As the thick dark-green roots held the knights, wrapping around their arms and bodies and holding them in place, the Dragon Snake suddenly vanished, only to reappear right beside Godfrey, its massive mouth with curved fangs protruding downwards from the top jaw just inches from his face.

Godfrey's eyes left the threat right before him and shifted to the woman below, who watched with a malicious gleam in her eyes.

In that split second when their gazes met, she almost formed an expression, but it twisted into shock as Mountain appeared above the serpent, slamming his ironclad boot into its skull.

The impact made the creature crash into the wall, taking down a portion of it with its head alone!

'How?!' The woman barely managed the thought before blood trickled from her nostrils and lips.

She collapsed to her knees, her summon twitching violently. She tried to retrieve it into her soul space but froze at the sharp sound of roots snapping behind her. Something loomed over her, it was a Sword and Shield Knight. Before she could even speak, his longsword swung down.

The Quicksilver Falcons moved like the wind, their talons cutting through the shields of the Sword and Shield Knights and sinking into their helmets before darting toward Godfrey, dropping the knights' corpses mid-air.

"No!! Return!" Scar screamed, as the twins, who had thought they would reach Godfrey and shred him in less than a second, suddenly realized they couldn't see any of the Bow Knights. It was as if they had all vanished.

But it was too late. A huge arrow, almost the size of a ballista bolt, pierced through the wing of one Quicksilver Falcon, causing it to screech and lose balance mid-air.

Before the other twin could react, another arrow shot through the falcon's neck, then another through its chest, a fourth through the other wing, and the fifth arrow slammed his twin brother clean off the falcon, nailing him to a wall far away.

The surviving twin turned, eyes wide in disbelief, as he saw all twenty Bow Knights appear with their bows drawn and aimed directly at him, Ballista standing among them, drawing three arrows at once.

If five arrows had killed his brother while missing one, what were his chances now?

He swiftly activated an adaptive skill, Elemental Infusion, causing bursts of air to propel from his falcon's wings as it took a sudden upward turn.

Several arrows were deflected by the fierce gale, but Ballista's bolt, crackling with lightning, tore straight through the wind barrier, piercing both the falcon and its summoner.

It was as if a giant had swatted them. The impact launched both summon and summoner with tremendous force, crashing them into the ruins of a building.

"It doesn't have to end like this!" Scar roared, trembling as he held onto Isaac's neck, forcing the freshman to face Godfrey. The rest of the Sword and Shield Knights had broken free from the roots, surrounding Scar and his summon, while twenty Bow Knights, with their captain, aimed their weapons at him.

Mountain stood tall atop the Dragon Snake.

"You made it like this," Godfrey replied coldly.

"Tell your summons to back off! You can have the core, let's just end it here."

Godfrey was about to respond when he suddenly grabbed Joana and Cecil, leaping backward as roots erupted from the walkway. One managed to graze his shin, injuring him, but he barely evaded the strike meant to skewer both him and the girls.

Scar's intent was clear, he wanted to kill Godfrey and blame the deaths of the girls and others on him and Isaac. After all, the dead couldn't speak.

Seeing his plan fail, he tried to stab Isaac through the chest with his tree arm, but before the strike landed, new roots burst from the ground, wrapping tightly around his limb.

"What's this?!" Scar gasped, eyes widening. This couldn't be happening, it was his own summon's innate skill!

Lifting his gaze, he caught sight of Mountain's subtle hand movement, and his heart sank. 'No… it can't be!'

The roots entwined both him and his summon, coiling around them like serpents until they were bound up to their heads.

Then, ten-inch spikes burst both inward and outward from the roots, impaling Scar and Warden with their own iconic ability.

Isaac staggered out from the ruins, the shock of his near-death experiences and the sight of fallen people fading as he walked past Mountain.

Ahead, he found Godfrey standing with two girls latched tightly onto him, their eyes shut.

Isaac's lips twitched. "Are you kidding me? I almost died and you're surrounded by girls?! I always knew the world wasn't fair." He rasped between breaths.

Godfrey smiled helplessly, but Isaac's voice was enough to jolt Joana back to reality. Realizing what fear had made her do, she quickly let go of Godfrey and pulled her younger sister, who didn't seem eager to release him, aside.

"I'm sorry," Joana said softly.

"Tsk!" Isaac clicked his tongue, plopping down on the rubble.

With a faint smile, Godfrey sat beside him. "Out of mana?" he asked. Isaac nodded.

"You'll get used to it," Godfrey said gently.

After a pause, Isaac turned to him. "How do you still smile after killing people?"

"I'm convinced I didn't go around seeking lives to end," Godfrey replied quietly. "They tried to kill me first. People like them must have taken innocent lives before, innocents who didn't get the chance to fight back."

"Man, you're something." Isaac shook his head, giving him an incredulous look. "You sound like an old man."

Godfrey chuckled softly. "I grew up knowing I was the only man of the house. I never saw my dad die, but I felt it, every moment I heard my mother sob quietly in her room."

Isaac pursed his lips.

***

They all appeared in a warehouse, greeted by the sight of dozens of police officers and Authority Agents. The mother of the girls, who had been chatting with a female agent, turned and screamed in relief, rushing to embrace her daughters.

The agent she had spoken to approached Godfrey and Isaac. "I'm Cassie," she introduced herself. "I heard there was a party that went in there before you two. What happened to them?" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"They tried to kill us because they wanted the dungeon core and they died instead," Celine said quickly.

"It was self-defense," Joana added.

"What they said," Isaac nodded, while Godfrey merely shrugged. He had nothing to say to the authorities.

"You killed four people. Who are you again?" Cassie squinted.

"Godfrey Daniels," he replied calmly. "A sophomore at Manhattan High."

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