Sylas suddenly remembered something. When he first entered, it said the entry limit was three. He had thought that maybe after he entered, the entrance would close anyway. The other requirements were just suggestions, so he thought that the entrance would disappear after he entered.

It seemed that he had made the incorrect assumption.

'Two people entered after me.'

Sylas' gaze narrowed.

Several questions popped up in his head, but the main of them was: if he killed them, would the entry limit open up again for more people to enter? That might be more trouble than it was worth.

But the minions here were also very valuable to him.

'Even if it allows more in, the odds that there's another group ready to enter nearby is slim… unless they came in a larger group than just a pair, in which case, their other partners might be waiting and notice that the entry limit increased once again.'

Sylas' mind spun with several thoughts and he landed on yet another worry…

Did they know he was here?

First it was the duo that ambushed him in the gnoll village, and now these people. Was it a coincidence? It couldn't be.

Sylas hadn't spent very long in the forest alone. Aside from the first day he spent stalking the Irish Elk, he had spent the rest of the time in the Dungeon and then had somehow lost himself three months while inside it. That was all to mean that he had no idea how common it was to meet fellow humans in the wilds.

But for it to happen twice, and both times while he was at such a pivotal moment?

'Should I kill them?'

This was the final thought that came to mind.

Sylas hadn't hesitated to kill those two men. He also didn't lose any sleep over it. Maybe all of Alex's jokes were right on the money and he really was on some kind of spectrum.

Honestly, he wasn't sure, nor did he think that it particularly mattered. He didn't kill indiscriminately, nor did he feel some sick pleasure when he did. It was just like any other action he took to him, one that benefitted himself and paved a path toward his future.

Everything he came across in this world was a matter of life and death. He wouldn't allow his sentiments of morality to limit his future path.

But…

He remembered his words to Lauren quite clearly. He told her not to let this world dictate or change you…

The difference was that Sylas didn't think he was changing at all. He was still the same Sylas.

On Earth, he wasn't allowed to kill to meet his own ends. In fact, doing so would limit and cut off his future instead of enhancing it. It was almost impossible to commit the perfect crime in modern times.

In this world, though… he was.

It was that simple to him.

...

Tail Whip.

Sylas' leg lashed out in a violent arc. The F+ Basilisk Minor was entirely unable to withstand the sudden barrage.

In its view, Sylas was too far away to attack it, and yet in an instant, a roaring scythe blade split its side. It had sensed the danger at the last moment, but it was simply too slow to react.

Sylas rushed forward, activating Sudden Burst to rush out of the way of a physics-defying whipping tail. He rounded the large snake's side, unleashing a quick three strikes of his fist, each one coated by a silvery-blue light.

Fueled by Blade Aura, his rudimentary form of Aetherflow, and a +10% boost to his Constitution from the Scorned Wraps, three craters appeared in the body of the Basilisk.

Sylas' Speed was already capable of overwhelming the beast, but now his power output was on a completely different level.

Feeling that his Aether was about to run out, Sylas leapt upward, jumping almost two meters into the air.

A tail swept out from under him, just missing his toes.

He landed on the ground and activated Sudden Burst again, ignoring his aching muscles. He could practically smell his coming breakthrough, and it fuelled his boiling blood to another level.

A dagger appeared out from his Madness Key, rounding the blind spot of the creature caused by Sylas' earlier tail whip. Sylas himself unleashed a punch toward the other side.

The creature was too tall for him to reach, but Aetherflow activated once again, a silvery-blue illusion of a fist forming in the air and shattering part of the minion's jaw.

Sylas uncorked his torso, winding his momentum in the other direction and unleashing a second punch, this one following the tail of the flying dagger to perfection.

He was entirely focused on this, forgetting everything else. Controlling a dagger with his telekinesis and using Aetherflow at the same time really pushed him to his limits. It felt like he was doing everything he could to slowly draw a circle with one hand and a square with the other.

However, there was a loophole to this.

He didn't have to control the dagger all the way through. He just had to send it flying on a trajectory of his choosing. Then he would release it, following up with an attack that would explode with even greater strength.

BANG!

The dagger flew into the gaping gash and a silvery-blue fist followed right after it. The instant the dagger lodged into the open wound, Sylas's Aetherflow follow up, smashing into its butt with a tremendous momentum.

The basilisk unleashed a roar of pain, but the dagger was quickly driven in so deeply that its eyes went wide before slowly losing all luster.

Just now, it was as though Sylas had stacked his Strength. His dagger applied 82 Strength and his follow-up punch applied 62. Stacked in a chain like that…

The dagger ripped through the flesh of the basilisk, shredding apart its Constitution and tearing out of the other side in a bloody mess.