"S… stop this!"

Gil could only look around as blood drowned the once dried land. As if the heavens themselves were crying endlessly, the people that he once shared stories with were now killing each other. He thought that they had a chance to make peace with the things they have done outside, but now that opportunity was right in front of them, they just reverted back to being… them.

​​

No… there was still a chance. He has seen it, there was a chance for them to change.

"...What are you doing up there, Mister Gil?" Van could only look towards the Village's palisade as Gil was handing on top of it, screaming his lungs out as he scanned the battle from above.

"This is enough!" Gil, however, did not even hear Van. There was so much chaos drowning the air that he was almost deaf to even his own breaths. Instead, he just continued to shout, "This is a new life for you! Please do not waste the second chance that this place has given you!"

Gil then looked back, to the other side of the palisades where all the children and women were looking at him; their eyes filled with fear with the roars of their husbands, sons, and fathers.

"Please, stop this!" Gil once again turned his eyes towards the small battlefield even knowing that his efforts were in vain.

Van let out a long and deep sigh as the expression on his face could no longer be painted. He thought that Gil was a good man… could it be that he was just insane?

He has been shouting ever since the battle started, but not even once did he gather the attention of even a single person. It was complete mayhem. The elements all mixed together, creating a thunderous noise as they bombarded their little battlefield.

People have also been attacking those that were on their same side, everyone looked like each other in this chaos. With Van's group, Cynthia seemed to be enjoying the happenings the most as Van could hear her cackling all the way from his position.

Unsurprisingly, though, Gerald adapted to the violence in no time. He had already killed 5 men, not even bothering which side they were on; he just let loose.

"What are the two of you doing!?" Nisha retreated to Van's side as she tried to catch her breath, "Are you guys stupid!? There's a war going on here and the two of you are leisurely just standing there!"

"Mister Gil is refusing to go down."

"Get the fuck down there, you fucking imbecile!" Nisha could not help but scream in frustration as she looked at Gil, hanging and howling like a monkey on the palisade, "We need both your help! We're already starting to lose lives here!"

"...Lose lives…

…!!!"

Van quickly scanned the battlefield, slightly letting out a small breath as something that should be there was not.

There were already more than a dozen people dead, but no soul in sight.

"..." Van furrowed his eyebrows before suddenly disappearing from his spot. He rushed towards the nearest enemy he could find, stretching his arm and plunging his hand straight to the man's heart.

"H… huh?" The man could only look slowly turn his head downwards as he felt a slight ache in his chest, his eyes, however, never looked up again as Van pulled out his heart right in front of him.

With Van's current VIT, he can punch through even a System Holder's body without harming his hand; it was however only limited to non-Enhancers. If he were to slap his palm towards an Enhancer way stronger than him, he would surely lose a hand.

"..." Van then nonchalantly dropped the man's heart on the ground. He then blinked a couple of times as a Dark Soul slowly wriggled its way from the man's body.

'...I have to kill them myself?' Van could only let out a tiny breath as his System collected the Soul.

[New Information has become available for your Passive Skill: Gift of Hermes.]

"!!!"

All of a sudden? It was the first time his System had notified him of something like this. Extremely curious, Van's fingers slowly moved towards the window, almost forgetting where he was.

"B… brother!"

Before Van's finger could tap the Window, a man rushed towards him from the front. Van did not even need to use his speed to be able to avoid him, even tripping the man with his foot as he dodged him.

He was about to stomp the man's head, however, before he could do so, Cynthia suddenly appeared from the chaos and stabbed the man's throat without any hesitation.

"..." That was supposed to be his EXP, Van thought.

"Sorry, little boss," Cynthia giggled as she looked Van straight in the eyes, "My hand slipped," she then licked the blood that got on her knife before rushing back again to the center of the chaos.

Van could only let out a short sigh as his body slightly blurred, completely avoiding a spinning disc of death that was flying directly towards his neck.

"..." Van looked at where the disc came from, but alas, all he could see were people killing each other. Nonetheless, that Mage-type skill could have only come from one person-- Grant. He should probably kill him now during the chaos to avoid problems in the future.

"Please, we can still end this peacefully!"

"...What the?"

Van was about to join the chaos, but before he could do so, Gil's voice once again entered his ears.

"Don't you want a new life!? There are women here, maybe you can even fall in love!"

"..." That was it, Gil was not a good person, he is just as crazy as the rest of them. He should just drag him down before he gets himself killed, Van thought as he approached Gil while releasing a long and deep sigh.

"Mister Gil, what are you still doing--"

Before Van could even finish his words, Gil suddenly dropped to the ground.

"!!!"

"M… Mister Gil!" Van rushed towards Gil, only to see him sprawled on the ground with his head slightly bleeding. His eyes, however, were awake.

"W… what happened?" Gil let out a stuttered breath as he tried to get up, but his body did not allow him to do so, "I… feel like shit."

"Because you are shit," Van could not help but click his tongue in response as he checked Gil's condition, "Stay there. This battle will be over soon."

Van's already furrowed eyebrows were slightly shaking as he slowly stood up. Ever since he has gained friends in the Academy, he has obtained this sudden flicker of attachment to people that were just a little bit close to him.

Perhaps it was a sort of longing or craving for something that he didn't have for 16 years when he was still in the Relic Graveyard… but whenever he sees people close to him getting hurt, he just…

"Miss Nisha! Miss Cynthia and Husband!"

"Eh?"

"Hm?"

Nisha and Cynthia, who were busy fighting people, could not help but slightly glance towards Van as they heard his voice even from all the chaos that was drowning the air.

"...Kill them all."