Ch 16: Scream echoed

After a few seconds, laughter echoed from the shadows, cold and mocking.

"Hahaha! That was too easy!"

Three figures appeared, their silhouettes emerging like serpents hissing.

[Ding! Detected the hostile enemy in front of you is Mid-Level Dawnbringer]

[Ding! Detected the hostile enemy in front of you is High-Level Dawnbringer]

[Ding! Detected the hostile enemy in front of you is High-Level Dawnbringer]

As they stepped forward, then their shapes were outlined in the bright light. One face was struck with a feeling of recognition—that was the drunken man, Dong.

As for others? They were unrecognizable but sinister, filled with power energy that they exuded with the presence alone. Compared to Lucifer? they were equal or perhaps even more powerful than him.

As they drew nearer, a sense of danger began tingling in Lucifer, but he remained motionless, pretending to be unconscious.

"Tsk. Did you really think you could just escape like that? Huh, bitch? Now, you're going to learn your lesson, you little brat. Where did your arrogance go now?... answer me, son of a bitch, where did it go?!" sneered Dong as he spoke in malice, and he started to kick Lucifer nonstop.

"This kid really offended you, Brother Dong, didn't he? Hahaha," the archer chimed in, rubbing his chin as he stepped forward. His grin was wide as he surveyed the scene. Clad in dark clothing, he was the very image of a cliché bandit.

"Poor fellow," he added mockingly.

"Seriously? This is the boy you were trying to deal with, brother Dong?" the third person in the group stepped forward with swaggering confidence as he questioned the qualification of Lucifer's strength.

"Pathetic; you shouldn't have picked a fight boy, without knowing who you're dealing with."

Oh, really?

From behind his closed eyelids, Lucifer's mind started to race, full of possibilities for how to kill the people before him. Slowly and undetectably, he opened his eyes and glanced sideways, spotting a cluster of stick-like branches just within reach.

Argh, fuck this pain… huh? Oh, my my…. What did we get?

Though agony coursed through him, Lucifer cautiously extended his arm, careful not to alert them. With sheer willpower, he gripped one of the branches, heart pounding in anticipation, feeling like he could not wait to stab every part of their body.

Hell yeah, time for payback.

And then, in a lightning motion of determination, Lucifer rammed the pointed tip of the branch into Dong's leg. Yes, he impaled it for real; another ruthless thrust.

Puchi!

"What-?" At first, Dong blinked in bewilderment, mistaking the pain for a mere irritation, as though he was bitten by an insect.

But,

An instant later, reality struck him like a thunderclap.

"A-... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed like hell, shattering the air. The enjoyment he was feeling just now, suddenly turned into despair cry of pain.

He fell to the ground, rolling side to side in pain. The shock turned into intense pain that radiated over him, making him clutch his leg in search of relief that would never come.

[Gain 1 Hatred Point (Despair)]

[Gain 1 Hatred Point (Hate)]

[Gain 1 Hatred Point (Anger)]

…

A dark wave of satisfaction washed over Lucifer with each anguished cry coming from Dong.

Now laugh like a monkey, bitch….This is just the beginning.

After Lucifer stabbed Dong's leg, hatred points started to generate even more than before. The other two who were accompanying Dong stepped back with little hesitation when they heard the sudden cry of pain, their faces filled with confusion and shock.

"Brother Dong, why are you scr- Huh?" Just as they tried to voice their concerns, their eyes wide opened at the sight of the branch piercing through Dong's leg.

Others nearby also started to run or change their direction like cowards, after seeing the sudden conflict, unwilling to involve themselves in this chaos.

However, seeing Lucifer was bleeding, the archer's confidence came back.

"Argh... Kill this bastard, no, no, we should torture him like hell," Dong angrily shouted, clenching his wounded leg.

"Do not worry, Brother Dong; he will be my prey." The sly-looking bandit made the first move as he charged towards Lucifer, then delivered a heavy kick to the stomach. "Here, take this, bastard—my Piercing Kick Technique."

Bam!

The impact sent Lucifer two steps back. He was not in the condition to block the attack.

"Ugh," he groaned, clutching his stomach as pain surged through him.

[Warning: Host, you are in critical condition. Blood flow is heavy; your body is weakening every second.]

[For recovery, the host needs to spend 20 hatred points.]

[Are you willing?]

