Krainel Salvador had encountered his fair share of twisted men over the years.


    But the man standing before him now? Isaac was something else entirely.


    A monster in a league of his own.


    Krainel had already unleashed his corruption earlier, his body pulsating with dark energy, but now he was focusing—gathering his power, preparing something muchrger.


    Isaac, meanwhile, seemed wholly absorbed in his own twisted game. Taunting. Toying. Executing. It was clear that his attention wasn''t fully on Krainel yet, and that was an opening—an opportunity Krainel had to take.


    Defeating Isaac in his fully unleashed form? That wasn''t Krainel''s concern right now.


    His true objective in Lunaria''s capital had never been about the Book of Asmodeus to begin with. He had assumed retrieving it would be simple—steal it from whoever possessed it. But then he arrived on this rooftop… and Isaac was the one holding it.


    That changed everything.


    Isaac was dangerous. Far too dangerous. He needed to be killed.


    But forcing a battle right now? That would be foolish.


    Instead, Krainel silently opened the Book of Asmodeus, its dark pages thrumming with something corrupted as he began reciting the incantations for arge-scale attack.


    Meanwhile, Isaac remained unfazed, continuing his monologue as if none of this mattered.


    "A life… gone, just like that."


    His fingers briefly traced the blood-stained ground before he slowly rose to his feet. His ck revolver still hung loosely at his side.


    Without hesitation, he reached down, grabbed another demon by the hair, and yanked his head back with brutal force—despite the overwhelming gravity pressing down on him.


    The demon''s face twisted painfully, his skin stretched tight, his lips pulled unnaturally as he struggled against both the crushing weight and Isaac''s grip. His breath came out in short, ragged gasps.


    Isaac barely acknowledged his suffering.


    He simply lifted the demon''s face higher and gestured with his revolver toward Krainel, who remained focused on his book.


    "Look at him."


    The demon''s trembling eyes darted toward Krainel.@@novelbin@@


    A silent call.


    A desperate, hopeless prayer that someone—anyone—would stop this nightmare.


    Isaac pressed the cold barrel of his revolver against the back of the demon''s skull.


    "...!"


    A barely audible whimper escaped from the demon''s lips.


    Then—


    -BANG!


    Blood sttered across the rooftop once more.


    Isaac released his grip instantly, letting the lifeless body crumple unceremoniously to the ground.


    And then, without hesitation—he stepped toward the next one.


    Another demon.


    Another trembling figure, paralyzed in terror beneath him.


    Isaac stared down at him.


    "When you execute people for years and years, you start losing count. You forget the reasons. The purpose. The weight of it all vanishes."


    He crouched slightly, meeting the wide, horrified eyes of the next demon.


    Find more to read at My Virtual Library Empire


    "But what you gain in return?"


    Isaac slowly raised his gun toward him.


    "Is something far more valuable."


    The demon flinched, his body convulsing in fear.


    "You gain the satisfaction of knowing your enemies fear you. That they will continue to fear you—just by hearing your name. You be more than a man. More than a soldier. You be a God to them. A God of death… but a God nheless."


    -BANG!


    Another corpse hit the ground.


    Isaac turned his attention to thest one. The demon knelt before him, trembling, his body frozen in fear. Without hesitation, Isaac reached down, gripping a handful of the creature''s hair and yanking his head up so their eyes met. The demon''s face was streaked with tears, his lips quivering as he stared into the barrel of the revolver aimed at his forehead.


    A choked breath escaped the demon''s throat—then,


    "What is happening here?!"


    A new voice rang out out.


    Isaac''s grip didn''t waver, but he flicked his gaze over his shoulder. Standing a few feet away, her expression frozen in shock, was Lyanna.


    -BANG!


    The gunshot shattered the silence.


    The demon''s lifeless body crumpled to the ground, and the gun''s echo faded into the air. Lyanna took a sharp step back, instinctively summoning her spear. The golden weapon shimmered as she leveled it at Isaac as she red at him.


    Isaac, however, didn''t offer her an exnation. His gaze had already shifted toward someone else—Krainel Salvador.


    Darkness seeped from Krainel''s body like ink spilling into water, swirling unnaturally around him.


    Lyanna''s grip on her spear tightened as she took a careful step back, adjusting her stance so she could keep both Isaac and Krainel in her line of sight. Her amber eyes flicked to the ancient book hovering near Krainel, and in an instant, she pieced everything together.


    "Krainel Salvador?"


    -BOOM!


    The name had barely left her lips when a surge of corruption erupted from Krainel, an explosion of dark energy surging outward like a tidal wave. The sheer force of it threatened to consume everything in its path, swallowing the rooftop and beyond—


    Except it didn''t.


    The spreading darkness suddenly mmed against an invisible barrier, folding in on itself, contained. The rooftop trembled beneath them, but the corrupt energy couldn''t break free.


