126 THE DISPLAY OF THE JARS OF HEADS

126 THE DISPLAY OF THE JARS OF HEADS

The crowd began to close in, their anger and fear merging into reckless determination.

"What's wrong with these fucking idiots?" Leo muttered, glancing at Yun-Yun.

"There are too many of them," she said softly, her tone cautioning. "It's unwise to take them all on now. Let's avoid unnecessary bloodshed."

Before Leo could decide his next move, a clear voice rang out from the crowd.

"Hey, he's with us!" Petunia shouted, stepping forward with an air of authority.

Leo's eyes flicked toward her, but his expression remained indifferent. He didn't acknowledge her. He didn't need her help.

"Isn't she the girl who tried to spy on you?" Yun-Yun asked, smirking slightly.

"Yes," Leo replied.

"She's pretty," Yun-Yun noted casually.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Leo asked, exasperated.

"We might be stuck here for a while," she said with a sly smile. "You may need to replenish your lust counters. Being with me might not be enough."

Leo rolled his eyes. "That's the least of our problem now."

The crowd was far from pacified. "Petunia, you're defending him?" someone demanded. "He killed Gantha for no reason!"

"Gantha demanded he kneel," Petunia replied coolly. "That's reason enough for someone like him to retaliate… even kill."

"Who the hell is this guy?" another voice muttered.

Whispers spread through the group like wildfire. Then recognition dawned on some faces.

"He's the Demon of Gullee," someone murmured, their tone a mix of awe and fear.

"I've seen him," another added. "He took out a teacher at the Pharmaceutical Association like it was nothing!"

"He's well connected. He can get away with attacking a pharmacist, he could get away with killing Gantha", another added.

"We heard he's the demon who killed his own uncle with his bare hands, like how he killed Gantha," a third voice chimed in, spreading the rumor like wildfire.

The murmurs grew louder, shifting the atmosphere. The crowd no longer surged forward but instead hovered on the edge of uncertainty, caught between their anger and their fear of the infamous figure standing before them.

Leo's reputation had preceded him.

"I can't hold them off if they all come for you," Petunia warned Leo, her tone calm but edged with concern.

"This isn't your problem," Leo replied coldly, his gaze unwavering. "I don't need you meddling in my affairs."

Yun-Yun leaned in closer, her voice barely above a whisper. "She's right. We can't defeat all of them. That's impractical."

Leo didn't answer immediately.

His mind worked quickly, weighing options. A direct confrontation was out of the question—not because he feared them, but because it would waste time and resources.

Still, he wasn't one to let a mob dictate his actions.

As the murmurs in the crowd grew louder, a bold voice rose above the rest. "You think you can kill one of us and walk away? Who the hell do you think you are?"

Leo's eyes snapped to the speaker, cold and sharp as a blade. He raised a hand, pointing directly at the man.

"One more word, sucker," he growled, his voice low and menacing, "and you'll end up like my uncle, my cousins, and every other fool whose heads I keep as trophies."

As if summoned by his words, several jars floated into the air from his dimensional storage. Inside, the severed heads of powerful and once respected or feared mages glared lifelessly at the crowd.

A wave of gasps rippled through the onlookers. Their faces paled as they recognized the heads.

"Those... those are the mages from our academies," one person stammered.

"My family member is in there," another whispered, trembling.

"How could he kill them?" someone muttered in disbelief. "They were the top of beginner-tier Svads, the strongest young mages in Sodom City..."

"Enough of this!" a voice shouted, though its owner faltered as they looked at Leo's unflinching expression. "If we all attack him together, we can—"

The suggestion died on their lips as Leo moved. With a single, swift motion, he decapitated Gantha's corpse and sealed the fresh head into another glass jar.

The crowd froze, horrified.

"He's insane," someone muttered, though their voice dropped to a whisper, fear thick in their tone.

"He's a demon," another added, as if trying to convince themselves.

Leo's lips curled into a cruel smile. He was enjoying the fear that rippled through them like waves.

"Nobody stops a demon," he said, his voice cutting through the silence like a blade.

The air around him shimmered, and suddenly, a magnificent apparition took form. A golden dragon materialized, its massive body coiling protectively around him, its glowing eyes radiating power.

Its presence was overwhelming, a show of strength that none of them could ignore.

"That's... that's not beginner-tier Svad magic," someone whispered, their voice laced with awe and terror.

"How can he summon something like that?" another asked, their disbelief mirrored in the wide eyes of the crowd.

Even Petunia was taken aback. "Didn't you master the Golden Rakhshasa Transformation in the Tome Arena? This isn't a Rakhshasa," she asked, her voice tinged with surprise.

Leo smirked as he began walking forward. "Forget the Rakhshasa," he replied. "The dragon suits me better."

Yun-Yun chuckled softly, falling into step beside him as the golden dragon loomed overhead.

The crowd, now thoroughly cowed, parted to let them through. Whispers of complaints and fear rippled among the people, but none dared to voice their grievances loudly.

The might of Leo's strength had silenced them all.

As Leo and Yun-Yun disappeared into the distance, the golden dragon dissipating behind them, the crowd stood in stunned silence.

"He really is a bloody demon," someone murmured, their voice barely audible.

And none who witnessed it could disagree.

------

Suddenly, Petunia rushed up to them, her steps hurried as she caught up with Leo.

"You've made a lot of enemies after showing off all those heads," Petunia said, her voice sharp with concern. "That was completely unnecessary. Why must you kill Gantha?"

Leo didn't slow down, his tone calm yet dismissive. "It's Dean Faschae's mission. Didn't you get the same orders?"