They watched the steaming truck, only their eyes visible in the cold air.
But no one came out of the truck that had slammed into the utility pole, no matter how long they waited.
The reason became clear when they looked closer at the front of the truck.
The windshield was shattered, and two heroes sitting in the driver’s and passenger’s seats lay unconscious, bleeding.
“The window’s broken. Did it shatter from the sudden stop? Still, it’s so tragic to see heroes like that…”
“Shouldn’t we save them?”
Rainbow Girl tried to step forward, but Iris stopped her firmly.
No villains were visible anywhere nearby. It had to be a long-range attacker, and if they moved carelessly, they could fall victim to an ambush.
They couldn’t afford to recklessly get themselves killed trying to help others.
“Wait. I don’t think we should get too close.”
“But—ugh, my goodness…”
Rainbow Girl covered her mouth and stifled a sound as a heavy thud echoed.
A beast, about the size of a person, emerged on top of the truck, emanating a black aura.
The black beast resembled a lion but walked upright on its hind legs, though it landed on all fours.
‘It looks more like a lion beastman than just a lion.’
Its hands were like a lion’s paws. When it swung one viciously, a corner of the container loaded with potions dented heavily.
So it wasn’t just a long-range attacker — it could fight up close too?
What happened next was even more surprising.
The black beast vanished from sight as if dissipating into smoke.
The black beast, which they’d mistaken for the villain’s main body, was actually a skill.
The black energy left on the dented part of the truck connected somewhere else.
<Insight Mode> activates.
‘That’s the villain’s skill! They’re summoning something like a black beast to attack from a distance?’
First, they had to find the source before the black energy disappeared.
With sharp eyes, Iris tracked the black aura and slowly lifted her head.
Far away, she spotted long legs standing under a streetlight.
It was so distant that without her enhanced vision from transforming, she wouldn’t have been able to make out the figure.
Iris’s eyes wavered as she identified the villain.
‘Laika? Laika attacked the potion truck?’
She never expected to see Laika here.
The black energy ‘Insight Mode’ that had looked like faded, and the black lion reappeared on the truck’s hood.
“Argh! Die!”
At that moment, one of the heroes, who had seemed unconscious, twitched and summoned a crescent-shaped blade midair.
He swung the blade through the shattered windshield at the black lion.
The black lion easily dodged, then tore open the truck’s roof with sharp claws.
Everything happened in an instant.
It then grabbed the hero who had attacked it by the neck and started choking him.
“You’re rushing death.”
“Ugh!”
The struggling hero’s face turned pale blue.
Then came the sickening sound of his head being ripped off, blood spurting like a fountain.
Iris turned pale at the gruesome sight, and Rainbow Girl covered her eyes.
Neither dared make a sound, fearful that they might become the villain’s next targets.
The black lion vanished like smoke again, leaving behind the headless hero’s corpse and the other hero, whose condition was unknown.
To think Laika had such a skill.
Overwhelmed by how powerful it was, Iris couldn’t even bring herself to counterattack.
Though allowed Iris to find the origin of the attack, the terror of not knowing where the next strike would come from overwhelmed Rainbow Girl even more.
She trembled and took a step back.
“What do we do? It doesn’t seem like a monster, but a skill. If we get hit by those lion’s paws—!”
“…It’s a long-range attack, which makes it very troublesome. We can run if we have to. But for now, let’s do what we can.”
With an , they could flee anytime.
After seeing a hero’s head ripped off, escaping immediately would be natural.
But Iris wanted to try as much as she could before giving up.
“Run? How?”
“Yes… Please trust me. Phew, just now, thanks to Rainbow Girl’s skill, it seems like we got out of a tight spot.”
“Right? Without , the villain might have attacked us first.”
“Yeah. That skill… as long as we have it, I feel like we won’t get into serious trouble.”
Rainbow Girl felt reassured by that skill and the Chastity Belt she wore.
She believed she’d survive even the worst situations with the Chastity Belt, which could deflect bullets.
That gave her the courage to move.
