The training hall vibrated violently. Every last piece of iron shield paused mid-air—then vanished.
Not a sound was made. They simply disappeared, returning the eerie silence—except for the sound of someone violently punching meat.
Tham! Tham!
Kirin pounded the bloody mush Ronnie's face had become. "Where is your smirk? You know what to do, right? I won't stop otherwise!!"
The speed of her punches increased. She shouted at the open skull covered in blood—skin already shredded—making the scene look horrifying.
Raventa frowned, hesitantly pulling out a wooden wand. But one look at Kirin's fierce expression made her reconsider. She simply observed.
Hunter exams were meant to be completely unsupervised—lawless. Anything was allowed. You could even poison the A-rank hunter and kill him before the fight—you just needed proof of poisoning to get your license.
As a cardinal, she had no right to interfere. It would only create problems for her.
'But… how does she know Wild West?' Raventa's mind wandered to the technique Kirin used—a martial art focused entirely on locating and destroying weaknesses in the enemy.
It was widespread among fighters, yes—but its true popularity and refined form came from the soldiers of the Aurelian Empire.
'Her mastery screams she learned from a master… An outsider to the military wouldn't know it this well. Either she's a high-ranking member of the Divine Knights… or has a teacher among them…' Raventa deduced, growing more cautious by the moment.
Whii!
Ronnie smirked, just like Kirin said. But this time, only three teeth were left. Tears streamed from his bloodied eyes.
Kirin clenched her strong thighs around Ronnie's abdomen. "Repeat what you said… but this time, don't lie." An evil grin manifested on her face.
His face darkened, but—
"I-I… am a little girl, who… pees his pants at the… sound of monsters…" he mumbled through a broken jaw. Most words were slurred and inaudible—but everyone understood them.
Raventa covered her eyes, praying to the Goddess for the man.
Johan's eyes darkened. He took a deep breath, thinking, 'I won't ever let her find out that I'm not the real Johan… I am not like those certain protagonists…' He repeated it three times in his mind.
Sebastian stared at Kirin's evil grin with watery eyes, feeling like a proud father whose daughter had just graduated top of her class.
Kirin stood up from Ronnie's chest—still standing on his head—and asked with a smile, "Would you like to challenge James and Neil too, Mister?"
(A.N. = Sebastian = Neil)
She inserted her foot into Ronnie's mouth, rubbing the inside of his throat with her toenails.
Tears welled in Ronnie's eyes, but eventually, he gave a muffled affirmative.
"James, Marie, and Neil, right?" Vani asked with a forced smile.
"Yes. Is everything alright, Vani?" Johan spoke as if to a dear friend, his tone genuinely empathetic.
Vani instantly suppressed her inner turmoil, replying with an equally casual smile, "Yes, James! Ronnie is already healing, haha…"
She quickly passed three giant golden spheres, each about the size of her palm.
"Good, good. I admire seniors like him!" With that, James slowly walked out of the Hunter's Guild, closely followed by Kirin and Sebastian, as everyone instinctively cleared the way for them.
Haa!
Vani sighed in relief. Ronnie had 168 broken bones, no teeth, punctured lungs, and his face and body were entirely covered in tears, snot, vomit, and feces.
She scribbled everything that had happened onto a yellowish piece of paper, then wrapped it in a clean file—preparing it as if to send to someone.
"That was overkill, Marie. Why the hell did you use the Wild West? You could've just used normal punches and kicks!" Johan whispered loudly into Kirin's ear, still calling her by 'Marie'—someone like Raventa or Beatrice could easily hear them, no matter how low the whisper.
"Those shields were tuff!! It's disrespectful not to go all out on your enemy!" she retorted sharply, shrugging.
Johan's mouth twitched at her shamelessness. 'Making him pee himself wasn't disrespectful!?'
"James!" A shout came from the alleyway beside the Hunter's Guild—a voice a bit too high-pitched, even for a woman.
A purple-haired girl waved casually, her back watched by a tall, thick, blonde-haired woman.
Johan's eyes twitched, but he approached them with a sigh, followed by Sebastian and Kirin—both wearing serious expressions that screamed readiness to kill.
"Do I know you?" he asked quickly, trying to appear in a hurry, channeling his inner Leonardo.
"Not sure. But I just wanted to know more about you… can't I?" Raventa spoke seductively, licking her red lips.
"No." he replied immediately.
James started to walk away, making Raventa panic.
"No, I mean wait, please! It's something important!" she hurriedly said, getting ahead and blocking Johan's path.
James's gaze froze momentarily at her ginormous breasts—which she had intentionally revealed for just a second.
He nodded impatiently.
"Your party looks really strong—I have to say." she said with a flattering smile, then got to the point.
"I wonder if we can join the Doomsday Trial as a party together?" she asked with a bright smile.
Johan's eyes widened slightly at the sudden offer—but he quickly schooled his expression.
"What makes you so sure we're that stupid—to participate in something as dangerous as a dungeon that opens once every hundred years, from which no one has ever returned—no matter how strong?"
He retorted firmly, his gaze sharp.
"I just had a feeling," Beatrice said from behind. Then added with a scoff, "We both benefit from it anyway. If you don't want it, then fuck off. No need to act like hot shit!"
She spat with disgust.
Raventa's frown deepened. Her eyes moved between James and Beatrice—both now locked in a tense, silent stare.
Sebastian's gaze sharpened. 'She's smart. People like this are the most resistant to manipulation… I wonder how Mast—Johan will deal with someone like her…' His mind wandered back to all of Johan's interactions since escaping—at some level, they all included deceiving.
Kirin clenched her fists, ready to punch the life out of the foul-mouthed girl—but suppressed it, remembering Melodis's words.
She was a devil contractor. Even if her devil was the lowest on the food chain—it still made her strong enough to wipe out countries. She alone probably equaled all three of them.
Just like how magic is inferior to Aether—even if two fireballs used the same amount of energy, the Aether one would still be at least 100 times stronger.
This was also why racism toward commoners was so extreme. Nobles with pure royal blood were literally superior creatures—suspected to be descended directly from Goddess Ymir's first children, a twin son and daughter.
(A.N. = Yes, Incest. How do you think bloodlines stayed pure for so long 🙂)
And similarly, Devils were superior even to royal-blooded individuals—with a completely different life energy.
"…Alright. But why the hell are you entering the Doomsday Dungeon!?" Johan finally broke the tense silence, agreeing—but with a dark expression.
'Good choice.' Sebastian nodded to himself. 'We needed more people in our party. A cardinal and a member of Alistar will be great pawns. Perfectly handled, like always… Johan.'
'There was definitely nothing like this in the game… A cardinal of the church and the vice-captain of Alistar acting like besties, entering the Doomsday Trial…' Johan thought, tapping his foot aggressively against the stone ground.
A grin spread across Beatrice's flawless face, her tone mocking. "You're Johan Von Matilda, right?"
Johan's mind went blank.
His eyes widened to the limit.