Lingering Innocence

Even though he has just managed to barely escape from the hellish plane, he was not given any chance to rest or clear his mind as he once again got tested. Now the Anti-System wanted him to kill these innocent humans that mistook him for an Erovian.

Samael was clearly in a pickle as he ponder what he was going to do.

As each second passed, the people are inching closer to him. Despite mistaking him as a juvenile Erovian, they are still careful as an Erovian is innately better in all aspects other than intelligence and magic compared to humans or even other existing races.

It's unwise for them to be reckless even though their opponent is a juvenile Erovian.

No matter how much he looks at the situation, there are only two options that he can choose from. Either he massacres all of the people here just like the Anti-System wanted, or he can flee and avoid the fight.

But as Samael was deliberating this, a certain sentence went through his mind.

'I too am in need of an apostle. But you... you my child, not desirable'

The moment when he was trying to convince the Father of Darkness to make him his apostle went past his mind swiftly, and for a second there, Samael clenched his fist and jaw as that words sting his heart as if there was a knife stabbing into his chest.

Remembering that Lily became an apostle and he's unable to become one is hurtful for him.

At this current moment, the good and evil side inside Samael's head is clashing fiercely to come to a conclusion, and it was intense as time is pressing. Despite the urge of wanting to impress the Father of Darkness, the good inside him is too ingrained deeply.

Fedele, his father has taught him well, and he's inherently not a bad person.

Seemingly reaching a decision, Samael gritted his teeth as he decided to flee from the place. Killing innocent people blatantly is not his way. If there's a way to avoid it, then he would. Such as this moment right now.

'The Situational Quest's penalty is not that bad, I can just avoid confrontation...'

With that out of the way, Samael started activating his Dash neutral spell in order to outpace every single person here. None of them are mages, and that's enough for Samael to be confident in his ability to outrun them.

Instead of the usual gray color, his legs started to emit a slight purple hue.

Now that he realized that he has turned into a demon, the purple energy must be demonic energy that alters and corrupts the nature of his mana. But Samael is not complaining, the purple energy is way more potent.

Swoosh!

"Don't let that thing get through!" the man holding a sword shouted with a commanding tone.

Upon hearing this, five people stand on their grounds pointing their farming tools forward at the charging Samael. Even though they were hesitant, they decided to stand their ground just like the man instructed.

Samael saw this but he didn't lessen his speed, instead, he try to go faster.

'My body can even block the lethal claws of the Imps, I don't think farming tools would be able to pierce my skin' Samael thought as he went straight at the five people, he then powers through them and flung them to the side.

Crack!

None of them were able to stop Samael's movement, their combination of efforts is futile.

On top of the five people being flung away due to the force from Samael's charge, their farming tools also snap. Not only the handle, but even the steel part was either dented or outright snapped upon meeting Samael's force.

Without even checking on the five, Samael makes a run for it into the forest.

"Run after it! Don't let that thing leave your sight! If we lose sight of it, that monster might come back seeking for revenge!" the man with a sword shouted once again, as he and his goons started running after Samael.

Samael heard this shout, and he can't help but complain inside his head, 'I won't! I really won't! Just leave me alone and I'll not go back to your city again!'

As this is the first time that he ran with his current strength, Samael was in a state of disbelief as he has never been able to run this fast in his entire life, not even close. The cold gushing wind breezing his skin is an indication of the speed of his run.

It doesn't take long before the people are left behind him, unable to catch up.

Looking around the place as he keeps on running the sound of the chasers is still fresh in his ears, and he realized that he doesn't know where he was going. With the current chaos, there was a lot of noise in the forest right now.

One thing that he feared was a strong magical beast intercepting him.

The magical beasts inhabiting this forest occupy his mind more than the people chasing after him. Since the forest is their terrain, he can't help but be very alert to his surroundings lest he is attacked.

But as he was running, his ears suddenly caught something weird.

Samael glanced to his left as he can hear something coming from that direction, the sound is still foreign to him so he decided to stop for a second. His panting breath is getting in the way of him deciphering the sound.

As soon as he stopped, he glanced in the direction of the sound and listen attentively.

With a little bit of focus from him, he managed to filter the unnecessary sound from the chasers that are still on his back as it began to slowly fade. Now he can solely hear this weird sound that sounded like a drum being tapped at steady intervals.

