Global Devourer: I Survive by Slaughtering Beasts

Chapter 10: The Message

The heavy crossbow string snapped with a loud THWACK!

The black bolt flew through the dark purple fog like a lightning strike. It slammed straight into the left side of Kai's chest with a dull thud, pushing him back two steps into the mud.

Vance burst out laughing, a crazy, desperate sound echoing through the empty courtyard. The remaining two guards cheered, pumping their fists in the air.

"I got him! I got him!" Vance shrieked, wiping sweat from his face. "That bolt is dipped in viper poison! Your heart will stop in five seconds, you worthless piece of trash!"

Kai stood still in the dark path. He looked down at the black bolt sticking out from his chest, feeling a cold, burning liquid spread through his veins. But before the poison could slow his heart, a bright crimson interface flashed across his vision.

[Warning! Lethal Poison Detected!] [System Feature Triggered: Defensive Extraction!] [Absorbing Toxin... Converting Poison into Temporary Energy!] [Weapon Attack Boosted by 200% for 3 Minutes!]

The dark green aura around Kai's blood-bone spear exploded into a bright, blinding purple flame. The burning pain in his chest disappeared completely, replaced by a surge of raw, unstoppable power.

Kai raised his hand, grabbed the shaft of the crossbow bolt, and pulled it right out of his chest without flinching. His high Stamina and instant extraction healed the small puncture hole before a single drop of blood could fall to the ground.

Vance's laughing stopped instantly. His jaw dropped so wide it looked like it would break.

"How... how are you still standing?!" Vance stammered, his eyes bulging in pure horror. "That poison kills an elephant!"

"Your weak poison is just food to me," Kai said. His voice was cold, echoing through the night like a monster coming out of a grave.

Kai moved. He did not run, he blurred.

With his agility boosted by the system, he covered the fifty feet between them in less than half a second. Before the two guards beside Vance could even raise their iron bats, Kai swung his spear sideways.

CRACK!

The flat side of his heavy bone spear smashed into the two guards, sending them flying twenty feet through the air like broken ragdolls. They hit the brick wall hard and collapsed into the mud, completely unconscious.

Vance screamed, dropping his heavy crossbow as he tried to turn around and run away.

Kai reached out and grabbed Vance by his tactical vest, slamming him hard against the stone fountain. The stone shattered under the force, sending dust and cold water everywhere.

"Please! Wait!" Vance choked out, his eyes wide with pure terror. "It was Brandon! Brandon paid us to do this! He gave us the food and the weapons! I was just following orders!"

"When you were talking about taking my shelter and hurting my people, you were not just following orders," Kai said softly.

Kai grabbed Vance's right arm and twisted it backward until a loud, sickly CRACK echoed through the courtyard.

Vance shrieked in agony, his face turning bright red as tears and snot poured down his skin. "MY ARM! MY ARM IS BROKEN!"

"This is for coming into my territory," Kai whispered.

CRACK!

Kai kicked Vance's left knee, breaking the joint backward. Vance fell to his good hip, howling and begging like a dog, slapping his own forehead against the wet ground to beg for mercy.

"Please, Kai! Lord Kai! Spare my life! I will be your slave! I will do anything!" Vance sobbed out, his voice cracking completely.

"I do not need useless slaves," Kai said.

Kai thrust his blood-bone spear straight through Vance's chest, pinning him to the stone fountain. Vance gasped once, his eyes rolling up before his body went completely limpid.

Kai placed his palm over Vance's forehead.

"Extract," Kai commanded in his mind.

A thick red and purple aura rose from Vance's body, flowing into Kai's palm in a powerful stream.

[Target Killed! Extracting Attributes: +8 Strength, +6 Agility, +10 Stamina!] [Skill Extracted: Heavy Shield Defense (F-Rank)!]

Kai felt his body grow even stronger, his skin hardening like light armor. He pulled his spear out of the corpse, letting Vance's lifeless body drop into the mud.

He looked up at the tall campus archway at the entrance of the courtyard. It was twenty feet high, made of iron bars and thick concrete, clearly visible from every building on the campus.

Kai grabbed a thick steel wire from Vance's tactical belt. He tied Vance's legs tightly, commanding his three zombie thralls to hoist the mangled body high up into the air. Within five minutes, Vance's body was hanging upside down from the center of the campus archway, swaying gently in the night wind.

Kai stood beneath the archway, his blood-bone spear resting over his shoulder. Fang trotted to his side, letting out a low, victorious howl into the dark sky.

Kai raised his left hand, pointing his spear directly toward the distant sports complex. He knew Brandon was watching.

One mile away, high up on the luxury balcony of the sports complex, the rain beat heavily against the glass.

Brandon stood behind the safety of the iron railing, holding a pair of expensive night-vision binoculars to his eyes. He had been waiting to see Vance bring back the captured girls and food.

Instead, the green lens of his binoculars focused on the tall campus archway.

Brandon saw Vance's broken body hanging upside down like a dead animal. Then his binoculars moved down, landing on the dark figure standing in the middle of the path.

Kai was staring straight up at the sports complex. Even from a mile away, through the heavy fog and rain, Kai raised his blood-stained spear and pointed the sharp tip directly at Brandon's face.

From the top of the sports complex balcony, Brandon looks through his binoculars at Vance's body, his face pale with terror as Kai points his blood-stained spear directly at him from a mile away.