The assassin lashed his whip forward again as Lawrence stretched his right arm forward before the whip wrapped around his right arm which was currently covered by the black material which is the primal sin. The assassin scoffed before pulling it as he thought that his target’s arm would be cleanly sliced from how sharp the whip but it merely pulled Lawrence towards him. Also, a sudden force pulled the assassin forward as Lawrence brandished the Gungnir before stabbing the assassin. Still, the assassin used his right hand to wield the serrated dagger to parry the spear only for it to move back, which resulted in the dagger missing completely. Using the momentum from the pulling of the whip and from the spell attract, Lawrence pushed every ounce of his strength into the strike as the assassin can only widen his eyes before the Gungnir penetrated his chest, crushed his heart, before appearing behind his back. The assassin weakly grabbed the Gungnir with blood pooling everywhere. He looked at Lawrence’s cold eyes before spitting a small needle containing the deadly poison. Lawrence is confident at his suit artifact and gravity barrier only for it to pierce through it and hits Lawrence straight to his cheek.

“Gah!” Lawrence kicks the assassin away before immediately removing the small needle and ripping a small piece of his cloth to press into it. He didn’t even wait for the announcement as he used the teleportation ring to teleport three times to arrive at the mansion.

Meanwhile, Catalinna was beside Lawrence’s stage as she easily pushed back her enemy. before looking at Lawrence worriedly. When she saw that Lawrence finally killed the assassin, she sighs a breath of relief only to find Lawrence getting stabbed by something that forced him to teleport away. She hurriedly went to the announcer that was on Lawrence’s stage.

“What happened?” she asked worriedly. The announcer scratched his head before gazing at the dead assassin that is currently getting carried by the medical team.

Impatiently, Catalinna grabbed the man’s collar “What happened?! Tell me or else you will suffer” as flames flickered behind her.

“I-i don’t know. Mr. Evan seems to have been poisoned by a needle. He could’ve waited for our medical team to heal it but he was already gone before I can announce that he won”

“Shit. I would use my hour break.” Catalinna sighed

“B-but I’m not your attendant” the man whimpered as Catalinna’s arms bursts into flames

“Do you think I care? Do your fucking job” Catalinna pushed him away before running back to the mansion since she knows Samantha is currently there, testing the sample of the potion she got from the essence of purity. She pushed everyone that got in her way as she doesn’t know why she’s this worried to the point that she’s risking her chance of reaching the top 10. Still, her body moved forward.

Arriving at the mansion, she saw Lawrence passed out in the yard with almost of his face colored violet with veins bursting inside his skin. A barely audible gasp continued coming out of his mouth as Catalinna immediately carried him by her arms and kicked the door open.

“SAMANTHA!HURRY! HELP LAWRENCE!” she shouted as Samantha and Vania immediately arrived. Samantha glances at Lawrence before pulling a variety of vials and potions. She started mixing each one. Catalinna lays Lawrence’s head on her lap as Lawrence is barely conscious with short sounds of gasping for air coming out of his mouth. The poison seems to be abnormally spreading way too fast as everyone can see the violet pigments covering his face and neck.

“W-what happened to him?” Vania asked worriedly

“An assassin used a poison needle. It seems that the poison used clearly has a high mortality rate and fast acting. Those FUCKER, i swear I’ll kill them one by one” Catalinna gripped her fist tightly.

After mixing a triad of mixtures, Samantha pricked her fingertips as glowing red blood flowed from it to the vial. With no time wasted, Samantha signaled Catalinna to raise Lawrence’s head as she tipped the vial into his lips. Lawrence’s mouth felt numb but he gained it back once the medicine entered his lips and into his tongue. Lawrence drank the medicine quickly as everyone can see the effect of it. The violet pigments on Lawrence’s skin started disappearing while his quickened breathing started to calm down. Catalinna sighed while Vania felt relief and looked at Samantha with admiration.

“He should be back to normal.” said Samantha as she patched her wound.

Immediately after, Lawrence opened his eyes to find Catalinna staring at his face. A sigh of relief escaped from his mouth.

