Kael's steps felt light as he walked away from the library, heading toward the outskirts of Lindenburgh and toward the river that separated Lindenburgh from Stantton. Even though his body was starting to feel tired from not having rested since he first returned to the past, his mind was filled with excitement after finding valuable items.
Titan Slayer, the giant sword now strapped to his back, gave him confidence that this weapon was far superior to the ones he had first encountered in his past life. He also had the cloak he had obtained, which could regulate extreme temperatures, whether hot or cold. That cloak would be essential once the fourth gate opened.
With a pleased expression, he adjusted his backpack and Titan Slayer on his back and kept walking until he started smelling a foul stench coming from the river. When he reached the riverbank, the smell grew stronger, and the river had turned into a massive murky pond with human and monster corpses floating on the surface. Some had bloated from being submerged too long.
Suddenly, he heard loud noises and panicked screams coming from his left. Kael looked and saw a group of people desperately trying to escape from a swarm of giant rats. The rats were larger than wild dogs, their bodies covered in patchy, dirty fur. Their teeth looked like small daggers, and some even had spikes protruding from their backs.
Kael still did not understand why the monsters emerging from the third gate resembled Earth's pests, only much bigger. Maybe they were creatures from another dimension that had entered Earth through the gates. He observed the group of people fighting the rats. They appeared to be Awakened warriors, five in total, each wielding a different weapon—daggers, bows, and spears.
However, Kael quickly saw that even though they were Awakened, they had no real combat skills, and they were getting overwhelmed fast. One of them was pushed into the middle of the swarm, and the rats immediately surrounded him, tearing him apart with their sharp teeth.
Kael did not care about them. He knew that if they died, the world would simply lose a few weak Awakened. But at the same time, he wanted to test the power of his Titan Slayer.
He stepped toward the unbalanced fight, quickly drawing his sword from his back, raising it high, and swinging it downward. The impact sent out a wave of slashes, instantly ripping through several rats. Their bodies split apart, and the surviving Awakened turned to look at him in shock.
Kael did not stop there. With effortless movements, he weaved between the rats lunging at him, dodging their bites with minimal adjustments, then striking them down with ease. It felt almost like a simple training exercise.
A slight smirk formed on his lips as he noticed how easily Titan Slayer sliced through the rats without any resistance, unlike when he used a katana.
Fifteen seconds later, all the rats were dead, their corpses scattered across the battlefield. The Awakened who survived stared at him, a mix of fear and awe in their eyes. One of them, a long-haired man with a wound on his arm, stepped forward.
"You saved us, thank you. Without your help, we would have died," the man said hoarsely, stretching out his arm in gratitude.
Kael shook his head slightly. "I did not do it for you," he replied coldly, ignoring the handshake.
However, as he started walking away, he noticed something in their eyes. Their expressions had changed, no longer just surprise and gratitude. Their gaze locked onto Titan Slayer and the red cloak he had recently obtained.
He could already guess what they were thinking. This world was filled with betrayers, people who understood that power was everything. If someone had a better item, the fastest way to get it was to kill the owner.
Kael paused, scanning the group and counting their numbers. Five people, all wounded but still strong enough to fight. One of them, a burly man in a leather jacket, stepped forward. In his hand was a semi-automatic pistol glowing faint blue, indicating it had been enhanced with mana.
"Hand over your sword, gemstones, and skills," the man said coldly, "or die."
Kael glanced at the pistol with a neutral expression. He knew that this weapon could kill most ordinary humans or weak Awakened, especially if its bullets were infused with mana.
But he also knew something more important. Human speed could never match his thoughts.
If someone wanted the skill inside a gemstone, the owner had to die first for it to appear.
So in the end, they only wanted to kill him. Kael smirked slightly. "Try me," he said.
Without hesitation, the man raised his gun and pulled the trigger. A blue flash shot forward, the mana-infused bullet flying faster than a normal one.
But Kael had already read his movements. With his trained reflexes and instincts from his past life, he shifted slightly to the right, dodging the bullet's trajectory.
At the same time, his left hand reached out, and in one swift motion, Titan Slayer spun and slashed through the man's wrist.
The pistol flew into the air, blood spurting from the severed wrist, and agonized screams filled the riverbank.
Kael caught the falling pistol and casually aimed it at the man's head.
"Nice weapon. Too bad its owner isn't fast enough," he remarked with a mocking smirk. The remaining Awakened immediately charged at him all at once.
Effortlessly, he dodged two daggers lunging at him by leaping backward, then swiftly spun around and slashed one of the attackers in half.
An arrow whizzed toward him, but Kael raised his left hand and unleashed a Mana Blast. A small explosion shattered the arrow before it could reach him.
In less than a minute, everyone who had tried to kill him was dead, except for the man in the leather jacket, who was still groaning in pain, clutching his severed wrist.
Kael knelt beside him, gazing at him coldly. "You were far too confident, thinking you could beat me with just a gun and some low-tier skills?" he asked as he tossed the pistol into the river.
The man gasped, sweat drenching his face. "Please... Spare me..." he begged weakly.
Kael sighed and lifted Titan Slayer. "There's no mercy in this world," he declared before swinging his blade down onto the man's neck, ending his life.
Without another word, Kael continued his journey, stepping over the fresh corpses he had just slain.