At that exact moment, Victor bent slightly forward as if he had sensed something invisible moving through the forest behind him. A violent surge of earth mana erupted from beneath the ground less than a meter behind his body, and a massive stone wall rose upward with explosive force.

A fraction of a second later, several poisoned black daggers crashed against the barrier simultaneously.

The impact thundered through the forest.

Cracks spread rapidly across the thick stone surface while fragments of rock exploded outward in every direction. The precision behind the attack immediately caught Victor’s attention because every dagger had struck at the exact same instant. Such coordination could only come from assassins who had trained together for years.

Victor narrowed his eyes slightly.

"So precise," he muttered quietly.

The earth wall suddenly exploded apart.

Two assassins burst through the debris like starving beasts lunging toward prey. Their black combat gear blended almost perfectly with the darkness between the trees, and the poisoned blades in their hands targeted Victor’s throat and heart with ruthless accuracy. Neither assassin hesitated for even a moment because both clearly intended to kill him instantly.

Victor smiled.

Brilliant light exploded outward from his body without warning.

The assassins instinctively flinched as their vision became completely flooded with blinding white light. Although they closed their eyes for less than a second, that tiny opening was enough for Victor.

He moved immediately.

Victor’s metal mana reinforced fist smashed directly into the ribs of the first assassin with horrifying force. The impact sounded like an explosion as bones shattered inward violently. Broken fragments pierced through flesh and organs before erupting out from the assassin’s back together with a torrent of blood.

The man’s chest collapsed grotesquely.

Blood and crimson foam poured from his mouth while his body folded unnaturally around Victor’s fist. Before the corpse could even hit the ground, Victor twisted sideways and swung his other arm through the air with brutal speed.

Compressed wind mana condensed into a razor sharp blade.

The invisible edge sliced cleanly through the second assassin’s neck.

Flesh tore apart instantly.

The severed head spun through the air while trailing blood across the darkness before crashing violently against a nearby tree trunk. Meanwhile, the headless corpse staggered forward several unstable steps as blood sprayed continuously from the ruined neck.

Unlike dungeon monsters, human bodies did not disappear after death.

The corpses remained.

Blood rapidly stained the forest floor crimson.

Victor barely had time to breathe before three more assassins emerged from the surrounding shadows. Their movements were almost impossible to detect because each one attacked from a different angle simultaneously. Poisoned daggers shot toward Victor’s skull, spine, and throat with terrifying precision.

Lightning exploded beneath Victor’s feet.

His body vanished backward in a violent burst of speed that shattered the ground beneath him. Even then, one dagger still managed to slice across his arm. Flesh split open instantly while blood splattered across nearby trees.

Sharp pain spread through his muscles.

Victor glanced briefly toward the wound.

Then he smiled again.

The expression looked completely wrong on his bloodstained face. It was cold, sharp, and strangely excited. There was no fear inside his eyes at all. Instead, something almost delighted flickered deep within them.

At that moment, Unparalleled Comprehension activated instinctively.

Countless mana circulation pathways flooded Victor’s mind like an endless storm of information. Wind mana and lightning mana began overlapping naturally inside his body while new combinations formed one after another within his consciousness. Every possibility appeared before him with terrifying clarity.

The fusion process immediately became violent.

Mana tore through his veins brutally while tiny blood vessels burst beneath his skin from the overwhelming pressure. Blood leaked slowly from the corners of Victor’s mouth and nose while pain spread throughout his entire body.

The agony should have been unbearable.

Instead, Victor laughed softly.

Lightning erupted around his legs while violent wind currents wrapped around his entire body. The fusion amplified his speed to an absurd degree as both elements circulated together in perfect synchronization.

Then he disappeared.

One assassin suddenly froze as instinct screamed danger into his mind. Before he could react, Victor appeared directly beside him like a phantom emerging from thin air.

A lightning covered punch slammed into the assassin’s chest.

The impact exploded completely through his torso.

Bones shattered apart while flesh, blood, and organs burst outward from the man’s back in a grotesque spray. The assassin’s eyes widened in disbelief as the remaining force carried his ruined body backward through the air.

Victor stepped calmly through the raining blood.