    Krainel''s eyes narrowed.


    It was a gravitational field.


    Slowly, he turned his gaze toward Isaac.


    Isaac let out a sneer as he tilted his revolver, letting the spent bullet casings fall to the ground with soft clinks. With a flick of his wrist, he summoned fresh rounds and reloaded before slipping the ck revolver away. In its ce, he drew his silver one.


    "Did you really think I''d let you walk away after what you did to me?"


    Krainel wanted to say he didn''t do anything against him but he didn''t reply.


    The man in front of him seemed to have a huge narcissusplex. No rational words against his words would work.


    Instead, Krainel focused on taking both him and Lyanna down. His body shifted, muscles expanding, limbs stretching as his form grewrger and more monstrous. ck ooze crawled up his skin, twisting his features into something inhuman.


    But Lyanna wasn''t about to let him finish.


    In the blink of an eye, she moved.


    A streak of light—faster than thought—rushed toward Krainel. Within a single heartbeat, her spear was already plunging forward.


    -BOOOOM!


    The raw force of her strike sted Krainel backward, sending shockwaves rippling through the gravitational field. The air trembled, the rooftop groaned under the weight of their power.


    There was no doubt about it.


    She was SS-Rank.


    Despite her overwhelming power, it was clear Lyanna was holding back. She didn''t want to risk harming the others nearby as they were in the middle of the city.


    "You made it easy for me by showing yourself here," Lyanna said with a smirk, her entire body crackling with particles of light. The sheer pressure radiating from her form was almost suffocating the field around. She had inhuman strength and amount of mana.


    Yet, Krainel remained unperturbed.


    The gaping wound on his body sealed itself as the ck ooze slithered across his form, knitting flesh and darkness back together. His gaze locked onto Lyanna''s, and then—


    He vanished.


    Lyanna''s reaction was instantaneous. Without even turning around, she twirled her spear in a fluid motion, thrusting it backward.


    -BAM!


    The weapon struck Krainel.


    But once again, it did nothing.


    Krainel barely flinched as he raised his wed hands, his talons gleaming with corruption, and shed toward her with terrifying speed.


    Lyanna''s instincts screamed.


    She immediately summoned a sword in her left hand, ready to block—


    -BANG!


    A gunshot rang out.


    A bullet whizzed past her, mere inches from her outstretched hand, before obliterating Krainel''s massive w in midair.


    Lyanna sprang backward,nding lightly on her feet, her amber eyes narrowing as they snapped toward Isaac.


    If she had reacted a secondter, she would have lost her hand.


    But more than that—who the hell was he?


    He looked like a noble, dressed in elegant attire, yet she had never seen him before. And there was something… off about him.


    She didn''t have time to dwell on it.


    In the next instant, Krainel blurred past her, making a beeline for Isaac.


    Isaac, unlike Lyanna, was far from a physicalbatant. His body wasn''t built for direct confrontation. In terms of raw strength, he was the second weakest among them—only Adam ranked lower. But Isaac had other weapons.


    -BOOM!


    The moment Krainel reached him, his body was repelled by an invisible force, catapulted backward at blinding speed. He crashed violently into the far edge of the gravitational barrier, the impact shaking the entire rooftop.


    Lyanna seized the opportunity.


    With a swift motion, she swung her spear, releasing a barrage of luminous des. The swords of light tore through the air, piercing Krainel''s monstrous limbs and pinning him against the barrier like a crucifixion.


    -BANG!


    Isaac didn''t hesitate.


    Another gunshot.


    -BOOOM!


    "AGH!"


    Krainel coughed up blood as the bullet tore through his stomach, the force of it making his entire frame shudder.


    Lyanna''s eyes widened.


    "Wait—!"


    -BANG!


    -BANG!


    -BANG!


    Three more shots fired in rapid session. Each bullet struck Krainel with brutal precision, wringing out strangled groans of pain.


    Ruthless.


    Isaac wasn''t giving him a chance to speak, to move, to fight back. Every shot was calcted and merciless.


    Yet one thing gnawed at Lyanna''s mind.


    If he really wanted Krainel dead—why wasn''t he aiming for the head?


    -BANG!


    -BOOM!


    Another shot fired, the bullet hurtling toward its target—


    But before it couldnd, a sh of light sliced through the air.


    Lyanna''s spear struck the bullet mid-flight, shattering it with a sharp ng before she moved, appearing between Isaac and Krainel in an instant.


    "Stop. We need him alive and conscious."


    A small silence followed.


    Isaac didn''t lower his gun.


    He simply stared at her. Then, with a slow motion, he cocked the hammer back.


    "Who''s ''we''?"


    And then—he shifted the revolver''s muzzle toward her.


    "Move."