"YOU BASTARD!"
Ignoring Cao Cao's furious roar, Finn immediately activated Night Reflection. The shadows in the narrow alleyway suddenly warped and stretched beneath his feet, answering his silent command.
"Akeno, slip into the shadows," Finn ordered quietly.
"Are you going to be okay, Finn-sama?" Akeno asked, her violet eyes filled with deep worry as she looked at the dozen armed terrorists surrounding him.
"Don't worry about me. But I can't go all out if I have to worry about protecting you. Step inside."
"Yes..." Akeno bit her lip, frustrated by her own current lack of power. She knew she would only be a burden or, worse, a hostage if she stayed. Finn had already drawn blood; the Hero Faction would show absolutely no mercy now. More importantly, she knew her master had recently developed terrifying new abilities, and she fully trusted him to survive.
As Akeno sank safely into the pitch-black floor, Finn let out a quiet sigh of relief. Thanks to the Manager flawlessly organizing his reincarnated memories, he had instantly recognized the dead boy and the exact mechanics of his artifact.
Originally, Night Reflection was used by its host to absorb physical and magical attacks via shadows, redirecting them from any other shadow within the user's radius. It allowed the user to mold shadows into solid weapons, erect impenetrable dark barriers, and submerge themselves or their enemies into a dimensional pocket of darkness to restrict their movements.
In simple terms: absolute shadow manipulation.
It might not have been a Longinus capable of slaying a God, but in Finn's highly optimized hands, it was a terrifyingly versatile tool. With it, he could theoretically mimic the aesthetic of a certain 'Shadow Monarch' from the Solo Leveling universe.
"Arise," Finn thought to himself with a dark, private chuckle.
Jokes aside, his primary reason for aggressively acquiring this specific Sacred Gear was simply to protect Akeno. He wanted a secure, dimensional safe room to store her in during chaotic battles. Despite being vastly stronger than her canon counterpart, she still wasn't powerful enough to survive a clash against multiple Longinus wielders. Furthermore, Finn's combat style was brutally pragmatic and lethal. He didn't want Akeno dirtying her hands just yet; he viewed her as someone precious, someone to be shielded from the absolute ugliness of his work.
Now that Akeno was safely tucked away in a shadow pocket, Finn could finally clear out the trash.
It's a shame the other one isn't here, Finn thought, casually wiping the blood off Balmung.
He had actively planned to hunt down Georg, the descendant of Faust and the wielder of the Longinus Dimension Lost. That specific artifact could create a magical mist capable of blocking any attack and transporting anything it touched into an artificial space. Finn had countless lucrative, highly dangerous ideas on how to exploit Dimension Lost.
Unfortunately, Georg was nowhere to be seen. Given how desperately Cao Cao relied on Georg's teleportation for logistics, the spatial mage was likely hiding far away from the frontline.
"Well, unfortunately, it's just the rest of you," Finn sighed, visibly disappointed.
"...Do you honestly think you've already won, Finn Balam?" Cao Cao's eyes narrowed dangerously. The polite, arrogant smile he had worn earlier was completely gone, replaced by a suffocating, dense killing intent.
"Siegfried, are you okay? Let me heal you!" a support member yelled, rushing over to the white-haired swordsman.
"I'll live. Just fix it," Siegfried gritted his teeth, his face pale with agony.
The healer poured holy magic into Siegfried's pulverized wrist. The skin knit back together, but the bone structure would never fully return to its original strength. Finn's demonic brute force had shattered it into microscopic fragments. Still, Siegfried's eyes burned with sheer hatred. He fully intended to kill the Devil who had stolen his beloved Balmung.
"Onii-chan, are you okay?" Le Fay, a cute young witch, asked the elegant blonde swordsman—Arthur Pendragon—who had just been effortlessly deflected and nearly decapitated in a single, humiliating clash.
"Yeah... I am fine," Arthur replied, his voice trembling slightly.
That single, casual deflection had severely damaged his swordsman's pride, but he quickly regained his composure. He was young, and realizing there was a terrifyingly high ceiling to martial arts only fueled his desire to improve.
"Cao Cao!"
The remaining members quickly rallied behind their leader. Despite heavily outnumbering the lone Devil, they all felt a creeping, icy dread settling in their stomachs.
Finn's presence was entirely unnatural. Usually, a powerful supernatural creature would arrogantly flare their aura, blasting energy outward to assert dominance like a rooster puffing its chest. Yet, Finn's aura was completely silent. It was a suffocating, invisible pressure.
Humans instinctively feared the unknown.
They had all read his dossier. They thought Finn Balam's only abilities were raw super strength and magic resistance. Yet, he had just stolen a legendary sword mid-swing, ripped a Sacred Gear from a man's soul, and banished his Queen into a shadow dimension.
More importantly, he slaughtered without a second of hesitation. He was truly evil!
"You might think you have the upper hand right now, Devil!"
Cao Cao stepped forward, spinning his weapon—the True Longinus. It was the absolute strongest Sacred Gear in existence, the legendary holy lance that had pierced the side of Christ. As the wielder of this divine weapon, Cao Cao truly believed it was his destiny to elevate humanity so they would never have to fear the supernatural again.
"I WILL BRING THE LIGHT TO HUMANITY! DO NOT FEAR HIM! WE WILL STRIKE THIS EVIL DOWN TOGETHER!"
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH!" The Hero Faction roared in unison, their morale surging under their leader's charismatic cry.
"..."
Finn stood in silence, utterly deadpan.
I'm literally being treated like the Final Boss...
Whose fault was this? If they hadn't ambushed him in an alleyway trying to murder him for a bounty, none of this would be happening. Finn genuinely just wanted to live a peaceful, highly profitable corporate life. Yet, it seemed the universe absolutely refused to leave him alone unless he traumatized his enemies into submission.
"Well, since you're all so eager to die as heroes, I suppose I should reward your courage. I'll show you my true innate ability."
Hearing those words, every single member of the Hero Faction tensed, gripping their weapons tightly, bracing themselves for a massive, apocalyptic magical blast or a terrifying demonic transformation.
Only, as Finn had noted earlier, the mythological demon Balam wasn't known for flashy destruction. Balam was known for intellect, perception, and making men unseen.
"Absolute Redaction."
There was no grand explosion. There was no blazing pillar of demonic energy. There was no battle cry.
Finn's ability was incredibly simple: he just turned entirely invisible.
His body, his body heat, his scent, and his magical signature completely vanished from reality.
Yet, in that dead, suffocating silence, that single, simple ability brought absolute, pant-wetting terror to every remaining member of the Hero Faction.