“Thank you for the compliment. As thanks, I will 

gift

you a

 piece of information on your way to Hell.”

Zich bent one of his knees and met the man’s eyes.

“You might not believe me, but I am trying to live a kind life. 

N

o matter how much I think about it, you guys are the bad guys,

 and you also

 attacked me.”

They were bad guys who antagonized him

,

 and for Zich who tried to live a kind life after his regression, he needed to kill them at all costs.

“So, I plan to wander around the world to find people in your organization. And I will send 

each and every one of them 

to your side. How does that sound? You won’t get lonely in Hell then.”

“Your post-death service seems to be on-point. But would you actually be able to do that? If you become our organization’s enemy, 

you will quickly

 join me in 

H

ell.”

“It’s a pity that I can’t make a bet with you about that. Even if you told me to swear on the whole world, I would have done it.”

“I pray that you

’ll

 always remember those words so that once the time comes, you

’ll

 feel fear to your very core.”

“I will keep 

your words

 in my mind. Then, let’s say our farewells. I must go to Snoc quickly. Whether I 

stop

 or save him, it’s better the faster I go.”

“Save? That guy?”

The man chuckled.

“It’s impossible to save him. Ah, I think I know what you are thinking. Since I 

forcefully fused them together

, do you think that if he 

just

makes a contract with

 Nowem

, he will return back to normal

? But Snoc will never be able to accept Nowem. Even if he goes over that hurdle, there

’ll 

be another hurdle 

for him

 to go over. That’s his 

fate 

that was decided before we 

formulated

 this plan.”

“

Fate

? That’s a good word. It’s a word that I really like to crush.”

“Let’s see you try.”

“I will try.”

After saying th

ese

 words, Zich swung his sword. 

He aimed his sword

 straight at the man’s neck.

Slice!

The man’s head went flying high up 

in the air 

and then fell 

and 

rolled on the ground. Was the man teasing him until the end? His head rolled to Zich’s feet and stopped as if 

the man

 was looking up at him. 

The man’s

 f

ace was

 smiling widely; it was as if he was sending 

his chilling intentions 

to laugh at him even after death.

It could have 

become

 a trauma for 

ordinary

 people, 

and 

even for brave souls, it would have 

made

 them feel uncomfortable or unpleasant. However, Zich was indifferent. In comparison to 

many of 

the things he experienced in his li

fe

, this wasn’t even considered a curse.

Kick!

Z

i

ch kicked the man’s head as if he was kicking a ball, and the battle ended like that.

‘Then should I go looking for Snoc?’

Zich widened his senses. Because the man’s transformed state had 

been far 

superior 

to

 him in sheer strength, Zich hadn’t been able to spread out his senses. He had to focus all his attention on the man; thus, unlike usual, Zich 

couldn’t check 

his surroundings.

“Huh?”

He sensed a presence that had

 recently

 regenerated; it was an absurd and contradictory presence that felt familiar yet unfamiliar. It was Snoc. Feeling the earth’s energy pouring out of him, it was definitely him. The problem was th

at there were

 two other presences besides Snoc.

‘Why are 

they 

here?’

After listening carefully, he heard battle sounds from far away. Zich began to move to

wards them

.

 *    *    *

Even though it was such a bizarre happening, 

Hans couldn’t 

process

 the significance of seeing a person he knew drop 

down dead center

in

a 

barren mountain in the middle of the night. But in a way, it was understandable. Hans couldn’t afford to assess the situation.

Craash!

A boulder came flying his way. The rock was 1.5 times bigger than an average person. 

A p

erson who was directly hit by that would obviously suffer grave

 consequences

. Hans bit his lips and straightened his sword.

“Haaa!”

With a shout, he swung his sword at the stone piece.

Slice!

Although his hands felt 

slightly

 numb, he was able to successfully cut the boulder. The boulder, which split into two pieces, fell 

on either side of him

.

Rumble! Rumble!

