Ethan was about to push open the nearest door.
Footsteps echoed from behind him.
It wasn't just one person.
It was many.
Ethan turned around.
Over a hundred people were walking toward him.
They were split into three distinct camps, each occupying a different side, faintly forming an encirclement around him.
The group on the left consisted of about forty people, led by a tall, thin youth dressed in dark blue noble attire embroidered with silver thread. A decorative rapier hung at his waist. Behind him stood several other well-dressed young people, clearly hailing from noble families.
The group on the right was the largest, numbering at least sixty. Their clothing was a mess, ranging from coarse linen to leather combat gear. Their leader was a bald, burly man with hideous scars covering his bare arms and muscles like knotted stone. His eyes glinted with a savage ruthlessness.
The group directly in front had about thirty people, and they were the most strangely dressed. Leading them was a girl who looked no older than fifteen or sixteen, wearing a pale green dress with an exquisite silver hairpin tucked into her hair. The men and women behind her also wore fine clothing, their expressions arrogant as they looked at Ethan like a lamb to be slaughtered.
The crowd came to a halt about ten paces away from him.
Ethan's gaze swept over the three groups before finally landing on the bald, burly man.
Interesting.
He had just boarded, and already some people couldn't wait.
"Newbie," the bald man spoke first, his voice as coarse as a tolling bell. "Do you know the rules?"
Ethan raised an eyebrow but didn't respond.
"Newbies have to pay their respects." The bald man grinned, revealing a row of yellow teeth, and pointed at the pack on Ethan's back. "Hand over all your magic stones and gold coins. Do that, and we'll look out for you on this airship."
"That's right," the tall noble youth on the left added in a high-pitched voice. "These are Boss Green's rules. If you're smart, you'll hand them over quietly to avoid any physical pain."
The girl in the pale green dress didn't speak. She simply tilted her chin slightly, looking down at Ethan with a flash of disdain in her eyes.
Ethan's gaze swept across their faces once more before settling on the girl.
"Magic stones? Gold coins?" His voice was so calm it was devoid of any emotion. "Based on just you lot?"
The bald man's expression twisted, and he was just about to lash out.
Then Ethan moved.
There was no warning, no wasted movement.
His right hand gripped his sword hilt as he kicked off the deck. He became like an arrow released from a bow, crossing the ten-pace distance in an instant and heading straight for the bald man!
The man's pupils constricted as he instinctively tried to draw his weapon.
Too late.
A flash of sword light.
Squelch!
A spray of hot blood erupted, splashing onto the deck in a gruesome display.
The bald man's head flew high into the air, tumbling several times before hitting the deck with a heavy thud and rolling away.
The headless body remained standing for a moment, blood geysering from the stump of the neck for several breaths before it finally collapsed with a crash.
【Life Energy +11. Current Life Energy: 13.】
A deathly silence fell over the area.
Everyone was stunned.
The tall noble youth's mouth hung open wide enough to fit an egg, his arrogance completely frozen on his face. The girl's eyes bulged in disbelief at the scene before her.
They never expected that this well-dressed noble youth would resort to killing before they could even finish their sentence!
Ethan didn't give them time to react.
His sword flashed again.
Before the nearest henchman of the bald man could even process what was happening, half his neck was sliced open, and he slumped to the deck amidst a spray of blood.
【Life Energy +7. Current Life Energy: 20.】
Ethan didn't pause for a second.
The sword light flashed once more!
The third one!
A line of blood sprayed from the throat of another henchman who had just drawn a dagger from his waist; his eyes widened as he fell backward.
【Life Energy +9. Current Life Energy: 29.】
Only then did the surrounding teenagers finally snap out of their shock.
"Ah!"
Someone let out a terrified scream and instinctively backed away.
"He's crazy!"
"Kill him!"
"All together!"
The tall noble youth turned deathly pale. He frantically drew his ornate rapier, the tip trembling as he pointed it at Ethan, but he didn't dare take a single step forward.
The disdain in the girl's eyes had vanished, replaced by a deep, shaking horror. She instinctively backed up two steps, her right hand tightly clutching the silver hairpin in her hair.
Ethan ignored them.
His sword rose again.
Fourth.
Fifth.
Sixth.
Every strike hit a vital point, clean and decisive without a single wasted move. Blood flowed freely across the deck, staining a large area as a thick metallic scent filled the air.
Ethan felt his blood boiling.
The sensation of harvesting lives and gaining energy was more intense than any pleasure he had ever known.
Just then.
A sharp whistling sound suddenly pierced the air!
Ethan's pupils constricted as his body instinctively dodged to the left.
A crystal-clear Frost Arrow whistled past his cheek, the chill it carried instantly coating a few strands of his hair in a thin layer of frost.
The arrow bypassed Ethan and slammed into the stomach of a burly man behind him who was about to swing a blade.
"Ah!"
The man let out a shrill scream.
The moment the Frost Arrow entered his abdomen, a deathly white frost spread out from the wound. Muscle, skin, and blood vessels were frozen at a visible rate.
The man's eyes bulged. He opened his mouth to speak, but only a puff of white mist escaped.
Ethan caught the sight from the corner of his eye, his heart skipping a beat.
It was the girl in the pale green dress.
She stood over ten paces away, holding the silver hairpin. The tip was aimed at Ethan, and a faint blue light flowed across its surface. Her once arrogant face was now filled with terror and ruthlessness, her lips pressed tight, a flash of frustration in her eyes.
The shot had actually missed.
"Stealing my kill?"
Ethan's brow furrowed.
His sword fell.
The man's pale, frozen head rolled off and hit the deck.
【Life Energy +5. Current Life Energy: 50.】
Ethan didn't stop for a moment, charging straight for the girl.
A sneer appeared on the girl's face as she aimed the hairpin at Ethan again.
The pale blue light on the hairpin's surface was brighter than before, and tiny ice crystals began to condense in the air.
Ethan's speed didn't slow down at all.
The crystal-clear Frost Arrow shot out again, its chill even more biting than before. Tiny frost flowers appeared in the air surrounding the projectile.
Ethan's pupils constricted.
With a twist of his waist, he avoided the arrow by a hair's breadth.
The girl watched helplessly as the figure broke through the frost and closed the distance, pouncing toward her like a bloodthirsty beast.
Her expression finally crumbled. She opened her mouth to beg for mercy, but the words couldn't escape in time.
A flash of sword light.
A line of blood sprayed from her neck.
Her eyes widened as her body slumped backward, her pale green dress spreading out in the pool of blood like a flower soaked in red.
【Life Energy +2. Current Life Energy: 52.】
"Useless trash. I thought she was a big catch. What a waste of effort."
Ethan bent down to pick up the hairpin and tucked it into his robes.
He turned around.
"Lunatic! He's a lunatic!"
"Run! Run!"
"Split up! There's only one of him!"
Someone shouted, and the crowd that had barely managed to gather instantly scattered, bolting in every direction across the deck.
Rate on N.U.
