Strongest Radioactive System

"No," the blonde man said firmly, shaking his head.

"I'm just shaken up. That's all. That monster caught me off guard, but it's not invincible. It can't be. I'm overthinking it."

He exhaled slowly, forcing himself to relax.

But as he tried to calm his nerves, the feeling of wrongness only intensified.

It clawed at the edges of his mind, whispering insidious doubts.

His pacing quickened, his movements erratic as he tugged at his hair in frustration.

"What is it?!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the empty forest. "What am I missing?"

And then it hit him. Explore hidden tales at empire

His eyes widened, the color draining from his face as realization struck. His breath caught in his throat, and his body went rigid.

"The slaves..." he whispered, his voice barely audible.

The memory came rushing back, vivid and unrelenting.

The two women, trembling in fear as they cowered before the Orc.

Their ragged clothes, their desperate expressions.

He had dismissed them as irrelevant, mere background noise in the chaos of his escape.

But now, the image of their faces burned in his mind, their wide eyes filled with terror.

"No," he muttered, shaking his head as if trying to banish the thought. "It can't be. They wouldn't... they couldn't..."

But the doubt was already there, gnawing at him like a relentless parasite.

"They were slaves," he reasoned aloud, his voice tinged with desperation.

"Barbarians, uneducated, terrified. There's no way they would have followed me. They'd have run as far away from that Orc as possible. Wouldn't they?"n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The silence of the forest offered no reassurance.

The blonde man's pacing resumed, his steps more frantic than before.

His mind raced, replaying every detail of the encounter.

He remembered how the Orc had spared them, how it had allowed them to leave.

Why?

Why would a creature of such brute strength and savagery let two helpless slaves go free?

Unless...

His breath hitched as the pieces began to fall into place. The Orc wasn't just a mindless beast. It had let the slaves go for a reason.

"Damn it!" he hissed, slamming his fist against a tree. The bark splintered under the force of the blow, but he barely felt the pain. "Those wretched women! They must have followed me! That's the only explanation!"

He clenched his jaw, his hands balling into fists. "They're guiding it. Leading it straight to me."

Panic surged through him, his earlier confidence crumbling like ash.

If the Orc was tracking him, then time was no longer on his side. He needed to act—and fast.

The blonde man's breath hitched, and a cold sweat ran down his back as he saw the shadow loom over him.

His body went rigid, his heart hammering like a drum in his chest.

No, no, no...

His instincts screamed at him to flee, to get as far away as possible.

Without daring to turn around, he stepped forward, his trembling legs dragging his body one shaky step at a time.

But as he prepared to break into a sprint, something clamped around him—a massive, unyielding force that made him feel like a child caught in the grasp of a giant.

"AHHH!" the blonde man screamed, his body hoisted effortlessly off the ground.

His feet dangled helplessly, and his stomach dropped as he was spun around to face his captor.

His widened eyes met Volk's, and the sight made his blood run cold.

Volk's massive form loomed over him, the dim light of the forest casting shadows across his hulking frame.

His piercing gaze locked onto the blonde man with a mixture of satisfaction and irritation.

"Finally," Volk rumbled, his voice deep and resonant, like the growl of an earthquake.

The blonde man could only gape, his mind scrambling for a way out of this nightmare.

And then it happened.

Ding!

A translucent notification appeared before Volk's eyes:

| Mission Complete: Capture the Blonde Man.

| Reward: Radioactive Magic Gauntlet unlocked.

| Failure Penalty: All-Seeing Eyes Deactivated.

| Status: SUCCESS. |

Volk's lips twitched into a smirk as he read the notification. The system had delivered its promise. He had his target.

The blonde man, however, saw none of this. His panic overwhelmed him, and he did what he did best: talk.

"Y-you ogre! Unhand me this instant!" he screeched, his voice cracking as he flailed uselessly in Volk's iron grip.

"Do you have any idea who I am? Do you even know what you've done? You've just made the worst mistake of your miserable, brutish life!"

Volk arched a brow, his grip tightening slightly.

"I am Maxillian Geisler, the third son of Baron Geisler! My father is the lord of this region, a man of unparalleled power and influence!

"If you lay even a single finger on me—wait, you already did! No, no, it's fine! Let's start over! Just put me down and I'll forget this ever happened! Yes, that's it!"

Volk didn't move, his expression unreadable.

The blonde man—Maxillian—continued, his words tumbling out in a frantic stream.

"You don't understand! My father commands armies! Legions of knights! Mages who could incinerate you with a mere thought! If you hurt me, they will come for you!

"They will find you, wherever you hide, and they will make you regret the day you dared to cross the Geisler name!"

Still, Volk said nothing, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly.

"And let's not forget my brothers!"

Maxillian pressed on, his voice rising with desperation.

"My eldest brother, Victor, is a master swordsman! He's defeated dragons, for crying out loud! And my other brother, Julius, is a warlock who has summoned demons to fight at his side!

"You're done for, ogre! Done for, I tell you! But! But! There's still a chance! If you release me now, I'll—"

Maxillian's words faltered as he felt something strange.

The massive hands holding him—no, the right hand—began to change.

The rough, calloused skin of Volk's palm shimmered, an eerie metallic hue spreading across it like liquid metal.

"What... what is that?" Maxillian stammered, his eyes fixated on the transformation.

Volk glanced at his hand, his expression shifting to curiosity.

A green, radioactive glow began to emanate from his palm, spreading up his forearm as the system activated.

The metallic surface solidified into a sleek, armored gauntlet that fit Volk's hand perfectly, as if it had been crafted just for him.

The glow pulsed with a faint hum, casting an otherworldly light on the surroundings.

Ding!

| Radioactive Magic Gauntlet equipped. |

The gauntlet crackled with raw energy, faint wisps of green radiation spiraling from its surface.

Volk flexed his fingers experimentally, the gauntlet responding seamlessly to his movements.

A faint smirk tugged at his lips.

"Looks like I've got something new," he rumbled.

Maxillian, however, was far from amused.

His face paled as he stared at the glowing gauntlet. "W-wait a minute... what are you doing? No, no, NO! Put me down! I mean it!"

Volk turned his attention back to his captive, his grip tightening ever so slightly. Maxillian yelped, his arms flailing as he tried to squirm free.

"Let's see if this thing works," Volk mused, more to himself than anyone else.

"No! Don't you dare!" Maxillian shrieked. "I'm warning you—"

CRACK!

The sound of bones shattering echoed through the forest as Volk's grip unintentionally tightened too much.

Maxillian's body went limp, his wide eyes frozen in a look of utter disbelief.

Blood trickled from the corners of his mouth as his head lolled to the side.

Volk blinked, releasing the blonde man's lifeless body, which crumpled to the ground like a ragdoll.

"Huh," Volk muttered, examining the gauntlet. "Guess I don't know my own strength."