“Thank you everyone” Lawrence said sincerely. When he found himself laying in front of the yard, he had already given up but the fact that Catalinna carried him inside to save him made Lawrence look at her in a different light. Still, both of his defensive tactics failed which is unacceptable. The artifact suit that was supposed to defend the first ailments he received failed while the small needle was able to pierce the gravity barrier.

“Are you alright?” Catalinna’s soft voice reached his ears as he looked up and smiled. There was clear worry on her expression as he can’t bring himself to tease her. He only nodded.

“I’m fine.” Lawrence lifted his body up as Samantha gave him another type of potion. Lawrence immediately drinks it as he felt his stamina regaining. There are still 7 rounds and he can’t laze around. That near-death experience would be a common situation if he doesn’t grow stronger.

“Well, i guess I’ll have to return. I don’t want to be disqualified because of your weak ass.” Catalinna returned to her normal way as she immediately run out. Lawrence on the other hand decided that he should also return.

“Boss, are you sure? Are you feeling anything?” Vania asked

“Don’t worry. I know my body can handle the next rounds. Just look forward to the ranking match” Lawrence opened the door before leaving the mansion.

The rest of the rounds continued normally. Lawrence won against his enemy in a swift fashion, without a single injury. Third-star warriors and mages aren’t a threat to him anymore. He wouldn’t even give anyone a chance as he uses lighten on his Gungnir before throwing it in the direction of his enemies. It didn’t miss its target which resulted in 4 deaths and 3 surrenders. Tomorrow would be the start of the ranking match where those who are truly skilled will appear. He doubts his simple combo would work but it will still injure them. The two enemies that he doesn’t want to encounter early are definitely Petrov’s daughter and Cain. For the simple fact that both of them were the 1st and 2nd in the novel.

Returning to the mansion at nighttime, Lawrence felt that someone is following him but he doesn’t where. He looked around to find himself in the empty street which is peculiar since there would be still a lot of people awake at this hour and celebrating in the market square. Slow footsteps and the clacking of armor awaken his senses as he turns around to find an armored man wielding a large steel claymore. A certain violet-haired woman can be seen smirking behind the armored man before throwing a kiss.

“It seems that you have some luck on surviving against that needle. It was quite a surprise” the woman chuckled

“Though let’s see if you’re luck is enough to save you” the woman’s smile widened. Lawrence immediately used the invisibility pendant as he started booking it. Both of them are peak 4-star warriors with an unknown amount of ability. There’s no way he would survive if he fought them. The violet-haired woman simply chuckled while elbowing the armored man.

“Look for him. We don’t have all the time in the world” the man gruffly said as the woman stared at him before smirking.

“Don’t worry. I have already expanded my senses. Once he isn’t invisible, killing him is simply child’s play. Look” the violet-haired woman throws a blade in the air before it vanished.

Meanwhile, Lawrence is still running away when his invisibility has waned. He clicked his tongue as he still didn’t find anyone in the homes he entered. Out of nowhere, a blade falls into the sky and pierces his leg. He winces as he heard someone chuckling. Behind him, he found the woman looking at him with pity.

“Oh, where’s your primal sin? Don’t tell me you can’t release it? Come on, don’t worry. We’re in a personal dimension. So the primal sin can rampage all it wants” the woman snickered. Lawrence calmly removes the blade from his wounded leg as he stared down at the woman.

“Can you safely escape its wrath?” Lawrence asked as the woman simply shrugged

“It doesn’t matter. You’re dead anyway” the woman simply clicked her fingertips as 5 blades manifested inside Lawrence’s body. He can only cough up blood as he looked down to find himself bleeding on all sides. His heart and the majority of his meridians have been pierced by a blade. Still, he felt his right arm pumping and moving erratically. The woman inspected it for a while before slicing his right arm cleanly with a swift motion of her blade.

“This is really interesting. You are already dead but you can still sense what is happening around you. Such a shame, if you have worked with the Empire. Your fate wouldn’t be this pathetic” the violet-haired woman tossed the arm up and down like a toy.

