Seth wasn't even afforded the chance to process.
The Flash Sale blinked in his vision, making him almost trip over a corpse. That split-second delay caused the timer to tick down by one.
[Timer: 00:01]
His fingers tore through the air in haste, punching the holographic purchase button.
The timer froze…
[Congratulations! You have purchased the Grim Emperor's Executioner Legendary Set!!!]
[Grade: Royal]
[Rank: Shackled (Evolvable!)]
[Perks:]
- Grim Executioner's Gauntlets: +100% Strength
- Grim Executioner's Boots: +80% Speed
- Grim Executioner's Armor: +150% Defense
- Grim Executioner's Blade: +25% instant kill chance against beings of the same rank
- Grim Executioner's Helm: +30% Intelligence
[Abilities (activate only when full set is equipped):]
[Death Sentence]
[If the Grim Executioner sentences you to death, you have no business being alive!
- Debuff: -30% to all enemy stats
- Grants an instant sure-hit cleave to the neck (3 uses per day) ]
Seth blinked in astonishment. Wasn't this… a bit too broken?
He didn't know much about this new reality, but surely not all items were this powerful… Right?
Garrrghhhhh!
A sudden wail of agony snapped Seth out of his daze.
His pupils constricted at the sight before the group.
Crimson blood poured like a fountain as Victor screamed and writhed in pain. His abdomen had been pierced clean through by a black, slimy tentacle.
The tentacle rose from the ground, lifting Victor's dying body high. His features turned pale, his struggles weakening as his eyes dimmed.
Hollow footsteps rang out as the owner of the tentacle slowly stepped into the light.
It was a corrupted human — except instead of arms, it bore grotesque, slimy tentacles.
"Calvin… to think he too," Recognizing who the mutant once was, Miss Lysa whispered, covering her mouth in grief.
"I should have known even mutants could have skills," Uriel muttered, brows furrowed.
Elaine stepped forward beside him. "Fitting, since he was a fellow class president."
Yes — the mutant before them was Calvin, class president of Class 12D.
His twisted gaze roamed the survivors, lips curving into a cruel smile.
The tentacle holding Victor rippled, spikes jutting out in clusters. Victor's body was shredded into a gory rain of blood, meat and bone.
The tentacle retracted, and Calvin's corrupted form gave Uriel a taunting look.
"Hmph. Seems even corruption couldn't dull this bastard's competitive spirit," Uriel remarked coldly, sparks cackling more fiercely around him as he took slow steps forward.
Elaine was about to offer him a hand, but sensing something her brows furrowed.
A female mutant was already upon her in a blur, claws arcing mid-swing.
The vice president's winter blue hair billowed as her eyes glowed icy blue. The temperature plummeted, frost mist congealing around her.
A layer of ice crept across the mutant, slowing its movements to a crawl.
"Hmph. You're fast, but you chose the worst possible match," Elaine said disdainfully.
A burst of frost blasted the half-frozen mutant away. But the moment its back hit the ground, its figure blurred and vanished.
"Not dead?" Elaine's eyes glinted as she advanced, her violet red uniform skirt swaying at every step.
Behind her a trail of frost crackled across the floor in her wake.
—
At the rear, Seth and Brandon watched as the events unfolded.
"Man, to think even these ugly fuckers can have skills," Brandon mused, stroking his chin in deep thought.
Seth, however, felt something else. Terror.
An overwhelming stench of death assailed his senses, so thick he could almost feel the illusionary form of the Grim Reaper breathing down his neck.
He didn't know what caused him to have such a feeling but he was instinctively certain a dangerous enemy was near.
His breath hitched, gut clenched, his head swayed from left to right, his eyes darting around wildly searching for an enemy unseen.
Drip!
Suddenly a warm, slimy liquid landed on his shoulder. Seth froze in his tracks.
His heart skipped a beat as realization dawned on him.
"FUCK!" In a hurry he shoved Brandon away, using the motion to leap back himself.
"What the hell, bro?!" Brandon yelled as he slammed side first into a wall.
Boom!
In response a figure landed where they had just been, cracks running through the ground as the hallway rumbled from impact, kicking up dust.
A blood-curdling growl reverberated, accompanied by an intense sizzling noise.
Dust cleared, revealing the hulking monster.
Unlike other mutants, this one was absurdly robust and huge. Drool cascaded from its lips as it snarled. Its ape-like arms oozed green slime, each drop sizzling against the floor melting it on contact.
The atmosphere grew tense as the monster straightened its hunched frame.
Its crimson gaze locked on Seth. Teeth bared, it let out a furious roar.
…
Brandon scrambled to his feet, stunned. He swallowed hard. If not for Seth's quick reaction just now…
He shuddered at the thought of death.
Probably due to the fresh near death experience he just went through, his senses were in a heightened state.
And as they sensed danger, his neck tingled in warning. He didn't hesitate.
Eyes glowing dull blue, his fists ignited with blistering flames.
He clapped backwards…
Fwooom!!!
A wave of fire burst forth, ripping apart the wall behind him.
Garrrrgh!
A pained roar rang out as a mutant flew backward, charred and smoking.
Brandon turned, his expression livid and his gaze burning with fury.
The mutant crawled to its feet, naked, burnt and snarling.
Brandon braced himself, fists ready for a clash.
But instead of attacking, the mutant huffed. The ground beneath it rippled, its frame sinking as though into water.
Brandon's expression hardened, eyes scanning the surroundings warily.
"An annoying prick you are, that's for sure!" He spat.
–-
Meanwhile, Seth's heart brimmed with confidence as he stood before the hulking mutant.
'If you had attacked me earlier, I'd have been helpless. But now…'
He had the Grim Emperor's Executioner Set. A Royal-grade weapon. Whatever that meant.
Right now he felt unstoppable.
"Equip!" he commanded calmly, calling on the legendary set from his newly discovered inventory.
[Error! Cannot be Equipped!]
[User must meet stat requirements to handle the full item set.]
- Strength: 50
- Speed: 45
- Defense: 50
- Intelligence: 20
Staring at the series of red text, Seth's composure fell apart as he swallowed hard.