069 TRASHED THE APP FINALLY
Then realization struck Dan. "He stole it. This blast must be one of his victims' skills."
If it was possible to steal ta stats, why not ta skills?
Dan had already experienced the sa when he obtained Flash Dash from Mad Cat. Kurt wasn't just growing stronger — he was becoming unpredictable.
Kurt's confidence surged.
He closed the distance and unleashed another blast of energy at Dan — almost at point-blank.
"Arghhh!" Dan scread as the heat seared his jacket, disintegrating the fabric. Only the high-quality armor he wore saved him from certain death.
The monster pressed the offensive, firing blast after blast. Dan had no advantage … he wasn't trained to fight against ranged units yet.
"Damnit, I can't fight against range", he complained.
Before he could react, Kurt's claws sunk into his neck. Dan struggled, kicking wildly, but it didn't stop the monster. Kurt was busy siphoning his essence.
This was the second ti Kurt had drained him, and he clearly intended to finish the job.
Resistance was futile.
Eryn scread, summoning wind currents to separate them. But it was useless — her powers weren't strong enough to stop Kurt.
Dan's body felt strange, wriggling as if it were no longer fully his. His essence was slipping away. He didn't even bother checking his stats on his phone — it was aningless.
"Is this my end?" he whispered. "If there's a guardian angel around , now would be the ti to show up."
Then, suddenly, Kurt dropped him, propelled into the air.
"What the hell?" Dan gasped.
Kurt's body froze mid-flight, restrained by an invisible force.
In the distance, Dan saw two figures approaching — a woman and a boy.
They were Sienna and Argent.
Sienna's hand glowed. Her psychic energy held Kurt firmly in place before she stepped forward, and Kurt's body was pulled toward her.
Argent watched with boredom as Sienna placed a hand on Kurt's distorted cheek.
"Get over with this sis, he's ugly", Argent said.
"Oh, Kurt… you've been a very bad boy. Stealing what doesn't belong to you… how should I punish you now?" Sienna asked softly.
Kurt didn't answer.
"Should we just kill him?" Argent asked.
Sienna shook her head. "Kill him? That would be a waste. He absorbed more power in a single day using my Ring of Greed than I did in an entire month pretending to be a pinky-pink teacher."
"He's also stricken with the otherworldly blood curse," Argent added.
"Yes… that too." Sienna glanced at Dan, who was bent forward, panting heavily.
Before Dan could respond, Sienna placed her palm against Kurt's forehead.
The abomination inside him recoiled.
Protruding bones slid back beneath flesh. Twisted muscle unwound. His body collapsed inward, reshaping itself until Kurt looked human once more.
Then Dan scread.
Pain detonated inside his skull.
It wasn't his own pain—it was Kurt's.
The blue curse bound them, braided their existences together, and now Dan felt Kurt's life being torn away. His Breath failing, his thoughts unraveling and his fear dissolving into void.
"Is this… how it feels to die?" he wondered dimly, the sensation overwhelming him.
Then—
There was nothing.
No pain. No fear. Just emptiness.
Sienna withdrew her hand.
Kurt's body hit the floor with a dull thud.
His eyes were empty. His soul was vacant. Whatever had once been Kurt was gone.
And yet— his body stirred.
Kurt stood up and bowed deeply before Sienna.
He was dead.
What remained was a shell. A puppet. A marionette awaiting its strings.
"What should I call you now?" Sienna mused.
She smiled.
"Ivory," she decided. "That will be your na from now on."
"Yes, my sister," Kurt replied obediently.
Sirens wailed in the distance—the police had finally arrived.
"We should be going," Sienna said lightly to Dan. "Wait for my call. We'll go for coffee soti… nephew."
Dan couldn't speak.
He had nearly died.
And his so-called guardian angel had turned out to be a bloodthirsty psychic god wearing a smile.
----
Dorin and Lander arrived at the scene with a battalion of soldiers. The governor had mobilized the reserve army to deal with Kurt—but the monster was gone.
"What happened here?" Dorin asked, her eyes scanning the carnage.
"What took you so long? I almost died," Dan snapped, brushing off debris.
"Where is Kurt?" Lander demanded.
Dan hesitated, tempted to fabricate a story.
The final appearance of Sienna and Argent could complicate things—they were his family, after all, and exposing them might have repercussions.
But with too many witnesses, especially Eryn, silence was impossible.
"They took Kurt away. One of them was the teacher, Miss Gallum," he said carefully.
"The other… a silver-haired boy?" Lander prompted.
Dan nodded.
Then, curiosity piqued, he asked, "Who are these two? So many Heroes died and couldn't stop Kurt, but those two just… took him away?"
Lander paused, his expression was unreadable. "That's none of your concern. So things are beyond your paycheck."
Dan smirked faintly, "You don't pay anything yet."
"Dan! Are you okay?" Eryn ca running, hugging him tightly after giving her statent.
"I'm… surprisingly okay," he replied.
"That's strange," Dorin said, eyeing the wrecked dormitory. "We sent out so many Rank E Heroes… and they were all killed. How did you survive?"
"You really want dead?" Dan quipped.
"No… I'm just curious," she said.
Dan gestured to his shredded armor. "It was the body suit Lord Nicaesa gave . Rank C effectiveness. I'd be dead without it. Pity its usefulness is over."
Lander glanced at the battered suit. It was beyond repair.
Later, the Veyran family arrived to escort Eryn ho while Dorin and Lander stayed behind, coordinating the aftermath.
Dan returned to his apartnt, craving for rest.
But sleep wouldn't co despite the exhaustion, not after everything he had seen.
------
Dan sank into thought, his mind replaying Kurt's rampage and the nightmare he had endured. The parallels were undeniable, and if Kurt's fate was any warning, Dan's own path was perilous.
Both of them had started as nobodies.
Then, suddenly, they ca into possession of life-changing tools — him, his mining app; Kurt, his Ring of Greed.
Both were greedy, taking what did not belong to them. And the more they took, the more they craved. Greed was never enough.
There was always sothing more to want.
During his brief but intense journey of growth, Dan had learned a law of nature: every gain demanded a cost. Everything had a price — even his cheat mining app.
He realized that if he continued to use it, he could end up like Kurt. One day rising to Rank D, the next losing it all. Even the benefits were fleeting, unstable.
And the feeling of dying… it affected him.
"Would I be caught one day, paraded like a witch and burnt at the stake? Or worse… would I turn into a monster like Kurt? Be killed?"
"Would I rather have less power and live a peaceful life… like what my parents wanted for ?" he asked himself.
The questions gnawed at him.
But after long, painful reflection, clarity erged. What mattered most was survival. Life itself. Without it, power and wealth were aningless.
"I'm giving up the mining app," he whispered to himself, resolutely.
He pulled out his phone, took a deep breath, and dragged the app icon to the trash.
"That's it, I quit," he said softly, a weight lifting from his chest.
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