"You aren't alone," Klaus spoke, walking around them. "She looks like you. A sister, maybe?"
His voice was deep with malice, each word threatening Noa.
"Get away from us!" Noa shouted weakly, trembling.
Seeing his fear and desperation, Klaus thought he could push him even further and repeated his demand.
"I would gladly let you off, but first, give me the loot you got."
Then he contemplated for a bit and asked,
"How did you kill it, anyway?"
From his point of view, Noa was a frightened loser who couldn't even kill a chicken, let alone a gigantic spider.
But he saw Noa looting the already dead monster and assumed that he had somehow taken it down.
"I-It wasn't me," Noa said. "It was dead by the time I found it."
He lied.
Aeris was the only one who knew about his power, and he had no intention of showing it so soon.
Especially to Klaus, when Noa had a plan in mind.
The scheme he plotted in his mind almost made him grin.
'I have to control my expression,' he scolded himself.
Considering how he acted this entire time, Klaus had no reason to doubt his words.
His brows squinted in interest, swinging a blade in Noa's direction.
It was slow, visible to Noa's eyes, and knowing that it would miss, he stood unfazed.
Only after the sword finished its movement did he flinch, not betraying his persona to show how much of a scaredy-cat he was.
Klaus smirked in excitement.
"This is your final warning," he stated, ordering his minions to search him.
'May doom not leave you in solitude,' Noa muttered, unsheathed his sword, and lunged at Klaus with a battle cry.
It was the most helpless charge, and a knee dove into his gut, seizing his breath.
Noa dropped to the floor, staring at Klaus's sidekick, who grabbed his hair and, after getting permission, slit his throat.
As Aeris cried at his demise, Noa heard a voice.
"Don't worry. I will look after her."
It was the most disgusting sentence he had ever heard, and as the light flashed between his eyes, Noa scowled.
'Let's see how it goes.'
And with a quick loss of blood, he left the world of the living.
[ You died ]
The familiar voice sent him off.
As soon as he relished in white space, Noa shook his head and activated his skill.
[ Echo: 990/1,000 ]
It was his tenth time using the Echo of Doom.
For the very first time, Noa willed to go back to his original corpse instead of constructing a new one.
Creating new flesh always felt correct.
As if the talent itself advised him to do it, and because he preferred to spawn in a specific location to attack enemies from different angles, he had never changed this tactic.
Not anymore.
Noa's mind was pulled back into his still-dead remains.
He fought through the consistent pain that didn't impede his movements.
'I am back, bitches.'
Regaining his senses, Noa felt the blood on his neck, but the wound disappeared, leaving him with a perfectly usable body.
Slightly opening his eyes, he also saw his killer leaning toward him.
He clearly wanted to pick up the sword from Noa's hand.
"Not so fast," he said, making his move.
His sword slashed with lightning speed, separating a head from the shoulder.
[ You killed an Evolved Human Lv. 2 ]
[ You've gained 200 Experience Points ]
[ Level Up! ]
[ You've gained 0.3 stat points in Strength and Agility. You've gained 0.6 stat points in Vitality and Intelligence ]
[ You've gained 1 Attribute Point ]
The blood covered his face.
Noa caused the death of a human but felt nothing about it.
The only thing he did was retaliate, and knowing that Velrox was an unforgiving place, he was ready for this moment for quite some time.
Klaus thought Noa had died.
His sidekicks believed the same thing, but the boy moved and even murdered one of their friends.
This unimaginable sight stunned everyone.
But it was only the beginning.
"What the fuck are you doing, Noa Osbron?"
As Klaus braced to get revenge and punish him, Noa's mind shifted from his body to the guy he had just killed.
After slaughtering one man, Noa's eyes closed, and he dropped to the ground again.
He didn't disappear.
Only because he could choose not to.
In his place, the man who should have died by his hands moved, appearing as alive as ever.
Even the separated head regrew instantly.
Klaus questioned the reality.
"What's happening? Hey, Derek, are you alive?"
Yet, no answer came from Derek's mouth, as it was currently inhabited by Noa.
So he smirked and leaped at others, catching them off guard.
No one expected their friend would attack them in this chaos, especially after he was killed only moments ago.
"Derek?"
Noa arrived before them, thrusting his shabby dagger into the stomach, reaping another life.
Not wasting a glance at the system messages, he slashed at the last guy.
Unfortunately, Noa's current stats were lower than usual.
He had no time to study the skills he gained for controlling this body, and since confusion could take him only so far, his last strike was intercepted.
Klaus appeared before him as well.
"That shitface did something," he said, launching a finishing strike at his back.
Noa knew him fairly well and shifted his mind once again.
Possessing another puppet from the ground, he found an opening and decisively backstabbed the remaining henchman.
One more kill was added to his collection.
"What the?" Klaus asked, darting his eyes around.
He lost all three of his attendants in the blink of an eye.
They were his lackeys from the academy, and they obeyed his orders because of his wealth and status.
Now he was all alone, but when the understanding washed over him, it was too late.
"It's you, right? You did something!" he roared, addressing Noa's corpse.
"You are barking up the wrong tree," Noa answered, closing the distance with steady steps. "I am still here—in front of you, and I think it's time for us to have some fun."