Chapter 44: Ruthless Judgement

Chapter 44: Chapter 44: Ruthless Judgement

"Die?" Bramwell sneered contemptuously.

"No, little girl. I clearly said I would leave you alive. But since you want to be stubborn, we’ll just have to peel those points off your unconscious bodies. Boys, break their arms and legs! Leave the little one with the scarf to me!"

Bramwell’s B-Rank Iron Rhino Grimoire materialized beside him, giving him an earthy glow around his muscular arms.

?"Yes, Boss!"

?The fourteen lackeys snickered, raising their weapons and preparing to charge down the rocky slopes of the creek bed.

?"Get behind me!" Zane yelled, ready to fight to the bitter end.

?But a slender arm gently pushed past Zane’s shoulder.

?Aegon stepped forward casually.

"Let me handle this, Zane."

Aegon’s eyes locked onto Bramwell, while his hand rested on his Flame Sword under his cloak.

?"You want my points?" he asked calmly, and entirely devoid of fear.

?"Yes, svery last one of them, country bumpkin! Hand them over!"

Bramwell was confident since his Iron Rhino Grimoire pushed his physical strength to around 20 points, which a terrifying force for a twelve-year-old.

And yet—

?Sigh.

?Aegon released a pitying breath.

?Against ordinary examinees whose stats hovered around 10 to 12, drawing the volcanic star-iron blade of the Flame Sword with his 38 points of Strength would have sliced Bramwell perfectly in half, violating Chief Proctor Ronin’s only rule.

?To deal with garbage, one did not need a blade.

?BOOM!

?The gravel beneath Aegon’s boots exploded into dust as he vanished.

?He didn’t use a spell. He didn’t need to use mana.

With 41 points of base Speed (four times faster than a fully grown adult man) he simply moved.

But, to Bramwell and the 14 charging lackeys, it was as if a ghost had just flickered out of existence.

?Bramwell’s pupils shrank to pinpricks. His brain hadn’t even registered the movement when Aegon materialized in midair, directly inside his guard, floating inches in front of his face.

?"Too slow," Aegon whispered.

?CRACK!

?Aegon swung his left arm, using the heavy, star-iron reinforced scabbard of the Flame Sword like an iron club.

And he didn’t hold back.

?The crimson scabbard slammed horizontally into the flat of Bramwell’s descending greatsword.

In that collision, the thick alchemical steel snapped cleanly in two like a dry twig.

Unstopped, the scabbard continued its brutal arc, crashing directly into Bramwell’s armored ribs with the force of a galloping warhorse.

?Crunch!

?As it landed, a sickening sound of shattering bone echoed across the creek.

Alongside that, blood and saliva sprayed from Bramwell’s mouth as his Iron Rhino aura shattered like glass.

Wooosh!

Lastly, his burly frame was launched backward like a cannonball, flying ten meters through the air before smashing painfully into the trunk of a giant ironwood tree.

He slid to the mud, completely unconscious, his chest caved in.

?Seeing such a brutal scene, the remaining fourteen attackers stopped in their tracks.

?Their mocking grins dissolved into pure terror. The strongest among them had just been swatted away like a fly in the blink of an eye.

?"M-Monster! Run!" one of the lackeys shrieked, stumbling backward.

They instinctively wanted to leave. But then, Aegon’s cold voice drifted through the mist.

?"I didn’t say you could leave."

?He landed lightly on a boulder and pushed off again, turning into a crimson blur that tore through the panicked youths.

?What followed was not a battle. It was a one-sided butchery.

?Thwack! Snap! Bam!

?Aegon moved with mechanical efficiency, completely ruthless in his strikes. He didn’t waste a single motion.

A boy who tried to thrust a spear had the wooden shaft shattered, followed instantly by a palm strike that dislocated his jaw and sent him spinning into the water.

Two youths who tried to cast a combined fire net were kicked squarely in their kneecaps, their legs had snapped backward with a horrific crunch as they collapsed into the mud, screaming in agony.

?He dodged their desperate attacks like a phantom walking through the rain. Every time his scabbard blurred, a bone broke. Every time his boot lashed out, a joint shattered.

?He was deliberately brutal. He targeted their sword arms and their knees, ensuring that none of them would be able to walk, let alone fight, for the rest of the month.

He crushed their confidence, their bodies, and their noble arrogance in a matter of seconds.

?Less than ten heartbeats after Bramwell had leaped off the boulder.

Everything went silent after hat.

?Only the sounds of rushing water and the agonizing, pathetic wails of fifteen broken boys echoed through the trees.

They now lay scattered across the gravel and mud, clutching shattered ribs, twisted knees, and dislocated shoulders, weeping like the children they truly were.

?In the center of the carnage, Aegon stood completely untouched.

There was mot a single drop of blood or speck of mud had landed on his clothes.

?Behind him, Zane, Clara, and Marcus’ mouths were so wide that an elephant could easily fit inside.

Jokes aside,their weapons fell long ago from their hands. It shows how speechless they were because of his ruthlessness.

Not just physical strength, his ruthlessness shocked them too.

They also felt a primal chill ran down their spines.

?Aegon them walked calmly over to the base of the ironwood tree, looking down at Bramwell, who had just begun to stir, coughing up blood and staring up at Aegon with eyes full of absolute dread.

?Aegon didn’t say a word. He simply reached down, unpinned the brass registration badge from Bramwell’s chest, and pressed it against his own.

?Ding!

?He moved methodically from body to body, ignoring their whimpers of pain, and drained every single point they had harvested throughout the day.

?When he finally stepped back onto the main path, his badge glowed with a golden light that was immediately broadcasted to the massive leaderboard in the sky above the canyon.

?[ 1st Place: Aegon Noiré (480 Points) ]

?Aegon knew the aristocrats outside were watching his every move.

His dark eyes stared straight through the silver lenses, his gaze as cold and deep as an abyss.

?"If anyone else wants these points, tell them to come find me."

His cold declaration shocked all the audiences.