Immediately afterward, another fusion formed within his mind.

Fire mana and wind mana collided violently together.

A spiraling inferno erupted outward like a demonic storm descending upon the forest. The flames expanded rapidly while wind currents amplified both their speed and destructive force. Within seconds, the battlefield transformed into a burning hell.

Several assassins were swallowed by the firestorm before they could escape.

Their black combat gear ignited instantly.

Skin blackened and peeled apart beneath the terrifying heat while flesh cracked open across their bodies. One assassin attempted to scream, but the flames tore through his throat and lungs before the sound could fully escape.

Burning corpses crashed through shattered trees. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Smoke and blood filled the battlefield entirely.

The remaining assassins immediately abandoned caution. They attacked desperately from every direction at once because they finally understood how dangerous Victor truly was. Multiple shadows rushed through the smoke while poisoned daggers flashed repeatedly toward his blind spots.

Victor slammed both earth mana and water mana into the ground simultaneously.

The battlefield changed instantly.

Freezing mud spread violently across the forest floor before hardening around the assassins’ legs like iron chains. Their movements slowed for only a single moment, but that brief hesitation was already fatal.

Victor raised his hand.

Countless metal spikes erupted upward from beneath the frozen earth.

Steel pierced through legs, stomachs, throats, and skulls with brutal force. Blood exploded across the battlefield in thick crimson streams while several bodies became completely impaled above the ground. Some assassins died instantly while others twitched violently as metal tore through their organs.

The smell of blood became overwhelming.

One surviving assassin still managed to slip behind Victor despite the chaos. His dagger slashed deeply across Victor’s shoulder and split flesh open down to the bone. Almost simultaneously, another poisoned blade stabbed directly into Victor’s side before twisting violently inside the wound.

Victor coughed blood onto the assassin’s mask.

Yet instead of retreating, he slowly smiled again.

This time the expression resembled something inhuman.

The assassin instinctively froze.

Fear finally appeared inside his eyes.

Victor grabbed the man’s wrist tightly before he could escape. Darkness mana erupted violently from Victor’s palm and invaded the assassin’s senses completely. The man’s vision instantly collapsed into endless blackness while his hearing distorted into unbearable noise.

His balance disappeared entirely.

The assassin began screaming in panic.

Victor dragged him closer without emotion.

Then a fireball exploded directly into the assassin’s face.

Boom.

The skull shattered apart instantly.

Burning fragments of flesh, blood, and bone sprayed across Victor’s body while the corpse collapsed twitching onto the dirt. The smell of burnt meat mixed together with smoke and poison beneath the dark green sky overhead.

Finally, silence returned to the forest.

Victor staggered backward slightly as blood continued flowing from multiple wounds across his body. Poison had already begun spreading through his bloodstream while dizziness slowly accumulated inside his mind. Every breath felt heavier than the last.

Around him lay corpses everywhere.

Some bodies had been burned beyond recognition until nothing human remained. Others had exploded apart entirely from the overwhelming force of his attacks. Several assassins still hung impaled across the battlefield like broken dolls displayed upon metal spikes.

The metallic smell of blood filled the air completely.

Smoke drifted slowly between shattered trees while burning embers floated across the darkness. Blood soaked the ground beneath Victor’s feet until the forest floor itself appeared crimson.

He slowly looked around the battlefield in silence.

Then his gaze settled upon a corpse missing half its torso.

Another nearby body had completely lost its head. One assassin still twitched weakly while hanging from a metal spike with empty eyes staring toward the sky.

Victor continued staring at them quietly.

A strange thought suddenly surfaced inside his mind.

"Killing them feels no different."

His expression gradually became colder.

"Would someone feel guilty for crushing insects beneath their feet?"

The thought should have horrified him.

Any ordinary person would have been disgusted by the massacre surrounding him. The corpses, blood, shattered bones, and burning flesh should have broken something inside his mind.

Instead, Victor merely smiled faintly while blood dripped slowly from his chin.

For some reason, the brutality surrounding him did not disgust him at all.

Deep within his heart, hidden beneath the pain and exhaustion, he realized something terrifying.

He had enjoyed every second of it.