"Damn! It makes me look like such a silly clown." Carl's half face twitched.

Actually, once a creature was dead, he guessed its soul had already vanished from this world. He should've left the goblin on the brink of death, so he could use the Soul-Devouring Flame without any issue.

However, there were tons of goblins in the hunting area, so he didn't really need to worry.

If he failed, he would just start again and again. He was no longer in that situation where he had to stay perfect all the time.

He wouldn't be tormented by failure anymore. Yet, the obsession from his bad childhood had left an unhealed scar inside him.

"Come to think of it, I just feel tired and in pain."

Carl let out a long sigh before placing the mana stone on the ground beside an ancient tree, then breathed a small flame to erase the corpse. He didn't want the next goblin to notice anything strange here.

Cleaning up all the traces of the previous fight was a good option.

"Alright! Just wait." Carl snapped out of the sad mood and looked at his trap with pride.

He quickly slipped back into the bushes not far away and stayed ready at any moment.

Before long, the next unlucky goblin showed up at the ancient tree where Carl had placed the mana stone.

This time, he wouldn't mess it up. He instantly leapt out of the bushes and landed close to where the goblin was standing and began to stare in shock at Carl's sudden appearance.

But the goblin quickly shifted into a fighting stance as soon as it realized it was facing the same F-rank as itself. Like every other brainless goblin, it lunged at Carl without thinking, its face twisted with hungry desire.

Yes, all monsters in the dungeon could boost their strength by eating humans—just as humans could by killing monsters.

If mana stones were a monster's "normal meal," then humans were a fancy delicacy.

But right now, that hunger had completely overwhelmed its mind as it wielded its stick at him wildly.

"Why would I expect anything else from a stupid monster like this? Its brain only holds one thing right now—eat me."

Carl moved swiftly and dodged the goblin's clumsy attacks easily, then knocked aside the goblin's crude stick. But then his eyes narrowed as the goblin suddenly abandoned its weapon and lunged at him with sharp nails instead.

''How surprised.''

In truth, monsters never cared about polite or honorable combat. Their only goal was to kill. Their fighting style was savage and wild. If some noble who lived in luxury ever faced this kind of battle, they'd be stunned on the spot—or worse, dead before those despicable methods.

Of course, Carl was not that kind of fool.

To him, this goblin was an opponent, not a prey. He always fought with full force from the start and finished his enemies as quickly as possible, by any method necessary.

He gave up an honorable, fair combat style—because that wasn't the way to survive.

[Flame Breath activated!]

Carl focused his mana through his lungs and released a fire ball at the goblin, right as it was about to strike him cowardly.

Carl's flame completely engulfed the goblin, which had no time to show a shred of emotion, and Carl didn't need to see its horrified face to feel satisfied.

The goblin screamed and thrashed around in desperation, trying to snuff out the fire. Of course, Carl wouldn't let that happen—he immediately drove his sword forward, piercing the goblin's belly and pinning it to the ground.

"Die!"

Soon, the goblin's desperate howls echoed through the forest no more, signaling its life had come to an end.

[System]: You have slain a Goblin. [2/500]

Carl frowned as he looked at the corpse, then shuddered.

"Guess I should hurry up. It's already afternoon."

After assessing the goblin's actual strength and wit, he could roughly measure the chance of completing his mission.

He smirked.

"100%."

Then he caught the noise of goblins approaching. They must have realized what happened after hearing their friend's painful scream.

At this point, their arrival was a matter of seconds.

"No matter! That's good for me." Carl glanced at the forest around him and grinned slyly.

His attention instantly shifted to a few goblins behind him. Naturally, their numbers would only grow with time.

Without hesitation, they lunged at Carl maniacally.

He smiled faintly, then lightly lifted his sword to shoulder level, making the goblin's rust-covered blade slide along his sword's edge before stabbing deep into the ground.

The goblin roared with its wrinkled face twisted in anger. It seemed furious after its proud first attack failed… but then the entire upper part of the monster suddenly turned into black ash and dissipated into the air.

Not only that, the goblins behind the first unlucky one were quickly engulfed by Carl's flames and screamed in horror and agony.

[System]: You have slain a Goblin. [15/500]

Carl clicked his tongue in annoyance. Earlier, he had combined [Flame Breath] with [Soul-Devouring Flame]. One would push the enemy to the brink of death, while the other would devour their souls. Yet contrary to his expectations, he barely received any soul energy from them.

Which meant… monsters' souls wouldn't be of any use to him if he used [Soul-Devouring Flame] on them.

Sure, why did he even expect low quality souls from brainless creatures?

He unleashed a series of strikes toward the other goblins without even looking, his footwork allowing him to evade their treacherous blows.

[System]: You have slain a Goblin. [19/500]

Carl resumed his deadly dance among the swarm of goblins.

He controlled his breath and focused on one intention… the intention of brutal murder. His chest rose and fell with every goblin collapsing and screaming beneath his blade.

It was the first time he had waded through a river of blood like that. His veins overflowed with adrenaline and mana, surging through him and accelerating the slaughter.

As time passed, his vision only showed a bloody battlefield filled with goblin corpses. He barely felt any weight in his hands — as if the sword didn't even exist.

His mind had hypnotized itself, turning him into a lunatic berserker — slaughtering this group of goblins, then the next.

In this moment, he looked like a murder machine without tiredness or emotion, continuing until every enemy died.

It was one of the terrifying traits of the Ryan Family. And Carl was one of the most successful results of that operation. The more blood spilled, the crazier he became.

[System]: You have slain a Goblin. [500/500]

[You have received 500x Monster Card]

Even though the system announcement echoed loudly, Carl showed no signs of stopping.

The remaining goblins stared at him in pure horror and endless fear, trembling to their cores… They had no will left to fight a literal monster like Carl.

Of course, once an enemy dropped their weapon, they were nothing but prey… a one-sided hunt.

[System]: You have slain a Goblin. [520/500]

…

[System]: You have slain a Goblin. [540/500]

[System Notice]: Relax, my love.

Only at that moment — with the support of his wife — did Carl finally regain his mind and stop his crazed actions.

All the side effects began to hit his body after pushing himself past his limits.

His breathing turned ragged, and his vision blurred.

He staggered toward the base of a tall tree and slumped down to rest. As he glanced around at the bloodied battlefield — littered with corpses carved open and scorched — he couldn't help but feel a bit astonished.

He let out a weak smile.

"No surprise."

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