He heard vibrations that were strong enough to shake the mountain. However, Hans didn’t even have the time to focus on that and blocked the next attack.

Pop!

It was a colossal stalagmite this time. Sharp stalagmite shot up from the ground and surged forward like spears sticking into their enemies.

‘Damn!’

His heart thumped. Still, Hans 

calmed

 his emotions and sliced the stalagmites coming his way. ‘Don’t panic 

no matter the

 situation’—it

 was

 what Zich had told him while forcing Hans into all kinds of 

adverse scenarios

 under the guise

 of training. 

During training, Hans felt great resentment towards Zich for making him go through so m

any

 hardships, but 

as a result

, he was able to maintain a surprising level of composure; and that element allowed Hans to 

show 

100% of his skills.

‘Damn! Now, I won’t even be able to insult him in my mind.’

Since he experienced the result of his training first-hand, he couldn’t complain about it anymore. While he was thinking this, his body moved. His movements were fluid, making it hard to believe that he had lived a life far away from swordsmanship or physical work

 just recently

. However, that didn’t mean that he 

was at an

 advantage.

Thanks to Zich’s harsh training and Hans’ natural talent, Hans was able to block Snoc’s attacks. However, Snoc wasn’t an easy opponent. Although Snoc’s attacks were rough and simply based on instincts, the combination of Snoc and Nowem’s natural mana created a convergence of powers that w

as

 truly formidable. Besides, Hans

 had an additional burden to consider.

Buurst!

The ground rose up like waves. A massive mass of dirt came upon Hans like a violent wa

ve

.

‘Shit!’

After judging that he couldn

’t

 block this attack with a sword, Hans tried to quickly escape the area. However, 

there was another person he had to consider

.

“Grab tight!”

Hans carried Sam like a piece of luggage and backed off in a hurry.

Craaash!

A heap of soil swept over the area where Hans

 was standing

. However, as if it wasn’t satisfied by that, the earth rushed over the ground like a tsunami and chased after them. 

If he had been by himself, 

Hans would have been able to move effortlessly with little mana, but with the addition of Sam’s weight, his mana consumption increased by several

folds.

He had no choice but to pour in more mana in his legs and increase his distance. He tried to let Sam escape many times, but for 

some unknown reason

, Snoc also kept ruthlessly attacking Sam without exception.

“Snoc! What are you doing? Stop! It’s me! Sam!”

While hanging onto Hans’ shoulders, Sam screamed out to 

Snoc

. Sam also felt like he was going 

crazy

 since Snoc, who he cared for like a brother, gained a strange power and was 

trying to kill him

. Yet, all he could do was yell at Snoc while Hans protected him.

“Kuuaaaaaah!”

All that 

came back to him

 w

ere

 Snoc’s beast-like cries and 

his merciless 

attacks. Hans 

dodged with his head 

and flung away stone pieces that came flying in his direction.

‘I think it will be hard for me to escape while carrying Sam. But I can’t just throw him away as bait to make my escape

.

’

Hans’ sense of justice didn’t allow it.

‘I can’t do much but hope that Sir Zich will sense this battle and come ru

shing

 here.’

Hans didn’t even want to think about a situation where Zich wasn’t near

by

 or failed to sense them. Surprisingly, it didn’t even cross Hans’ mind that Zich might lose the battle.

Crash!

Hans sliced a stone that was the size of a fist.

‘Why is 

this

 my first actual battle without Sir Zich?

’

Hans had to protect a civilian while facing an opponent with special power; he lamented th

e fact that

 his luck must have run out ever since Zich broke his nose. Hans continued to block all of Snoc’s attacks—so well that 

even he was

 impressed 

by

 himself. Finally, his hard work 

was paying

 off.

Craaaash!

Turbulent waves of strong mana rushed in. 

After tormenting

 Hans in all kinds of 

ways

, Sno

c 

looked stunned. A mass pile of dirt rose in 

front

 of hi

m;

 boulders formed a wall, and rocks clumped up together. However, 

a giant mass of

 mana squeezed into the barrier.

