After collecting the donations, Eric turned toward the stairway passage and was left speechless.
Though the stairway passage was somewhat wide, it was still not wide enough for over a thousand people to go through all together, especially when everyone was in an extreme panic.
Eric silently stared at the dense number of people in front of him who had jammed even the top region of the staircase, leaving not even a tiny space for a fly to pass through…
He started feeling extremely bad for everyone. So, without any hesitation, as if smashing bugs, groups of people were squashed and slapped toward the four walls to make a path for him.
The entire staircase passage shook as if countless war hammers were striking each side of the corridor.
People's fate—smashed to become mere blood paint for the walls and the stairs.
As Eric climbed higher, the stairs behind him turned deep shades of red. Thick blood dripped down as if trying to wash the stairs of the people's dirt beneath their feet; unfortunately, the broken bodies and their insides lying everywhere stopped and prolonged the cleansing process.
There were countless broken and crushed bodies of men, women, and the elderly; none were given an exception.
Eric felt pity that he wasn't able to send any playmate to Orion in the afterlife, as there were no children here—or perhaps there were and he hadn't noticed; perhaps they were toddlers in their mothers' arms who had come to enjoy bloody battles in the underground wrestling cage. Probably they had all gathered too much stress, and he was currently generously helping them by releasing it permanently.
'Sigh, I am still lacking in cruelty. I am simply too kind!'
The moment all the Mana Wielders heard the booming noises and felt the vibrations across the stairway, they immediately knew: the Demon was here!
They screamed, cried, and pushed each other further like madmen and women, trying to move an inch further than the person beside them to escape earlier, but that in turn made it far messier and more chaotic. Except for a bare few fast people who had managed to escape first, the rest were completely stuck within the passage.
As their deaths approached, without even turning back, they knew 'this was it'; this was their end. This didn't need any validation or recognition; they felt it with their entire 'life'.
For a moment, time froze for them, and their entire lives flashed inside their minds, with all things summarized into one word—regret.
Regret that they arrived at this place, regret trusting the strength of Devils Spice, regret that they didn't spend more time in their homes and focused more on 'living' by taking a few simple fresh breaths instead of succumbing to mere materialistic pleasures and gains, and finally, regret that they tried to flee.
That's how it was. Eric was simply killing whoever was in his path; his goal was never to kill every single person present. Anyone who stood in the way of his current intention, whether innocent or not, was removed by him; that's how simple it was. People who were playing dead or just trembling within the underground hall were still alive; Eric hadn't killed them.
Along the way, Eric picked up whatever space pouches he found but didn't waste time searching every one of them, as he also needed to leave Devils Spice quickly—of course, only after completing his final goal.
Eric had no idea how many had tragically perished within the staircase passage. He found it absurd how people tried pushing and moving a few inches forward desperately. If only they had stopped pushing and for a moment acted like civilized, educated, and logical people by stepping back and letting the previous row leave, and then following, such a tragedy wouldn't have occurred!
He could only sigh and send them infinite inches forward, just as they all desperately wanted—of course, with no return policy.
Eric came out of the golden door within the casino hall, leaving behind an untold carnage and bloodbath, where even the most murderous and bloodthirsty people would puke watching the current "glory" of the staircase.
The few people who had just managed to escape from the 'Stairway of Hell' ran wildly with bloodshot eyes filled with madness and insanity, without even turning back once. All of them had received extreme psychological trauma that they would never recover from; perhaps they would even tremble seeing any stairs or closed rooms in the future.
Watching them run like madmen and women, Eric felt deep pity rising within his heart. He let them go, as he was not such a bloodthirsty person. Moreover, it seemed there was fresh entertainment prepared for him on this casino floor.
Hundreds of Mana Wielders, both Mages and Warriors with the Devils Spice logo on their chests, had surrounded him; their expressions were extremely grim, and some were even puking for some reason.
Devils Spice's Mana Wielders had no idea what had occurred on the stairs or at the underground arena, but the blood-churning screams of countless people escaping from the hellhole were enough to give even a veteran Rank 3 a horrible, stomach-churning experience.
The thousands of casino players and other customers hadn't left and were pushed to the sides. They were like rubberneckers, craning their necks to watch what was going on, while a few knowledgeable ones stared at the man in front of Devils Spice's enforcers with veneration.
The Devils Spice enforcers initially thought the troubles had already been dealt with; the reason they brought such a large crowd of Devils Spice Rank 1 to 3 Mana Wielders was just to show the nobles and other parties their powerful strength. It was to intimidate everyone, so they wouldn't dare to challenge the authority of Devils Spice in the future.
