"Who the hell do you think you are, you damn bastard?! You—" Aron's voice rose sharply, his lips trembling as he exploded like a volcano.

How dare this bastard call him trash? Did he not know who his father was?

But then suddenly...

Slap

The sound of Daniel's hand meeting Aron's face was so loud, it was like a grenade went off.

Aron was thrown back, stunned. His cheek turned red. He was so shocked, he even forgot his next curse.

"How... how dare you?!" His eyes widened, furious and ready to attack again.

Second slap

Daniel didn't even blink. And then again...

Third... fourth slap...

Aron no longer said a word. The only thing coming from his mouth was the sound of heavy, shaky breathing.

"Well… now that you've shut up, let's get to the real point," Daniel said with his usual smile.

He took a step back slowly, his eyes scanning all of them.

"I heard there are some treasures that can raise class rank. Let me guess… your plan was to trade that poor elf girl for one of those treasures, wasn't it?"

Aron, now barely standing, took a deep breath. His voice was rough, harsh, and filled with venom.

"No… you're wrong… that elf is the treasure."

Daniel blinked. "Huh?"

"Elves… are followers of the World Tree. Especially royal elves. They're blessed. Their blood is one of the rarest things in the entire Celestial Domain. It can be turned into an item that boosts any class below Legendary by one rank..."

A heavy silence fell between them. Only the sound of wind passing through snowy trees remained.

"Of course, catching a royal elf isn't easy. Even killing a normal elf could start a race war. But… inside the Tower? The rules are different."

Daniel raised his eyebrows. His smile faded.

"So, those ten minutes after clearing a floor... you were gonna use that time? Kill her, take her blood, and escape?"

Aron just nodded. He didn't even try to deny it.

"But how? Isn't dying in the early floors supposed to be impossible?" Daniel looked at Aron in confusion. As far as he knew, death wasn't possible in early floors.

"Heh, and here I thought you are smart," Aron sneered.

Daniel raised his hand and slapped him again.

"Don't test my patience. Just answer the question," Daniel's eyes glinted with killing intent.

"Hmph. It's true that you can not be killed by monsters in the early floors."

"So?" Daniel caught the implication in his words.

Dying to monsters was impossible.

"Players can kill each other. And when one player kills another, the victim actually dies."

"I see. But if a fool like you knows this, the high elves must know too, right? Aren't you afraid they'll come after you?"

The questions kept piling up in Daniel's head. Why was this kind of information so well-hidden? He'd never heard about it, never seen it in any reports or news.

Why? Why was this knowledge so secret?

Maybe he was overthinking it, but still… he'd need to investigate once he got back.

"Heh. How are they gonna find out I did it? Royal elves have a lot of enemies. Killing one could be blamed on anyone."

Daniel shook his head in disappointment. "Well... I really have nothing more to say to you."

"Take the elf. She's yours. Just let us go. We'll act like nothing happened." Aron lowered his voice.

"Really? You think I'm an idiot? If I let you go now, a week from now my name's gonna be on some blacklist from one of the country's biggest guilds. Then it's either a bounty hunter after me or your daddy himself." Daniel laughed, full-heartedly.

Aron clenched his teeth. "So what? You gonna kill us?! You got the guts?! I'm the son of one of the most powerful men in the country! Lay a finger on me and my father—"

"Are you stupid? You literally just said that no one would know who the killer is in here. If I kill you now, who's gonna find out? How would they even know we were in the same floor together?" Daniel leaned in, staring directly into Aron's eyes, his tone playful.

"Besides, you're the son of one of the continent's strongest swordsmen. I'm sure your father's got enemies of his own. Wouldn't be strange if you just happened to run into one of them in the Tower."

Silence...

The bone-chilling cold ran down all three of their spines.

Daniel picked up Aron's sword from the snow.

Neve and Lana, upon seeing Daniel's emotionless eyes, dropped to their knees. Their hands trembled. Their voices were full of desperation.

"Please… we were just following orders… I swear we—"

"If you want, I can be your dog!" Lana said in a broken voice. Her eyes sparkled with tears.

Daniel didn't blink.

Shhhhk

The blade slashed their throats without hesitation. Their heads dropped to the ground, lifeless. The begging stopped. Silence returned.

Aron screamed. "You're a monster! A damn demon! You'll regret this! My father won't let you live! I swear—"

Shhhhk

His sentence never finished. His head dropped just like the others, and his body sank into the snow. Complete silence.

A soft notification appeared in Daniel's mind.

[You have defeated three enemies. +150 XP earned.]

Daniel frowned. "Only this much? Well, not like I was expecting much..."

His eyes focused on the corpses. He stayed quiet for a moment, lost in thought.

Should I convert them or not?

They had no special talent, no notable strength. But...

"Even the weakest Fallen gets stronger with my growth. And if I get just ten percent of their stats, it's still a small profit. Plus, I can get one of their skills."

Daniel smiled. He bent down. With his nail, he scratched his index finger. A few drops of dark red blood dripped down. He let them fall, one by one, onto each of the three corpses.

"Rise."

The ground trembled.

The sky cracked.

White light and violet darkness wrapped around the corpses at the same time. Their bodies began to regenerate. Wounds closed. Their skin changed, as if filled with starlight.

Deer-like horns sprouted from their foreheads. Their dead eyes opened… glowing purple.

Wings made of violet mist formed on their backs. Shadowy, but very real.

They knelt, speaking in perfect unison, dry and lifeless:

"Lord."

Notifications appeared in succession:

[New Fallen successfully created.]

[You have obtained 10% of the players' stats"]

[You may choose one ability from each to copy.]

Daniel glanced at the windows, then shook his head.

"Later."

He said to them, "rest for now."

All three Fallen, along with Vorak, instantly vanished and were absorbed into his spiritual sea.

Then Daniel turned to Lunaryl, who was still lying motionless on the ground.

He raised an eyebrow.

"How long are you gonna keep pretending to be unconscious?"