Fuck! Now the price has increased? Damn it… my precious points. Okay, use it. I think I did accumulate over 20 hatred points by now.

[Hatred Points: 23.5]

[Deducted 20 Hatred Points]

[Remaining Hatred Points: 3.5]

[Recovery in process]

His heavy breaths began to stabilize, and Lucifer's body finally started to heal up. But the others were still clueless about his condition.

Seizing the moment as if Lucifer was heavily injured, one of Dong's companions lunged at Lucifer, a sinister grin plastered on his face. "Hehehe, let's play a little bit, shall we?"

Although Lucifer's body was healing, the pain lingered. Gritting his teeth, he yanked the arrow out from his back that he got shot by sneakily. His body shuddered and he did not throw the arrow away but held it like a weapon.

Looks like I have to be serious now.

Lucifer got up from the ground. His anger was so maddening that he did not care about the pain he was feeling right now. He then charged towards the gorilla-like man, who was also rushing at him.

The third person looked like another bandit whose age might be between 25 and 30, looking like a gorilla and used to fighting bare-handed. The gorilla-looking man was also a high-tier novice rank, physically more powerful than Lucifer, but strength alone didn't guarantee victory.

Without hesitation, the gorilla-like man wildly swung a fist towards Lucifer with his raw power. Though Lucifer wanted to dodge it, he was one step late, and the fist connected brutally with his face.

Despite the agony, Lucifer smirked through the pain.

Nice I like it.

Seeing the smirk on Lucifer's face, the gorilla-like man hesitated a little bit, sensing danger. However, his arrogance quickly dismissed the warning, fueling his reckless confidence even more.

"Hehe, now take this gift, will ya?"

Lucifer smiled and plunged the arrow into the hand of the man.

Puchi!

The arrow pierced through the man's hand, and with reflex, the man fell back, holding the wounded hand.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Another scream started to echo, causing the birds within the forest to fly high in the sky.

"Augggggggh!" the man groaned in pain, but his eyes were red with anger and pain.

Now hatred points started to generate even more, every second, which was a good sign for Lucifer.

Lucifer, not giving the gorilla-looking man any chance to recover, prepared to execute a spinning backkick. But suddenly, the other person, the sly man, interrupted him with another arrow, which pierced Lucifer's shoulder, causing his movement to halt.

'Argh!' The pain was so intense that his veins started to pop, but Lucifer held back. He yanked the arrow from his body, gritting his teeth, but the pain was intense though it also slowly recovered.

'Fuck, now you are dead,' Lucifer looked towards the sly man with cold eyes. Without thinking, he charged towards the sly man. This person was so confused about how someone could stand after taking this much damage.

'Devil,' only one word started to play in the sly man's mind as he began to curse Dong for offending this devil.

"Fuck! Dong, who did you offend? This brat is crazy as mad."

"And this fucker is a High-Level Dawnbringer?"

"Didn't you say he is at Mid-Level?"

"How would I know? When I met him yesterday, he was just at Mid-Level. Looks like he did hide his true power?" Dong replied, leaning against the tree, unable to move.

But just as Lucifer's focus was on the sly man, someone grabbed him from behind. Yeah, the person was the gorilla-like man.

"Jeez, what a rat. Now, where are you gonna run? Even if you are at High-Level, what can you do now? This is a dead-end, little bastard," he spoke, smirking.

"Nice one, Brother Chi!" Just as the sly person started to remark, Lucifer sent a headbutt to Chi's face, and Chi's grip on Lucifer started to loosen up.

Lucifer felt, a headache from the impact. However, he did not care.

"Ahhhh... MF, I am gonna peel your skin bit by bit, mark my words," Lucifer said loudly as his dark side started to kick in. "Now take this!" Lucifer stabbed the arrow into Chi's thigh with the yanked arrow from his body.

Did he stop there? Hell no. Using Kickboxing Art, he did a round kick on the tip of the arrow, like he was hammering a nail. And what happened? Well, of course, the arrow went deep into Chi's thigh.

"AHHHH!" Another series of screams started to echo.

"That's it. Scream, scream, you ants!"

Now, two people didn't have the ability to walk; only one remained. The sly man started to shoot his remaining arrows towards Lucifer out of fear, but Lucifer managed to dodge quite a lot. Still, he got shot by a few arrows. Just as Lucifer was close to this person, he started to run like a coward towards the deeper side.