Chapter 42: The Death of the Hunter War God

Just as the falling chandelier had claimed the lives of several heavily injured mercenaries, a series of agonized screams erupted throughout the hall. The zombie cat and Alexander split up, charging the mercenaries from opposite sides—one from the left, one from the right. Alexander's Tang Blade slashed through the air, and the zombie cat's claws swept viciously, together claiming the lives of two mercenaries in an instant.

At that moment, Ron finally witnessed the true face of the "Reaper." Cloaked entirely in black and wearing a mask that, though mystically intricate, appeared utterly ordinary, his eyes shone brightly beneath the mask but revealed no emotion. As he watched Alexander and the zombie cat reap the lives of the mercenaries as if he were merely taking a leisurely stroll, Ron attempted to check the "Reaper's" attributes.  

[Basic Information]  Nickname: ???  Title: ???  Level: ???  …

Why couldn't his system reveal any details about this man? Ron was stunned—this was the first time he'd encountered such a situation. Unbeknownst to him, Alexander had long ago activated the concealment effect of his Hidden Mask. In that split second, the mercenaries around Ron fell like withered straw, one after another. The mercenaries struck down by Alexander couldn't even cry out, while those attacked by the zombie cat shrieked pitifully.

The zombie cat only inherited 60% of Alexander's base attributes—meaning it was only slightly superior to the mercenaries on paper. It couldn't absolutely overwhelm them by strength alone. Instead, it relied on its "Clawed" talent to inflict deep, bleeding gashes across the mercenaries' necks, forcing them to bleed out slowly. The gruesome process was excruciating; once the wounds were inflicted, the bleeding was unstoppable—leaving its victims to watch helplessly as they succumbed to death.

"Enough! Who exactly are you?" Ron shouted, nearly driven mad. His subordinates continued to fall gruesomely around him, and he was being mocked at every turn—yet he still couldn't pinpoint his enemy's identity. Desperate, Ron chased after Alexander's trail, but Alexander paid him no heed.

After his careful observations earlier, Alexander had already lost any expectations of Ron. Ron's poor fighting skills, low attributes, and his immature temperament hardly even approached the seasoned calm Alexander now embodied. In fact, it was far more profitable for Alexander to slaughter these mercenaries than to waste time on Ron. Alexander was already operating at a level far beyond; with two global announcements adding six attribute points, his level had shot up by three, and he was practically enveloped in "divine gear."

Even if Ron was a fearsome force in the later days of the apocalypse, he simply couldn't match Alexander's speed now. Ron was in utter despair—forced to watch helplessly as Alexander struck again and again while he was left in the dust. Even if Ron tried to alert his men to Alexander's whereabouts, before he could utter a word, his subordinates were already having their necks sliced.

Finally, through the combined efforts of Alexander and the zombie cat, every mercenary in the hall was slain. The few who still drew breath lay writhing on the floor in agony, clinging to life by a thread. Ron sank to his knees in complete despair, his spirit utterly broken by the overwhelming sense of powerlessness that prevented him from stopping Alexander. He knew in his heart that, with his own strength, he couldn't possibly halt Alexander's bloody rampage.

Alexander then withdrew his focus from the zombie cat and issued an order:  "Go chase after Derek and his men."Since Derek and his crew hadn't fled the Li Estate—after all, the Revenge Barrier hadn't been activated—the zombie cat, despite its zombified state, still retained feline abilities. It effortlessly tracked their retreat.

Alexander then strode over to Ron, who was still kneeling on the ground. "Get moving, Hunter Mercenary Leader," Alexander ordered coolly. Ron lifted his head and looked up at Alexander. Suddenly, his face contorted into a wild, deranged laugh, his hoarse voice echoing, "Hahahaha—our entire Hunter Mercenary Team is virtually wiped out, and I'm still supposed to be called the team leader?"

Alexander felt a surge of satisfaction. Even though he hadn't directly clashed with Ron this time, Ron's pitiful display only made Alexander's victory sweeter. Right before Ron's eyes, Alexander proceeded to slaughter every last one of Ron's subordinates, shattering years of Ron's painstaking work and leaving him utterly incapable of resistance—like a man who had lost his soul. This, Alexander thought, was the pinnacle of revenge. Physical torment could never compare to the agony of a broken spirit! Alexander was convinced that even if he spared Ron, Ron would never recover his former self.

But words were cheap—killing was inevitable. After all, the prospect of eliminating Ron made Alexander feel even more exhilarated.

Ron stared at Alexander, his face etched with despair yet tinged with a desperate longing. "Who are you? Who exactly are you? Tell me—otherwise I won't die in peace!" he pleaded urgently.At that, Alexander's eyes lit up with grim amusement—dying without knowing his killer's identity was truly a fate worse than death.Alexander's Tang Blade flashed, and with a swift stroke, Ron's head was severed from his body. Ron's head tumbled on the floor a few times, its eyes wide in shock—apparently astonished that Alexander had acted without uttering a single word. And because Ron would never know Alexander's true identity even in death, his final moments were truly one of unrest.

Alexander stepped up to Ron's head, giving it a sharp kick to tilt it toward himself, then said:  "I still remember that day—your true face."  "Your arrogant words, when you pinned me down and claimed I was nothing but an ant—what made you think I was worthy of your attack?"  "You said I was merely an orphan, a waste! How dare you? How could you have the nerve to challenge the authority of the Li family?"  "You claimed I was nothing but a sewer rat!"  "And you said that killing me would only soil your hands!"  "But I must thank you for your arrogance."  "That very arrogance gave me the chance to escape—and even broke off two of your fingers!"  "And thanks to you, I learned one crucial lesson."  "That is: stop prattling on before you kill—if you have the chance to strike, don't waste your breath!"  "Look, I've sliced your head off and now I can chat with you—doesn't that feel just as good?"

By the end, Alexander couldn't help but laugh.But he knew he couldn't revel too long—Derek was still waiting.Alexander raised his foot and stomped down hard. In an instant, Ron's head exploded like a watermelon—blood and brain matter splattered everywhere, staining Alexander's shoes in a chaotic pattern of red and white.

The once-mighty Hunter War God—Ron, one of Li's three protectors, one of Dragon Kingdom's top ten War Gods, revered by tens of thousands in the apocalypse—had fallen!

Alexander exhaled deeply. The invisible shackles binding him seemed to lighten significantly. He then proceeded to remove all three of the Bronze‑Grade items from Ron's body. Next, he prepared to check Ron's attributes."Meow," came a thought in Alexander's mind—it was the zombie cat, alerting him that it had located Derek and his crew. Without further delay, Alexander sensed the zombie cat's location, double‑checked the corpses of the slain mercenaries, and, once convinced that everyone was dead, set off in pursuit.