CHAPTER 40: DEAD FROM FEAR

Richard approached Damon, who was beginning to show fear.

"W-What exactly are you?" Damon asked, his voice trembling.

A criminal, once thrown into a hopeless situation, would always feel greater fear.

Now, Damon felt as if he were no longer facing a human being.

After all, how could a seven-year-old boy be so sharp, able to read his mind so well, and wield such terrifying power?

He tried to recall if there had ever been a child like this, even without such strength—but in his memory, all the seven-year-olds he had ever seen were still just playing games.

Richard chuckled at his words.

"Do you know how disappointed I am? My first real opponent, a human I thought would give me a fun fight, turns out to be this weak?" he said, making Damon fall silent.

"But fortunately, you didn’t explode like your two subordinates. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to take your brain and your eyes."

Damon: "..."

As soon as Richard finished speaking, his hands suddenly thrust toward Damon’s face, his fingers jabbing directly into the man’s eyes.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

Damon’s scream was so shrill it startled even the insects nearby.

This was Richard’s first act of deliberate cruelty. His previous killings had been accidents.

But knowing cruelty was a necessity among Magi, he forced himself to embrace it.

For a moment, Damon’s screaming unnerved him—but remembering what he needed to do, Richard quickly grew indifferent.

Ripp!

He pulled the eyeballs from Damon’s sockets, tearing them free and leaving his eyelids hollow.

Damon only screamed louder.

Unable to stand the sound, Richard stuffed a wad of grass into his mouth, silencing him.

"How do I take his brain?" Richard muttered, and Damon could still hear him.

What he needed was the brain of a villain—but in his mind, few could be more wicked than Damon, who delighted in slaughtering innocents.

The only question was how to extract it without damage.

Though he had Damon’s sword, Richard wasn’t skilled at cutting.

As he thought, his eyes fell on the black ring on Damon’s finger.

He immediately recognized it as a Storage Artifact.

Richard slipped it off and instantly felt the space within, peering into its contents.

But aside from copper and silver coins, there seemed to be nothing of value.

He squinted, scanning more carefully.

In the corner, he finally spotted skeletal fragments—an arm and a leg—gleaming like crystal.

The Aether Skeleton.

Each piece was incomplete, just a single arm and a single leg.

Of course, one couldn’t fuse with only a limb—it would destroy the body’s balance.

’At least there’s something valuable,’ Richard thought, feeling a flicker of satisfaction.

But aside from those, there was nothing else.

It seemed Damon had spent the rest of his fortune on beast eggs.

"Huh, is he dead?" Richard muttered in surprise when he noticed Damon was no longer breathing.

His wounds weren’t fatal—losing his eyes shouldn’t have been enough to kill him—yet he had still died.

"Looks like he died from fear," Richard said.

It was unexpected, but it didn’t matter. All he wanted was the brain before it rotted.

Still, it was ironic—Damon himself had once claimed Richard would die from fear.

Richard first placed the eyeballs into the Storage Artifact, preserving them in its frozen stasis.

Finally, he thought of a way to take the brain.

He pressed his palm against Damon’s hair.

A searing flame burst forth, burning away the top of his skull.

He stopped after only a moment—the brief blaze was enough to expose the brain.

"Pull!"

With a light suction from the Storage Artifact, the brain was drawn out, slowly sliding free before vanishing into storage.

Damon’s head was left hollow.

Richard quickly stored the body too—he couldn’t bear to look at it.

’I’ll dump it in Apple Town later. Hmph, whoever was behind him will be shocked to see their pawn dead so miserably while Purple Rose Village remains untouched,’ Richard thought.

He wasn’t afraid of that person. If they were too strong, then they would simply become his ancestor’s problem.

After all, his ancestor’s strength was rising rapidly every day. A Peak Magus who only needed to recover his power.

Richard also took Damon’s sword, then turned his eyes toward the massive magic lamp.

’That must be the artifact that absorbs and seals souls,’ he thought.

Placing his hand on it, he sensed a mysterious inner space—unseeable, but perceivable.

Inside were three trapped souls—they felt like Damon’s and his two subordinates’.

If one died near the lamp, their soul was absorbed automatically.

Holding the artifact, Richard gained a faint understanding.

It required souls as its energy source—it couldn’t run on anything else.

That was likely why Damon had killed Old Bear and the others.

’And this must be incredibly expensive,’ Richard mused.

He stored it as well before glancing at the three white horses Damon’s group had used.

But he was too lazy to deal with them.

Instead, he mounted Athena, patting her side so she began to run.

The day was still long—he had time for more.

With Damon dealt with, Richard planned to head back to Apple Town.

With Athena’s current speed, they could reach it much faster than before.

His name was already stirring rumors there, but no one knew his true identity. Olivia must have fled already—there was no way she’d dare remain in the city while being hunted by the Moonshadow Clan.

Richard didn’t rush into the town.

He stopped at the edge of a forest on the outskirts, sliding down from Athena’s back.

Knowing the city held many Magi, he decided not to bring her inside—too conspicuous. They would surely sense she was no ordinary horse.

He left her hidden in the forest. If danger arose, she could always escape.

Once Athena disappeared into the woods, Richard walked alone toward the city gates, blending in like an ordinary child.

He had a few copper coins ready to pay, but as a lone boy, the guards didn’t even bother asking for toll—they just shoved him inside.