“The villain’s up there on the streetlight. I don’t think we can face him head-on. Let’s wait for a chance to strike first.”
Iris pointed to where Laika stood.
Shaking with fear, Rainbow Girl drew strength from Iris’s resolve.
“Okay. I’ll use a buff skill first, just in case we get ambushed.”
When Iris nodded, Rainbow Girl eagerly applied various buffs.
She could feel power surging through her body.
Iris’s mind raced.
They were waiting for the right moment to strike, but would it come?
The opponent wasn’t just any villain — he was a high-level ability user, whose status screen they couldn’t even fully read yet.
What exactly was that?
Summoning and controlling black beasts at will…
If only she had gotten along better with Laika before.
Then maybe she could have gotten her hands on one or two useful skills.
What should she do? What could she do…?
While she pondered, the black lion appeared again atop the truck with the utility pole embedded in it and attacked once more.
It struck the truck with its paw-like hands, punching holes in the sturdy container.
It was likely an attack aimed at checking if there were other ability users inside.
Then the black lion, which had reappeared at the front of the truck, bit the neck of the other hero.
Iris squeezed her eyes shut at the sight of the lion devouring the dangling, tattered head like a hunting deer.
Hoo… I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.
Though they weren’t comrades, Iris mourned the two heroes she knew were lost.
Guilt washed over her for failing to save them despite knowing they’d die.
But she couldn’t indulge in hollow righteousness — running headfirst into death was no different than jumping into the flames.
“Hoo…”
At that moment, Laika jumped down from the streetlight and landed lightly on the road.
He walked slowly toward the two trucks, unleashing a flurry of skills.
A combination of and skills — thanks to Project X, he had awakened , and with endless training, had reached the point of combining it with other skills.
The downside was the huge magic consumption, meaning he had to repeatedly recall and resummon his clones.
“Holy shit! Eating heads again? Damn, disgusting…”
From his words, it seemed he couldn’t fully control the clones he summoned.
Behind him, an empty truck followed, inside which two masked men who looked like henchmen were visible.
They seemed intent on transferring the potion containers into their own truck.
Soon, Laika’s skills rained down on the truck Iris and Rainbow Girl were in as well.
Laika only saw the backs of the trucks and didn’t realize the heroes inside had already escaped.
“Ah, it’s not just one. Oh no…”
“Shh. I don’t think they’ll all move together. It’s better to attack the henchmen separately when they split up. If they stick together, we’ll figure it out then.”
After Rainbow Girl nodded, the two silently observed the situation.
Approaching the two trucks, the henchmen moved the potion containers from the battered truck to their own.
Then they inspected the truck Iris and Rainbow Girl had been in.
“Huh? There’s no one here. Looks like they ran away already.”
“They must have an escape skill or something. Just grab the containers. You drive that truck.”
“We’ll take the hero bodies too. One’s headless, but… Abellus specifically told us to bring them.”
One henchman picked up the fallen head, looking around nervously.
Laika rolled his tongue on the side of his cheek and narrowed his eyes.
“Phew, Abellus told you to? Then you should stay there. Why follow me?”
The masked man immediately bent his waist.
“S-sorry.”
“Tch, I want to say they disintegrated midair and aren’t here, but if he finds out later, there’ll be hell to pay.”
Why were they collecting hero bodies?
Iris’s expression hardened.
When they met at Rugang Park, had that been an invitation to join their team as corpses?
Either way, it didn’t feel right.
They certainly weren’t bringing the bodies back to hold funerals — they were surely for some sinister purpose.
One masked man got into the truck Iris and Rainbow Girl had been in, while the other and Laika got into the truck they brought.
The truck had no license plates — a stolen vehicle to evade the police.
Iris wiped the sweat from her brow and watched them.
‘Hmm, I can’t think of a good plan. I can’t even dare attack the truck Laika’s in. I have to get back the truck I was in at least. That’s how I complete the mission and gain reputation… What should I do? What…’
As Iris wrestled with her thoughts, Laika stuck his head out the window and shouted toward the other truck.
“Follow me.”