Absolute Beast Dominion

Chapter 617: Rescue And Destruction - 2

The cold expression on Leo’s face relaxed as he walked toward them, using water to wash the blood from his face.

People who didn’t know Leo naturally became frightened and begged for mercy. They had just watched him brutally murder a person, even if it had been a demon.

"P-please don’t kill me! I-I’ll do anything!"

"Y-you just killed the demons... does that mean you’re on our side, right?!"

Leo looked toward Lily, and she nodded.

"We are here to rescue you, so stay put and let us do our work."

Hearing that, many sighed in relief—not only because they wouldn’t be killed, but especially because they wouldn’t die the way that demon had.

Leo walked up to Patric.

Let’s see...

Thinking that, Leo pressed a finger against the top of Patric’s head. Patric’s expression was a mix of fear and confusion, completely unsure of what was happening.

Leo was trying to infuse his aura into Patric the same way he had seen Kaelion do when Miho was injured by Nord Birel’s soul-damaging dagger.

The difference was that this time, he was trying to cleanse Patric’s body of whatever drug had been forced into him.

After a few seconds of trial and error, Leo found the correct path and immediately removed the drug’s effects from Patric’s body.

A faint yellow glow of Leo’s aura spread across Patric’s entire body. Patric felt his strength returning, and now he was completely capable of moving. He felt so good that he could confidently say he could take on a Peak 2-star individual despite only being a High 2-star.

The moment Leo removed his finger, Patric immediately snapped his bindings and stood upright.

But before Patric could speak, Leo did.

"We’ll talk things over later. In short, she and I are not who we appear to be. We are undercover operatives on a secret mission to destroy all of Tilgarth, which has been corrupted by demonic influence to its very core."

Patric opened his mouth to speak something, but Leo had already turned and moved on to the others to clear the drug’s effects. Now that he knew what to do, each treatment took only a second with a simple tap on the forehead.

Leo knew no meaningful talks could be done right now when their minds weren’t in the right place after what they had watched and seen.

Meanwhile, many demons rushed into the room after hearing the commotion. But the moment they crossed the entrance, headless corpses dropped to the floor as Lily severed their necks with swift wind blades.

Then she even proceeded to use vines to pull them away into dark corners so the demons outside wouldn’t get alerted.

Naturally, this unsettled the rescued people, making them flinch every time another body hit the ground with a dull thud.

Once everyone had been freed, they fidgeted nervously, not even daring to make eye contact with Leo or Lily.

Some had even fallen to their knees. Many thanked them, while others remained too terrified to say anything, afraid of offending the duo.

But the most interesting group was Patric’s party. They swallowed nervously after realising how casually they had interacted with such terrifying people. Shreya especially was sweating bullets, even having completely forgotten to wipe away the tear stains on her face that she had shed earlier.

She didn’t even recall what kinds of names she had called them before.

As a mage, she understood exactly how much control and power someone needed to casually sever multiple necks at once with nothing more than an effortless backhand swipe.

Thankfully, both Leo and Lily seemed occupied discussing their next step as Leo looked up at the dark ceiling above.

"Looks like these demons brought us beneath some empty part of the city..." he said, raising his hand.

At the same time, Lily cast a wind barrier around the area so Patric and the others wouldn’t be affected by what Leo was about to do.

Leo’s eyes turned crimson as he activated the [Sunblood Infernal Physique], and intense flame energy gathered in his palm.

[Solarflare Torrent]!

FRUUUUUUUSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

A blazing torrent slammed into the ceiling, instantly spreading outward in every direction. But Lily’s wind control kept the flames compressed, forcing them to converge at a single point. She herself remained protected behind layers of wind and water barriers, both effective against the high-level flames because Leo was already controlling them well enough that very little heat reached her.

As for Leo himself, his body was immune to flames—especially when he was using them with slightly less power than maximum. As for when his clothes burned away, the spirit clothes revealed themselves and remained intact, which he had worn inside.

In no time, the flames bored through the ground like a red-hot rod piercing foam.

The reason Leo chose such a flashy approach instead of simply using the Earth manipulation was because they needed attention.

As much attention as possible.

And Leo got exactly that as a thick, raging pillar of fire erupted through the earth and pierced the sky, stretching for kilometres.

Patric and the others were left speechless, as though refusing to accept what they had just witnessed.

Shreya collapsed to her knees watching that, and she wasn’t the only one. And some who didn’t collapse had their legs shaking, even strong men like Liam and Patric.

Leo turned toward Lily.

"Lily, you’re in charge of safeguarding the innocent people. Meanwhile, I..."

He looked upward, and his body slowly began to levitate.

He shot through the massive hole and soared high into the sky, taking in the sight of a vast, almost circular city nearly 20 kilometres in diameter.

From above, countless rooftops stretched endlessly beneath him, connected by narrow streets bustling with movement. Tall watchtowers stood along the massive city walls, while faint trails of smoke rose into the sky, making the sprawling city seem active and healthy despite the corruption festering within every corner.

"So... this is what we’re tasked to destroy."

Looking down, he saw city guards and soldiers already converging on the location.

"What if I end up killing innocent people?" he asked himself.

"And what if I let a demon escape because I mistake it for an innocent?" he asked again.

There was no way for either him or Lily to distinguish ordinary people from demons yet, and that created a massive margin for error.

Thankfully, the answer had already been given on his phone. But it wasn’t really a solution...

Just an escape from responsibility.

>This is your first mission; mistakes will not be tolerated but expected. Use this as a learning experience and perform better next time. Remember, this is your first real step into the world; falling is the first setback before you start running.

In simple words, there would be no problem if Leo let demons escape...

Or if innocent people died.

Their objective was the destruction of the city.

Leo took a deep breath.

"Truly... remaining weak is simply handing the reins of your life to someone else," he muttered.

Today, he held the reins of every life in this city.

A privilege of the strong.

But of course, Leo would still do his best to keep the innocents out of harm’s way.

"Lust Demons, huh... They have one distinct trait. The veins across their bodies turn pink whenever they exert their powers. I’ll try to target only them."

With that, Leo raised his hand.

Skrrreeeeee!

Flap!

Agnivar appeared above him, his massive wings spreading as he began circling through the sky.

"Lord! When did you learn to fly without wind?" he asked.

"That’s a question for later. Right now—"

Leo pointed toward the city walls.

"Raze everything to the ground and kill any soldier on sight. Remember—only soldiers wearing the city’s official armour. No one else, even if they attack. The armour will be easy to recognise."