Chapter 70: Psycopath

Chapter 70: Psycopath

Then, I dropped my stance low, weight balanced over my feet, and warped toward the Gnarlbeast Deer, Gravefang already poised for the kill.

The unsuspecting deer, still fixated on the spot I’d occupied moments ago, only reacted when my boots hit the ground beside it. Its head snapped toward me, ears flicking at the sound of my approach.

Too late.

Gravefang swept across in a clean, decisive arc, the edge biting deep into its throat. A hot spray of blood followed, and the beast made a wet, choking noise as its legs buckled beneath it. It collapsed in a heavy heap, its life spilling out into the dirt.

That sound was enough to alert the rest. The other Gnarlbeasts shifted instantly, their glowing antlers turning in unison until every pale gaze was locked on me.

A sharp thud echoed nearby—the body of the deer I’d swapped with earlier had finally crashed to the ground, no doubt a twisted heap of broken limbs. I couldn’t help but grin at the mental image.

The circle of glowing antlers flared brighter, and I knew what was coming. They didn’t hesitate. Beams lanced through the night in blinding streaks of light, all converging on where I stood.

I triggered [Swap] again, trading places with another deer in their formation. One moment I was in their crosshairs; the next, I was watching from a safer vantage point as the unfortunate Gnarlbeast I’d switched with took the full volley square in the chest.

The beast’s body convulsed under the onslaught, its flesh tearing and burning as the energy beams from the deers carved through it. While they were still blindly focusing their fire on what they thought was me, I reappeared beside another one, Gravefang, already drawn back.

And with all the ease in the world, I drove the blade down into its skull, the strike clean and final.

Before its body had even hit the dirt, I warped again, materializing next to my next target and thrusting forward in one seamless motion. The blade bit deep, but this time the kill wasn’t instant—because by then, the rest of the Gnarlbeasts had caught on.

Their glowing eyes all turned toward me in unison, the realization clear in their gaze. They had been tricked, and they’d just watched me stab another of their own through the neck.

Multiple beams charged at once, the air around me humming with lethal energy.

I grinned, already triggering [Swap].

In the blink of an eye, my position switched with another unfortunate Gnarlbeast standing on the opposite side of the clearing. A moment later, its body was torn apart by the combined fire of its own herd, the force of the impact throwing it backward in a smoking heap.

Ding!

[You have killed a Gnarlbeast Deer]

[You have levelled up]

Ohh.

That was... unexpected.

I hadn’t been entirely sure the Gnarlbeast that had just dropped would count as my kill. I’d always assumed I needed to land the finishing blow myself to get the experience—or whatever strange currency the system used to fuel my growth. But apparently, that wasn’t the case.

Or maybe... it still was.

Perhaps the system wasn’t hung up on who delivered the killing strike, but on whether I had directly influenced the death. In this case, swapping the beast into the line of fire was as much an execution as running a blade through its skull. The kill had still been mine in the system’s eyes—just... outsourced.

If that was true, it changed everything.

It meant I didn’t have to dive into the middle of their formation, dancing between hooves and beams, just to rack up kills. I could end this entire fight while barely lifting Gravefang.

All I had to do... was keep swapping them into each other’s fire until there was nothing left standing.

And my innate skill was tailor-made for that.

But...

I couldn’t deny it—I liked getting blood on my hands.

No, that sounded wrong. It wasn’t about the gore itself. I liked getting close, closing the distance until I could see the details in my target’s eyes just before the strike.

No... that still wasn’t quite it either.

I liked feeling the life drain from a kill, the raw certainty that the final moment had been mine to deliver. Yeah that sounded better.

That didn’t make me a psychopath.

At least... I didn’t think it did. I could still tell the difference between killing to survive and killing for pleasure. But there was something invigorating about it—like it unlocked a part of me that was older and hungrier than thought itself.

Maybe it was my goblin blood speaking, or maybe it was something darker I hadn’t put a name to yet. Who knew?

My blade bit deep, severing muscle as I slashed through a Gnarlbeast’s foreleg, and before its scream had finished, I drove Gravefang into its neck. Hot blood sprayed across my arm, and I was already moving—warping away just as a beam lanced through the space I’d been occupying a heartbeat earlier.

I reappeared several meters off to the side, but before my boots even touched the ground, another beam came screaming toward me. Reflex took over—I lunged sideways, the heat of the shot grazing past me close enough to sting my skin, and triggered [Warp] mid-motion.

I blinked back into existence right beside the Gnarlbeast that had dared to snipe me.

It hadn’t fired immediately like the others. Instead, it held back, tracking me with those glowing antlers, waiting for the exact moment I landed before striking.

It was adapting.

Which meant I couldn’t afford to let my guard slip for even a breath.

I stepped in, Gravefang flashing in two quick arcs, each one carving deep into vital points. The Gnarlbeast collapsed before it even realized its mistake, its body twitching as it hit the dirt.

But the reprieve was brief. The air lit up again as multiple beams tore toward me, the hum of their charge buzzing in my bones.

This time, I didn’t just dodge, I....