The guards in the village heard a terrifying noise from outside.

  They froze.

  "What was that?!" one of them asked, his eyes wide.

  "I... I don't know."

  Another guard smiled nervously.

  "It's probably the agonized screams of the demon being slaughtered by Haloy."

  "Yeah." A third nodded with conviction. "It can only be that."

  They looked at each other in silence.

  No one wanted to go check.

  No one suggested anything.

  And that suited everyone just fine.

  ---

  Three surviving Archons noticed Hiro and Lucia running towards the outside of the village.

  Where Haloy was.

  Seeing their clothes, they immediately categorized them as demons.

  "Do we stop them from going to help the demon Haloy is fighting?" asked a blue-eyed Archon, her voice tense.

  A violet-eyed Archon shook his head.

  "Do nothing. We're badly injured. Only three survivors able to move."

  "Four," another corrected weakly.

  He looked around.

  "I don't see Mirya's body. She must have fled… or been thrown further away."

  They decided to let Haloy handle the rest.

  They believed in him.

  They didn't really have a choice, anyway.

  ---

  The adventurer took a step back, his nose wrinkled.

  A foul smell was beginning to spread in the air.

  What is this unbearable stench, he thought.

  It was the worst smell he had ever encountered in his life.

  Haloy took a step forward, perfectly relaxed.

  "Why are you backing away?" he asked with a small smile. "Are you scared?"

  "Don't come any closer!" shouted the adventurer.

  Haloy quickened his pace.

  The adventurer began to flee.

  He couldn't stand the smell anymore. This invisible suffering had to stop.

  Haloy's eyes turned red. One eye red, the other yellow.

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  They were glowing.

  The adventurer started running into the forest, almost tripping over roots.

  Haloy pursued him closely, his footsteps barely audible despite his speed.

  The adventurer, seeing he was being followed, quickly chanted as he turned his head.

  "Multidimensional Outpouring!"

  Wide jets of lava erupted from two directions at once, tearing through the ground and tree trunks, aiming for Haloy.

  Haloy dodged with a simple shift of his body.

  But a third jet came out of nowhere.

  Haloy twisted in the air to dodge.

  The adventurer panicked, noticing Haloy was really fast. Way too fast.

  The temperature around him exploded. The ground became soft, glowing.

  He sent successive waves of lava at Haloy, like a tide of molten rock.

  The sound of the chant was completely masked by the noise of the battle and the rumble of molten rock.

  Haloy went straight through, punching holes in the lava and creating gaping openings in the burning waves.

  His eyes turned orange for a few moments.

  The adventurer saw him get covered in lava.

  Half a second later, it exploded.

  BOOM.

  A shockwave swept the area, stripping bark from the trees.

  Then, roots and branches from everywhere in the forest rushed at the adventurer.

  He was assailed by thousands of blows, then immobilized.

  Haloy walked towards him.

  The back of his robe was not clean.

  In general, his robe was ruined. Burnt.

  Without context, anyone could have mistaken him for a vagrant… or someone who had just survived a wild animal attack.

  "It's time to pay for attacking Lapithathon," Haloy said calmly.

  The next instant, a monumental punch smashed into his face.

  His head snapped to the side with a sharp crack.

  He was thrown backward by the force of the impact, his heels digging into the ground, but he held firm.

  The adventurer had held his breath.

  I need to end this fight as quickly as possible, he thought, his lungs burning.

  He lunged at Haloy, ready to finish him in close combat.

  Haloy's eyes returned to yellow and red.

  He dodged several sword strikes.

  The adventurer almost disappeared.

  A trail of air split the forest — SHRAAAK.

  Haloy simply tilted his head.

  The blade grazed his face and cleanly sliced through three trees behind him.

  He retaliated with a heel kick to the ribs.

  The adventurer slid back two meters, plowing the ground.

  He quickly re-engaged.

  Six glints of steel at once — a rapid-fire striking technique.

  Haloy pivoted on a fallen log, deflected the blade with his shin, dodged the others, and snapped a spinning kick into the jaw.

  The shockwave pulverized the surrounding bark.

  A thin red line suddenly appeared on Haloy's torso.

  He hadn't even seen the cut.

  He leaped back, wiped the blood from his fingertips, a strained smile on his lips.

