Reborn As An SSS-Ranked Assassin Armed With Modern Weapons

Behind him, the calm faces of the villagers didn't look calm anymore, the floral soothing scent no longer breathed fresh.

Everyone behind him was like a doll controlled by strings; the atmosphere grew heavier with each passing moment, the beautiful-looking tapestry turning into mayhem.

[King's Domain – 50 MP/second]

He didn't bother focusing on the weak individuals; he had gone into the details, specifically choosing the people to use the skill on.

There were around a dozen people who were faster than him. His hands shifted as the SMG appeared in his grip, loaded with bullets.

It was the only moment when he could gain an upper hand against these high-level individuals.

Just as the skill activated, all the high-level individuals behind him froze in fear, while the others following crashed into them, creating a domino effect.

Ash turned backward while still running, his hand steady on the foregrip as a burst of spray fired out.

Some of the bullets missed, while others struck directly at higher-ranked individuals; a few connected with weaker enemies, unintentionally saving his main targets.

He fired five bursts in under two seconds. The enemies caught within his killing intent couldn't defend themselves, and soon he saw multiple notifications flash before him.

their bodies collapsed, many of them were D and C-rankers. His bullets didn't differentiate between them. The damage was significantly higher compared to his pistol, so their ranks didn't matter.

But several of them managed to break free from the effects of King's Domain and defend against his shots.

Ash looked ahead, ignoring everyone. He was just a few steps away from escaping the village.

He tossed a grenade backward, jumping over the wooden fence.

Boom! The blast echoed behind him as Ash vaulted over the barrier, running frantically into the depths of the desert.

His instincts had returned — the ones previously subdued — his body hair standing on end from fear, a fear of the unknown. It wasn't the people chasing him that frightened him, but something else… something far more terrifying.

These were merely puppets; what truly worried him was the being — or the person — behind them. He had two names in his mind.

Either the monk was doing it through the Heart Tree, or the tree itself was the culprit. Either way, the tree was definitely involved.

Ash cast one last glance toward the tree.

[Inspect]

[Name: Devourer

Level: 42

Stats: ???]

He expected to see a long list of stat points, but the display ended as soon as it began. The only thing he learned was its name and level; everything else was hidden.

But its level alone was enough to shake him to the core.

"Level 42." If he remembered correctly, this tree was within the range of A-rank. He had never met any A-ranker except those two Commanders — and maybe Jessie's father.

He wasn't foolish enough to think his gun would be enough to kill it. His only hope was to run away, though he wished he could have taken Jessie with him. But only a few things were within his control.

"It should have attacked," Ash pondered as the tree faded from his sight. He had already gained enough distance that the others had stopped chasing him.

It seemed they were limited by a range — perhaps the tree prevented them from crossing beyond it, keeping them within its Mind Hex.

Ash sat down against a sand dune.

Comparatively, he wasn't too far from the tree — barely half a kilometer away.

Sitting there, he began realizing many things that hadn't crossed his mind before.

"Why didn't it attack?" That was the prime question.

Was it too confident in its puppets? Or did it simply not care about him since he was just a Level Thirteen?

He kept pondering one reason after another, but nothing fit perfectly — until his eyes widened in realization.

"It simply can't," Ash realized. The tree was a beast that focused purely on mind attacks — to such an extent that it couldn't even use physical damage.

That was the only reason it possessed such a high level of mental assault; controlling hundreds of D and C-ranks, along with countless ordinary humans, was no easy feat.

This thought also shed light on his own Luck stat. It was far too powerful for a Level 13 individual.

The fact that he managed to escape the mind attack while even C-rankers were trapped under it added immense weight to the importance of his Luck.

It was intuition — it helped him resist mind attacks, guided him through Runes, and perhaps had many other hidden uses he had yet to discover.

All other stats explained themselves clearly, but this one remained a mystery — the more he tried to understand it, the more enigmatic it became.

Whenever he reached a conclusion, it revealed an entirely new usage.

[MP: 30/160]

Most of his MP had been consumed by King's Domain and Phantom Veil. He held a D-rank crystal in his hand, recovering MP steadily.

While he was occupied trying to figure out a way to defeat the A-rank beast, everything inside the village returned to normal. The fallen bodies vanished into the sand, and new people — identical to the fallen ones — emerged from the Heart's branches.

Slowly, the branches began twisting and shaping into human forms; their body parts formed gradually — eyes, nose, ears, legs, arms, and every detail a human possessed.

Within minutes, a new set of humans stood ready to replace the deceased ones.

All the villagers gathered before the tree, their hands raised high. Even Jessie stood among them, praising the tree. To them, everything looked normal, and Jessie was no different from the others.

Among them, one man opened his eyes and stepped into the pond. His eyes glowed with faint green flames, the aura pressing down on everyone around him.

He looked far into the distance, toward the direction Ash had fled. Even the C-rank individuals trembled under his gaze. A small pulsing wine twisted around his hand with a rhythmic vibration.

"Let's see if you come back," he murmured under his breath, leaning forward to greet the massive tree.

Unaware of this development, Ash was checking his system screen — looking at the EXP he had gained from killing C and D-rank humanoids.