“Could it be... Reine, is it because you can’t find a girlfriend that you’ve resorted to settling for being gay instead?”

It was as though thunder had struck, shattering a mighty tree.

And as though an arrow had been loosed from the bowstring, hitting its target dead center.

In that instant, Moen distinctly heard a sound akin to a heart breaking.

“Damn it!”

Reine’s eyes reddened once more.

How dare you spout nonsense, tarnishing my pure love! Watch me shred you to pieces!

Yet, just as anger surged through his brain, Moen’s long-prepared attack was already underway.

**Shadow Step!**

Under the cover of the dim light, Moen even hid the lone blade capable of reflecting a cold glint along the inner side of his arm. Like a predator concealed among the shrubs, poised to strike, he wouldn’t make a sound until the moment of a killing blow.

Reine would never let his guard down against a frontal assault, yet anger can momentarily destroy rational thought. By the time he snapped back to attention, Moen had silently crossed the short distance between them, releasing his concealed dagger like claws, aimed with precision at Reine's throat.

The chilling premonition of death struck Reine, causing his pupils to shrink.

But—

After their last encounter, Reine had replayed countless scenarios of facing an enemy like Moen in his mind. So even though the dagger was mere inches from his throat, this was anything but—no, far from—a hopeless moment!

**Roar!**

Reine let out a thunderous roar.

A deafening crackle echoed from his powerful frame, like bones grinding against one another.

His muscles bulged, his physique swelling rapidly; in less than a single breath, he had physically grown taller by an entire head!

Thus, the dagger that should have pierced his throat merely struck his chest instead. The skin of his chest shimmered with a metallic sheen, rendering even the dagger, imbued with fighting energy, capable of leaving only a faint scratch!

Moen blinked in slight disbelief upon witnessing the scene.

What the hell? The Hulk? Are you an Avenger too?

“Moen Campbell!”

This small transformation didn’t grant Reine the overpowering might of the Hulk, yet it still boosted his strength by over thirty percent.

However, strength alone isn’t the decisive factor when dealing with a nimble assassin.

In such close quarters within a narrow space, Reine knew his heavy saber would be difficult to wield effectively, and so he decisively abandoned it, reaching out barehanded for Moen.

Moen nimbly withdrew.

Yet the retreat he had meticulously calculated suddenly fell within Reine’s unexpectedly extended reach, still trapping him within the warrior’s grasp.

Although Moen endeavored to dodge further, Reine managed to seize his arm!

Moen’s expression shifted slightly.

Reine, however, laughed heartily.

“I’ve got you now, Moen Campbell!”

When a fragile assassin gets tangled up by a power-based warrior, anyone with common sense would know how this ends!

Mock me for my shortcomings? Break my heart?

Watch me rip every limb of yours, one by one!

Seizing Moen’s arm fiercely, Reine yanked him toward his own body.

He opened his arms wide, akin to how he might’ve practiced countless times alone in his room, preparing to embrace the girlfriend he never had.

But to Moen, this wasn’t a tender hug.

This was a grip brimming with fury and hatred—a hold that could shatter one into pieces!

With Moen’s physique, stepping into that embrace would instantly crush hundreds of bones at the very least.

Yet just before Moen could be enveloped in the embrace, his shoulder gave a sudden jolt, emitting a crisp sound of bones shifting.

Then, with a heavy push against the nearby wall, his body rotated 180 degrees mid-air, dodging Reine’s bear-hug attack entirely. Following up, Moen rotated again by another 90 degrees, bending his legs and pressing them forcefully against Reine’s shoulder.

Seeing this, Reine’s eyes nearly bulged out.

Acrobatics?

But his arm—Moen’s arm—was still clasped tightly within his grip.

However, Reine had no time for further thought, because Moen had already raised his dagger with his free hand, stabbing towards Reine’s vulnerable eye!

Pinned in place by Moen’s legs and unable to evade, Reine was left with no choice but to slam sideways with all his might, smashing through the room’s wall and shaking Moen off momentarily to create some distance.

Still, Reine couldn’t help but let out a scream.

Because while the sudden shift prevented Moen’s dagger from striking his eye, the blade still grazed down his cheek and sliced off one of his ears entirely!

Blood gushed forth, staining the pristine walls red.

Clutching his wound, Reine stared at Moen, now slowly rising to his feet, with sheer horror.

“You... What the hell are you?”

“What the hell am I? My, what an impolite remark.”

Moen stood upright, smiling as he reset his dislocated arm back into place.

“Compared to someone like you, tainted by the dark god—I surely resemble a human more, don’t you think?”

“Ridiculous!”

Reine roared in defiance. Yet within such circumstances, the roar sounded more like bluster hiding fear.

“A human? That stunt you just pulled—could a human do that? Casually dislocating their own arm and calmly putting it back in place, you honestly expect me to believe that’s something pampered sons of dukes are capable of?”

“No choice, really.”

Moen flexed his arm, ensuring the recovery wouldn’t hinder his movements, and nodded in satisfaction.

“If you had to face off daily against someone ten times stronger than you, who’s also adept at close-quarters combat, fighting to the death—being killed by them hundreds of times—the first thing you’d learn is how to disassemble and reassemble your joints, wouldn’t you?

Because if you don’t learn, they’ll definitely ‘teach’ you this anyway.”

“What nonsense are you babbling about?”

Reine felt as if he were staring at a madman.

“This is a school! Who could possibly be fighting you to the death on a daily basis?”

“Well, that involves a little secret of mine that I can’t share with Reine.”

Moen playfully blinked, then continued,

“But there’s one thing I can complain to you about.”

“Actually...”

Moen lowered his stance, like a taut bowstring.

“Actually, about the last time we fought...”

Moen curled his lips into a smile, gazing at Reine, though unbeknownst to himself, a hint of savagery crept into the grin.

“It wasn’t quite enough for me yet!”

In an instant, a menacing aura, forged from countless brushes with death, burst from this seemingly handsome blond youth.

In a fleeting moment, Reine hallucinated heaps of corpses beneath Moen’s feet.

Countless corpses—his own.

“Let’s start round two, Reine!”

Moen charged forward once more.

As the distance between them narrowed, Reine hooked the heavy saber from the ground with his foot, gripping it tightly before sweeping it horizontally with violent force.

The gusting wind surged like waves.

Fierce fighting energy spiraled across the blade, instantly amplifying its light into a radiance that encompassed the entire room.

You think I’d go toe-to-toe with a lunatic like you again? Go to hell!

But just as the blade’s light was about to strike Moen, Reine saw him raise a hand—a single hand with fingers curled like an animal’s claw.

Huh?

That’s odd. Isn’t this move specifically designed to disrupt martial techniques?

But I’m not using any techniques.

Why is he employing it now?

The moment the thought surfaced, Reine heard a deafening boom, like thunder.

Immediately after, intense vibrations rippled outward.

In that moment, it felt as if a stampede of rhinos had trampled across him—Reine felt the agony radiating from his innards, his body, and even his mind.

For one split second, his consciousness blurred.

Thus, when his vision finally refocused on the scene before him—

Reine only saw a brilliant blade light erupting from the darkness.