The Villain has Perished

Sol stared at the charred corpse of Orca silently with an empty gaze. After warning Jae-sung of touching others' belongings, he didn't do anything else.

'Was that Orc someone he knew? He is behaving strangely.' Jae-sung jumped back to create distance from Sol. 'This is my chance. I don't know how he got out of the cage of flames but…'

"I'll end this with the new skill I received from defeating Griffin's quest."

The sword in Jae-sung's arm shined brightly. An eerie aura surged from the blade. The edge of the blade let off sizzling noise and white smoke.

"Hell Knight's Jud—"

Sol threw the small piece of Baratos' armor toward Jae-sung. Normally, Jae-sung would've dodged anything that an enemy threw at him, but this time he couldn't because Sol's action was sudden and he caught it.

"What's this…." 

Jae-sung stopped speaking. He gazed intently at the golden metallic piece on his palm. It took him only a few seconds to recognize the item.

"You, what did you do to Sir Baratos?"

Bellowing mana pressure gushed out from Jae-sung and shook his surroundings. The air trembled from its tyrannical might. 

"I asked you a ques–argh!!"

Suddenly, a boundless amount of pressure smashed on top of Jae-sung. The overwhelming might snuffed out Jae-sung's pressure like a candle flame. It was as if death itself was looking down at him.

Jae-sung's knees buckled and he almost fell to the ground. He buckled over and started coughing violently, while gasping through the gaps. 

"This amount… of mana Sa..int rank?" His eyes scanned the vicinity while he covered his body in condensed mana to fix his posture. "Who is hiding! Come out!"

No one responded to Jae-sung. Finally, Jae-sung returned his gaze to the icons on top of Sol's head.

[ Intermediate ]

[ Danger Level: ??? (White) ]

The two lines floating above Sol's head were one of Jae-sung's system-exclusive ability. 

His system allows him to gauge the exact rank of anybody he looks at directly. In this case, the robed figure – Sol – was evaluated as Intermediate rank, also known as 2nd Mortal Awakening rank.

Danger level was a tricky yet useful parameter. It was the numerical value of one's 'Combat Ability'. With it, Jae-sung had an easy time deciding whether he should fight or retreat.
But it had one weakness. Danger level would not become visible unless an enemy shows hostility toward Jae-sung.

'His danger level is still ???. He might be using an item that hides his identity, that must be why I can't focus on his face or voice. But then, where does this mana come from…' 

The (White) next to Danger level was the relative strength of Sol compared to Jae-sung. Jae-sung had identified 4 Danger level colors after waking up in this world.

Green Color – Can win without breaking a sweat

White Color – Victory is possible as long as proper caution is taken.

Red Color – Over 50% chance of defeat. Retreat Advised.

Black Color – 100% Defeat guaranteed. Combat will result in death.

"What are you?" Jae-sung shuddered when he realized that the source of the overwhelming amount of mana pressure was Sol. 

He thought, 'His mana and abilities are completely different from the Danger level. How is this possible? Should I wait for Lady Setsuna and Sir Klein before engaging?'

While Jae-sung was evaluating Sol, Sol completely ignored him. He raised his head and gazed at his surroundings silently, seemingly searching for something.

A few seconds later, Sol was headed in a certain direction. His actions brought Jae-sung out of contemplation.

"Stop! I won't let you leave before you tell me about Sir Bara—"

"Move and the knight dies."

Jae-sung froze. Had the Holy Knight Commander been taken hostage? But the Holy Knight Commander was a 2-star Grandmaster…

He didn't know what to do. If it was a bluff then there was no need to worry. However, in the minuscule chances that it wasn't then, Baratos' life was in danger. Not to mention, Lady Setsuna had warned him that the robbed figure had possibly abducted Sol.

Sol's feet came to a stop. He stood before a half-burnt Great Ape who was barely holding his life. It would've also died if not for dozen Great Apes who had formed a circle around it and protected it from fire. 

The Ape grunted and tried to attack Sol, hoping to fight even in death. 

Though it couldn't move anymore, it was twice as big as the other Great Apes and, using its gigantic physique, attempted to finish Sol by biting his head off. 

At the last second, Sol grabbed the monster's temples with a crushing grip and forcibly fed it the healing fruits.

"You are the leader of the Great Ape tribe, aren't you?"

The Great Ape didn't respond but it was clear that Sol's deduction was correct if one looked at the surroundings once. As the monster's arms healed enough to move, it clawed Sol.

A large amount of mana condensed in Sol's right arm. The Great Ape shrieked violently as Sol increased the strength behind his grip and it failed to execute the attack. 

The more the great ape tried to escape, the more Sol strengthened his hand grip. He then spoke unsympathetically to the great ape.

"Stop the war and return to your tribe."

The Great Ape's expression changed and it seemed to be confused. A bit later, it let out a peal of raucous laughter through its pain.

"Kakakaka, We are Great Apes, our tribe lives to battle and grow stronger through them. Who are you, an outsider, to teach us?"

"The overlord of the forest also wished the same."

"And the overlord is dead! Kakakaka! Without the battle our lives are meaningless, why should we sto—"

Bam!

The Great Ape tribe leader, Kaugnar's words were cut short when Sol smashed his head on the ground. 

'Is he talking with the monsters? What is he doing?' Jae-sung hadn't moved. 

He was waiting for Setsuna and Klein to return before doing something, as the situation was delicate. One wrong could cause them Baratos' life.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The echoes continued. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Sol stopped and stared at the bloodied and swollen face of Kaugnar with his cold, unfeeling eyes.

He held Kaugnar by the back of his head as if he was holding a piece of trash. "Look around you. Is this the battle you wanted? It isn't. Instead, it is a slaughter where your tribesmen were killed helplessly."


Kaugnar didn't laugh again when he saw the corpses of his fellow Great Apes. The corpses reminded him of the insult he felt today.

Majority of his tribe's warriors didn't die from fighting, but as collateral to the battle between the human clade in azure white flames and the Griffin. 

Sol didn't give Kaugnar more time to think. "I'll send the intruders out of the forest. You will focus on further strengthening your tribe instead of starting a war." 

"Who are you to dare ord–"

Bam!

Suddenly, Sol again smashed Kaugnar's face into the ground. 

Kaugnar's consciousness started dimming and he heard Sol's last words. "If you don't, I'll put an end to your tribe myself."

Then, Sol left him and returned to end things with Jae-sung. 

Kaugner hadn't lost consciousness even after Sol's last attack, nor was he planning on heeding Sol's words.

If it was Jae-sung, the one who killed their overlord, to say those words then Kaugner might've followed them. It was instinctive for the monsters to follow the strong.

Sol also understood this. And that was what he was about to do. He would show who was stronger between Jae-sung and him.