After the Molotov vial with the [Wildfire] ability shattered, huge flames spurted out of it within a single moment, as fire engulfed the huge cavern entrance.

Only a few seconds later, a total of eight explosions echoed through the surrounding area and Shane knew that the other Molotov vials had exploded too.

He retreated a few steps, waiting for burning bats to fly out of the elemental crystal cavern entrance, only to see that a huge colony of bats flew out of a different cavern entrance.

They were screeching in pain, but Shane was sure that they would survive as long as they didn't remain too long within the flames.

As such, the weight of his guilt was not as heavy as he initially expected it to be.

Nevertheless, when he heard the loud screeches from within the cave, he couldn't help but frown as he shuddered and goosebumps covered his whole body.

There was a price one had to pay for being too greedy and the bats that remained within the elemental crystal cave despite feeling the flames, whose heat was high enough to burn a peak-Awakened stage beast alive were plain dumb.

Half an hour later, the screams subsided and were replaced by complete silence as a ten-meter-long peak-Awakened stage bat that was almost completely burned flew out of the elemental crystal cave.

It saw Shane, but couldn't care less about the two-legged being that stared at it with cold eyes.

A large lake was located near the elemental crystal cave which the bat targeted, only to notice that the flames on its body were already extinguished.

Meanwhile, Shane, who saw all of this couldn't help but sigh, disappointed that the lower-ranked beasts hadn't survived the inferno he had created within the elemental crystals cave.

'They could have survived, if not for their greed!'

He told himself before calling himself a hypocrite for burning someone else's home while having such a thought.

Nevertheless, Shane simply stared at the cavern entrance that was still burning.

'How many hours will it take until the flames extinguish?...Well, it doesn't matter as long as the elemental crystals remain intact.'

However, the moment he thought about that Shane could see the large group he had followed several hours earlier, walking out of the forest, only to see him in front of the burning cavern entrance.

This astonished them and they required a few seconds to comprehend what was going on as the blond-haired swordsman stepped forward, with a bright smile on his face.

"Was it you, who burned this cave? I presume it's an elemental crystal cave?"

When Shane saw the blond-haired swordsman's eyes, he could tell that there was a small problem he had to solve, if possible, before the fire was extinguished.

"Yes, that was me, if there is nothing else, please excuse me!" He didn't like this youth's eyes that gleamed in almost obsessive greed!

If it was any relief, the others around the young swordsman, however, stared daggers at him.

This included even the young healer he had presumed to be the blond-haired swordsman's sister.

'Did something happen?'

He was not sure what had transpired in a single moment to change the expressions on the runemaster's face that had been completely fine a moment before.

The young runemaster who had changed the tides of their large group's fight by inscribing a large-scale magic circle on an enlargement parchment, looked as if he was barely hanging on to his life.

At the same time, the female healer attempted to heal him consistently.

"Jack! Let's go!! Don't you think you've done enough to Nial? I can barely keep him alive because of you!!" The blond-haired woman admonished him which caused Jack, the swordsman to turn around.

"Didn't you hear what he said? We allowed him to join our team and he demands to receive a share of our profits? He is nothing but a mere runemaster!! Kylia….Sis, do you side with Nial instead of me??? Is that what you are doing right now??"

Based on this short discussion, Shane could tell that Jack, the swordsman, and leader of their group thought too highly of himself, while he didn't want to acknowledge the runemaster's major role in their hunt of the winged goat.

Nevertheless, it was still weird to see how badly beaten up the runemaster was and Shane could tell that something was off with Jack. His assumption was proven correct as Kylia, the healer and Jack's sister responded,

"You've never been like this!! What are you doing right now? Let's just go back and maybe a professional can look over you too?"

When Jack heard this, he was unable to suppress his anger anymore. He didn't know what was happening to him, but everything enraged him, including the wind brushing past him.

Rage consumed him and Shane, who had been standing on the side observing Jack and his group, noticed that the swordsman's eyes began to turn red, with the white in his eyes turning black.

"YOU, LET MYSELF BE CHECKED, MAYBE I SHOULD TAKE CARE OF Y-..."

Jack, who had yelled at his sister in an enraged voice was about to unsheath his longsword when he suddenly noticed faint mana fluctuations behind him.

These faint and tranquil mana fluctuations erupted within a moment, turning into a tidal wave that enveloped Jack, as he felt bloodlust intertwined with killing-intent weighing down on him.

He wanted to move, but he had let his guard down as he hadn't expected anyone to attack him.

Only a moment later, he felt something blunt hitting his temples as his sight blurred before he fainted.

Shane, who had unleashed a small part of mana which the Hidden Paradise had stored, sheathed his curved longsword after wiping the blood on its handle.

"Good Job Cosmo!" He mumbled to his companion who had used the [Space Jump] ability to appear behind Jack without releasing any mana fluctuations.

Looking at Jack he scratched his chin faintly before he turned to the group Jack had led.

"Was that too much?" Shane asked, not sure what the young men and women's expressions indicated.

"Noo….I guess?" Kylia was the first to regain her composure which didn't mean that she could avert her gaze from Shane whose sudden attack had shocked her greatly.

The other young men and women were equally stunned and they asked themselves if they would have been able to evade such a swift and smoothly executed attack if they had been in place of their leader.

Shane had used the best timing to initiate his attack in which he unsheathed his curved longsword while his tamed beast had created a spatial portal through which they had emerged.

Until this point, everything had been clear, however, when Shane had unleashed an enormous amount of mana and bloodlust-killing-intent, all the other group members had involuntarily stiffened as well.

His physical strength had yet to reach the peak-Expert stage, but that didn't mean he was unable to launch a surprise attack against someone with a higher mana purity and physical strength.

Even less if it was possible for him to use Hidden Paradise's mana and Cosmo's [Space Jump] ability to make the whole process smoother!

"I apologize for intervening in your business, but I doubt that Jack if that is his name, would have let me off too, right? In that case, it was my business too."

Most members of the large group were still shocked and just nodded their heads, while Kylia could only look at her brother with both anger and worry.

She was angry that he had attacked one of their own team members, without reason at that, while she was worried about his current state.

It was obvious that Jack was unconscious, but Kylia knew that he had never faced an anger management issue!

He was arrogant and full of himself, but definitely not someone who beat up others because they wanted a part of the prey they had hunted!

"I think everyone's a little bit astonished about this young man's sudden angry outbursts, right? As some of you may know, I was present during your group's fight against the demonized winged glacier goat. During the fight, the demonification had been drastically reduced and after the goat had been killed its carcass released a black smoke...did someone see that?"

Shane asked this question in order to find a witness. As expected, multiple members of the large group lifted their hands, telling Shane that there were many who had seen this.

"If I'm not wrong, the black smoke was the reason for the goat's demonized state, and after its death, the released smoke must have searched for a new host to infest. If my guess is correct, it means that this young man is the new host of the black smoke and he is about to be demonized, which would explain his sudden anger management issue!"

Nobody knew who Shane was or why he explained all of that to them, but somehow, his words sounded logical to the group that looked at him with interest.

Only Kylia was able to retain her senses, however, shock could be seen in her eyes as she exclaimed

"We have to depart immediately! Nial has to survive and Jack needs to see a priest or something like that!!!"

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