"Then I'll take him down!" Ryan's eyes gleamed with a ruthless light, his mind already made up: he would devour Marius's level-eight Grimoire.

  If Marius's intentions were honorable, Ryan wouldn't mind offering a magical scroll as compensation. But if the man harbored ill intent, then Ryan's cruelty would be unavoidable.

  The magical world was a place where the strong devoured the weak. Either you consumed others, or you were consumed. He was merely following this eternal law.

  Back when he first arrived on the magical continent, he too had been trampled by those stronger than him, forced to hand over his hard-earned magical crystals and scrolls.

  As his magic level rose, he could crush heads with a single punch, shatter hearts, tear souls apart, and burn them to ash with purgatory fire using a Holy Flame Seal.

  Anyone who dared humiliate Ryan never had a good ending.

  Robbery was, after all, the fastest way to acquire resources in the magical world.

  That he even considered showing mercy was the result of eight lifetimes of tempered restraint; in previous lives, he would have struck to kill without hesitation.

  Ryan gestured with a hand chop toward Evelyn, his eyes radiating lethal intent.

  Evelyn glanced at him, instantly understanding. She raised her hand and lightly untied the binding rope, magical energy surging around her."I can subdue him in a matter of seconds."

  Before she finished speaking, Evelyn activated her Burst Step magic, her figure becoming a blur as she dashed toward Marius, who was frantically loading supplies.

  Marius, though busy with the weapons, remained on high alert. Stealing for years without being caught required more than just a level-eight Grimoire.

  Sensing the magical fluctuation behind him, he reacted instantly, unleashing his own energy. Using Shadow Retreat, he made several flying steps backward, narrowly avoiding Evelyn's first strike.

  When he fully saw his attacker, Marius was taken aback: it was a woman, her face hidden beneath a black cloth!

  From her icy, piercing eyes and the tight nightwear outlining her curves, he could already guess that her appearance must be breathtaking.

  "beauty, not sleeping at midnight? Come with me, and I'll make sure you eat well and have all the magical resources you want!" Marius grinned, his eyes unashamedly greedy.

  He shifted his steps, his figure weaving, right hand transforming into a claw aimed directly at Evelyn's chest. He wanted to capture her alive, for advantage and as an extra hostage.

  Evelyn remained expressionless. Just as Marius's claw was about to touch her chest, she vanished from sight in a streak of afterimage.

  "Not good!" Alarm bells rang in Marius's mind. He barely had time to turn when a chill ran down the back of his neck.

  Evelyn had reappeared behind him, a shimmering ultimate ice sword in her hand.

  Her eyes were devoid of emotion. With a swift flick of her wrist, the ultimate ice sword slashed across Marius's neck.

  Originally, she had intended only to knock him out. But Marius's earlier lecherous move had enraged her completely. Since he was reckless, there was no reason to hold back.

  The sword flashed, and Marius's head was instantly severed, rolling across the ground. Strangely, no blood spilled from the neck.

  Ryan stood where he was, meeting Evelyn's cold, emotionless gaze, and couldn't help shivering: this woman, when she got serious, was genuinely ruthless. But he liked it.

  Ryan was about to step forward when a sinister voice suddenly came from behind:"Beauty, die!"

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  It was Marius!

  A cunning smile twisted across Marius's pale face, magical energy rippling around him. He had obviously used a substitute to block a deadly strike just now.

  That headless corpse had merely been an illusion formed by the substitute, no wonder there was no blood.

  Before Evelyn could act, Ryan had already quietly activated his magic, moving to Marius's side in an instant. He swung his right leg with full force.

  A scream tore through the air as Marius slammed violently into the wall.

  The solid stone cracked under the impact, Marius's body sinking into the wall. His chest caved in, blood spewing from his mouth. The scene was horrifying, utterly impossible to ignore.

  Evelyn's eyes flickered with something unusual as she watched Ryan's astonishing strength. She had always known Ryan's physique was extraordinary, but she had never imagined his martial prowess could be this formidable.

  She did not intervene, merely observing the situation unfold.

  Ryan approached Marius and yanked off his hood.

  Marius's face was deathly pale, blood streaming from his mouth, his breath shallow and ragged, barely able to speak:

  "Don't… don't kill me. I'll give… all my possessions… and… and my hidden treasure map…"

  A white light flashed in Ryan's eyes as he activated Piercing Sense, a skill unlocked from his Grimoire that allowed him to see the target's true essence and state.