As each second passes, the sound also becomes clearer and clearer in his ears.

Just as Samael started to recognize this weird sound, his eyes slowly started to widen as he gazes at his front in shock. Before he could do anything, his pupil dilated seeing a shadowy figure burst from the bushes and leap toward him.

Trusting his reflex for once, he tilted his body sideways and managed to dodge the figure.

Swish!

Growl!

Samael fell to the ground with a light thud before he quickly looks back to see the creature that had just attacked him. From a glance, he quickly realized that it was a magical beast, his home city has this magical beast too.

It's the Midnight Whipping Cat, a second-ranked magical beast.

Midnight Whipping Cat is a species of jungle cat that is a little bit bigger than the regular adult. Its body is covered with short ink-black furs with the exception of its chest and ears which are covered with dark blue furs.

Two upright tall ears protruding from its head, and a black tail that ended with a sharp bone.

Everyone from his city knows that the Midnight Whipping Cat has a dangerously keen hearing ability, can see perfectly in the night, and is very hard to escape from as most of the time the only way to escape is by killing it.

Classified as a second-ranked magical beast, it's extremely dangerous to normal people.

Growl!

Samael snapped out of his daze and stood up when he heard the vibrating growl as the Midnight Whipping Cat bares its sharp fangs, he now realized that the weird sound he heard earlier was the pulse of this magical beast.

'It must be because of the Fiend of the Night skill' Samael thought with a nod.

From reading the description of the Fiend of the Night skill earlier, he remembered that the skill gives him the ability to see clearly in the night and also sense living creatures. It's just that he doesn't expect that he can sense it like that.

While the two is standing across each other, the Midnight Whipping Cat started to circle him.

Sizing up Samael with its piercing yellow animalistic eyes.

Like any other cat-like creatures, they are careful in nature and is never underestimated their opponent no matter how weak it is. An additional problematic trait that the Midnight Whipping Cat has.

But as the magical beast circles him, it suddenly stopped and glanced to the side.

Upon seeing this, Samael realized that the people are getting closer to this spot. It would be bloody if they encounter this Midnight Whipping Cat, their number would definitely stress it and make it even more aggressive.

'I need to lure this cat out of here so they don't get attacked' Samael thought.

Just as he thought of that, his eyes widened when the Midnight Whipping Cat suddenly growled and sprinted straight in the people's direction, completely disregarding Samael who is standing in front of it.

Looking at this, Samael gritted his teeth, 'Did it sense that I'm dangerous?!'

Not intending to idle along, Samael activate his Dash neutral spell once again and chased after the Midnight Whipping Cat. Completely surprising the magical beast, he managed to reach it within a few seconds.

Samael then takes one big stride to the side and tackles the beast from the side.

Crash!

Disregarding the Midnight Whipping Cat that tries to bite and scratch him as the two rolls on the ground before stopping when hitting a tree, Samael quickly gets up and pins the beast by putting his knee on its body and his two hands on its head.

In retaliation, the beast keeps on whipping Samael with its tail but it had no effect.

'It's not as strong as I thought it would be' Samael thought realizing that it was quite weak.

But it's probably not the Midnight Whipping Cat being weak, it was him that becomes very strong upon turning into a demon. Since he was about to hunt anyway, he decided to jab his fingers into the beast's neck.

Pressing in deep, the beast whimpers weakly before eventually, Samael breaks its neck.

Crack!

[Killed an Epilson-rank Magical Beast, Midnight Whipping Cat! Obtained 300 Exp!]

[The anti-host has reached level 4!]

[All stats has been increased appropriately!]

Samael stopped pressing when a notification from the Anti-System appeared, the Midnight Whipping Cat has died under his raw strength which is surprising since this beast's body is covered in muscle and it should be very hard to kill.

Following that notification, the Situational Quest also ended.

[The anti-host has failed in completing the Situational Quest, the penalty would be issued!]

Upon reading this Samael nodded his head, it seems ten minutes have passed and the Situational Quest has ended. 'Whoever got the reward, congratulation. Use that power well...' he thought with a sight.

Just as he was about to leave the place, bringing the carcass with him, he abruptly stopped.

Although he intends to leave the place as the people are still searching for him in this part of the forest, his body freezes and his eyes slowly widened. He was completely shocked when he heard a painful scream from behind him.

"GRAARRRGHHH!!!"