Chapter 183
Fwoosh!!!
A soft wind blew, carrying with it the thick scent of iron, an ominous sign of something nefarious at play.
Crimson droplets sprayed like rain, the claws of death sinking into the pores of frightened prey.
“Waaaaaagh?!” An adventurer screamed in desperation, clutching his wounds as his life slowly ebbed away.
“It’s the evilus, ruuuuuun!” Another screamed, desperately fleeing from the scene.
“Damn, why can’t they just leave us in peace, just why?” another questioned while also fleeing.
Blood pooled on the ground as globs of blood platelets clumped together, making it sticky and creating a squelching sounds as the boots of frightened level 2 adventurers running for their lives, passed over.
This horrible scene was currently taking place on the 18th floor of the dungeon, also known as the under resort, where no monsters spawned.
Amidst the glistening crystal that provided light and greenery on the floor, one particular man stood out with his blood-red hair and semi-closed eyelids.
“Oh my, what a horrible thing to do, leaving your friends to die? That’s not very nice, is it?” the man yelled as he and his evilus minions flanked the fleeing adventurers.
In his right hand, he clasped a rather ominous dagger.
What made it stand out was its deep red color, acquired from drinking so much blood from adventurers that he had slain.
“I am sorry,” a male adventurer painfully muttered, tears streaming down his face.
His wife had been stabbed and was profusely bleeding when the evilus started attacking.
Like the good husband he was, he carried her to flee, but now she was a huge liability as the chasing evilus were catching up to them.
So making a painful decision, the man threw his wife off his back to lighten himself.
Thud!!
The woman fell, rolling on the ground till her body came to a halt, her mind reeling in shock from being discarded.
The evilus man with scarlet-colored hair halted his chase upon observing this, his lips twisting into a delightful grin as he approached the fallen woman on the ground.
The other evilus members ran past him, still chasing the other fleeing adventurers.
‘This is so much fun,’ the man thought.
Upon arriving at her location, the man kicked the woman at the side where she had been stabbed.
“Aaaaaaah” the woman screamed, clutching her wound, her body contorting in pain.
“Oooooooh yes, that’s the expression I like to see,” the scarlet-haired man said, his body shaking in ecstasy.
This was the worst day of the female adventurers life; not only was she left for dead by her husband, but now she is being tortured by an insane man.
“Sniff, ooooou, I can smell it, your fear, desperation to live, and disappointment in your partner. Oya, what’s this? Is that hope I smell? No, no, no, I can’t let you have that in the mix," the man muttered, bringing down his dagger and stabbing her repeatedly while avoiding any critical organs.
The woman screamed in agony, her body writhing and hands flailing to soothe wounds that she unfortunately couldn’t reach.
“Yes, that’s more like it,” the man said, lightly licking the blood splatter on his chapped lips in satisfaction.
“Please just kill me,” the woman pleaded.
The man’s eyes widened as a joyful shiver ran down his spine.
This was it; this was new; his victim was desperately begging for death.
“Sigh, you are really something, you know. I don’t get to experience this very often. I would have loved to savour our moment longer, but I am on a tight schedule, so I will oblige and kill you,” the man replied.
The woman wanted to curse at him but didn’t get the opportunity as the man brought down his boots and crushed her neck.
She didn’t die immediately but couldn’t speak as her body struggled for air.
She felt the boot come down once again this time on her skull, and then there was darkness.
Crack!! Splat!
Like a watermelon, the scarlet-haired man cracked open her skull, its contents spilling beneath his boots in a resounding squelch.
‘Hmm, this is beautiful.’ The man thought, marveling at his work.
Then he lifted his gaze and looked around, a sadistic grin spreading across his lips.
“Stand and fight, you cowards!. You don’t have to be heroes, but at least show that you are worthy of being called adventurers,” the man yelled, before chasing after the nearest adventurer.
He was a twisted, insane, and demented person who saw delight in spilling blood.
His emotions were conflicted as he disemboweled another fleeing adventurer; he was enjoying snuffing out lives but disappointed with the low-level resistance.
He wanted to enjoy a thrilling battle with his opponent before snuffing out their lives; sadly, none of the fleeing adventurers was up to the task.
