Chapter 49

‘Interesting…’

As Rey proceeded to leave the underground space, he used his Absolute Appraisal two more times.

Once on Alicia, and the other time on Billy.

As a result, he was able to check out their Status Windows and gauge their abilities.

‘They’re strong. Their Classes really help them out too…’

However, despite their strength, their low Levels meant they were nowhere near his own power level.

Rey knew he was much stronger.

‘Alicia, as expected, is Lawful Good. But, I can’t figure out Billy’s alignment. How can he be Good?’

Billy’s alignment displayed ‘Chaotic Good’, but Rey found the ‘Chaotic’ part irrelevant since he didn’t think the jerk was any good.

‘Haaa… this idiot started this whole mess…’

However, he was glad to know that it was all going to be over pretty soon.

‘It’s almost evening already. A lot of time has passed since I started the day, but I’m happy it’s done.’

His mind drifted to Adonis and his mission, wondering if it was a success.

‘From what I overheard, they should be out of there before nightfall.’

The plan was to teleport instantly to the Dungeon's lowest level and make a quick escape to an upper floor, ideally somewhere around the 30s.

If they were able to achieve that, then, all they had to do was rush past the monsters and head home.

The worst-case scenario would be Adonis blowing open the floor ceiling to create a shortcut for a quick escape.

‘In any case, they should be done by the time I return to the Estate…’ he thought with a relieved smile, finally feeling assured that things were falling into place.

~VWUUSH!~

Using [Flight], Rey hovered up to the ceiling and exited the open space serving as the entrance/exit to the underground passageway.

He planned to bring the slaves up once he confirmed the coast was clear.

But—

‘Hmm…?’

—He quickly discovered that there was trouble.

The first thing that greeted his sight was the mutilated body of the woman who led him here—Sylvia.

Her internal organs—intestines, liver, lungs, and more—were exposed for all to see.

Her naked corpse lay in a pool of blood, and her terribly bruised body made it clear that she was put through much suffering before she died.

Her corpse hung on the wall as a welcome for Rey’s sight as he ascended upward.

‘Urgh… why does everyone here like doing this?’ He thought to himself, feeling disgusted once again.

This place was a savage wasteland, and the denizens within it were much too brutal for Rey’s tastes.

Even if they wanted to kill humans, couldn’t they just do it and get it over with?

‘I don’t even enjoy torturing monsters or anything. There has to be a limit…’

These people knew no limits, though, and that was why he constantly felt disgusted by them.

“Did you do this?” Rey sighed, not bothering to turn around as he could already sense the presence of three individuals behind him.

However, upon facing the repulsive hanging corpse, he decided it was better to confront his adversaries.

“I was waiting for you. Had to do something in the meantime…”

As Rey’s eyes finally captured the three, his focus fell on the man in the center.

Seated on a stool that had been salvaged from a pile of old furniture in the room, the man commanded attention with his appearance.

A black eyepatch covered one eye, contrasting with his long, flowing black hair that cascaded down his shoulders.

He had strands of beard protruding from his chin, and he was outfitted in a high-quality black cloak, with a formal suit underneath.

He looked every bit like a top-tier shady individual, however, his playful smile made it seem like it was all just an act, a costume he wore for effect.

“What do you think? Pretty artsy, right? I took up human sculpting as a hobby a few years ago when I got bored with plain old murder.”

As the man said this, he gestured to the two individuals who stood beside him.

The male among them was outfitted in an elaborate Warrior’s armor, while the woman had a dark cloak on.

They both seemed to be powerful individuals with years of experience on the job.

They stepped forward the moment their Boss gestured to them.

“My name is Evals Redart. Heard that name before?”

Rey shrugged the moment he heard this.

“Once or twice.”

There was a dangerous pressure building up in the room, but both main players maintained their positions.

Rey was still floating in the air while Evals remained seated but with an intense gaze fixed on Rey.

“Haha! I see, I see. Makes sense…” Evals chuckled, briefly covering his face with a palm.

“If you did something like this, it must mean you don’t know me too well,” he continued, his tone turning more menacing as his subordinates took battle stances.

Rey stared at them, tempted to use [Absolute Appraisal], but decided not to.

‘It drains too much Mana. I’ll just go a little hard on them while being cautious…’

As Rey strategized, he ensured his defense [Safe Haven] was still activated.

Once this was confirmed, he began to deliberate on his next move.

‘Maybe I should try—‘

Before he could conclude his line of thought, a blur made its way towards him.

It was the male warrior.

He had closed the distance within a second while the female Mage had begun casting a Spell.

‘Chanting, eh? I guess she doesn’t have the [Magic Application] Skill. Must be rarer than I thought.’

[Magic Application] allowed Spells to retain their full power even without the use of Chants.

Lucielle had it. Esme had it. Rey had it as well.

‘I guess it doesn’t matter to her since, even though Chanting takes time, she has a partner who begins the attack first.’

Their combined effort made it hardly a disadvantage that she had to chant.

Besides, from the looks of it, she would be done at any moment.

And so, as the Warrior’s sword closed in on Rey, and the Mage neared completion of her Spell, his mind went into overdrive.

‘I guess I can’t slack off.’

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[A/N]

Thanks for reading!

Appreciate that you’ve come this far!

Hopefully, we have an epic fight scene in the next chapter.