Greed

Liam didn't give the praises or the awestruck gazes showered upon him much thought. He ignored them and focused on the situation and the next course of action.

There were a few particular issues when it came to the natives they had rescued. Amongst those issues was the evident exhaustion everyone displayed quite clearly. Nobody was unscathed and there were a few young men and women who could barely be tended to with normal means and the usage of a Soultrait that temporarily stopped the internal and external bleeding of the lethally injured.

Only a few were able to use their Soultrait, and Liam had helped a few more survivors by giving them a few advice to make sure that most natives would be able to return to the gymnasium, alive.

Liam was frowned upon by many because he didn't help everyone to learn more about their Soultraits but that had a valid reason.

Not only did he sense some hostility and suspicious glances from several natives, but his eyes were suddenly itching as well.

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't think that it was odd for his eyes to feel itchy every now and then but he couldn't get his head around it. Something was different than before, and he knew that he should be seeing something, only to fail miserably.

It didn't make any sense, which was exactly what Liam was careful about when it came to teaching others. He wanted to make sure that he would be able to stay alive by all means.

"Let's leave now as I believe everyone had some rest." Liam said before he left the café without a backward glance.

The students grasped their steel spears instinctively and rushed behind Liam into the rain.

They followed him without any hesitation, leaving behind the exhausted people who had hoped to be able to rest for a few more hours.

Only one student halted in his tracks when he was about to rush into the heavy rain. He looked back at the dozens of people and smiled lightly.

"We are going back to the gymnasium, probably. Our hideout is there and it's well protected. If you guys want to rest, do it there.

Liam is not the type of person, who waits for others!"

Once the student finished his advice, he rushed toward the door that led to the second floor of the library.

The exhausted people in the café looked at each other and got up from their chairs when the others had gotten up as well.

Nobody was able to fend for themselves, and all of them were exhausted. Liam and his group grabbed the only chance of survival they were given, and they didn't want to miss out on it.

With fast strides, they followed Liam and they found themselves pacing through the University campus less than ten minutes later.

Liam was still not certain about the structure or layout of the entire city, but his memories were good enough to retrace the paths they had walked through earlier to reach the library.

'I expected to get a few hundred natives…though, it might be a fortune to have found that many.' He felt how his greed resurfaced and smiled to himself.

He wanted to save thousands of natives as to get his hand on the best possible rewards in the customized mission. However, even if he wouldn't be able to save that many Natives, it was not as if his mission would be a catastrophic failure.

The success of his mission was all that mattered, yet, Liam wanted to get his hands on everything. This greedy side was not at all surprising for Liam but it was bad timing for it to surface in his mind.

After all, it was better to save a few people rather than none at all. There were dozens of exhausted natives behind him, so he shouldn't complain about it.

Fewer people behind him meant also that he had fewer troublemakers to take care of, whether they invited trouble by being assholes, deadweights, or just plain idiots.

However, even though there were fewer troublemakers than he expected to bring back to the gymnasium, it took them close to three hours to safely retreat to the main entrance of the gymnasium, more than four times longer than their way to the library took.

Fortunately, none of the exhausted natives died on their way back, which was a great success even if Liam had secretly reconsidered charging through the crowded areas to reach the gymnasium faster, no matter how many casualties they would have to suffer.

Now that they were about to reach the gymnasium, Liam dispelled this thought. There weren't any crowded areas to charge through anymore. The only hurdle left was the tiny battlefield in front of the gymnasiun's main entrance.

More than a hundred corpses of Meheks and rats were scattered all over the plaza in front of the gymnasium's main entrance, with only a dozen monsters alive and still fighting.

An Elite Ratatuo had succumbed to the countless injuries all over its body. The monster's flesh was ripped apart by more than a dozen Meheks who had diverted their focus to the other Elite Ratatuo.

Two dozen Meheks fought valiantly against the last survivor of the rat's side. They pushed the Elite Ratatuo down to the ground and were just about to end the monsters' life when a handful of Meheks stopped moving all of a sudden.

Some Meheks drilled their claws deep inside the Elite Ratatuo, while the others were trying to find the perpetrator of the sudden attack.

But by the time they found the perpetrator, it was already too late. Their bodies went numb and it was becoming increasingly difficult for them to move around. And they stopped moving altogether as a snow-white figure with galaxies sealed inside his royal purple eyes emerged in front of them.

Liam dashed through the horde, moved through his opponents swiftly and he eliminated more than a dozen opponents in a single breath. Having been affected by the Black Tarthear Needles' poison, none of the Meheks was able to go up against him anymore.

That was how Liam reached the last few Meheks whose claws were drilled deep inside the Elite Ratatuo that screeched out in pain.

A faint smile could be seen on Liam's face as he pierced out with his claws, ready to end the lives of the monsters in front of him.

However, it was just at this moment that something behind him changed all of a sudden.

Several wind blades shot past his arms, legs, and his head, grazing him before they cut inside the monsters, ending their misery before Liam could do so.

"I did it, yes!!" An excited voice resounded from behind, followed by an eerie silence that seemed to muffle even the sound of the heavy rain around them.

Liam took a deep breath before he lifted himself up. His left hand reached out for the right side of his neck. He felt a stinging pain from two light cuts at his arms, legs, and the side of his head.

However, the wound that attracted his attention the most was the cut on his neck. Liam looked at the dark red blood that trickled down his neck as he turned his head back to the natives who were supposed to be grateful to him.

However, none of that mattered to Liam anymore as his ice-cold eyes stared down at the exhausted natives like they were nothing but dead meat to him.

His black devil mask had been damaged, it crumbled and fell down to the ground.

At this moment, the only sound one could hear from the background was Rex cursing out quietly.

"Fuck…"