[Gate Transmission Progress: +8%]
[Ding! "Protagonist Killer (Red)" activated. Do you wish to plunder its existence?]
A message blinked across Adrian's vision, sharp and intrusive like a sudden thought breaking through the noise of battle.
He chuckled, wiping blood from his lips as he looked down at the cracked pavement under his feet. Hyoudou Issei's body twitched one last time before going still. The silence that followed was unnerving.
"Whew... nearly missed that one," Adrian muttered, catching his breath. "But what a harvest…"
His amusement faded into cold pragmatism as he read the notification again. Plundering the "existence" of a protagonist meant more than stealing power—it meant living their life, from beginning to end, until the present. Replacing them at every level.
He grimaced.
To live through the life of a perverted, oblivious high-schooler like Issei? No thanks.
Reject.
As soon as he chose, more notifications popped up:
[Ding! Entries obtained: Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet (Purple), People's Will (Green), Protagonist Halo (Green)]
Adrian's gaze sharpened.
[Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet (Purple): One of the Sacred Gears, forged by Ddraig Goch, the Red Dragon Emperor.]
[People's Will (Green): The wealthier a woman, the more inclined she is to like you.]
[Protagonist's Halo (Green): Slight increase in luck, potential, and survivability.]
He raised an eyebrow.
"Only green for the Protagonist Halo?" He scoffed. "Tch. Guess this world has more than one 'main character' after all."
Before he could fully examine the entries, a cold presence descended on him.
Adrian looked up.
Donasik—tall, winged, eyes like twin daggers of light—floated above the shattered park grounds, staring at him with a mixture of fury and disbelief.
"You… are not human," Donasik hissed. "A half-breed? No, your soul… it reeks of demonic fire."
Adrian didn't respond. His gaze was steady, thoughtful.
He could lie. Pretend. Try to talk his way out.
But the moment he felt that killing intent? He knew it was pointless.
Donasik wasn't here to talk.
"You stray scum," the fallen angel growled. "Killing you won't even require permission. In fact, Heaven rewards this sort of cleanup."
Adrian's jaw tightened.
He remembered the system—"Rules" that governed this twisted world. Ones that handed out reward points for slaying "evil."
He himself had once earned a few of those tokens: paltry cards traded for pocket money after killing some minor monsters. And then... nothing. No more rewards. As if the world had decided he no longer counted as a hero.
He was neither "good" nor "evil." He was just… other.
And others don't get rewards.
Now he understood: Donasik saw him not as a threat, but as a transaction.
Something to be deleted for a payout.
Adrian's fingers curled into fists. His blood boiled—not from rage, but something deeper. A sickened awareness that no matter how much he grew, he'd always be prey to someone else's system.
Unless he broke it.
He drew a breath, sharp and cold.
And then the Boosted Gear activated.
In a shimmer of red and emerald, the Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet erupted over his left arm. The pressure of it made the air around him warp. The gem on its back pulsed once—ominously.
"Boost!"
The word rang in his mind like a war drum.
Raw power surged through him—his strength doubled, his senses sharpened, and the park around him suddenly seemed… smaller.
Above, Donasik's pupils shrank.
Too late.
Adrian's body moved on instinct. Boom!
His leap shattered the ground behind him, launching him upward like a missile.
Donasik summoned his light spear with practiced ease, a weapon that burned with holy fire. It hissed through the air like the cry of the divine.
But Adrian didn't dodge.
He took the spear straight through the shoulder.
Pain exploded. Muscle tore.But instead of collapsing, Adrian roared and shattered the spear with his bare hand.
"What…?" Donasik gasped.
Adrian didn't wait.
His arm swung forward, unnaturally flexible. His bones slithered like serpents under his flesh—an unnatural technique born from stolen knowledge.
"Snake Bone Supersonic Whip Fist!"
The air howled. His fist struck Donasik's face with a double shockwave—the first from the speed, the second from the sheer force.
BOOM!
Donasik plummeted like a meteor, crashing into the dirt.
The impact crater radiated heat and pressure, the ground trembling beneath Adrian's feet.
But he didn't celebrate.
Instead, he stood there, his gauntlet still smoking, watching the broken body twitch below.
Something in his chest stirred—a weight. Not guilt, not exactly. But something colder.
Discomfort.
He wasn't a saint. Never claimed to be. But taking a life like this—even an enemy's—felt too easy.
What if Adrian had just become the very kind of monster he swore to fight?
He knelt beside Donasik, whose lips moved soundlessly.
"…How… can this be…"
Adrian clenched his jaw. "It doesn't matter."
"Boost!"
The emerald gem pulsed again.
Adrian's gauntleted fist came down.
There was no scream. Just silence.
And then—[Ding! Entry acquired: Fallen Angel Bloodline (Green)]
A new warmth surged through his body.
Feathers of darkness burst from his back, then faded. Light and magic tangled inside him like oil and fire.
[Fallen Angel Bloodline: Average potential.]
The system's cold appraisal made him laugh bitterly.
"Average, huh?"
He stood up, shaking off the blood. Around him, the world seemed to slow.
Cars still honked far off. The breeze rustled leaves. The sky, impossibly blue, remained uncaring.
All this power. All this blood.
And he still felt… small.
He clenched his fists, flexing the gauntlet. His shoulder still burned where the light spear struck. Blood ran down his arm in rivers.
But inside, he felt something shifting.
Before awakening his demon bloodline, he'd trained desperately, obsessively. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't reach even a low-rank fighter's level.
And now?
Now he could kill fallen angels with his fists.
Not because he trained harder. But because he stole a title.
A fate.
That truth gnawed at him.
He glanced back at Issei's corpse. Then at Donasik's.
Was this really victory? Or just theft?
---
Some people's starting point is the finish line others will never reach in a lifetime.
He remembered that phrase from his past life. It echoed now, cruel and true.
But still—he wasn't going to stop.
He couldn't.
If he wanted to live in this world, he had to keep moving forward. Plunder. Adapt. Survive.
But he'd remember their faces.
Even if the world called them evil.
Even if the system told him not to care.
Because if he forgot that?
He really would become a monster.