A few days after conversing with the strange viewers, Adam was left with a strive to a get stronger even faster...
He didn't specifically know the conditions to make sure the ti reversal was kept permanent till the day the catastrophe arrived, but since those strange usernad viewers told him to get stronger...
Then he definitely would do so.
Now standing within one of the captured orc settlents, Adam observed the gathering of Stream Hunters who had allied with the orcs.
Most of them had contributed to the faction war, but so had only shown up now, after the battle had already been decided.
Among the crowd, Kristoff frowned as he leaned toward Leila, lowering his voice.
"Tsk... so of these guys weren't even around during the attack. They doubted us, and now they want to reap the rewards?"
Leila, standing beside him, simply shook her head.
"Can you bla them? If soone told you that two people would take down an entire undead settlent, would you have believed them?"
Kristoff let out an annoyed huff.
"Maybe not. But still, seeing them here pisses off."
Just as he was about to complain further, he suddenly froze.
A strange heat spread through the ground beneath them.
The air shimred, and then—
FWOOOOSH—!
Flas erupted from the dirt, rising in a spiraling inferno.
A silhouette erged from within the fire, stepping forward as the flas dissipated.
The man who appeared had wavy blond hair, an unsettling grin, and a massive broadsword strapped to his back.
His presence alone radiated an air of arrogance and recklessness.
Kristoff's eye twitched.
"Shit… speak of the devil."
The blond man smirked as he t Kristoff's gaze.
"Kristoff! You're looking as ugly as ever."
He greeted mockingly.
"By the way, your cousin's still single, right?"
Kristoff's expression darkened instantly.
"Bastard. You just ruined my day."
He crossed his arms.
"How the hell did you get here?! Weren't you on the other side of the floor?"
The man's smirk widened.
Kristoff's eyes narrowed.
"You put a teleportation mark on my cousin, didn't you?"
The man chuckled.
"Nope. I put a mark on you."
Kristoff froze.
"...What?"
The blond man continued smugly.
"Honestly, I thought you'd notice. But I guess I gave you too much credit. You really didn't bother checking yourself for foreign markings?"
Kristoff's expression twisted in fury as he frantically inspected his own body, running his hands along his arms, shoulders, and torso.
"Where the hell did you put it?!"
The man humd in amusent.
"Try checking your forbidden areas. Might be there."
Kristoff's face turned red with rage.
"You—!"
his anger was cut off as he finally spotted the teleportation mark.
A reddish-black insignia burned into the side of his forearm.
Without hesitation, he channeled his mana, erasing it instantly.
The blond man sighed dramatically.
"Damn. I'll have to place the next one sowhere you'd never think to check."
Kristoff, barely containing his rage, pulled out his shield, fully prepared to bludgeon the smug bastard standing before him.
Leila, standing to the side, had already taken several steps back, distancing herself from what was sure to beco a disaster.
'Kristoff is bad enough, but when paired with Cael...'
Kristoff was an uncouth loudmouth, but Cael... known by his stream codena, The Atrocious One, was in a league of his own.
He had no regard for social etiquette, constantly pushing the boundaries of acceptable behavior.
When these two were together, every conversation devolved into crude remarks, inappropriate jokes, and a complete disregard for the sanity of those around them.
Cael suddenly turned his attention toward Leila, grinning.
"Oh? My favorite fortune teller won't even greet ?"
Leila shot him a cold look.
Cael ignored it and leaned closer.
"I've been curious for a while now… Mind telling how many wives I'll end up with in the future?"
Leila's expression remained unreadable as she calmly replied.
"I curse you. Your future wife will be a grotesque orc with four arms and three hundred sharp teeth."
Cael let out an exaggerated playful gasp.
"How could you be so cruel?!"
Leila turned away, uninterested in further conversation.
anwhile, Adam, who had been organizing the other Stream Hunters, finally took notice of the escalating commotion.
His gaze flickered toward Kristoff, Leila, and the unknown blond man.
He frowned.
"We are about to start the discussion. Quiet down."
His words carried a calm authority that made the group imdiately fall silent.
Kristoff and Leila both shut their mouths and quickly took their seats.
Having spent the past few days under Adam's leadership, they knew better than to test his patience.
If they didn't keep quiet, he would probably forcefully shut them up...
Cael, however, was unfazed.
Instead, he turned toward Adam, raising an eyebrow before suddenly speaking in a loud voice.
"Hey, you're the so-called Chosen Conduit, right?"
The mont he said the na, multiple heads turned, their curiosity piqued.
Cael grinned.
"Damn. How did you manage to trigger a worldwide system announcent?"
[pb_jelly has donated 30 coins]
[pb_jelly] : This one's even more loudmouthed than Kristoff...
[Ken_The_Destroyer has donated 15 coins]
[Ken_The_Destroyer says to beat him up directly]
[Experienced Old Knight] : Hm, he has no social boundaries at all... Although I'm against constantly using violence as a solution, perhaps a little few punches will do good...
[Bird Hunter agrees]
[Frog Eater is frightened by the amount of violence seeping out of the chat]
Adam t Cael's gaze but didn't imdiately respond.
There was a deliberate pause, a mont stretched thin between them, filled with nothing but the distant sounds of crackling torches and faint murmurs of other Stream Hunters in the distance.
Then, Adam finally spoke.
"...You're Cael. The Atrocious One."
Cael's grin widened, sharp and amused.
"Oh? You've heard of ?"
Adam let out a low hum, eyes scanning the man before him.
Cael, The Atrocious One.
The na wasn't just infamous... it was burned into history.
In his past life, this guy had gone berserk on the 15th floor, leaving behind nothing but corpses and bloodied halls.
Dozens of innocent people had been slaughtered.
No motive. No remorse.
It had forced the governnt's hand, leading to the reinforcent of the Stream Hunter Psychological Wellbeing Law, a asure designed to prevent such massacres in the future.
All Hunters were required to undergo psychological evaluations before advancing past the 10th floor.
Cael had scored the lowest in history.
A single glance at his report had made one thing clear: this man was a walking disaster waiting to happen.
But instead of undergoing therapy as mandated, he had escaped.
Using his ability, he had fled before they could force him into treatnt, stating it was a 'waste of ti' and 'pointless nonsense.'
Adam knew what that had led to.
He had seen the corpses.
He had seen the aftermath of what happened when soone like Cael was left unchecked.
Which was exactly why he wasn't planning to make the sa mistake twice.
"Yes, I have..."
Adam said, his tone calm.
"Now, kindly refrain from retaliating."
Cael's grin faltered slightly. "...What?"
Before he could react, red chains erupted from Adam's hands.
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