ZhangYe
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Chapter 32 - Sekhmet Familia?
🕑 Added 2025-04-24 23:34:18 +0000 UTCWhen I activated the Swap ability, I deactivated NeuroLink. My main body was now inside the dungeon, facing the three masked men. I was using the appearance of an old man, so it was probably a comical sight.
I saw their eyes widen through the holes in their masks, and I smiled at them.
“Bastards. You’re ruining my reputation,” I said.
Since I hadn't altered my voice, I still sounded young despite looking like someone nearing sixty.
Then, a sword suddenly appeared in my hand as I pulled it from my inventory, and one of the masked men shouted, “Careful, he's dangerous!” He stepped forward and raised his sword, but I had already slipped past him and stood behind all three.
I looked back and saw the man on the ground, missing half of his legs.
“ARRRGGGGHHH!” he screamed in pain as his mask fell off.
“YOU SON OF A BITCH! LOOK WHAT YOU DID! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS DOING?! KILL THAT OLD MAN!” he screamed.
I finally saw his face... Just an ordinary guy.
My eyebrows rose as I swung my sword, flicking off the blood.
The other two masked men approached, but I suddenly vanished and reappeared in front of the man lying on the ground. His eyes widened as I stared into them.
“You got a little burnt earlier, didn’t you? How about this?”
Flames erupted from beneath him and began burning his body.
He started thrashing and screaming as he burned alive, drawing the attention of the masked leader. Ignoring the Loki Familia member, he turned his attention to me and rushed to help his comrade.
He closed the distance in an instant, but I could keep up with his movements.
“Thrust.”
I faced the man head-on, aiming straight between his eyes.
My movement was so fast it created a shockwave, but he managed to raise his arms and block my sword.
CLANG!
The sound of my sword clashing against his arm guards echoed through the dungeon as he was blasted backward. His guards shattered along with my blade.
As my sword broke into pieces, the two other masked men seized the chance to attack, but I began running around them.
As I ran, more clones appeared behind me thanks to the "Fragmented Clones" ability. Even without a weapon, I could still deal damage. I started attacking the two men, and the clones joined in.
The masked men swung their swords, but could only hit the clones. Whenever a clone was hit, it turned into particles of light, but soon new clones appeared.
A full-on beatdown began.
I focused mainly on their midsections, and the clones did the same. The men began groaning in pain and coughing up blood.
Meanwhile, the Loki Familia member looked frightened, unsure how to react.
But once he realized I was there to help, he decided to keep the giant busy. Since his guards had been destroyed by my sword, he could no longer block the attacks.
“Alright, I’m done playing.” I stopped running, and the clones were destroyed.
The two men were wide-eyed, barely staying on their feet.
“What the hell was that? What are you?” one of them asked, while the other remained silent.
I slowly walked over to a fallen adventurer’s body and picked up his sword.
“This one’s better than what I had. I’ll be borrowing it.”
I cleaned the blade and pointed it at the two men.
I glanced sideways at the Loki Familia member.
That’s when I noticed the masked leader was suddenly holding a weapon.
A giant two-handed sword.
“Was he hiding that somewhere?” I muttered.
The two men thought I was distracted and rushed at me.
Oops!
I used “Ice Control” to freeze the ground in front of me.
They slipped and fell like fools.
I walked up to one of them and smiled.
“See you in hell.” I drove the sword into his forehead, killing him.
The other masked man watched his friend die, then looked at his other companion, who was now nothing but burnt flesh. He was terrified—I could see it in his eyes.
“What Familia are you from? You better tell me if you want to leave here alive.”
“You’ll kill me anyway.”
“You’re smart. Oh, I want to test something. I can ask your big friend some questions later.” I placed my hand on his head and activated Fire Magic to try boiling his brain.
As I began, the man screamed in agony and died quicker than I expected.
Plop!
His head exploded in a disgusting mess.
“This is fun.” Despite having never killed anyone directly before, I didn’t feel bad.
Maybe because these guys deserved it?
I stood up and wiped the blood from my face.
I looked at the Loki Familia member and the giant man.
The giant was wildly swinging his oversized sword. Every time he hit the ground or walls, the dungeon trembled.
“Hey, hey, calm down. You're gonna bring the whole place down,” I said, even though I knew that wouldn’t happen.
The man looked at me and saw all his companions dead.
