Noir left, running with his tail between his legs. And I regretted forgetting about the part about not killing him in one hit.

He actually has two special skills. One is that whenever he was killed, he would use up a stack of his life and recover to the state that was saved as a checkpoint. It was a tricky ability, especially for someone like him who was as powerful as a God tamer.

This “stack” of reserve lives increases for every life he takes, making him have thousands of stacks even now. The problem was that his “saved” state right now was when he was still a God Tamer. Although he doesn’t have his tamed monsters anymore, his physical body and the system get restored after he is “reset.”

The second special skill he had was similar to Alpha’s: some form of future sight. However, unlike Alpha, who uses the Void element, Noir was using a different and unknown one. His accuracy was lower, but he could see a clearer picture of the future compared to others. This was the one he was using to search for the gun.

Now that Noir was gone, I heaved a deep sigh. As he had just been reset, he had no energy reserves left to fight. If he had stayed, however, I may have been in danger instead.

“… Sh*t, I forgot!”

Recalling the time limit I have, I quickly turned off the Flame of Evolution around me. This flame, although it could provide me with unending energy, eats up my good karma at a rapid pace.

I brought up my current karma value again and scratched my head. The black was completely covering the entire circle, with not even a dot of white remaining.

“I… Screwed up.”

A cold sweat fell down my back. Fortunately, Ember and Igni were already freed from fighting the tentacles around them. The two rushed to my side with worried and happy expressions.

“Master! You’re safe!”

“My Lord, you did superbly with how you drove off Agor!”

Although I wish to celebrate with them, right now isn’t the right time for it.

“Ember, quick! Teleport us out of this place!”

I didn’t even have time to explain why, but Ember turned serious and nodded her head. She then started forming a portal for us to pass through… But we were too late.

*CRASSSSHHHH!*

The space, the entire black space around the three of us, shattered like candy glass. Behind the shattered space was a large Demon in the shape of a shark, spanning about a kilometer and as wide as a stadium.

“Damn. Too late…”

“Master, it’s done—!”

Ember shouted as she was about to turn, but she opened her eyes wide in surprise at seeing the unruly visitor we have. Before she could even speak another word, I pushed the two of them towards the portal and rushed in myself.

Ember passed through completely; however, as Igni wasn’t even halfway through, the giant shark’s eyes flashed a flashing red.

“…!”

Igni, who was just about to enter with half her arm in, screamed in muted agony. Her arm… Was missing from her elbow down. The teleportation portal that Ember created was forcefully stopped!

I pulled Igni into my embrace and was about to use the special function of the ring given by Zeshion, but even after I activated it, nothing happened.

“This is a joke, right…?”

I turned to the shark, whose eyes were still glowing.

“This demon… Is at God level?”

I have never heard of a demon at god level before! Not even from the five regressors! At most, there should be the half-god level, a 9th stage that reached the limits and was basically as powerful as a God tamer.

As I was panicking now that even my best way to escape had been sealed, the despair continued.

*ROOOOOAAAAAARRRRRR!*

The demon released a powerful shockwave that literally crushed everything around it. Together with the roar, a shadowy sphere started expanding with it as the center. 𝗼𝘃𝗹.𝗼𝐫𝗴

“And now, a Domain?!”

Again, this isn’t something that a Demon should be able to use!

I didn’t want to wait and see what the domain could do to me. So, I quickly turned around before using Shadow Skip to run away. Although this skill was supposed to make you unable to bring others with you, with the secret method I learned from Death, I was able to take Igni with me and escape.

“M-My Lord…!”

Igni tried to lift her head, but I tightened my grip on her, carrying her like a bride. “Don’t move; I’ll lose concentration!”

Although I want to take out a potion and apply it to her cut-off arm, I don’t have time for that right now. I glanced to the back and realized that the expanding domain of the shark was accelerating. It was getting closer and closer, even though we were jumping kilometers in an instant.

“Oh no!”

Finally, I got caught in the range. As soon as I was inside the domain, I couldn’t move my body. I tried activating Brother Mountain’s Sigil, but even with that, my body was moving as slowly as a snail. It feels like I was trying to move while submerged in a sticky liquid.

As I was preoccupied with trying to activate skills but failing, suddenly a large shadow was cast over us.

“Igni… Sorry…”

Even without turning around, I knew that it was the Shark. In an instant, a large maw covered us completely, plunging the two of us into darkness.

—

“Master…?”

Back at the Luo Manor, Ember looked behind her and was puzzled.

Without even having time to realize what happened, she was already pushed to the other side, after all. The portal behind her was still working as she turned, and Igni’s arm was about to pass through… Until the portal suddenly got crushed and an arm fell to the ground.

“…”

Ember stared at the scaly arm that fell, unable to process what happened. She looked at the space before her, where the portal was, and breathed sharply in realization.

“MASTER?!”

Ember’s heart started beating wildly. She was extremely worried for Will, but she remembered that he had a ring with Goddess Zeta’s teleportation ability sealed in it. Although she was anxious, she waited for a few more seconds, believing that Will would return.

But rather than his return… His link was completely cut off. All of his tamed monsters and the Contracted servants felt this anomaly at the same time.