Reincarnated Hero System

Finding Maude's location wasn't hard for Evan as all he had to do was follow the tracker he had placed on her to her precise location.

Not too much work on his part.

As he was following the tracker, he received mental messages from Kayla, Kuro and Roselia, who were questioning why their connection with him had fluctuated dangerously.

They also noted that there was a sudden surge of World Law energy through it, and the pressure they felt shocked them out of their wits.

This made Evan really surprised, as Roselia was the one who had admitted this, even stating that she felt 'threatened' by it.

He stopped for a moment to explain to them that he had just dealt with an opponent that messed with his Soul, leaving out a lot of the story even though he knew they realised this.

Evan had zero intentions of telling them about '■■■■■', nor the things he had discovered due to Agnes' meddling.

Roselia surprisingly backed down easily, but after thinking about it, he was sure the woman planned to ask him about it again in person.

As for Kayla and Kuro, the two were still very worried and kept the connection channel open, just in case anything happened so they could come to his aid even if it meant alerting the whole base.

Evan didn't bother, returning his focus to finding where Maude was to deal with her as well.

Since he had dealt with Agnes here, he was sure that the Demonic Hand would not be having a Tenth Finger anytime soon.

If there was one thing he knew about the World Formation, then it was the fact that one could not become a Node with a Damaged Soul.

So even if Agnes was not dead, her Damaged soul would prevent her from becoming one.

'There's also the fact that the person who can make her a Node is here on the Alpha Continent while she's on the Beta.'

The 'First Finger' of the Demonic Hand, was someone that Evan did not underestimate. You would think that was a matter of fact, but the man was really something else.

For over 200 years, the members of 'The Five', though they were just three initially, have been after him since they discovered he was the key to ending the Demonic Hand permanently.

Even after they finally 'found him', Kolvar was going to meet the others with information that would burst their joys, since the person they found was just a fake.

The Real 'First Finger', was someone they all knew.

Pretty much every person on the Alpha continent who had been educated knew the man, but they did not know he was the Demonic Hand's leader.

Laurene had even had interactions with him, completely ignorant of who he was!

All members of the Five had spoken with him at once point, and even shook hands with him, while not knowing he was the enemy they were after.

Seeing as the man was able to pull the wool over so many eyes for centuries, there was no way that Evan could take him lightly.

'Still…to think that he wanted to attack me last year.'

Evan was sure that the First Finger was too busy to personally handle him at this point, which was why he was so bold in his actions.

'But it seems I have to be a lot more careful going forward…'

He thought that as he bypassed all the A-Rank level Senior Members in the Ninth Division who were standing guard and making his way straight to Maude's location.

Of course, Lethe was active as well.

Evan did make sure to be careful, as though Agnes' power was a unique skill, there was the minuscule possibility of someone possessing a similar ability.

'Would the current Laurene be able to See through Lethe? I think she can…'

He had that random thought as he reached the door to the room where Maude was, peeking through the small gap in it and using blink to enter the room.

There, he saw the Ninth Finger of the Demonic Hand, seated in front of a desk while flipping through some papers.

He spotted a pair of crutches at one corner of the room, but seeing as there was a bit of dust on them, he doubted they had been used recently.

The standing fan blew her chestnut-coloured hair strands that fell over her face as she looked through a folder in her hands.

In front of her, were dozens of magic projections, with some showing different points in the base, while others had lines of text that Evan stopped to read.

The contents once again made Evan impressed with the level of power and influence the Demonic Hand secretly held.

'Politicians have skeletons in their closets, and here is Maude, casually displaying these skeletons while flipping through some like it's the morning paper.'

He could see evidence enough to convict some pretty high- ranked people of various crimes, from illegal smuggling to murdering political opponents.

The Demonic Hand had this information and they used it to control these people, allowing them to move about easily.

Evan glanced around and saw that there were dozens of files scattered around the room, each one bearing a different nation's label.

He didn't dare touch anyone, as the instant he did, Maude would certainly be aware that there was someone else in the room with her.

This didn't mean he could not glance through them, and he even walked around her to see what she was reading.

'It seems the fact that this base went undiscovered for so long was not a coincidence, huh? Croville's lord is at their mercy as well.'

He didn't bother going through anything else as he'd eventually gain possession of all this, but first, he needed to deal with Maude.

Physically, Evan could not see even the slightest mark maiming her skin, showing she had been healed from all the injuries she sustained fighting him.

But maybe because of his scuffle with Agnes, Evan was quite sensitive to souls now.

He could not physically see them like her, but he could tell, especially since he was the one responsible.

'Her Soul is still damaged.'

This wasn't surprising as injuries to the Soul—one of the Three Main Existential Aspects and the very root of one's existence— weren't so easily healed.

'Guess I'm about to make them worse, I have to be careful so I do not damage her Unique Skill Rune.'

With that thought, Evan activated his inventory, the skill activation slipping past Maude's senses as it was a mimicked skill.

He then pulled out the Unforged, along with a bottle of paralysis poison, dripping the liquid on his blade as he walked in front of her.

At that point, she just so happened to put down her files and lean back in her seat, so Evan took the opportunity.

First off, he switched from Lethe to his normal concealment skill so he could deploy its effects around the room. However, his normal concealment was not strong enough to fool Maude in such close proximity as her eyes immediately shot open in that instant.

"?!"

**SHHK!!

Maude had not even fully reacted to the presence she suddenly sensed when a blade penetrated her clothes' defensive power and pierced into her chest.

It narrowly missed her heart, but that wasn't because Evan's aim was bad, but because he actually wanted to talk with the woman.

"Hi, Maude."

The boy spoke in a very calm tone, and before she could speak, he held out his finger and shushed her.

His mystic eyes were active, and he looked into her eyes which were filled with shock and began the three-second process of taking her Unique Skill for himself.

|Stoneheart's Embrace Acquired|

|Unique Skills require three skill slots. |

|Six Skill slots remaining. |

He dismissed the notifications that appeared in his field of view while he watched the paralysis poison on his sword take effect and stiffen her body.

She tried to rouse her aura to fight it off, actually succeeding partially but it was all within Evan's expectations.

Once she had resisted the paralysis enough that she would have no problems talking, Evan twisted the blade in her chest, causing her unimaginable pain and breaking her energy flow.

"Dear, Dear Maude.

It pains me to have to do this, you know? But as far as I'm concerned, this planet is in a state of war, and you just so happen to be on an opposing side."

"Shut the fuck up!"

The woman cursed as beads of sweat dripped down her head, gritting her teeth to bear with the pain while silently activating her Telekinesis and trying to move Evan away.

However, the boy suddenly activated BoD and the sudden influx of destruction energy once again broke her energy flow and concentration, causing the skill to be forcefully deactivated.

"Sorry to say, my dear, but I have zero intentions of you having any last stands where you suddenly unlock a new power and manage to deal great damage to me."