24 I’ve should’ve known…

…..

The moon shined brightly in the sky, casting a silver glow over the landscape while the stars twinkled like diamonds around it, forming constellations and patterns.

Six hours had passed since Damon had fallen asleep from exhaustion, and he hadn't woken up yet.

Throughout the six hours, dozens of C-rank and B-rank hunters patiently waited for him to come out. However, no one knew his identity. They could only assume it was the person who owned this mansion.

At the same time, the chaos inside the city was spreading rapidly as more and more citizens lost their will to live, fearing their imminent deaths. Mayhem and destruction became more common as the hours passed; avoiding what was to come was impossible.

Everyone inside the city would be involved, even if they didn't want to. They would either lose themselves to fear or fight back for the simple purpose of surviving. Running wasn't a choice; it was already too late to escape.

After half an hour passed, it was already a few hours past midnight, and the hunters had decided to rest on the ground, not far from the barrier.

Shatter~

A loud sound of glass breaking echoed through the entire city as if the world around them had broken into thousands of pieces. However, this sound only brought more fear to the citizens, as they feared the world was about to break.

Strangely enough, not all thought the same and didn't show much of a reaction. They were the hunters sent by their respective guilds to recruit the talented man in the barrier, no matter what it took.

"The barrier's broken. Hurry, we must meet him before anyone else." Without thinking anything more, hundreds of C and B-ranked hunters all rushed toward the barrier. The shattering of the barrier meant that the person they had been waiting for was out.

****

[A Few Minutes Ago…]

For close to six and a half hours, Damon was fast asleep, still recovering from his exhaustion. The world was in complete silence. Not even the chirping of crickets could be heard.

"Argh!" Damon groaned as he woke up. His eyelids moved slowly. He felt pain all over, as he hadn't had the time to fully heal.

Damon slowly opened his eyes, noticing a dark sky where the moonlight reached him. "I finally won! Levi… Your misfortune couldn't stop me this time! If I could've returned to the past, I would kill you personally before your misfortune could ever reach me."

As pain spread through his entire body, Damon sat up straight. Even though his body was still exhausted and wounded from before, he gave off a powerful aura that could kill an ordinary human with ease. His figure was athletic, with well-proportioned muscles.

'Augmented Heal.' After casting a healing skill, an emerald-green flame shrouded his body. In his current state, he couldn't move, let alone walk. He needed to improve his state before leaving the barrier.

Unfortunately, he couldn't fully heal, as it would take a few days for him to regain all his strength and return to his normal state. He could only heal his wounds and relieve some of his exhaustion enough that he could walk without much difficulty.

Damon stood up as he kept his gaze outside the barrier, as if, even though he was looking at the solid flame barrier, his vision was looking much further…

"I suppose it's time to go meet my guests. It's rude to keep them waiting for too long after all." Damon sighed, feeling a headache coming. He didn't want so much attention, but he knew now that it was unavoidable. Kesean attracted the attention of the greedy guilds, and Damon would have to deal with this problem accordingly.

****

Back inside the Hunter's Association, Lilith had searched all the rooms thoroughly across the entire first floor. As she searched, she found lifeless bodies all over the building, with blood trails leading in different directions. There were also some humans among them that were still alive but weren't far from death.

However, after she found them, their lives were stolen and their bodies disappeared. She didn't leave anyone behind, dead or alive, which increased her experience points, bringing her closer to her second evolution...

[User: Lilith]

[Race: Demon]

[Level: 11]

[225/1100 EXP]

[HP: 240/240]

[EP: 445/445]

[Strength: 39 -> 41]

[Agility: 36 -> 37]

[Stamina: 33 -> 34]

"The stronger I get, the safer I'll become. I can't help but look forward to the time when I don't have to hide in the darkness and can complete all my goals…" Lilith muttered, feeling satisfied at her growth.

She could now defeat strong enemies; she could have never dreamed of even fighting, let alone defeating them before.

Even though she wasn't as strong as Damon, who was now a B-rank hunter, with her cheat and her demon body, she didn't think it would take long for her to catch up.

"I'm sure there's more upstairs; I should finish my search here quickly. I still haven't found anyone capable of answering my questions."

Lilith stepped out of the room, where she found the stairs that led upstairs. She quickly reached the top and continued her search for lifeless bodies to add to her inventory.

….

After searching another eight rooms, she found more lifeless bodies, increasing the number of lifeless humans in her inventory to just under twenty. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything else worthy of her attention, as everything that was valuable had already been stolen.

At this moment, Lilith had searched every room on the first floor thoroughly, as she had before, except for one that was located at the end of the hallway and was more luxurious than the others. The doors of this room were even thicker than the other doors, giving off the impression that this room was the most important.

Fortunately, the door wasn't shut properly since the one who had left was in too much of a hurry to care, leaving it unlocked.

Lilith simply pushed the door open, entering the luxurious room. Other than the top executives of the Hunters' Association, no one was allowed to come here. If someone without consent were to step inside, even by accident, they would be heavily punished.

Strangely enough, Lilith had a feeling that this was the room where she was going to find something really valuable.

Pushing the door open, she took her first step inside the room.

As soon as she stepped inside, someone immediately cast a skill in her direction. A massive thunder spear…

Boom~

"What…?" A man yelled weakly, shocked to see that his thunder spear had not only missed but had been intercepted! The woman hadn't even reached C-rank, but she could already block his attack.

The man was missing his left arm and both legs. He also had deep sword wounds covering his body and couldn't last much longer, but even in his horrible state, he should've been able to kill a D-rank hunter, but instead she blocked his last attack, which he used the last of his energy to cast.

Lilith disappeared from sight, but even though he sensed her closing in on him, he was too weak and exhausted to defend himself.

"You already have one foot in the grave, but you chose to attack someone you saw for the first time? Are you a fool to think that after you tried to sneak attack me, I would let you live even if you're the branch head?" Lilith asked as she appeared behind him.

"You're right, if I hadn't attacked you, I might've had the chance to survive, but… That's only if you weren't one of those demons." The branch head responded, showing no emotion as if he wasn't afraid at all.

"You… You're B-rank?" Her eyes widened in surprise. She didn't expect to find someone who was able to see through her protection. Fortunately, the man wasn't going to live for long even if she didn't kill him herself; he would die in a few hours if left alone.

'If he wasn't in such a state, he wouldn't be the one to die here…'

"Argh!"

She stabbed her dagger into the branch head's throat. His face suddenly grew more pale as he coughed up a mouthful of blood as he parted his lips in anger.

"You…'ll… Di…e…"

The branch head's lifeless body dropped to the ground. Until the moment he died, he felt deep hatred for the person who forced him into his weakened state. If it weren't for them, he would have still been alive.

[Sohan, Human (Lv. 28)—Defeated!]

[+140 exp]

[365/1100 EXP]

'I should've known… He wasn't B-rank. Instead, he must've possessed a strong perception skill to see past my protection.'

After killing Sohan, she searched the room for any valuables that weren't stolen before she left, leaving the room after storing Sohan's lifeless body in her inventory.