This was the calling of a man named Vito, an avatar of pure evil.
Like a bloodthirsty demon, Vito lunged for his next victim, who shivered in despair; however, death didn’t come as expected.
Clang!
The sound of metal clashing reverberated as the attack from Vito’s blood-red dagger had been stopped.
“Back off, you psycho,” a young feminine voice said, pushing Vito away.
Vito leaped back in surprise as two girls leaped into the clearing.
“Can’t believe that Finn’s prediction came true. I wonder what goes on in that head of his. Makes me think about marrying the hero of our people for real,” the first girl said.
“It’s not going to happen. Finn is a respectable pallum; he won’t go for a sleazy, cunning brat like you! Also shut up when we’re fighting,” the second girl scolded.
Kaguya had been the one to deflect Vito’s; her tone was rather crass compared to her usual polite tone.
She was very angry after observing the carnage around her and had subconsciously reverted to her true persona.
“Leave this to us, get your friend, and flee now,” Alise said upon arriving at the scene.
The adventurer that Vito had been about to kill was just gawking at them instead of fleeing after being saved, so Alise’s felt the need to chase them away so they did not become a liability in the battle that would soon ensue.
“Ah, thank you” the adventurer hastily replied, coming to their senses before immediately scrambling away.
“W-who are you?” Vito asked, observing Lyra, Kaguya, and Alise with a scrutinizing gaze.
Alise's eyes sparkled at the chance to do an introduction.
“We are champions of justice! No evil shall go unpunished after our watch!” Alise declared with pride.
“Justice??” Vito repeated until he recalled who they were.
“Ah, you must be the Astraea familia,” Vito said, managing to fit an impressive amount of disdain in his gentle voice.
“I see, I see, that foolish, simplistic, and pretentious group messing with our plans” Vito added, bobbing his head in provocation.
“Better than a miserable worm like you,” Kaguya retorted, her voice bordering on yelling at Vito.
“Hah! What a vulgar thing for a champion of justice to say, but I must admit, you girls are far less boring than I was led to believe “ Vito commented with an impressed grin.
Kaguya tightened the grip on her sword, her guard up as she studied Vito.
However, there was little information to work with as Vito didn’t give the impression that he was strong.
His eyes were as narrow as a fox's, and his expression gave little away.
His lips were turned up in an animated smile; the dagger in his hand appearing to be his only weapon.
Adding more to her confusion, his clothing looked more like a priest robes than anything made for combat.
It all struck the Astraea familia girls as a sick joke, the only thing that caused wary against the man was the bloodied knife he wielded.
“Why are you hunting adventurers? Is it for money, magic stones…?” Alise asked, looking down at the mangled corpse close to Vito’s feet.
But Vito seemed puzzled by this question.
“Why?” he repeated, trying to understand the question.
“I am not sure that I follow. Do I need a reason to gaze upon the most beautiful thing in the world? Vito sincerely replied.
“What do you mean?” Lyra asked, her eyebrows raised dubiously.
In response, Vito made a grand gesture, indicating first the sky, then the ground.
“Why do you look up at the blue sky and think that it is beautiful? Why do you admire the pretty flowers at your feet? What I do is no different. In this imperfect world, bloodshed is what I find the most beautiful thing,” Vito stated like it was the most normal thing to say.
His conviction and madness reflected through his gaze, unnerving the three girls.
“You are deranged,” Kaguya spat in utter disgust.
She could not stand being in the presence of such a sick person.
“Deranged!” Vito repeated, finding the term appealing.
“I like that word. Of all the monikers my acts have earned me, I like this one the best,” Vito replied, laughing out loud as if it was the funniest joke in the world.
His semi-closed eyelids lifted almost imperceptibly, allowing a terrifying glimpse of his scarlet iris.
“You really are a crazy person. You need to be locked up for the rest of your life,” Alise replied, drawing her sword at Vito.
Vito deftly flipped the dagger in his right hand as though it were an extension of his arm, before pointing the dagger at the three girls.
“I’d rather not,” Vito replied, with a challenging grin.
“Then we will have to take you there…” Alise paused, the three girls readying themselves for combat.
“By force….” Alise yelled, releasing her pent-up anger as the three girls charged at Vito in unison.