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"Such immense greed."
In Illumi's eyes, there was a monstrous entity behind Paul at this moment. A gigantic skeleton formed by the emotion of greed almost filled the entire office, as if it was about to devour Paul at any moment.
"Greed, disappearing!?"
Suddenly, Illumi's eyes narrowed. The greed, which had expanded to its extreme behind Paul, was rapidly dissipating.
"Hiss-ha~"
Tristain stared into Paul's eyes, his own eyes bloodshot, devoid of any humanity. He was like a hundred-man slayer on an ancient battlefield, blinded by blood, reduced to a beast that only knew slaughter.
All the surrounding bodyguards rushed forward. Illumi simply watched as Paul unleashed a wanton slaughter.
Paul was immensely strong and fearless of pain. Even when bodyguards shot at him, he showed no reaction at all. In one minute, the irrational Paul had killed everyone in the room except Illumi and two thugs cowering in the corner.
"Roar!"
Paul, his eyes bloodshot, turned and let out a beast-like roar at Illumi, who stood behind the office chair.
"Wuwuwu..."
Paul's two thug companions cowered in the corner, trembling and weeping uncontrollably from the terrifying spectacle of slaughter.
Paul roared again and charged at Illumi, his blood-stained claws lunging towards him.
"Swish!"
A flash of white light. Both arms were severed at the root. Paul's charging body lost balance and slammed against the office desk with a "thud."
"Hiss..."
Paul, having lost his arms, felt no pain. He raised his head again and roared at Illumi.
"Shut up!"
Illumi frowned, pressing his left hand on Paul's head. With a resounding "thump," he pressed Paul onto the office desk. The hard solid wood office desk was violently dented into a circular pit.
"Gulp..."
The two thugs stared at Illumi, who looked like a bodyguard, swallowing their saliva. They didn't understand why such a powerful person hadn't acted before.
"Strange, all traces of the emotion of greed have vanished."
Illumi gazed at the smoke swirling around Paul. The smoke of greed, which had originally expanded to form a massive skeleton, was now completely gone. Only the purest malice and murderous intent remained, like a wild beast.
Paul's body was still struggling madly under Illumi's suppression. The office desk continuously vibrated with his struggles.
"Take it off."
Illumi grabbed Paul's head, lifted him, then gripped the edge of the mask on Paul's cheek with his right hand. His eyes narrowed, and he pulled forcefully.
"Swish!"
There was no resistance as imagined; it was as if the mask had just been stuck on, and it came off very easily. Illumi's left palm, which was holding Paul's head, opened with a "thump," and Paul fell to the ground.
"Uh uh..."
Paul, whose mask had been removed, seemed to regain a bit of consciousness. Faint sounds came from his throat, as if he wanted to say something.
"Pa... Paul."
His two thug companions, seeing that he seemed to have regained some sanity, tiptoed over. They looked at his opening and closing mouth, then leaned closer, wanting to hear his words clearly.
"Be... careful of that... golden... mask..."
Before he could finish, Paul's eyes bulged, his expression froze, his head tilted, and the light in his pupils gradually faded. His two thug companions looked at each other, seeing a common emotion named fear in each other's eyes. They stiffly twisted their necks and looked up at Illumi, who was meticulously examining the mask.
"Can... can we leave now?"
One of them asked, trembling, forcing down his unease.
Illumi didn't speak. He just slowly turned around, holding the mask, and walked towards the two of them.
"Help me with a favor."
Illumi stood in front of the two, extending the mask towards them, and said in a deep voice.
"Put it on."
The two thugs, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly stiffened. Their mouths twitched as they said, "Big, big brother, we can't wear this mask."
"Right, right, it's evil. Paul became like this because of it."
The two thugs raised their hands, shaking them continuously, and repeatedly shook their heads in refusal.
"I know, that's why I'm giving it to you."
Illumi's tone was calm. The two thugs trembled upon hearing his words. In their disbelieving gazes, Illumi's body was swept by a white light from bottom to top.
"You two won't refuse, will you?"
Illumi's bodyguard appearance instantly changed into that of the news anchor they had met two months ago.
The two thugs were now too scared to speak. A foul odor wafted from beneath them. Illumi's gaze shifted, and their crotches were completely soaked.
"Don't worry, I'll help you."
In the two thugs' despairing eyes, Illumi pressed down on one thug's head, forcibly pushing the mask onto his face.
After helping him put on the mask, Illumi twisted his head and looked at the junction of his cheek and the mask's edge. He saw that the mask seemed to have fused with his skin. He pulled forcefully.
"It won't come off."
Illumi pulled hard at the golden mask on the thug's face but found that it seemed to have grown onto him. No matter the angle, he couldn't pull it off.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Illumi frowned. The thug who had put on the mask stopped trembling. The dense emotion of fear swirling around him quickly dissipated, replaced by a faint wisp of blue smoke.
"Greed, growing stronger."
This wisp of blue smoke represented greed, and it was continuously growing. In the short time Illumi observed, it had already grown from a wisp of thread to the thickness of a yarn. And it was still continuously growing, visibly expanding at a terrifying speed.
"Slap!"
The thug wearing the mask suddenly gripped Illumi's wrist. He was no longer trembling. His right arm, which was holding Illumi's wrist, suddenly exerted force, as if trying to crush his bones.
Illumi's eyes narrowed. His right hand transformed into a blade, and with two "thwack" sounds, he directly severed both of the thug's arms. Fresh blood splattered, spraying onto the other thug's face, and another smell of urine appeared.
"I'd like to see if it truly can't be pulled off."
Illumi pressed down on the struggling body of the armless thug, placed a foot on his shoulder, and clasped the edges of the mask on both sides of his cheeks with his hands.
"Get... off!"
Illumi's eyes narrowed, and he suddenly exerted force.
"Rip~"
Instantly, a sound like tearing cloth rang out. Illumi directly ripped off the thug's face skin along with the bloody mask.
"Ah ah ah...!!!"
The sole remaining thug, witnessing his companion's face being brutally torn off, suffered a mental breakdown and screamed, then fainted.
"Directly ripped off his face skin."
Illumi gazed at the golden mask in his hand, stained with flesh. He finally understood the mask's strangeness.
He picked up the cigar box from the ground, placed the mask inside, then slowly stood up. His right leg transformed into a blade and "swished" across the neck of the fainted thug.
He slowly left the office.