Ronald stared impassively at Korkel, allowing him to pathetically perform begging for mercy, and finally letting him successfully release what he thought would be a trump card.

Whoosh!

A faint light shot out from Korkel's mouth, then pierced through the dummy's head like lightning!

The faint light did not lose momentum after piercing through the dummy, continuing to penetrate two large trees before finally coming to a stop.

It had to be said that Korkel was really lucky. His one-time ability allowed him to hit the dummy's fatal spot directly.

If it had been anywhere else, even if all his limbs were severed, Korkel would still have been able to see the dummy's eyes glowing red as it continued speaking.

But in a stroke of bad luck, the location Korkel chose was right where the dummy's core was.

The dummy's command reception center was located in its forehead. With this area destroyed, Ronald immediately lost control over the dummy, while also suffering some backlash, evidenced by the two streaks of blood flowing from his nostrils that he couldn't stop no matter how much he wiped...

Although the dummy was scrapped, Ronald was not discouraged. After this experiment, he had more ideas for the design of magic puppets, ideas that Ronald would experiment with one by one when he had free time. But for now, it was time to draw the curtain on this farce.

With the seemingly mind-reading crimson gaze gone, Korkel fell into a frenzy of ecstatic joy. He kept spitting towards where the dummy had fallen, while also laughing maniacally as if he were a 200-pound madman in a mental asylum...

Fresh blood stained the large puddles around them red, and the air was suffused with a choking smell of rust.

The against-all-odds counter kill had sent Korkel into an almost crazed elation. After spitting all the saliva in his mouth, Korkel pointed at the dummy's corpse and began cursing loudly.

"You damn son of a b*tch, don't think it's over just because you're dead. When my brothers get here, I'm going to skin you alive, rip out your tendons, and then refine your soul so you can never rest in peace!"

"On top of that, there's also your family. The men will all be sold to rogue mages for them to experiment on in cruel ways, while I'll personally train the women before selling them to the brothels on Whore Street to earn me money day and night. When they get old, I'll sell them to the goblin tribes and let them give birth to a bunch of little monsters before being eaten alive by their own offspring."

Having escaped death, Korkel forgot about his surroundings and hurled vicious insults at the dummy's corpse.

Ronald listened silently for a while, then sighed lightly after the other party paused, parched. He then emerged from behind the large tree.

"Thirsty? Do you need some water?" Ronald's casual words drifted over.

Ronald stopped at a spot of dappled light. The moonlight filtering through the trees illuminated half of the black-haired man's face, leaving it half-light, half-shadow. At this moment, Ronald looked exactly like the ultimate villain from movies and TV.

Korkel was clearly frightened, stammering incoherently for a long time before responding belatedly and putting on an act.

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"Stop right there! Don't move, or I'll shoot!" Korkel yelled agitatedly.

"Do you need a mirror for me to show you what you look like with your empty blustering?" Ronald said playfully.

"What nonsense are you spewing! Put down your weapon immediately, or I really will shoot!"

As he spoke, Korkel puffed up his cheeks, putting on a stance as if ready to attack at any moment.

The perfect lie was one where you fooled even yourself, and clearly, Korkel had achieved that. His agitated manner would have convinced anyone that he wasn't lying.

However, Ronald's response was a piercing pain symmetrical to Korkel's right shoulder.

Ronald had used great force for this blow, stabbing the short sword from the left shoulder socket through the back.

Korkel's eyes instantly bulged wide, and his body trembled convulsively. From his mouth burst vicious cursing.

"You f*cking son of a b*tch, I'll f*ck your ancestor!"

"I'm going to kill you! I definitely...absolutely will kill you!"

"You're done for! You're absolutely done for! The Tower Lord will definitely capture you and take you apart piece by piece!!!"

Finding it somewhat annoying, Ronald used a spell to seal Korkel's vocal abilities, then simply tortured him for a bit.

As it turned out, Korkel was not a man of great integrity. After carving off several pounds of flesh from his wounds, the bloodshot, drenched-in-sweat Korkel spilled all the information he had, including tips on how to torture targets.

The one who had hired him for the hit was Harlington, the blonde fop who had targeted Ronald at the banquet hall.

Korkel and he had agreed to meet after completing the job at an abandoned castle outside the city. This gave Ronald some ideas.

If their meeting spot had been within the city, Ronald would not have set foot in Snowdrift City for even a moment before the collapse of that magic tower. But since it was outside the city, that was another story.

He had originally planned to just kill Korkel with a catapult shot, but after hearing that cringeworthy advice, Ronald changed his mind.

He skewered Korkel from bottom to top with a sharpened wooden stake, then burned him alive with an ignition spell.

After dealing with Korkel, Ronald drove the carriage back.

Any knights he encountered who were injured and waiting for rescue were sliced into helpless human sticks with wind blades, then skewered together with the knights killed by the magic traps and planted by the roadside.

Only after turning all the knights into roadside specimens without exception did Ronald emerge from his rage.

The scorched limbs flailed madly in the flames, and the air was suffused with a strange, roasted aroma.

"Phew..."

Ronald, feeling somewhat dizzy, slowly sat down on a tree stump by the roadside.

Gazing at the drifting ashes in the air and the raging flames, he didn't know what to do for a moment.

In his two lifetimes, this was the first time he had killed someone.

The nauseous feeling afterwards that novels often mentioned did not appear. On the contrary, there was a feeling of exhilaration, like kicking aside a bothersome rock in summer.

It was like the satisfaction of drinking an ice-cold cola after exercising. The refreshing sensation really made one feel great.

"They were the natives of this different world who tried to kill me first. I was only defending myself, so they were in the wrong and I did nothing wrong. There's no need to feel guilty at all..."

Ronald murmured to himself with unfocused eyes as he stared at the armor fused into the charred corpses.

"Scumbags like Korkel who have done all sorts of evil deeds, death is too good for them. Killing him myself is acting on heaven's behalf. Yes, it's acting on heaven's behalf!!"

A flash of red glinted in Ronald's eyes as he slowly stood up from the tree stump.

Glancing around, the flames from the ignition spell had already burned up everything combustible from the bodies. The fire had died down now, and the aroma of charring had changed to an acrid, choking burnt smell in the air.

Calming himself, Ronald began scavenging for spoils of war. From the scattered battle horses nearby, he found over ten packages, which contained over ten gold coins. This sum greatly relieved Ronald's current predicament.

In fact, the most valuable items were the war horses and the knights' equipment. Selling just one horse or a set of armor could support Ronald's livelihood for years. But why was Ronald completely unmoved by them? Because the risks outweighed the benefits.

The horses and armor all had identifying marks. If Ronald sold them one day, he would become a wanted man the next.

He wasn't stupid enough to put himself in that situation just for a few hundred gold coins.

After tidying up the scene and making sure there were no obvious loose ends, Ronald drove the carriage towards Snowdrift City.

Tonight, Harlington would be waiting for Korkel at an abandoned castle outside the city. Letting him get away like this left Ronald somewhat unwilling, so he decided to go meet him.