However, when they all heard the sickening, desperate screams of countless people coming from the stairs to the underground arena hall, including the thick smell of horror, panic, and the blood of countless people, even the most veteran Mana Wielders couldn't hold back and began puking.
They hadn't seen the carnage, neither had they fully breathed in the blood, sweat, and organs of over a thousand people on the staircase; just the crazy, mad screams of the people had shaken them to the core. They all forgot Devils Spice's 'authority' or 'intimidation' and instead were intimidated by whichever monster had caused this.
Yet, no one dared to leave, as the Legend of Batley City stood before them. He had dense black hair, a thick moustache, and a short beard, wore a clean suit with a tie, and held a lit cigar in his hand.
He was Antonio Lasalle, the owner of Devils Spice, a person feared across the entire Batley City and beyond. Even mothers in Batley City made their children stop crying by saying Lord Antonio would visit them if they didn't behave.
He was a living legend and the scariest and most powerful Apprentice Rank within the entire surrounding region. His name even scared cities far away.
Everyone who had heard of this man's past achievements and deeds could only tremble in fear and worship him.
Antonio Lasalle, who had a calm and stern expression, was frowning gravely inside. Even during his era when he was active and wild, he hadn't seen such desperation and horror in people's eyes.
He originally wanted to stop and question the people who escaped from the underground arena, but when he saw the insanity in their eyes, he let them leave.
He could see that all of them were in an extremely crazed state and wouldn't be able to think rationally for some time. They had probably even forgotten their own names or their home addresses at this moment. All of them only had one goal, and that was to run and run, and not stop no matter what; even the fact that they had the strength of a Mana Wielder was forgotten by them.
This happens when people with little experience come across extreme experiences.
Their spirits break and crumble.
So, Antonio didn't stop anyone from leaving and waited for the culprit to come out.
And the moment the culprit appeared, he was stupefied and completely dazed.
The culprit was a tall man, covered from head to toe in a dark cloak. The blood of his victims washed all over his cloak, but he stood steady and calm. No ferocity or brutality could be felt from the man, as if he weren't the one behind the massacre on the staircase.
And the most unbelievable fact was that the man was a mere mid-stage Rank 1!
Just what kind of joke was this?!
Antonio frowned. He pushed aside his thoughts for now and interrogated, "You are the one who attacked my people? And took so many innocent lives?" His tone was calm but also heavy.
Eric didn't respond and just scanned the area. He noticed over three to four thousand people were in this big hall; most of them were only onlookers who just wanted to see what was going on and enjoy the show. Killing all of them was a pain, and he also didn't have such an intention. He didn't wish to stay for too long, either, and his Telepathic Slap was already starting to feel a little tired.
Answering or speaking anything would make everyone recognize his age, and the survivors would spread the word that he was just a milk drinker, so he stayed silent and observed the man who questioned him.
Needless to say, this muscular man was definitely the Godfather of this gang, a late-stage Rank 3, but something told Eric the man was very strong and had a backstory behind him, which he wasn't too interested in learning.
Eric quietly sent a single Telepathic Slap to the massive, thick golden pillar behind him, and with a single tight clench and yank, it crumbled.
Seeing this, Antonio's expression drastically changed. He couldn't understand how such a thick pillar was destroyed, which was built not only with enchanted materials but also had arrays placed to make it far sturdier. No Apprentice Rank should be able to destroy it; it was his pride as well as the entire Devils Spice backbone.
He didn't hesitate and roared, "Attack!"
All the Mages, who were already prepared or weren't, swiftly summoned their mana circles or diagrams to attack with all the lethal spells that they knew of.
Tier 1 and 2 spells rained upon Eric, but he stayed still; at least, that's what everyone saw.
After a few seconds of spell bombardment, the Mages stopped to see the outcome.
As their vision cleared, they were startled.
There was no one around!
However, due to their crazy, uncontrolled attack, the underground passage and both the long curved stairs had collapsed.
Antonio took a deep breath and for now ignored the destruction.
"Perhaps he was truly a Rank 1 and already reduced to nothing by our attacks?" one of the Mages deduced on behalf of everyone, as almost everyone had the same thought.
While everyone was lost, one of the onlookers far away from the enforcers shrieked, "B-BEHIND YOU!"
All of the Devils Spice enforcers and Antonio whipped their heads around.
And so, a new carnage began.