Behind him, the others didn’t argue.

They didn’t hesitate.

Leon raised his hand, forcing out what little mana he had left, while the wind mage followed, their spells forming shakily but fueled by fear and anger. The archer pulled her bowstring back to its limit, her fingers trembling as she locked onto Shadow.

Then they attacked.

Magic surged forward all at once, chaotic and unrefined, arrows slicing through the air behind it as Mike charged ahead like a man who had already decided he would die here.

Shadow didn’t step back.

He raised his hand—and for the first time, something new answered him.

Water.

Not as scattered droplets or thin streams, but as a dense, surging mass that rose in front of him like a living wall. It twisted and compressed, flowing tightly together as if held by invisible pressure.

It formed something other than a ball-shape which was something Shadow didn’t know he was able to do.

The spells collided with it violently.

Fire hissed and died out.

Wind tore at it but failed to break through.

The impact rippled across the surface, distorting it—but not shattering it.

Only a single arrow managed to slip through, weakened and slowed to the point that it barely had any force left. It grazed his leg, leaving a shallow cut.

Shadow didn’t even glance down.

His focus remained on Mike.

The distance between them vanished quickly.

Mike’s sword came down with brutal force, the kind of strike meant to end the fight instantly.

Shadow twisted his body just enough for the blade to miss him, wind bursting beneath his feet to push him out of its path—

But Mike was an E-rank, he adapted immediately.

The moment the blade missed, he shifted his grip and dragged it sideways, aiming to cut through Shadow’s waist in one clean motion.

Fast.

More experienced than the others.

Shadow dropped low, his knees bending sharply as the blade sliced through the space where his torso had been a fraction of a second earlier.

Then he moved.

Fire gathered in his palm—not slowly, not hesitantly, but violently, compressed into a dense mass of heat.

And he drove it forward.

Straight into Mike’s lower body.

The explosion wasn’t wide.

It didn’t spread.

It stayed contained.

Focused.

And devastating.

Mike’s body was thrown backward as the sound of the impact echoed through the forest. But what followed was worse.

Much worse.

His scream tore out of him in a way that didn’t sound human anymore, high-pitched, broken, filled with raw, unbearable agony.

He hit the ground hard, his entire body convulsing as his hands clawed desperately at himself, as if trying to undo what had just happened.

Blood spread rapidly beneath him.

Shadow stepped closer, looking down with mild curiosity.

"...Yeah," he muttered. "That’s definitely not growing back."

Mike kept screaming.

Louder.

Desperate.

Until it turned into choking.

Shadow didn’t wait.

More attacks came from behind him—wind slicing toward his back, water crashing at his side, another arrow cutting through the air—but he pushed forward through all of it, redirecting what he could with water and deflecting the rest with wind.

None of it slowed him down.

He reached Mike.

Took the sword from ground without much effort.

And with one smooth, efficient motion—

Cut his throat. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

The scream stopped instantly.

Only a wet, gurgling sound remained before his body went still.

Shadow let the corpse fall and continued walking forward as if nothing had happened.

---

"Don’t come any closer!" the wind mage shouted, his voice cracking as he forced more magic out despite his obvious exhaustion.

Blades of compressed wind formed around him and launched forward in rapid succession, slicing through the air with sharp, whistling sounds.

Shadow didn’t even slow his pace.

His own wind answered instantly, forming with far greater control and density. The moment the two collided, the difference was obvious—his blades cut straight through the incoming attacks, shredding them apart without losing momentum.

They kept going.

The mage’s eyes widened—

But it was too late.

The blades struck his abdomen cleanly, slicing deep enough that his body froze for a second, as if it hadn’t yet realized what had happened.

Then it did.

His insides spilled out.

Slowly.

Horribly.

He collapsed forward, his hands instinctively trying to hold everything in, but there was no stopping it. His body trembled violently as he choked on his own breath.

Shadow had already passed him.

---

The archer tried to fire.

But Shadow was faster.

A sudden surge of water and fire collided right in front of her face, instantly turning into a cloud of scalding steam that exploded outward, blinding her completely.

She staggered back, coughing, her vision gone—

And from within the smoke, fire emerged.

One.

Two.

Three.

Five fireballs shot forward in rapid succession, each one striking her before she could even attempt to defend herself.

Flames engulfed her instantly.

Her scream ripped through the air, sharp and piercing, filled with pure pain as she thrashed wildly, trying to escape something that wouldn’t let go.

It didn’t last long.

Her voice broke.

Then faded.

Until there was nothing left.

---

Leon was the only one still standing.

But he wasn’t fighting anymore.

He couldn’t.

His body refused to move, his mind overwhelmed by everything he had just witnessed. His breathing became erratic, his chest rising and falling too fast—

And then—

Warmth spread down his legs.

He froze.

Shadow stopped in front of him and stared.

For a moment, he said nothing.

Then he squinted slightly, like he wasn’t sure what he was looking at.

"...Wait."

He rubbed his eyes.

Looked again.

Then his nose twitched.

A pause.

"...You’re serious?"

Disgust spread across his face.

"You pissed yourself?"

He let out a quiet, incredulous breath.

"That’s actually embarrassing. I haven’t even touched you yet."

Leon’s lips trembled uncontrollably.

"P-please... don’t kill me..." he stuttered, his voice barely holding together. "My parents... they helped you... they took you in... I won’t say anything, I swear... no one will ever know..."

Shadow looked at him for a long second.

Then smiled.

Cold.

Cruel.

Unforgiving.

"Nah," he said quietly. "I think I’d rather go back and comfort that sweet mother of yours."

His eyes darkened slightly.

"She’s gonna need a son, after all."

Leon’s face went pale, his mouth opening as if to speak—

But Shadow had already moved.

He appeared beside him in an instant.

Wind gathered along his hand, sharp and invisible—

And then it cut.

Clean.

Precise.

Leon’s head separated from his body before he could even process what had happened. It fell to the ground with a dull, rolling sound as blood erupted upward from his neck.

His body remained standing for a brief second—

Then collapsed.

---

Silence returned to the forest once more.

But this time, it felt final.

Shadow looked over what remained.

Bodies.

Burned ground.

Blood.

Then he exhaled softly.

"You could’ve played it cool," he muttered to himself, a faint smirk forming.

"But nooo... you just had to be the snitch."