Suddenly, the detached right arm started screaming as it opens its red bloodshot eyes. It looked around briefly before glaring at the woman touching it. An immense pressure immediately spreads throughout the land as the woman crashes to her knees and drops the removed right arm to the floor. Its hate-filled glare is intensely focused on the woman as she started convulsing with blood bursting from her mouth and ears. She tried activating every life-saving ability and artifact that she had but not a single one worked.

A second later, the unbearing pressure stopped. The woman gasps for air before looking at the arm with an expression of pure dread and disbelief. It felt as if she is being stared at by a malicious god, looking at her with eyes full of hatred with bloodshot crazed eyes glaring in every direction. Her bones rattled while every hair in her body stood up. Blood is everywhere as she felt weak and anemic. Suddenly, its bloodshot eyes started moving erratically. The woman despite her legs and arms shaking grabbed a blue orb from her pocket before crashing it.

Only for the arm to slowly slide over to Lawrence’s shoulder before melting into it. Every part of his injuries healed once it was combined with his arms. Its eyes shut closed and remained calm. Like its rampage didn’t happen a second ago.

Knowing what she felt, she didn’t have the confidence to even touch Lawrence. No matter what she does, her arms and legs still shake. She doesn’t know what to do. Finish the job or run away from the empire. Someone can run from the empire but no one escapes the council. She slowly walked towards Lawrence to finish the job again only for her bones to rattle while a chilling air touched her spine. There was an instinctual fear in her heart that even walking forward strains her mentally and physically.

The armored man has finally reached where they are as he looked at her confusedly.

“What happened?” the man asked but when the woman was about to reply. No sound would escape her mouth. She tried her hardest to make a sound but nothing happened. It felt as if something is restricting her.

“It seems that you have broken the orb. What happened?” the armored man patiently asked once again

“I-i…ah..i we…ne.I” her words appeared jumbled as the armored man noticed a large patch of blood on her shirt and blouse. Her eyes appeared to move erratically and out of focus and a faint shaking of her hands can be seen.

“It seems that the primal sin is too strong for us. We should report this to the council” the armored man sighed but the woman grabbed his gauntlet desperately. Hesitation and fear are seen on her face as the armored man glanced at Lawrence and his right arm which has the primal sin attached to it.

“We should retreat for now. We will delay the report for now.” the armored man grabbed a red orb in his belt and he crushed it. Causing all of them to reappear in the random alleyway. The armored man carried the woman in his arms before they retreated. Leaving Lawrence’s unconscious body on the cold ground.

An hour later, Lawrence slowly woke up as he mustered all his remaining strength to slowly stand up. He touched his face as he gasped for air. The cold feeling of steel puncturing his body and the following burning sensation is something that he has felt before but this is the first time where he knows he died. He slowly gazed at his right arm to find the primal sin of despair still attached to it. His hands shook just remembering what happened as his forgotten fear is slowly rearing its head. It was an overwhelming difference in strength and power that killed him. Not the enemy’s skill in sword fighting or fancy footwork. He was simply outmatched in every way possible.

He slowly trudged his way back in the direction of the mansion. He looked around cautiously only to find Catalinna in the nearby store buying food ingredients. Their eyes locked together when Catalinna opened the door to find Lawrence pale and trudging slowly.

“What happened to you? Did you got your ass got beaten?” she teased with a chuckle

“I died…well. Nearly died” Lawrence coughed

“Died? I know. I saved you remember. No need to thank me.” She grins proudly but Lawrence didn’t reply. He was about fall to the floor when Catalinna was able to grab him.

“What happened to you?!”

“The empire…no, the dogs of the council ambushed me”

“When? Where?” she immediately surveyed the area only to find the citizens walking around cheerfully while buying what they need for dinner or snacks in the food stalls.

Catalinna tried shaking Lawrence to wake him up only to find that his forehead is hot to touch and his breath is warm and bated. Catalinna realized that he has a fever which is weird for the simple fact that warriors never get any illnesses that civilians would normally get. She hurried back to the mansion once again as she gritted her teeth in frustration and anger that Lawrence is injured once again because of the empire.