Craash!

An explosive sound swept over the area. Piles of dirt scattered away, stone walls split off into pieces, and clumps of stones broke away. The last line of defense—the rock armor that Snoc had hurriedly wrapped around himself—disappeared at the mana’s touch. However, these barriers didn’t fully dissolve the mana’s impact, and Snoc rolled on the ground.

“Why are you guys here?”

It was a calm voice, indifferent to the feelings Hans felt while fighting with his life on the line. Something negative seemed to stir up inside Hans’ heart; but Hans overlooked that feeling and 

recognized that

 he was more glad than anything 

to see

 Zich.

“Sir Zich!”

“Zich!”

Hans and Sam’s voices overlapped. Their responses were like those of children who had reunited with their parents after a couple of decades. However, Zich didn’t pay attention to their feelings and waved his hands.

“Ye

ah

, ye

ah

, it’s me.”

Zich ignored their sparkling eyes and stared at Snoc. He 

wondered 

why 

Sam and Hans were all the way out here,

 but he could always ask them later. Snoc was a more pressing problem.

“He is still out of control.”

“Out of control? Do you know why S

noc

 became like that?”

Sam responded as Zich seemed to know something.

“He was mixed up in 

a

 troublesome matter. I 

came here 

after killing the guy who made Snoc like that.”

“What do you mean by 

a

 troublesome matter… Snoc is just a miner! Wh

y

 would he get mixed up in something like that?!”

“Sam

, even if you live a normal life,

i

t doesn’t mean that you 

won’

t 

get

dragged

 into troublesome matter

s.

 The

 people

 who usually 

cause 

these troublesome matters don’t think a

bout things like,

 ‘I must not cause harm to others

 as much as possible

.

’

”

Zich could say this 

with 

certainty as someone who used to 

instigate

 these ‘troublesome matters.’

“Furthermore, I think Snoc is not just a normal miner. He has talent.”

“A talent?”

“Yeah, 

talent

. A quite remarkable one at that. That’s a good enough reason to get mixed up into troubles.”

A person with outstanding talent usually 

attracted

 attention from other people

. Depending on the situation,

 they 

sometimes received

 bad or good attention; and unfortunately for Sno

c

, he had attracted bad attention this time.

S

am

 was shocked to hear someone like Zich, who 

based

 his life on self-worth and pride, praise his childish, younger-brother; Snoc must possess

something amazing for Zich to say that Snoc ‘had talent.’ But that wasn’t the important 

issue

 now.

“Are you saying that Snoc 

became like that 

because of 

his

 talent?”

“I

t’s definitely a factor.

”

“Then, can he ever 

return

 back to normal?”

Even Zich couldn’t give him a clear answer.

“I have something in mind. We have to do something about that

 magical

beast of the earth 

that 

has been 

forcefully fused into him.”

“Beast of the earth?”

“It’s probably what you guys call the 

m

in

ing

m

onster.”

“That’s just a legend…!”

“Among legends, there are some that are real and 

give people

 a real headache. This one is probably that case.”

Zich fixed the grip on his sword. Snoc

 got up from

 his fall and exuded 

bloodlust

.

“From now on, I am going to fight him so stay a

 good distance away

. And Hans!”

“Yes, sir!”

“I don’t know why you are protecting Sam

 here

, but let me say a few 

words

.”

Was 

Zich

 angry at him for not protecting Sam properly? Or was he planning to scold him for not defeating Snoc? Hans nervously gulped his saliva back down. However, 

Hans did not receive 

criticism but a 

thumbs-up

.

“Great job! You

r response was amazing

 in a difficult battle where you had to protect a person while simultaneously fighting a tricky opponent! I will give you full marks 

for

 this battle!”

For an entire minute, 

Hans couldn’t 

comprehend

 Zich’s words. Zich's words had been completely out of his expectations, but 

a

fter 

processing what Zich said, Hans’ face brightened up

.

“T-Thank you, sir!”