  Sure enough, although Marius appeared near death, a faint energy still lingered within him, clearly accumulating in secret for a possible counterattack.

  Ryan cursed inwardly. This fool really had a problem. If he killed him, all of Marius's possessions would naturally become his without needing Marius to hand anything over.

  Without hesitation, Ryan reached out, gripping Marius's neck and twisting hard.

  The sharp crack of bones echoed through the chamber as Marius's head fell at an unnatural angle. He was finally and completely dead.

  Evelyn stood silently behind, watching the scene unfold, astonished.

  She had thought Ryan was merely clever, but she had never expected him to strike with such decisiveness and ruthlessness, without the slightest hesitation.

  At that moment, Ryan's mind suddenly echoed with a Grimoire notification from Marius:

  【Host Marius detected as deceased. Grimoire unbound. Congratulations. Bind the Thief Grimoire?】

  Ryan raised an eyebrow. He already knew from his own Grimoire that Grimoires in this world followed a peculiar rule: they could only bind to transmigrators.

  No matter how talented a native of the magical continent was, they could never be chosen by a Grimoire. As for why, even Ryan's Grimoire refused to explain.

  This also explained why Evelyn, despite having slain countless enemies, had never realized the existence of Grimoires.

  Occasionally, when her opponents were on the verge of death, they would roar the name of their Grimoire and suddenly unleash power far beyond their normal limits, as if they were being resurrected.

  But in her eyes, these were merely the last desperate struggles of the defeated. The so-called Grimoire was at most a hidden trump card, akin to a magical substitute doll or a one-time-use burst scroll.

  Just like now, she watched Ryan standing beside Marius's corpse, seemingly lost in thought, assuming he was simply inspecting his loot.

  She had no idea that a soul-level Grimoire devouring battle was nearing its conclusion.

  【Detected…】 The Thief Grimoire's voice suddenly rang in Ryan's mind, clearly suppressed to the brink of collapse by his own Grimoire's devouring power.

  【Die, you fool! Don't even check whose host this is!】 A defiant voice shouted back, it was Ryan's Grimoire.

  The Thief Grimoire didn't even get to finish its words before being abruptly cut off, unable to utter its final sentence.

  Ryan had been curious about what it was going to detect, only to be interrupted by his own Grimoire.

  "Could you at least let it finish before devouring it?" Ryan complained silently. This was not the first time.

  Through eight reincarnations, he had slain dozens of Grimoire holders, even killing an Elder Mage with a Level 2 Grimoire in his eighth life.

  No matter the Grimoire's level, his own Grimoire would only allow it to say"Detected," blocking all the crucial information that followed. Even a Level 2 Grimoire was no exception.

  Though curious, he already suspected that his Grimoire was far from ordinary.

  A Grimoire that could devour other Grimoires and block their core detection information was certainly not a low-level one.

  【I'm full!】 the Grimoire burped lazily, its tone languid.

  【I didn't expect the Thief Grimoire's storage to hide some good stuff. Bonus reward: 50,000 Magic Origin Value and a rare Umbral Sword.】

  【Quickly pursue Evelyn and break through to Grand Magus!】

  Ryan looked down at his Grimoire panel: his Magic Origin Value had immediately surged to 250,000, and inside the storage space appeared a dagger-sized Umbral Sword, the weapon that had belonged to Marius.

  His earlier complaints instantly vanished, and Ryan couldn't help but grin:"What a blood profit!"

  Just then, he felt a tug on his wrist. Turning, he saw Evelyn holding the binding rope, preparing to tie them together again.

  "Grimoire! Buy today's extra-spicy chips and show them in my mouth!" Ryan called mentally.

  Coincidentally, the Grimoire shop had refreshed with extra-spicy chips today, and he had been eager to try them.

  【I just fell asleep and you woke me again!】 the Grimoire's voice was full of indignation, but it obediently complied.

  Ryan's Magic Origin Value panel instantly changed: 258,680 minus 3,000, leaving 255,680.

  The extra-spicy chips cost only 500 Magic Origin Value, but the Grimoire had added a 2,500 wake-up service fee classic opportunism.