"So, the requirement to go to the second floor has been fulfilled, and only one person can carry a group."
He looked at the panel and saw that more than fifty thousand monsters were still missing if he wanted a perfect score and to pass with the highest grade. He looked toward the group waiting outside and called them.
When they arrived, Pancho and Kiala moved cautiously, careful not to step on the blood for fear of staining their clothes. The other three, however, were completely indifferent to the scene. Seeing the pale and cautious expressions of his children, Danilo understood. The calves are being baptized in blood. It's time for them to grow up.
"You three—each of you grab a weapon and let's continue," he said to the three women. "And you two stay here. Your mission is to dig out all the creature cores. You must adapt to this new reality as fast as possible. Slaughter is now our destiny. So at least today, I'll spare you from killing. But you must dig out every core. And you know that to dig out the cores, you need to open the creatures and pull them out from inside. Also gather all the drops. Be quick, because we're staying here until we kill every creature and secure an S-rank."
After saying that, Danilo advanced with the three women, leaving the twins behind.
Kiala trembled at the sight, barely holding back the urge to vomit. Pancho was also uncomfortable, but he gathered courage and walked toward a refined-looking knife beside a rabbit whose head had been sliced in half. Brain matter and fluid were stuck to the blade.
Suppressing his nausea, he approached and picked up the knife.
Steel Knife (Common)
Strength +2
Agility +1
He looked at the same corpse, closed his eyes, and counted to three. Then, with the knife, he pierced the rabbit's belly. After that, he began cutting it open. Blood poured out and drenched his hands. When he saw his hands soaked in blood, he couldn't hold it anymore and vomited.
Kiala, seeing her brother in that state, vomited as well.
The road to the top is filled with corpses.
The road to the top is filled with corpses.
The road to the top is filled with corpses.
Pancho started chanting this mantra after wiping the vomit from his mouth and returned to cutting the rabbit in front of him. The rabbit was huge, the size of an adult dog. Its guts spilled out, and he had to open and explore the inside. Near the heart, he found a small crystal shard, the size of a fingernail.
He stared at it.
Crystal Core – Level 1 (Common)
He felt disappointed. When he thought about spiritual crystals earlier, he imagined beautiful, glowing stones—not this little piece of crap in front of him.
"Is this the crystal core we're supposed to take out?" Keala asked, approaching. Despite her disgust, her curiosity was still strong.
"Yes, it is."
"It's so small… this tiny thing is what will make us evolve? It's ironic, really."
After picking up the first core, Pancho moved to another corpse and repeated the same procedure while continuing to chant his mantra.
After a while, Kiala grabbed a sword and began opening and dissecting the corpses to extract the cores.
"Don't you think papá is… different?" Kiala asked after some minutes.
"Different how?" Pancho asked, even though he knew perfectly well what she meant.
"Different… colder, indifferent, like he's someone else," Kiala said.
"After everything he went through… everyone he loved basically betrayed him. His children, his parents, his siblings, his wife… a collective and extremely cruel betrayal. Do you think anyone stays the same after that? And don't forget his Novice Mission lasted over six hundred years. So yes, the old man is a different person now. I think he only deals with us because we're his biological children. And his talent already confirmed that. If not, I doubt he'd even care about us anymore," Pancho said.
After Pancho spoke, they remained silent for some time while dissecting the corpses.
"Do you think papá is going to kill mamá?" Keala whispered, trembling.
Pancho stopped what he was doing and fell into deep thought. Despite the disappointment, disgust, and hatred he felt toward his mother, she was still his mother. All of this came from the love he once had for her. Now, the idea that she could die at their father's hands was terrifying—too terrifying to think about.
And the saddest part was that their father now had enough power to do it and face minimal consequences. After all, he had justification. What their mother did to him was unforgivable. And now, in this new era, he could get revenge without suffering any repercussions. And looking at their father now, it was clear he was a man who had killed many people. So remorse… shouldn't be expected.
---
Danilo and the three ladies ventured deeper into the forest. As they advanced, they found countless rabbits. Once again, Danilo thought that their cute appearance ruined everything. If they weren't cute, but simply normal like Earth rabbits, this place would feel like a fantasy meadow.
Countless glowing lights flickered as far as the eye could see. The number was truly immense.
When Danilo's group approached, the rabbits instinctively fled—fled in panic. They didn't allow him to get even ten meters close, which irritated Danilo.
"Are there only rabbits in this forest?" Lesliana Vermillion asked.
Of the three, she was the only one truly comfortable around Danilo. The other two were still restrained, wary of displeasing their master. Even knowing they were his women, they hadn't fully adapted to their status yet.
"Just by sensing your presence, they run. You perfectly embody the role of the Big Bad Wolf, hahahahahahaha!" she said, bursting into laughter unworthy of a lady with her beauty. A laugh with absolutely no class.
Danilo looked at her but chose to ignore it. Still, a wave of nostalgia washed over him. One of Lesliana's trademarks was exactly that idiotic, unfeminine smile.
"My aura is drenched with the smell of their species' corpses. So they'll run every time I approach. You three go ahead, and I'll stay here," Danilo said, transforming the katana in his hand into a bow.
Once the women were about twenty meters away from him, they were immediately attacked. The creatures charged at them like crazed animals.
Of the three, Lesliana wielded a massive one-meter sword.
Stone Sword (Common)
Strength: +5
Defense: +3
Mikaela wielded twin swords.
Twin Swords (Common)
Strength: +3
Agility: +3
And adorable Leila carried a one-meter giant hammer that didn't match her image at all.
Rock Breaker (Common)
Strength: +10
Physique: +4
From the side, Danilo watched a tiny figure carrying a giant hammer leap and land in the middle of the rabbits. With all her strength, she smashed the hammer into the ground, creating a deafening boom. A huge crater formed, nearly hitting the other two due to the impact's radius.
Inside the five-meter crater, flesh and blood were scattered everywhere.
Then a crack was heard. Looking at Leila's hands, the hammer had split apart.
Danilo Afonso: 1,070
Leila Cronos: 18