The air inside the alleyway suddenly grew heavy.

A thick, suffocating pressure started bleeding out of Hajin’s body, filling the space between the walls. It was the residual aura of the Beast King, the dark, oppressive mana that he had absorbed. It turned out his exhausted body still had a small reserve of it left, and right now, he was letting it spill freely into the air.

The woman froze, the confident smirk completely vanishing from her face.

Her skin crawled as the terrifying presence washed over her. She could feel a bead of sweat forming on her temple, her instincts screaming at her that something was incredibly wrong.

’What is this?’ she thought, her breath catching in her throat as she stared at the boy leaning against the wall. ’How is his vibe suddenly so different? It’s like staring at a high-tier anomaly.’

The man at the end of the alley had stopped moving entirely. His hand hovered right above his coat pocket, his entire body locked in place.

They were both seasoned professionals who had killed dozens of targets, but right now, they felt like prey trapped in a cage. The oppressive weight of Hajin’s aura made it feel like if they even twitched a single muscle, they would instantly die.

It was impossible. Just a few moments ago, he was a weak, pathetic nobody who looked like he could barely stand upright. Why was he suddenly giving off such a terrifying presence?

He watched them for a few seconds, the chain fully materializing around his right wrist.

"Are you going to attack?" he asked, his voice cutting cleanly through the heavy silence of the alleyway.

Neither of them answered. They just stood there, completely paralyzed by the sheer pressure radiating off him.

"No?" He said, tilting his head slightly. "Then I will make the first move."

The woman barely managed to blink before Hajin crossed the entire length of the alley in a single, completely silent step.

He materialized directly in front of her, his fist already driving upward.

A brutal punch connected squarely with her jaw before her brain could even process the movement.

The sheer force of the impact lifted her entirely off her feet, launching backward before crashing hard against the dirty wall and crumpling to the ground.

Before Hajin could even retract his fist, a sharp whistle cut through the air behind his head.

The man hadn’t hesitated for a single second. Three throwing knives, each glowing with a faint, toxic-green mana, were already inches away from Hajin’s neck.

Hajin simply dropped his weight, letting the knives sail harmlessly over his shoulder where they buried themselves into the brickwork.

Using the momentum of his drop, he spun on his heel and swept his leg outward.

The man easily jumped over the sweep, drawing a long, curved dagger from his coat before thrusting it directly down toward Hajin’s chest.

It was a perfectly executed counter. The assassin was fast, precise, and completely devoid of wasted movement.

But Hajin was just too angry to care.

Instead of dodging, he snapped his right hand upward. The links of his chain whipped through the air, wrapping tightly around the man’s wrist just before the dagger could connect.

He violently yanked the chain downward, making the man lose his balance and stumble forward right into Hajin’s waiting knee.

A sickening crunch echoed through the alleyway as the strike caved in the man’s nose.

"Get off me," Hajin muttered, unwrapping the chain and kicking the man squarely in the chest to send him skidding back on the ground.

A sudden motion caught the corner of his eye.

The woman pushed off the wall, using the narrow alleyway to bounce between the wall faces before lunging at him from above with two short blades.

The man simultaneously recovered, lunging forward with his dagger to cut off any chance of retreat.

It was a flawless pincer attack. They were communicating purely through instinct, their movements perfectly synchronized to overwhelm their target.

Hajin only had two of his mana rings active. He was practically running on fumes, his muscles burning with every single movement.

But as he watched the two assassins close in, his expression remained completely dead.

He stepped to the side, letting the man’s dagger graze past his ribs, before grabbing the assassin by the back of his collar. Using the man’s own forward momentum, he spun him around and violently threw him directly into the woman’s falling path.

The two assassins crashed into each other mid-air, a tangle of limbs and blades falling into the trash.

He didn’t give them a single second to recover.

He stepped forward, stomping his boot heavily onto the man’s wrist to pin his weapon hand to the ground, before grabbing the woman by the throat and slamming her back against the wall.

[ NewViewer_02 ] ’Holy shit.’

[ CringeSlayer91 ] ’Bro is actually fighting like a villain right now.’

[ DarkBlade ] ’Did he just use the guy as a meat shield against the other?!’

The woman choked, frantically clawing at Hajin’s hand while her legs kicked uselessly in the air.

"I told you," he said, his grip tightening around her throat as the residual Beast King mana flared around him. "I am really not in the mood today."

[ System Warning! ]

[ Warning: Mental fortitude is currently critically low. ]

[ Warning: Residual ’Beast King’s Aura’ is beginning to corrupt the host’s emotional state. Immediate deactivation is heavily advised. ]

A flashing red window materialized right in the center of his vision, its sharp warning chime ringing loudly in his ears.

But he didn’t even register it. His vision was already tunneling, the edges of his sight painted in a hazy crimson.

He pulled his right arm back, the chain rattling wildly around his wrist, and drove his fist directly into the woman’s stomach.

The impact sounded like a heavy rock hitting the ground.

She violently coughed up a mouthful of blood, her eyes rolling back into her head as the sheer force of the blow shattered several of her ribs.

He dropped her, letting her limp body hit the ground before turning his attention back to the man trapped under his boot.

The man tried to swing his dagger, but Hajin just stomped his heel down harder, completely crushing the assassin’s wrist. The man let out a strained scream, his weapon clattering harmlessly against the wall. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Hajin smiled.

It wasn’t his usual smirk, this was a wide, unnerving grin that stretched across his blood-spattered face.

He reached down, grabbing the man by the collar of his coat, and hauled him upward before burying his knee squarely into his chest. Another wet crunch echoed through the alley.

He didn’t stop there. He threw the man against the wall and started swinging.

Every punch was precise, brutal, and completely unnecessary for survival. He was breaking the assassin apart piece by piece, leaving a messy trail of gore splattered against the brickwork and he was actually enjoying it. A dark, twisted thrill surged through his chest with every sickening crack of bone.

The stream chat was flying by in a total blur, a mix of sheer horror and utter confusion.

He pulled his fist back again, his knuckles completely coated in blood, ready to crush the man’s skull, but his arm didn’t move forward.

A pale hand wrapped firmly around his wrist, violently halting his swing before it could even start. He blinked, his wide grin faltering slightly as he turned his head, expecting another assassin.

Instead, he saw familiar cyan hair and bright yellow eyes staring back at him. Vella floated next to him, her grip locked around his arm like a steel vice.

"That is enough," she said, her usually teasing voice completely serious. "You are losing control."