NOVEL NEXT Chapter 24: Adopting Three Puppies.
A/N: Before you proceed with this chapter you should keep in mind that this is a +18 FanFic. Themes like gore and others are not excluded from my line of writing.
Adam may be a good guy, but he won't shy away from killing humans if they mess with him.
He's being targeted. Leaving someone alive that he's not familiar with and who knows of his actual rank is a pretty dumb thing to do.
So yeah, you were warned.
Adam is not a righteous character.
....
A cloud of dust emerged around the area where Adam was standing when the windy ball of energy collided with his body.
Max, the tiger hybrid-type hunter, raised an eyebrow a few seconds after the impact ended.
'No scream?'
This observation was shared by the other two hunters.
Soon after, with a lazy swing of his arm, the dust cloud surrounding him dissipated, and an unblemished Adam came to light.
" Hey, I'll give you one last chance. Who sent you?"
His voice did not match the friendly smile he sported.
Primal fear overtook the B-Rank hunters as they heard his words.
Especially Dexter.
That attack he just made was enough to obliterate a D-Rank mob monster easily, yet the person they believed to be an F-Ranked not only tanked the attack without flinching, but he also looked undamaged.
" Dex, I don't think this guy is an F-Rank, we were set up."
Max whispered to Dexter, his voice a bit shaken from the shock.
" Hey, hey, time is ticking~. Just be a good boy and answer my question."
Dexter took a step back and looked at his teammates.
After a few seconds, he concluded.
" Max, Mary, we are doing this together."
No matter how strong Adam seemed to be, he couldn't possibly be a high-ranker.
High rankers were widely known, celebrities of modern society.
He had to be a mid-ranked like them.
Either C or B should be his rank.
To prevent any more mistakes from happening, they have to team up.
"So, that's a no then. Mmh~, well that's a shame. Don't come crying to me later though, I gave y'all a chan-"
Before he could finish his sentence, Max was already in front of him, his fist merely an inch from his chin.
From behind the tiger guy, Adam could see in slow-motion how the mage girl was casting a water-based spell, while Dexter made five wind swords that floated around him.
One of the said swords was on its way to impale his right leg, already expecting him to dodge towards that side.
With a bored expression, Adam hit Max's fist with his forehead, decreasing the momentum of the incoming punch, and fracturing the guy's hand in the process.
"FUCK!!"
Then, with his hands still inside his pockets, he kicked the wind sword, an almost imperceptible fire coating manifesting in his right shoe.
' I'll feel sad if my sneakers get damaged, I like them a lot.'
The water spell, which consisted of a ball of energy similar to Dexter's wind-bending ability, headed to Adam's chest by the time his right leg landed on the ground.
" Shield ~."
But, just before the impact occurred, a golden shield with silver patterns was created before him. Covering him from head to toe.
The size of the water ball was a few times bigger and faster than Dexter's wind attack from earlier, so the sound it made as it collided against Adam's shield was a few notches louder.
*BOOOOOM!!*
" Shit! He's not getting hit, man!"
" This fucker ain't B-Rank either! And that bastard didn't mention any weapon creation ability, we are fucked!!"
The two male hunters were slowly losing their bearings.
On the other hand, Marylin was too shocked to form any opinion.
'That shield took no damage…'
Like most mages, she was very proud of her magic progress, yet, the strongest offensive attack she could make in the lesser amount of time possible, was futile.
As the shield dissipated, a smiling Adam was revealed.
If his smile could be said to be charming earlier, now the most appropriate adjective to define it would have to be creepy.
" Tsk, tsk, you guys don't get it, do you? I'm not trapped in this alley with you, you three are trapped with me~."
The remaining four swords levitating around Dexter faltered, his brain working at its maximum capacity.
Like this, he arrived at an agitated resolution.
A truly stupid one.
" H-he can't teleport, and that has to be his main weapon! Marylin is preventing it, we have to keep trying!!"
But, in that millisecond he took to turn his head toward his teammates, he found himself staring at Adam, standing behind Marylin.
"W-wha-"
And to his horror, before he could do anything, he saw how Adam's arm perforated the mage from her back, her beating heart in his hand.
*CRUSH!*
Crushing the heart lazily, he turned to look at Max, whose shaking legs were wet from the urine that leaked out of his contracting bladder.
" You're next tiger boy-"
But before he could proceed with the killing, his system sent a notification, which occupied his vision.
It took him less than a second to read and comprehend the text before him.
[ The user has killed a human for the first time!
Authority: The True God of Shadows Authority, reacts favorably!
Section 1, undergoing editing…
Section 6, undergoing editing …
Section 7, undergoing editing...
Section 8, undergoing editing…
Section 1 (New): The dead beings that are consumed can be summoned in their shadow forms.
Section 6 (New): The arrangement of EP expenditure goes as follows:
ERROR!!
ERROR!!
ERROR!!
ERROR!!
EP Expenditure deemed unnecessary.
Section 7 (New): Current summon limit: ERROR!
No limit.
Section 8 (New): All dead beings (any being regardless of rank) shall serve you in their shadow form, regardless of the cause of death. ]
Adam was pleasantly surprised.
His authority grows the more he kills, that's what this change told him.
Or more like the wider the variety of what he kills is, the more it affects his authority.
In the future, when he kills the gods who would try to mess with him, his authority should take a big leap in power.
Before attacking Max, who by now was whining like a bitch.
He erected a shadow barrier himself, mimicking Marylin's spell from earlier.
Both Dexter and Max were unable to see or hear anything. Even their voices were soundless.
"ARISE."
In this void of terror, those were the only words they could hear.
" Kill them."
Maybe due to fear, or from the lack of vision they were experiencing, they were unable to prevent their heads from falling to the ground, as they were decapitated by a water-slash spell.
" Umu, good job Merylin."
The black-haired Asian girl nodded her head with a small smile, extremely happy with her new master's praise.
Adam did not pay much attention to her since she was an enemy who wanted him dead, but now that he looked closer, she was a pretty cute girl.
Although older than him, she looked like a typical Japanese high schooler out of a manga.
' Her last name is Lee though. Maybe she's of Korean descent. China perhaps? Oh, right, I'm not on earth anymore…'
If you add this to the fact that she looked like a normal human but with shadow clothes and aura, hardly anyone would tell she wasn't a living being anymore.
Now that he thought about it, Adam could probably control his shadows in such a way that even Ragnar, who was the more "shadowy" of his commanders, would look like a normal human-hybrid power user.
If a guy with a freaking tail could walk around unbothered, why wouldn't his commander do the same?
' I should try that…'
His unnecessary internal monologue was interrupted by the very same girl, he was thinking about.
" Thank you, Master."
Unable to contain himself, he rested his hand above her silky hair, patting his new soldier as if she were a puppy.
Turning to the remaining two corpses, Adam repeated the same process.
A second later, a shadow-coated Dexter and Max could be seen kneeling before him.
Merylin remained by Adam's side as the latter patted her head.
"OK, since we're family now I want you two to spill the beans. Who sent you?"
Without a second of hesitation, Dexter spoke.
" The person who sent us is…"
....
A/N: So, I finished early today and was like, why not?
So here's a new chapter.
A bonus chapter if you may.
It's probably a bit shorter but hey, game is game.
Have a great day!