"Dammit!" Rhizen scowled upon gazing at the marble dust before him. It was where the thug he had captured had been knocked unconscious.
The gears in his brain whirred in response as Rhizen thought through the sequence of events that had led to this, understanding the target of their enemies, "They wished to kill me by blowing up my house. Everything until now had been leading up to that."
"And, that guy…" Rhizen frowned, expressing killing intent when he recalled the expression of Shyvern, "His expression was to fool me into thinking that I had won."
Seeing the enmity they shared, it was guaranteed that Shyvern would have investigated him beforehand. The fact that they managed to arrive at his home even during the apocalypse showed the extent of his hatred.
And, if he had learned of Rhizen's abilities through Chenger, he would have realised that killing him wasn't that easy.
So, he prepared this plan to kill Rhizen by detonating his house. Sighing, he gazed at Chenger, noticing that eight of her fingernails were missing.
It was obvious that she had been tortured, and judging by how two of her fingernails were still there, she would have leaked the information about him by then.
'Thankfully, Chenger didn't know about my third ability. That's why their plans didn't account for that.' Rhizen massaged his forehead, his expression brimming with hatred, angry at the fact that they dared to torture Chenger.
At this moment, he made up his mind to make them face a fate worse than death. 'But still, that mysterious ability that they had used. Just what was it? Everyone I killed came alive in the end.'
He frowned, carrying Chenger as the group flew in a different direction. They planned to head towards the fortress and treat Chenger there.
"One of them there has a healing ability." Rhizen muttered before saying after a sigh, "Sorry guys, I had you risk your lives for my case. And, my home went up in flames."
"It's just a pity that we aren't able to use everything that you had prepared." Caithaleya sighed, "But that's life. There's nothing we can do about it. At least, we have the advantage of mobility now. Let's pack some necessities from a shopping mall and transport them to that settlement."
"Staying there is our safest bet for now." Druvus nodded, looking around as he was able to hear screams from time to time, also noticing the ants and Grassmen waging a war on the ground, "Things are too chaotic here. This place is no longer safe for humans."
"Once we heal Chenger and understand just what had happened, let us try to save as many people as we can." Caithaleya said, "Being able to fly is our advantage."
"You're right." Rhizen nodded, remaining silent after that.
Suddenly, while flying, the group was startled to see a large sphere of darkness on the ground, situated in a villa estate.
"What the heck is that?" Druvus was alarmed.
"Let's just…go away." Even Caithaleya had zero intentions to probe that sphere of darkness.
"Let's go." Rhizen had no mood to worry about it, watching the swelling on Chenger's legs continue to increase.
They sped past that, hurrying towards a nearby shopping mall, quickly killing the Grassmen that were roaming there before grabbing as many necessities as they could, including some medicinal supplies.
They then flew towards the settlement, noticing someone sharing the same destination as them. It was Ianon, grabbing hold of his short sword that sped through the air. It was an awkward stance, but it worked, allowing him to travel through the air.
Even though the energy expenditure was a lot, he had enough pearls to go by, thanks to his fortuitous encounter a week ago.
Right as they saw Ianon, he too noticed them, turning around to see the figures of Rhizen and others, muttering in surprise, "Rhizen…?"
Of course, thanks to his System Quest, he was aware of Rhizen's appearance, not to mention other information related to him, including his background and past conflicts.
Everything that could be found out about Rhizen, he had that on him.
"You know me?" Rhizen was surprised before his expression hardened, thinking of the thugs, assuming Ianon was part of their group too.
The moment his expression changed, Caithaleya noticed it and condensed her bow, shooting an arrow at Ianon.
"What the heck?" Ianon was surprised as he let go of the short sword, condensing it again as he sent it flying towards the arrow, destroying it. As he began to freefall, he condensed the short sword, grabbing hold of it, maintaining flight once again.
He then shouted at Caithaleya, "Dude, that was rude!"
He then observed Caithaleya's face, blinking a couple of times before recalling her, "Ah, you're Caithaleya, the actress from Forgotten Express, right?"
"You've seen that movie too?" Druvus asked, "I never thought people watched that one."
"Well, it does shuck…" Ianon spoke casually, intending to chitchat before he realised that they were in the air while Caithaleya's grip on her bow tightened. It seemed like she was ready to shoot if he talked about her movie anymore, quickly changing his tune, "It was a great movie! Spectacular! A blockbuster of the century!"
"How do you know me?" Unconcerned about the banter, Rhizen asked, his tone cold.
"Well, let's talk once we enter the fortress," Ianon replied, causing the others to frown.
"Fortress?" Rhizen looked in confusion, wondering just what Ianon was talking about. After all, in his memory, there was no fortress in their vicinity.
"You'll know when you get there." Ianon gave a knowing smile before speeding along.
Making eye contact with each other, Rhizen and others too sped up, following him, soon reaching the fortress, flabbergasted at the sight.
They were confused as to how such a thing was possible. Though, upon seeing the turrets installed on the walls at discrete locations, they recalled the same ones atop Rhizen's home, frowning as they stopped abruptly, refusing to enter the fortress.
"What? What's up with you guys?" Ianon turned around in surprise, asking in confusion.
"What happened here?" Rhizen asked in confusion, "This didn't exist yesterday."
"Well, it's a short story." Ianon smiled as he landed at the foot of the hill, thinking, 'The Devil Killer. Just how has it manifested in him?'
On the same day that he learned of the truth, Ianon witnessed two other System—Devil—Hosts, so he believed Compass Carburettor's words.. And now, he planned his own scheme, to prevent the Devil Killer from falling into the hands of the Devils.
