Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Pruning the Rotten Branch

Chapter 43: Pruning the Rotten Branch

Draven stepped out of the dormitory building and into the cold night air. The campus was completely silent.

Suddenly, a massive red screen shattered the darkness in front of his eyes. The System interface did not use its usual calm blue glow. It was pulsing with an aggressive and bloody crimson light.

[System Alert: High-Priority Elimination Target Detected!]

[Target: Neville Hennesy (The Fallen Hero)]

[Status: Target has established a preliminary connection with the Evil God.]

[Quest Issued: Pruning the Rotten Branch]

[Description: The Golden Boy has embraced the whispering darkness. He has been added to the Elimination List. Erase the anomaly before the Evil God fully claims his vessel.]

[Rewards]

[- 50,000 System Points]

[- Unique Relic: Protagonist’s Halo (Grants extreme passive healing, heavy stat buffs, and absolute lethal damage against Undead entities.)]

[- Mythic Title: Bearer of the Fate]

Draven read the floating red text. His eyes narrowed sharply.

’Bearer of the Fate,’ Draven thought.

It was an incredible reward, but it came with a terrifying implication. If he killed the main character of this world, the universe would no longer have a designated savior. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The heavy responsibility of stopping every future disaster would fall entirely onto his own shoulders.

He dismissed the red screen with a simple thought.

"I was already planning to carry this world anyway," Draven whispered to the empty courtyard.

He activated his Blank Canvas skill. His physical presence vanished from the fabric of reality. He began his silent march toward the Vanguard Medical Ward.

Neville lay in his hospital bed in VIP Room 404. The lights in his room were dimmed.

His chest ached from his battle with Aegon. But the physical pain was nothing compared to the burning rage twisting his mind.

He stared at the white ceiling. He kept replaying the humiliating defeat over and over in his head. He remembered the dark whisper that had offered him limitless power.

He was the Hero. He deserved that power.

Neville closed his eyes and tried to summon his holy golden mana. A sickly black residue clung to the edges of his aura. It felt heavy and unnatural.

CLICK.

Neville opened his eyes.

The low hum of the hospital air conditioning had suddenly stopped. The entire building plunged into absolute, suffocating silence.

Neville frowned. He looked at the frosted glass window that separated his room from the hallway.

Usually, he could see the shadows of the elite Academy guards pacing back and forth.

There were no shadows.

He looked at the digital clock on his nightstand. It read exactly 12:00 AM.

A heavy feeling of dread settled in the pit of his stomach. His primal instincts screamed that something was deeply wrong.

He reached over and pressed the red emergency button to call the nurses.

Nothing happened. The machine was completely dead.

"Guard!" Neville shouted. His voice sounded pathetic and weak in the silent room.

"Guards! Report to my room immediately!"

No one answered.

’Where are they? Don’t tell me they are sleeping at this moment!’

The heavy iron vault doors at the far end of the hallway slammed shut with a muffled thud. Sirius Statanham’s corrupted captains had locked the floor. Neville was entirely alone.

A cold sweat broke out across his forehead.

’Was the Church of the Eternal Eclipse attacking the hospital? Were they here to finish the job?’

Neville pushed himself up against his pillows. He gritted his teeth and forced his tainted golden mana to gather in his palms. He prepared to fight for his life.

The doorknob to his room slowly turned.

The hinges did not squeak. The heavy wooden door pushed open. The dark hallway was completely empty.

Neville stopped breathing. He stared at the open doorway with wide and trembling eyes. There was absolutely nothing there.

But he could feel it.

A heavy, predatory pressure filled the sterile room. It felt like a massive shadow had just coiled itself around his throat.

The temperature dropped drastically. Frost began to form on the edges of his metal bedframe.

"Who is there?" Neville demanded. His voice shook with raw terror. He threw a blast of golden light toward the doorway.

The light hit the wall and harmlessly scattered.

Suddenly, the air right at the foot of his bed violently distorted. The psychological blind spot shattered.

Draven Mordis materialized out of thin air.

He was wearing a black jacket. His face was completely void of emotion.

His pitch-black eyes stared down at the fallen hero like a butcher inspecting a piece of meat.

Neville’s heart stopped. The sheer, overwhelming killing intent radiating from the "Extra" paralyzed his entire nervous system.

"You..." Neville gasped. He could not comprehend how Draven had bypassed the entire security grid.

Draven did not say a word. He raised his right hand.

SWOOSH!

The sleek kinetic arrow shot forward with the speed of a fired bullet. The blue runes on the metal flared with violent kinetic energy.

THWACK!

The heavy spike pierced directly through Neville’s right shoulder. It drove deep into the reinforced mattress and pinned him brutally to the bed.

Neville opened his mouth to scream in agony.

Draven manipulated the kinetic vectors around Neville’s face, instantly crushing the sound waves before they could leave his lips.

Neville gagged. He thrashed wildly against the steel arrow, but he was completely trapped.

Draven slowly walked around the bed. He pulled the dull sodium kunai from his spatial inventory.

He stopped right next to Neville’s terrified and weeping face.

"Oh, how I would dream of killing you everyday while reading about you?! you have absolutely no idea!"

Draven looked at the pathetic man struggling to move and even talk against his sheer force. He was looking at the man whose mistakes will lead to the destruction of Humanity.

"You might be wondering what crime have you committed to be in this position. I will enlighten you."

"You always demanded to know who I am, Neville," Draven said. His voice was a cold and hollow whisper.

"Stop struggling. I am going to tell you a secret before you die."