Path of the Extra Chapter 405: The Hunt Begins

"Master! W-What do we do!? That angel placed a terrifying bounty on your head!"

"Yes, I heard, Nol."

"If soone kills you, their mana core goes up by three levels!"

"Yes, I heard, Nol."

"There’s also a white marker above your head, Master, and a gold one above mine! We’re both going to get hunted!"

"Yes, I heard, Nol."

Having already resigned himself to this absurdity, Azriel looked away from the angel—and from Nol’s panicked face—and directed his gaze instead toward Da Selene, who remained frozen in place, just like everyone else.

Then Azriel moved.

He shot forward at a speed far too fast for the average human eye to follow, Void Eater already in his hand. His fingers tightened around the hilt of the katana as he swung it straight for the knight’s neck.

"Hey! That is not allowed!"

The instant Azriel’s blade struck the frozen da’s armor, a faint white translucent barrier flared around her body like a second set of armor. Sparks burst from the point of impact, white and sharp, and Azriel imdiately leapt back as a stronger wave of pressure rolled toward him.

Blinking, he found the angel floating right in front of his face, pouting at him with obvious displeasure.

"That is cheating, human! Smart, but cheap! Are you perhaps one of those opportunists? Still, even if you are the current MVP, I cannot allow you to kill such an important character like this!"

"Tch."

"Human!? Did you just click your tongue at !?"

Without the slightest care for its outrage, Azriel swatted the angel aside like an annoying fly.

"Hey!"

Then Azriel focused once more on the master before him.

Ignoring everyone else, drowning out every other sound, he listened.

He heard the wind pass by him.

He felt it too.

Then he looked down, shifted his feet slightly, and noticed the dirt moving.

’So only living things from this world are truly frozen in ti...’

Having reached that conclusion, Azriel dismissed Void Eater and began walking toward the master. The angel floated beside him, speaking straight into his ear as though the earlier offense had already been forgotten.

"You know, human, I cannot point the caras at you unless you are with another participant. Why am I not allowed to do that? Normally, I decide who gets a cara and who doesn’t! I am getting so much grief over having an MVP who has barely had any screen ti! Do you know why I can’t stream you when you’re alone? Hmm? Hmm? Maybe I can throw in a little reward if you tell ?"

"Go away," Azriel said bluntly.

The answer stunned both the angel and Nol.

Then Azriel crouched down directly in front of the knight and began inspecting the ground beneath her feet.

"Wha—how bold of you, human! Do you not know what I am? I am an angel! And there is no way I am leaving after that! I barely get any chances to stream your face! Besides, why are you so calm? Everyone else was much more shocked when I revealed my amazing presence! But you were the only one who looked annoyed! How rude! Gah! This entire scenario stinks!"

Growing more frustrated with every word, the chatterbox angel suddenly lowered its voice and whispered,

"Hey, hey, think about it, okay? There are so unconfird rumors that so reaaaaaaaaally important figures have their eyes on this trial. Even within the Divine Court, so of the highest-ranking beings are said to be involved in creating this scenario... Why? Why? Do you know sothing, human? You’re kind of suspicious too. I don’t know why, but you seriously give the creeps! So what do you say? If so reaaaaaaaaally important figures are watching, that could give you a chance to earn even more incredible rewards—as long as you tell why I can’t stream you when you’re on your own. And maybe a few extra juicy details too? Hmm? Hmm? Hmm?"

For so reason, the proctor—who normally decided whose face could be shown whenever he pleased—was already suspicious that Azriel knew more than he should.

The "important figures" in those rumors were probably the Fourth Authority, the Second Authority, and Lucifer.

At least, that was Azriel’s guess.

Not that the proctor would ever reveal their identities so easily.

Even so, Azriel ignored him.

The angel’s mouth fell open in disbelief.

Then, slowly, its eyes began to water, as though it were about to cry.

"Angel! Angel! Are you really an angel!?"

Nol suddenly appeared beside him, his eyes shining with excitent.

The mont the angel saw Nol’s innocent, childlike face, his own expression brightened at once. He rubbed his nose smugly.

"Hehehe! Of course I am! Cool, right? Right?"

"Yeah! Say, Mr. Angel, how do you beco an angel?"

"Oh? You want to beco an angel, human? Unfortunately, you are far too weak."

Nol’s face fell instantly.

"Eh..."

"Becoming an angel like I did is one of the hardest feats soone can achieve!" the angel declared proudly, placing a hand over his chest.

"Then... what is your na, Angel?"

The angel froze for a mont.

"N-Na? Well... angels like do not have nas. At least, not the kind you humans do. First, we must obtain titles. Then we can have nas!"

"Titles? Then nas?"

Tilting his head, Nol looked confused.

Then, instead of pressing the matter, he pointed at the marker floating above his head.

"Hey... you said that anyone who kills gets their mana core leveled up by one, and anyone who kills Master gets theirs leveled up by three. But what about us? What rewards do we get?"

"Excellent question, human!" The proctor looked delighted. "You get the sa rewards naturally! As long as you survive, that is..."

"Woah..."

Nol looked genuinely amazed.

Hearing those words, Azriel—still crouched on the ground, his fingers pressed against the dirt—narrowed his eyes and glanced at them seriously.

’So Nol would beco an Expert. Jasmine would beco a Master... and I would—’

"Except for you, of course, human," the angel said suddenly, pointing at Azriel.

That made Azriel smirk.

The angel returned the look with a smirk of his own, but this ti his eyes were freezing cold. He drifted closer and whispered,

"I told you, didn’t I? There may be important figures watching this stream... and I am not the one deciding these rewards. These extra rewards you humans are getting right now—for killing and surviving—are highly unusual. Especially when it cos to killing a human like you..."

"You don’t say," Azriel replied dryly. "I an, a master only has to take my life and they beco..."

He left the sentence unfinished, but the angel already knew what he ant.

A Sovereign.

Soone like Master Ranni, or Lioren, would only need to kill Azriel and they would instantly beco one of the strongest humans alive.

Just like that.

"Yes," the angel said. "But in exchange for these unusual rewards, this scenario is slowly becoming more and more popular."

"Isn’t this unfair?" Nol asked from behind them, clearly displeased. "If Master doesn’t get three mana core levels, then what does he get?"

"I love your questions, human."

The angel bared his teeth in a sharp smile.

"And the answer is... I don’t know."

"Huh? What do you an you don’t kn—"

Nol’s question was cut short.

Suddenly, the ground trembled.

Both he and the angel turned toward Azriel, their eyes widening as far as they could.

A mist of ice swirled around him.

Then it faded.

A few sparks of white lightning crackled into the air—

and vanished.

In front of Azriel stood the knight.

Suspended in open air.

Beneath her...

there was nothing.

She stood over a circular hole, the ground beneath her feet having been destroyed and turned into a dark pit.

"You... you... human...!?"

For once, even the angel seed to have no words.

Azriel stood, dusted himself off, and said simply,

"You should have stopped ti for everything."

Then he walked past the speechless proctor.

"Nol, take the little girl. Let’s go."