“You’re stronger than them, but I’m stronger than you.” Even though I’d only gone through my second evolution, I was already stronger than a level 4. Maybe even stronger than a level 5.
Isn’t that amazing?
I felt immense satisfaction.
“Who are you?” the man asked.
Since I was using an appearance I’d discard later, I answered.
“I’m the creator of the originals. The ones you copied.” I said, and he understood.
The Loki Familia member also understood, his eyes wide. “You’re the creator of the masked adventurers? The first ones?”
“That’s right. But don’t try anything stupid—I’m not here to make enemies of the Loki Familia. I’m just here to deal with these guys.” I pointed my sword at the masked man.
He took a step back and clicked his tongue.
He lowered his sword and said, “Fine. I’ll stop.”
“You gotta be kidding me, you bastard. You went around killing random people in the dungeon, and I got blamed for this mess. What Familia are you from?”
“Sekhmet Familia.”
Hearing that, I was speechless for a moment.
“Sekhmet Familia? That’s bullshit. Tell me the truth. No Sekhmet Familia member would do this just for fun, even if they’re trash.”
“...” He stayed silent.
“What do you think about this?” I walked toward him, feeling confident. “If I capture you, cut off all your fingers and toes, burn your limbs, and rip out your teeth... think you’ll tell me what I want to know?”
The man didn’t show any fear. He didn’t seem to care.
He stayed silent.
Huff~ I sighed. “Alright, I’m done with this. Are there more of you in the dungeon? More people killing adventurers and trashing my reputation?”
“No.”
“So I just need to deal with you, and that’s it?” I kept walking toward him. The Loki Familia member backed away from the two of us.
“You can try,” the man said, pretending to sound confident.
I smiled, and just as he raised his sword to attack—
He couldn’t move.
I pointed down, and he looked at his feet, frozen solid.
The magic was strong enough to hold him.
His eyes widened, and I dashed forward, activating “Thrust.”
He held up his sword and blocked it, but mine shattered his, and the shards pierced his eyes through the mask’s holes. At the same time, my blade pierced his chest.
The man was thrown several meters back, and I landed right on top of him.
On top of him, I stomped hard on the sword’s hilt, driving it deeper. It pierced through him and into the dungeon floor. Then, I removed his mask.
I didn’t recognize his face.
He had a scraggly beard and looked like he hadn’t bathed in days.
“Who the hell are you?” I asked. The man smiled at me.
Before he died, I checked his falna, and… he was telling the truth. He was a member of the Sekhmet Familia.
I looked at his face as he passed.
Then I saw a group approaching. Finn, Ais, Bete, Tiona, Tione, and other members of the Loki Familia.
They saw all the bodies. The man whose appearance I copied was among the dead.
Finn looked back and saw my clone. Then I dismissed it, and it vanished.
Finn turned and stared seriously at me.
I didn’t use “Swap” right away. I wanted to talk.
“I took care of the problem.” I got off the man, hands in my pockets, and stepped forward—but only a bit. Finn was dangerous.
“Who are you?”
“You know who I am. I just came to deal with this. These guys were killing people, so I handled it. I didn’t want the blame for it falling on me.”
“Why did you kill them?”
“Are you kidding me? Of course, I killed them.”
“We needed to investigate! Did you find out what Familia they’re from?”
“Sekhmet Familia.”
“Sekhmet Familia?”
“That’s right. When he told me, I didn’t believe it either. But it’s true. Can you believe it? Members of Sekhmet Familia are doing something this stupid. And the craziest part? He didn’t kill himself—he let me do it.”
“...” Finn was speechless. I sighed.
“Alright, I think it’s time for me to go.”
“Wait! Tell me what you are first. A monster? A human?”
“What would you do with that info? Try to find me?”
“...”
“I’m confident you won’t find me, but I’m not giving you anything. Just tell Goddess Loki that I’m not here to hurt anyone. I’m just here to have fun.”
“Have fun?”
“Exactly. I just want to enjoy myself and evolve, get stronger and stronger. Who knows how far I can go?”
“What’s your name?”
“Probably better if I don’t say.”
Then I swapped places with Lee, and then again with Berserker at home.
They saw Lee’s appearance, but I planned to change it anyway.
Through Lee’s eyes, I saw Finn biting his lip in frustration, surrounded by the bodies of the fallen Loki Familia members.
Then I dismissed Lee’s clone.
