The Useless Prince Is A Gangster

Minutes earlier, Leo stood among the steaming remains of the mutated mercenaries at Point C, his crimson eyes scanning the destruction with cold focus. He reached into his item space, pulling out a plain wooden bow and a single arrow.

He closed his eyes and directed the arrow's mana. Leo's signal for phase two was a sharp release that sent the arrow skyward with a loud whistle, climbing high before exploding in a bright flash of fiery light.

Erin would move to Rin, Lucian to Velmera, and Leo would go after the remaining mercenaries as planned.

"Time to hunt the rest of these scumbags," he muttered, cracking his knuckles as the bow disappeared back into his item space.

The silence was broken by a light, playful female voice. "Hotshot, hunting is on hold for now."

Leo spun, only to freeze as Erin perched on a low tree branch, her silver-white robe swaying gently as she swung her legs with casual ease. She pulled off her hood and white neck mask, revealing a sharp grin and violet eyes that sparkled with amusement.

"Great work, Reo," she said, whistling at the pile of charred mutant corpses. "You left the scavengers barely anything.

Leo's red eyes flashed with annoyance as he yanked off his own mask. "What the hell, Erin? The signal is now active! Why don't you go for Rin?"

Erin walked toward him after jumping down and landing lightly, her braid bouncing. With a confident and piercing smile, she stated, "I'm making modifications to the plan."

"You are going to save your girl."

A mana pulse rippled through the air as she lifted her arm and flicked her finger. Leo backed away as a figure was dragged across the forest floor at a terrible pace, kicking up leaves and dirt, followed by a harsh scraping sound. A normal person would've been torn apart, but this captive was far from ordinary.

The figure skidded to a stop between them, bound in glowing chains of light mana. Leo looked down—a cult soldier, his tattered robes bloodied, his white mask shining in the patchy sunlight. His wounds from the drag were already healing, knitting with unnatural speed.

The cultist thrashed, his voice venomous as he spat, "Release me, you wretched cur!"

Erin kicked him hard in the ribs, her expression sour. "Shut up, Bastard!" she snapped, then turned to Leo.

"Caught this one skulking on my way here. Tried to kill him, even took his head clean off—but he just keeps regenerating."

As Leo studied the cultist's regenerating flesh, his breath caught and his eyes narrowed. "One of their experiments again," he whispered. "They have stable consciousness and are pretty much immortal now."

Erin shook her head, her violet eyes shining. "Not even gods are genuinely immortal, Leo. It's simply more difficult to kill them."

Pointing, she looked him in the eye.

"That kind of regeneration requires a power source. You are aware of what it is in this world."

Leo had a realization when he realized the law of conservation.

"Mana," he said, crouching to study the cultist.

"Elynn, scan him."

[Scanning,] Elynn's voice hummed in his mind, her analysis overlaying his vision like a ghostly lens.

The scan peeled through the cultist's body, revealing a core in his chest.

[Abnormal mana core detected.]

[Composition: non-standard, high-density mana.]

Unlike the blue cores of humans or the red of demons, this one glowed like a tiny sun.

Erin caught the shift in Leo's expression and smirked. "Found it, didn't you?"

Leo nodded. "Yeah, but why me for Rin? That Ashtera's after her—if I get involved, it'll complicate everything."

The cultist's head snapped up at the name, confusion flickering in his eyes. "Ashtera?" Why do they speak of the goddess we serve?

Erin smiled icily as her eyes shifted to the cultist. "Sorry, I said too much." She drove her violet-aura-flaring hand into the cultist's chest, wrapping her fingers around the yellow core.

She twisted it sharply and crushed it, burning her hand as the core exploded in a flash of blood and light. In the end, the cultist's body went motionless.

She shook out her burned hand, muttering, "Heal," as her skin knitted together.

"I've taken care of the Ashtera problem for the time being," she said, turning to face Leo. "I'll deal with the mercenaries and go to Lucian to tell him about the cores. You get to your girl."

"Also, keep your identity as Reo Carter a secret from her."

***************

In the present, Leo towered over the last cultist now kneeling in the dirt, clutching the mana-charged arrow stuck in his head. The cultist's white mask was cracked, blood seeping from the wound as he stared up at Leo, whose crimson eyes burned with relentless fury through his black neck mask.

The cultist scrambled backward, his hands clawing at the dirt in a desperate attempt to escape.

Leo's hand shot out, grabbing his leg with a steel grip and yanking him back. With a snarl, he swung the cultist in a brutal arc, slamming him into the ground with a bone-shaking thud. Again and again, he repeated the motion, the cultist's body bleeding heavily only to heal.

Leo pinned him with a knee. "You think you're immortal? Let's test how much pain you can take." A cold, almost cruel smirk crept into his tone as he raised his fist, smashing it into the cultist's face.

The mask broke, and the force caused the flesh underneath to turn into a bloody mess, with bone and blood splattering across the dirt. In a matter of seconds, the cultist's face restored, but Leo continued to attack, each blow motivated by the memory of Rin's tear-streaked face.

Leo's crimson eyes remained cold as the cultist's agonized screams reverberated throughout the forest, his anger consuming all self-control.

Rin ran toward them from a distance, her pink eyes wide with desperation and panic.

"Stop, Leonhardt!" Breathing heavily, she stumbled over roots and yelled in a raw voice. The cultist's face was a hideous mess of healing flesh when she arrived, just as his fist was about to fall again.

"Leonhardt, enough!" she screamed, clutching his shoulders with trembling hands and yanking him back with all of her might. He remained still, his fist still hammering, his attention fixed on the cultist. Rin threw herself at him in desperation, wrapping her arms behind his chest.

"Leonhardt, please stop! I'm scared of you! Look at me, I'm all right!"

Leo's crimson eyes flickered, the haze of rage fading, and his fist froze mid-strike, chest heaving. He stood up and slowly turned to face Rin, who had pink eyes and a pale face from fear—not of the cultists, but of the rage consuming him.

With her voice softer now and trembling with emotion, she tightened her hold on him. "I'm all right, Leonhardt. You don't have to do this."

For a moment, the forest was quiet, save for their heavy breathing. Leo's shoulders slumped slightly, his bloodied glove unclenching as he reached out, his hand hovering near her cheek, careful not to touch her with the gore on his fingers.

"Rin…" he started, his voice low, guilt creeping into his tone.

Rin's eyes widened as she saw a flash of movement over his shoulder before he could continue. The cultist was getting back up, holding a dagger in his healed hand as it swung toward Leo's back, its blade gleaming.

A wave of protective rage erupted from her fear for him. Her hands glowed with raw, unsteady energy as she channeled mana without her staff, still holding Leo.

With a loud boom, the explosion spell she cast was released as she thrust her hands forward. The cultist's body was reduced to smoking fragments that were strewn all over the clearing as it exploded.

With her arms still around Leo and her body trembling from the aftershock of her spell, Rin gazed at the remains while breathing wildly.

Her pink eyes burned with a mix of anger and relief as she glared at the spot where the cultist had stood. "Nobody touches him," she whispered fiercely.