  "Not bad."

  ---

  Mirya was in the temple.

  The air was still cold, laden with humidity, and small shards of ice were slowly melting on the stone floor.

  She had freed herself by melting Cassian's ice, leaving behind puddles and traces of water.

  That idiot, she thought with a smirk.

  Did she really think I wouldn't be able to free myself?

  Cassian should have also stopped her from speaking. Or, even better, put her completely out of commission.

  Mirya frowned slightly.

  Unless… it was on purpose?

  She didn't like that thought at all.

  If it was on purpose, then returning to fight might not be the best idea.

  She had already freed all the guards stuck in the temple. Her "duty" was technically accomplished.

  Anyway, she was free.

  But deep down, she had absolutely no desire to go back into combat.

  She took a deep breath, then put on a determined expression.

  "Guards!" she shouted, striking a theatrical pose. "I'm going back to pursue the demons!"

  Her real goal was much simpler: hide somewhere safe until Haloy exterminated them all.

  The guards, still shaken, looked at her with admiration.

  "GLORY TO MIRYA!"

  "SHE'S SO BRAVE!"

  Mirya smiled weakly.

  ---

  The adventurer was beginning to run out of oxygen.

  His chest rose with difficulty, as if the air resisted him.

  Just one breath, he thought, desperate.

  The moment he took a deep breath, he regretted it.

  He was way too close to Haloy.

  The smell entered his lungs like invisible poison.

  "GHH—AAAH—!"

  His throat seized up, his eyes rolled back.

  He lost consciousness on the spot.

  He collapsed to the ground in a position that would have been excruciatingly uncomfortable if he were awake.

  Haloy blinked, surprised.

  Do I stink that bad?

  He looked down, perplexed.

  Around him, the grass was yellowing visibly. The little wildflowers withered, their petals curling. A leaf detached from a bush… then another… before the entire branch dried out.

  An invisible, but visibly lethal, smell.

  …

  "Ah."

  Anyway, he had defeated the demon.

  But before returning to the village…

  He absolutely had to deal with his smell.

  ---

  Hiro and Lucia arrived running.

  They saw the adventurer on the ground, motionless.

  And right next to him, a gigantic swirling column of water rising towards the sky.

  Then, gradually, the column dissipated into a fine rain.

  Haloy stood there.

  He was fresher than ever. Soaked, but this time somewhat clean.

  Hiro and Lucia immediately understood it was him.

  He looked exactly like the statues in the village.

  Haloy noticed them immediately.

  With a single glance, he saw they weren't from the village.

  He hadn't expected there to be other adventurers nearby.

  This is more serious than I thought, he thought.

  Hiro and Lucia, meanwhile, were mostly struck by the devastation around them: uprooted trees, melted ground, smoking craters.

  Haloy then saw, further away, Cassian and Lena approaching in haste.

  He was clearly irritated now.

  "More of them."

  When Hiro turned around, he was surprised that Cassian and Lena were already there.

  They took a moment to arrive and explain to Hiro why they had quickly left the temple.

  Haloy walked towards the group.

  He looked at Cassian.

  "I know you."

  Cassian frowned.

  "What?"

  "We've crossed paths before. In Leefside." Haloy smiled. "I don't see an elf every day. So I remember."

  He pointed a finger at her.

  "You're even wearing the same clothes. Well… the same outfit."

  Cassian looked at him more closely.

  Then she remembered.

  It was true.

  The day her money pouch was stolen, she had accidentally crossed paths with someone with a huge bounty on his head.

  She had recognized him from the wanted poster.

  Haloy chuckled softly.

  "I didn't think you'd go so far as to pursue me all the way here for the bounty."

  "It's a coincidence," said Cassian.

  Haloy, who was still about ten meters away, simply took a step.

  In the blink of an eye, he was in front of her.

  ?Cassian first felt an icy chill pierce through her abdomen.

  Then, a burning heat.

  She slowly looked down.

  Haloy's arm had gone through her abdomen, emerging from her back in a scarlet spray.

  Time seemed to freeze.

  Hiro, Lena, Lucia… even Cassian… struggled to comprehend what had just happened.

  Haloy withdrew his arm with a sharp motion, splattering the ground.

  "I don't believe in coincidences," he said in a low, slow voice.