penis between Nora's buttocks.

"Oh? Sand element? You're the first I've seen," Ben's demonic mask appeared suddenly behind Patrick, his voice dripping with mockery.

"Who?!" Patrick reacted quickly, throwing a punch behind him, but Ben vanished.

He reappeared, this time in front. With a single punch, he sent Patrick flying, then activated his spell.

*[Cursed Space]*

The sand restricting Román's movement vanished, freeing him. The problem was that both his legs were broken, and he couldn't walk on his own.

Ben paid little to no attention to this and focused on Patrick, who was already getting back up.

His face was contorted with fury, glaring at Ben like a rabid dog.

Ben started hopping lightly in place, throwing a quick shadowboxing routine as an invitation to come at him.

Patrick took the bait and charged…

The result was a complete disappointment for Ben. He stared at the body pinned to the wall, Patrick's penis forcibly ripped off and stuffed in his mouth, disdain clear in Ben's eyes.

*'He wasn't even worth a warm-up,'* he thought.

He took some of the guy's blood and marked an "X" above his head before leaving the scene, completely ignoring the couple staring at him without blinking.

When Nora dragged Román out, the guards realized what had happened and, in a panic, alerted the university director.

Though they'd heard a lot of noise and fighting sounds, that was normal for Patrick and his orgy nights, so the guards hadn't intervened in time.

Even knowing this, the director was so furious that he killed both guards and incinerated their bodies to leave no evidence.

Now he had a big problem—he didn't have anyone as strong as Patrick in his lineup.

If they finished among the bottom universities, they wouldn't get enough funding and would slowly decline.

He needed those resources to try breaking through to the advanced level.

Gritting his teeth, he lashed out at the wall as he watched the security footage, cursing the Executioner.

++++++

Finally, the plot is moving forward, and we're entering the tournament mini-arc. Soon, there will be more and more characters to introduce.