Slowly, the giant butterfly’s shrunken, translucent wings unfurled revealing its true full, monstrous form.

As it flapped its massive wings and took to the air, bizarre, high-pitched rustling sounds echoed through the cavern.

Fwissh... Fweeepp...

No matter what kind of hero Cassian was or what he had become, Lucian’s aim remained simple: loot. And there was absolutely no way he was letting the loot hovering right in front of him fall into the hero’s hands.

Drawing his sword, Cassian stepped forward, loudly cracking his neck.

"Huh... bug noises in a jungle. How irritating."

"H-Hey..." Kaelen warned in an anxious tone. "Umm... that thing might be dangerous in close combat. You should probably—"

Cassian shot him a sharp side - glare. "What?"

"Kyaaa—!" Kaelen squeaked, immediately backpedaling.

"I-I mean... heh... you’ve got this! All the best...!"

But before Cassian could even launch his first strike, the Starling Butterfly swooped down. With a single, heavy FWOOSH, it released a massive wave of strange pheromones before immediately flying back up.

A glittery, glowing mist rapidly spread across the entire area.

"Wh-what... kugh..." Kaelen was the very first one to hit the ground, instantly unconscious.

Seeing that, Lyria barked an order, her usual elegance completely gone. "Hold your breath! Do not inhale it!"

Splash. Splash.

Sera and Zeri both dropped next, collapsing into the shallow water.

One by one, everyone’s movements grew sluggish, their bodies swaying as the drowsiness overtook them.

Watching the creature from a distance, Lucian raised his hand, preparing to strike. Though, then his vision blurred too as his eyelids felt like lead.

"Ahh... What is this heaviness? No, can’t fall asleep. Not under any circumstances... I need to defeat that thing, stay awake, come on, need clean air...

Pressing his hand tightly over his nose and mouth, he forced the mist away from one wind-blow and took one deep inhale of clean air.

Okay, that’s plenty. Now, quickly...

He scanned his surroundings. Elira and Lyria had both collapsed as well — unconscious.

Now only Lucian’s eyes remained open, locked onto the hero standing ahead. Cassian was still on his feet, but purely on willpower alone. Every vein in his face was bulging, clearly visible beneath his skin.

Huh? Lucian just stared.

Like some kind of war maniac, Cassian had already launched himself into a high jump, sword raised high, aiming to slice the beautiful monster clean in half.

Damn it. Damn it. DAMN IT.

[Zero Domain]

Time froze for 10 seconds — everyone except Lucian.

He yanked his hand away from his mouth and instantly blasted a gust of air across his face, clearing away the sleepy mist again.

Huff... huff...

"Auhh... Not a chance, Mr. Hero, this kill is mine."

Sweeping his gaze over the sleeping figures, Lucian’s mind raced. He had already calculated the risks. He knew, If he showed off his skills here in front of these rivals, there was a high chance the already-circulating rumors — insanely fast growth in academy history... the young prodigy is back — would leap beyond the kingdom’s borders and spread across the entire empire. And who knew how many eyes were already watching him from the shadows? Staying low-key was the smarter play.

I just need to make it look like this creature didn’t die by my hands, and quietly grab the reward...

A manic grin curled at his lips.

And I know the perfect skill. The exact one I’ve been constantly wasting my mana on for the past month just to make it a habit...

Without wasting another second, he raised his palm forward.

"Dark Summoning."

[ Summon: Holon ]

[ -5,000 Mana ]

From his palm, black fire erupted in an instant. From that hellish flame, a tiny, barely 5-inch, round and chubby demon materialized — no bigger than a popcorn kernel. Atop its head, black-purple flames flickered gently. The moment it appeared, scratching its butt while staring up at Lucian from his palm, those flames suddenly flared brighter.

"...Ughh... Lazy master... What do you want now? Did your brain screws come loose again? Why else would you summon Hell’s smartest demon?"

It crossed its tiny arms.

"This is my 4th summon, and next time I need more dark mana. You know that, right? I have got high-level aspirations too..."

Despite being so ridiculously tiny, the demon’s mouth was running non-stop like some arrogant old geezer. though Lucian knew he couldn’t afford to waste his precious 10 seconds of time-freeze on this nonsense. So he simply leaned forward and pulled the most cutesy, murderous face he could muster.

"Holon... dear... finish your job in 3 seconds. You know what to do, right?"

Holon instantly broke into a cold sweat and snapped a salute.

"YES! ABSOLUTELY, MASTER! ALL DONE!!!"

Furrrr —

The tiny demon instantly shot himself into action. When he received a summoning order, his contract was simple: set the stage so that everything looked like a perfectly normal death.

In the first second, he zipped over to Cassian, who was frozen mid-air with his sword raised high above his head.

"Eep..." Tiny one flinched at seeing the hero’s completely deranged expression from up close.

In the second second, he slightly adjusted the angle of Cassian’s sword and arms, making it look exactly as if Cassian had already completed a downward strike.

In the third second, Holon spun around and swiftly swiped his tiny finger through the air, slicing the giant butterfly cleanly into two halves.

Yet because time was frozen, the severed parts didn’t fall apart, meaning he had to put in extra work.

"Tch... bull-crap..."

With a single leap, he disgustedly dove straight into the creature’s body through the microscopic split. Grabbing the Starling’s core, he zipped out, completely drenched in glowing blue blood, and landed right back on Lucian’s palm.

huff... huff... huff... huff...

"Master... I did it..."

From his tiny hand, Lucian took the core — a small, seed-sized yellow orb — and smiled.

"Good boy."

There were still 3 seconds left before time resumed. Taking advantage of this, Lucian leaned toward the tiny demon one more time.

"Next time, don’t even think about wasting my time with your nonsense, okay dear? Otherwise... you know the consequences."

"YES! ABSOLUTELY! YES, MASTER!"

Saying that, the tiny demon vanished with a poof.

And time resumed.