The Villain's Shopping System

37  Chapter 36 - Hostility

Kaito urgently needs a few more evil points to be able to create an ability to deal with the Specters. However, while he is surrounded by the monsters, the only people in his field of vision are a rich old woman, who is on her knees picking up the pearls from her necklace, and a snobbish-looking man who is crying, like a child, because he has had his knee grazed.

Disappointed, Kaito chooses the one he believes will give him the most points, namely the rich old woman.

So while the woman with slightly gray hair and wrinkled skin reaches out for one of the pearls, Kaito does his job and steps on the pearl she is reaching for, breaking the pearl into several pieces.

Looking her up and down, Kaito says with contempt:

"Don't you realize what is happening here? Get out, if you don't want to die."

The boy's emerald-colored eyes almost glow in contrast to his disgusted expression, and this causes the woman to feel a unique chill and finally realize what is happening around her. She is startled to see the Spectres approaching like wolves to their prey and says to Kaito as she runs into a store at the same time:

"I'm sorry!!!"

Satisfied, Kaito looks toward the Spectres again, this time with a new notification from the system.

[You have earned 7 Evil Points for Hostility with Civilian].

Kaito is not proud of what he has done, but he has no regrets either.

"Now give me the ability I wanted." Kaizen asks, and then another notification appears for him.

[You have learned the skill 'Simple Vampire Claws'].

A feeling of excitement and curiosity takes over him, but Kaito tries to remain calm. He closes his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath to calm his mind, and with a determined expression opens his eyes again, focusing all his attention on the approaching Specters. Without further hesitation, he launches himself against the monsters, who are a little afraid but not stupid. Seeing Kaito running toward them, one of them rushes toward him as well.

In the middle of his charge, Kaito feels his body begin to change. A feeling of energy runs through his arms, several of his veins swell, becoming visible, and his fingers grow at least twice their original size, as does the rest of his hand. And the main part of the ability, his fingernails, get thicker and bigger even compared to the claws he has when using <Life Drain>.

As the Spectre runs towards him, the monster notices the changes in the young man's physique, as well as the difference in Kaito's gaze, and hesitates.

However, Kaito does not spare him. With one agile movement, Kaito runs alongside the Spectre, and an instant later, blue blood pours from the monster's neck like the fountain of a square.

[You killed a Spectre. You gained +250 XP].

[You leveled up!]

Since Spectres are butchering monsters, another one of them tries to take advantage of the fact that Kaito was distracted by the first one to surprise him. Then another monster leaps towards Kaito, trying to grab him with its claws.

Thanks to his sharp reflexes, the Awakened One dodges at the last moment with a few steps back, letting the monster fall headlong to the ground.

Taking advantage of the opening, Kaito quickly spins around and launches a powerful kick at this Spectre. The impact is devastating, sending the monster flying away with a scream of pain.

As blue blood splashes through the air, another Spectre approaches fiercely, this time trying to bite the boy.

Kaito nimbly moves back again, dodging the sequence of bites.

Every movement of the young man's body is masterfully executed, and the people watching the scene from the store windows are very surprised. The way Kaito moves his feet is fast, and yet his dexterity is high enough that he doesn't fall or trip over himself. Not to mention the young man's strength, which is more like a whirlwind of destruction.

Determined to end the threat of the Spectres, Kaito looks around and counts five more Transcendents in total, not including the one he just killed and the one he sent away.

'If I consider that only a few have made it out of the portal, they must be ten or so. If seven of them are with me, another three of them have escaped.' Kaito assumes. 'Shit, that's not good... They might end up killing someone and the blame will fall on me.'

While Kaito is thinking, he is also on the move, because the Spectres try to sneak up on him, so he needs to move down the commercial avenue anticipating their attacks with his keen senses. The nice part about fighting in an urban environment is that there are resources for Kaito to use that the Transcendents don't know about, such as cars, which make the monsters freak out with their horns when they try to climb into them. However, while the cars can be a help, they are also great obstacles to Kaito's vision, i.e. good hiding places for the Specters, who quickly realize this and start using them to hide from him.

So, to avoid being caught by surprise and also to have a better view to find the three missing Specters, Kaito climbs on top of a car, thus getting a better peripheral view. And as Kaito scans his surroundings with his eyes, a Spectre jumps towards him.

Luckily, Kaito spins around at the last second, delivering a devastating kick to the monster's face, sending it flying towards a truck that was parked.

'There are only four of them now.'

The remaining Spectres are a bit intimidated by Kaito's ferocity and skill, which gives him a few seconds to think, just when he thinks he'll finally get a break to at least breathe, he spots one of the missing Spectres coming down a fire escape between two buildings. This Specter seems to be targeting a girl who, coincidentally, is looking at Kaito at exactly this moment.

Kaito's gaze in her direction makes the girl realize that something is wrong, and when she looks up and sees the Transcendent, she starts running and immediately screams at it. However, the Spectre doesn't give him time to run away and falls down in front of her, almost crushing her and also very close to killing her with fright.

Kaito hesitates for a second, but runs towards the girl, ignoring the other Spectres, who start running after him. Kaito jumps from car to car, and after the cars are gone, he runs with all his speed down the street, even dropping his backpack to distract the Spectres who are following him.