“Now, who was going to kill who again?”

Hearing those words, the bandit boss wanted to rebut them. But no matter how he tried, words wouldn’t come out of his mouth. As if a hand were strangling him, he had difficulties even to breathe.

He wanted to run, run as far as possible. But even then, his legs wouldn’t move, overwhelmed by the pressure from the weapon in front of him. Had he not underestimated Himo from the start he may have been able to resist slightly the pressure, but it was too late for regrets.

Biting his tongue to calm down, he focused once again on the child, but…

What he saw instead was the scythe’s blade nearing his neck.

Shit! He jumped backward out of reflex, but that didn’t spare him from a cut on his torso. It hurts! He pressed the wound with a hand as his expression warped due to the pain.

As if he were getting stabbed continuously, an agonizing pain emerged from the injury. It wasn’t the first time he had been wounded—and the cut was really small—but compared to the previous times, the pain from the injury was hundreds of times stronger.

It’s that weapon! He shot a glance at the scythe. If it wasn’t for that, he wouldn’t be in peril. Just as he worried about what to do, he noticed the way Himo held the scythe. Not only was the scythe huger than the child and therefore harder to use, but the child himself had no idea how to use it effectively.

Understanding that, a sigh of relief came out of his mouth. He’s an amateur! If it’s like this, then I can… win… But his happiness stopped abruptly. He had noticed Himo’s expression.

The child held an impatient grin as he stared straight at the boss. It was as if he couldn’t wait a single second to cut his head. The boss took a step back. Why do I feel that he’s hunting me?

Himo was indeed hunting him. For him, the bandit boss was akin to a golden egg—a treasure that only awaited to be obtained. Not only would he get the first ‘worthy kill’, but he had also just got a quest about the boss.

[Abrupt Quest: Kill the bandit boss!]

[The bandit boss that terrorized countless low-level cultivators is now in front of you. Take revenge for all those poor victims who got robbed!]

[Quest Difficulty: B-]

[Quest Reward: Scythe manipulation style: Requiem Dance]

[Quest Failure Penitence: -20 BS points]

Himo’s greatest weakness was his inability to use the scythe decently—how could he not smile in front of such a reward?

Spamming stacked [Hopper_x2], he kept attacking the bandit boss, not leaving him a second to rest. But all of a sudden, the boss began to retaliate—he wasn’t a Dantian Core Formation realm cultivator for nothing.

Opening his arms wide as he retreated from Himo’s attacks, the boss began a chant.

"I request thee,

A might akin to mother nature,

A defense akin to the hardest shield,

Lend me thy strength;

Great Earth Arm!"

Following his chant, a small earthquake surrounded the group. A tiny hill arose behind the boss, destroying the trees on its path. Four hills chased behind the first, aiming at the sky—they kept rising up, until a moment later, when the five hills suddenly joined.

They formed a massive hand of soil. But it didn't stop yet. The hand kept rising up, growing into an arm. Finally, it stopped. With a height akin to a building and a thickness akin to the hugest tree, the earth arm towered over the onlookers.

Seji widened his eyes at the sight. “Beware, it’s a high-level magic spell! While it’s made of soil, its flexibility is on par with a normal arm, if not superior!”

Just as Seji warned Himo, the earth arm sped up toward the latter, its massive arm aiming to grab the child. But...

“Too slow.” Dashing to his right with a stacked [Hopper_x2], Himo avoided easily the attack. He dashed amidst the countless trees, skipping among them and hiding from the others' view. Quickly, his figure blurred and he reappeared in front of the boss.

Predicting his move, a massive earth hand blocked his path, its fingers enclosing to Himo. If it were to grab him successfully, only child-paste would remain of him.

And yet, the hand got sliced in half by a single slash.

"Wha—?" The boss couldn't believe his eyes. He leaped backward, but before he could gain enough distance from the child, he found the latter's scythe aiming for his heart. Too late to avoid the attack entirely, he took out a sword, intending to parry the blade.

He quickly made up a plan. As soon as he would parry the scythe, the half-broken remains of the earth arm would attack Himo from behind.

With such a thought, he swung his sword to the flat of the scythe's blade. Striking the scythe, a clang resounded in the area—and the sword snapped.

"Eh?!" A shiver went down the boss's back. He jumped backward reflexively, in hopes of evading the unstoppable scythe. But this time he wasn't as lucky as before—he lost his left arm. Prey to panic, he immediately dashed away, planning to escape. However…

“AAAH!”

The scythe’s blade had stabbed his leg. Turning backward, the boss saw Himo grinning from the distance. He understood immediately what happened—Himo had thrown the scythe! But, on the other hand, this could be a chance! What if he were to steal the scythe?

Disregarding the pain from his leg and the terror from the scythe, the bandit boss grabbed the scythe's handle as he laughed. "Without this weapon, there's no way you will resist against me!" A glint of hope grew in his eyes.

Seji widened his eyes. "Himo, back away!" He was about to intervene. While his strength was still lacking, he wasn’t someone who would leave his ally behind.

But Himo just shook his head and glanced at the boss. "Fool."

Hearing his provocation, the boss just laughed and rose the scythe. He stepped forward, but then turned the scythe and stabbed himself in the torso.

"This..." He stared at the blade slicing through his organs. "Why... I..."

Himo smirked as he pointed at the scythe. "Cursed weapons can't be stolen."

He then took back the scythe, when a familiar sound rang in his ears.

Ding!

[Worthy kills: +1!]

[Worthy kills remaining to upgrade The Scythe of Doom: 9!]

Ding!

[Quest Success: Kill the bandit boss!]

[Quest Difficulty: B-]

[Quest Reward: Scythe manipulation style: Requiem Dance]

[Imparting knowledge about “Scythe manipulating style: Requiem Dance”...]

Reading through the information of the new technique, Himo reminisced about how he used the scythe until then and felt ashamed of himself. Shaking his head to dispel such feelings, he looked toward the scythe with an expectant gaze.

All of a sudden, his gaze darted toward the bandit boss. His eyes brightened. It was looting time!

Meanwhile, seeing how the bandit boss died, both Seji and his master swore to themselves that they would never touch the scythe, even if Himo were to offer it personally.