Extra’s Rebirth: I Will Create A Good Ending For The Heroines - Chapter 397

Chapter 397: Murder Machine
“Why did you do this?” the priest croaked, voice trembling as he pressed his back against the altar behind him.

He stared at Feng like he was staring into the jaws of a starving beast.

He wanted or rather, he needed to know why this demon in human skin had attacked him today.

“If you’re here to assassinate me for the crimes in the Aegis Empire, then I assure you it’s all in the past. I’ve already repaid my debts to the Barfel.”

‘I haven’t repaid shit,’ he thought nervously.

But it would make sense if this stranger had been sent by them.

He owed the Barfel gang a great deal of money and one of the main reasons he’d crawled into this backwater town, hid inside this pathetic excuse of a temple, and accepted a life of obscurity… was to buy himself time.

“The Barfel?” Feng repeated, stopping mid-step. “What’s that?”

He was genuinely confused.

The predatory aura around him… the murderous buzzing that had swarmed the room flickered out like a candle touched by wind.

“You weren’t sent by them?” The priest blinked, then let out a shaky breath and actually laughed.

Relief washed over his face. “I was that worried for nothing, then.”

One of the reasons he had panicked so hard earlier was simple: Feng’s smile.

That monstrous, delighted smile.

It was the same expression the Barfel enforcers wore when they broke fingers, kneecaps, and lives for fun. They were all psychopaths.

“You do have a peculiar ability, though…” the priest muttered as he slowly floated up from the altar’s edge. “Sucking out the mana of your victims right after killing them… ha! Well, there are plenty of strange abilities in this world.”

A dark ripple spread across the floor.

The holy church walls warped.

The marble tiles melted into blackness.

The windows bled shadow until the entire chamber looked like it had been swallowed by midnight itself.

“I might not be on the level of a Great Mage,” the priest said, darkness crawling around his limbs, “but I’m strong enough.”

He raised both palms, black sigils swirling across them.

“And don’t mistake it… just because I act like a priest doesn’t mean I can’t fight head-on.”

He shot forward like a bullet.

Feng dodged with a small leap, landing soundlessly on the dark floor.

The priest smashed into the ground where Feng stood moments ago, sending a shockwave of black ripples across the shadowed surface.

Before Feng could readjust, the priest blurred again, appearing right in front of him.

A heavy kick shot toward Feng’s chest… he blocked it with his staff, but the sheer force sent him rocketing backward.

Feng’s back shot toward the shadow-covered wall. Spikes erupted around him as the priest swept his arm.

“It’ll be so hard to smuggle new help in at this rate!” the priest yelled. “What a mess!”

Three long spikes shot out toward Feng’s torso. They would’ve pierced through him like skewers… but his eyes glowed.

That feeling again.

The feeling that whispered:

Kill.

“I’ll… kill you,” Feng said.

He twisted his body mid-air and angled himself so he hit the wall shoulder-first instead of heart-first.

His feet connected with the shadowed surface and…

BOOM.

He launched himself forward with explosive mana, soaring straight toward the priest.

“My magic isn’t like my assistants’!” the priest roared as the entire chamber trembled. “Darkness… expand!”

The spikes thickened, multiplied, stretched until the room resembled a labyrinth of death. The priest made sure Feng had no path to him.

But Feng didn’t hesitate.

His eyes flashed.

His mana pulsed outward and though he couldn’t erase all the spikes, the ones in front of him… the lethal ones disintegrated under his gaze.

The rest slashed him as he passed, leaving several thin cuts along his arms and cheek, but he didn’t care.

He only cared about closing the distance.

And he did.

His foot lashed forward in a brutal arc.

The priest panicked, completely surprised about the fact the young man risked himself like that.

He summoned two massive spikes in front of himself like shields but Feng’s mana-infused kick smashed through them like glass.

Then…

CRACK.

His heel smashed into the priest’s jaw.

The older man flew backward, tumbling across the corrupted floor. The dark spikes faded away in an instant as his concentration shattered.

He curled a hand toward his face and felt his jaw dangling loosely, it was mangled beyond simple repair.

‘What the hell…’ he thought, eyes trembling. He wasn’t even a real priest.

Holy magic could heal shattered bone like this, but dark magic? No. It couldn’t heal at all.

And worse…

When he lifted his gaze…

He couldn’t see Feng’s face anymore.

The young man’s entire head was shadowed, wrapped in a black shadow except for his eyes… two blood-red crescents glowing like a demon’s and his smile.

That smile.

That terrible smile stretched thin and wide, showing far too many teeth, like a starving wolf staring at a bleeding throat.

The priest crawled backward instinctively.

Feng approached.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Bone spear trailing glowing lines behind him.

“What?” Feng asked quietly, tilting his head like a curious child. “You injured me a bit in our battle.”

He raised the spear.

“I’ll just do my own…”

The priest’s heart seized.

Feng crouched in front of him as his crazy smile widened even more somehow.

“I’ll take off your eyes… then your nose… then your mouth… then your ears too…”

His tone was gentle and tender.

“It’s a shame I can’t hear your screams,” Feng whispered, “but hey, at least your throat can still gurgle.”

And he brought the staff down.

The church filled with a wet, sickening sound.

Again.

And again.

And again.

…

Feng didn’t know how long it lasted.

But when the haze faded, when his breathing slowed, when his heartbeat stopped slamming against his ribs…

He felt the sensation dripping out of him like water through cupped hands.

‘Was that… adrenaline or…?’

He turned toward the corpse and his stomach twisted.

The priest’s skinned face stared up at him with raw flesh glistening.

He was eyeless… mouthless… and barely looked human. The kind of thing nightmares refuse to show you because it’s too cruel even for them.

‘Did I do that?’

He paused and tried to remember…

‘I enjoyed it.’

The realization was ice cold.

It disgusted him.

‘What would Master think…? Lady Edna? Lady Medusa? Even Lillia…’

He staggered backward, nearly tripping over one of the bodies. His breathing hitched.

His hands shook as he summoned the bone spear back into his grip.

‘I need to… clean all this up before anyone sees.’

He strode quickly toward the makeshift altar. A huge vial of red gas glowed faintly among the dark offerings. It looked volatile.

‘I’m not ever breathing that in,’ he muttered.

He shoved it into his storage ring.

Then he turned back toward the carnage.

‘What the fuck is going on tonight?’

He raised a trembling hand toward the bodies…

…

Far away, Azel soared through the cloudy night with his holy wings beating rhythmically, cutting through the wind.

Mana trailed behind him like stardust.

‘Ah… not allowing Griffins near Lepreun is crazy,’ he muttered internally.

At this rate, he’d reach Astra City by morning, maybe earlier if he didn’t slow down. Sybil’s parents were expecting him, after all.

The System chimed.

[Congratulations for completing the Second Minor Calamity before it started.]

[Awwn, you’re no fun.]

[Performance is being analyzed…]

[Feng has gained the title of 『Murder Machine』]

[Your Summon’s Performance is SSS.]

[Ding!]

[You have received a Special Reward.]

‘Nice,’ Azel thought, though he frowned. ‘Why the hell does Feng have a title like Murder Machine? I’ll question him when I get back.’

But that was a problem for another day.

“For now,” he muttered, wings glowing even more as he accelerated, “let’s go meet Sybil’s parents.”