NOVEL NEXT Chapter 76: First Sworn Enemy
Ash looked at him with resolution—an unwavering will that surpassed any human capability.
The first shot was just to distract him and break his momentum.
[Heart Piercer]
Ash used the skill once again, putting the remaining 20 MP to charge the next bullet. He waited for the most vulnerable moment—and shot.
The bullet tore through the air like a streak of light—silent.
The beastlike humanoid, half-ready, didn't even realize what hit him. His pupils widened as the world slowed around him—his instincts screaming move—but the poison already dulling his reflexes made it impossible.
The Heartpiercer-charged bullet struck dead center, right above the sternum.
A burst of compressed mana exploded outward from the point of impact. The sound wasn't like a gunshot anymore—it was a thunderclap.
The kinetic wave shredded bark-like skin, cutting through his body and tearing open a hole that glowed blue from within.
Then came the aftershock.
The energy burst expanded from his chest like a reverse explosion—cracking his ribcage, rupturing the veins that carried his unnatural green lifeblood.
"Impsible!" the puppet's distorted voice came, its tone alternating between man and monster. "Yu—aa lowrank!"
Ash didn't answer. His face was pale, breathing ragged, eyes sharp and merciless. He still held the smoking SMG steady, finger firm on the trigger in case he had to finish it completely. But his hand was too numb to do anything. It was the second time he had been damaged by the recoil in a short time.
His previous injury had worsened, making it impossible to move one of his hands.
Heartpiercer and an externally charged bullet—the combination was deadly.
The system notification flickered.
[Mana: 0/210]
The puppet staggered backward, one step at a time, clutching its chest. The corrosion and Withering Kiss began eating its flesh inward, black veins spreading across its torso. The once-imposing form now looked like a burning corpse—alive but decaying with every second.
Poison was the secondary effect; the bullet itself had already torn a massive part of its body away.
The other puppets were already rushing toward Ash to complete the job. Ash wasn't sure if he could survive another battle since his MP had hit rock bottom.
"Poison…" the creature hissed, its breath trembling.
Ash took a slow step back, dragging his injured leg through the dirt.
The puppet's arm twitched—trying to lift, to strike—but its muscles collapsed mid-motion. Now its torso was burning with Ash's corrosive poison that would definitely ensure its death.
Its once-glowing eyes flickered, dimmed, then reignited in fury.
"You… won't… escape…!"
Ash could feel it—one last surge of mana, unstable and desperate. The puppet's body began to bulge unnaturally, the lines across its chest glowing white-hot. It was trying to self-destruct.
"Damn it."
It wasn't even caring about its fellow puppets. If it detonated, many of the others would die in the collateral damage—but that was acceptable since the Tree could always make more.
Ash bit his tongue, picking Jessie up with one arm and sprinting back despite the pain. His MP was empty. He couldn't use any more skills.
So he relied on his agility. He grabbed Jessie in his embrace, holding her against his chest as behind him everything went white.
The explosion that followed wasn't loud—it was dense. Like the air itself folded in on the impact point. A sphere of green light swallowed the puppet, its entire body dissolving. The wave hit Ash hard, throwing him several meters into the sand.
He coughed blood, rolling onto his back, his vision swimming. The air smelled like burning acid.
A faint breeze swept across the battlefield, dispersing the smoke and revealing what was left—nothing but a crater and a few twitching roots that rapidly disintegrated into dust, then started reconstructing.
Ash gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stand despite the blinding pain—but it was impossible to ignore when his back was nothing more than a piece of burnt charcoal.
[Level Up]
[Level: 15]
[Stat Points: 5]
Ash let out a shaky laugh, half relief, half disbelief. "You… almost got me, bastard."
[AGILITY: 8(+12) | ENDURANCE: 7(+20) | STRENGTH: 7(+14) | LUCK: 23 | WILLPOWER: 499]
Ash instantly put all 5 stat points into Agility. Many of the remaining villagers had also died in the impact, but many survived. Ash was in no condition to survive even a C-rank, yet there were dozens of them.
All he could do was run—and focus on his plan to never return. But his eyes were burning with anger. He gave one last glance toward the large tree, swearing to kill that beast eventually.
He didn't care what he needed to do to achieve that feat—but its destiny was sealed: it would die by his hands.
The monk standing on the outer platform of the temple was witnessing the entire fight calmly, as if unmoved by his tantrums.
For the first time in this life, he hated someone—or something—this much, and his enemies never survived too long.
"I will be back," Ash announced, jumping over the fence and running across the sand dunes.
The sharp sunlight burned his bare back; his clothes were also charred, clinging to his skin like melted rubber. His mind was collapsing under the pain he felt.
He glanced at his hand—blood and poison dripping together, sizzling as they touched the sand. His veins pulsed faintly with green light from the Poison Master's backlash. His body was at its limit.
He had pushed his class to its edge, almost solidifying the poison.
But the puppet was gone—at last.
The injured boy looked up at the sky beyond the dunes. The whispers in the wind had faded, but one presence still lingered—the image of the large unmoving tree, his sworn enemy.
"Jessie, wake up," Ash said once he was sure they were outside the Tree's area of influence.
There was his poison in her that made her pale; her leg had been struck by a bullet. He cut his hand and let a drop fall into her mouth.
Made her lie down on a nearby rock and took a seat himself. Cutting his shirt and pants, he threw them aside. Then piece by piece, he peeled off the burnt fabric clinging to his body.
Every piece he removed was taking something with it—the innocence, the easy-going attitude—and something else was waking up inside Ash.
The old, terrifying personality—absolute and resolute. A dark side he had lived with all his life. An ominous, uncaring person—to whom animals and humans were no different.
[Quest: Kill the Devourer and take your revenge]
[Hidden Quest Triggered: Kill the Devourer and establish the first stronghold for humans]