Yumi stared at Zen with a mixture of awe and terror. Before them, one man suddenly collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
"Y-You... what did you do to my men?!" The leader's voice trembled, his face as pale as death. Cold sweat poured down his temples.
Yumi swallowed hard. Her eyes scanned Zen's body from head to toe, searching for any movement. *I didn't even see him do anything!* But one change was impossible to ignore—**Zen's pitch-black eyes had turned a glowing white, like moonlit ice crystals.**
Zen turned to Yumi. For a split second, she felt like she was staring at something inhuman behind those luminous eyes.
"Let me explain what I did," Zen said flatly, yet with undeniable authority. "These eyes are called **Function Halt**. They allow me to stop any biological function of a living being—just by looking at them... or even just thinking about it."
He walked over to the first corpse, giving it a light nudge with his foot.
"See? No physical wounds. I simply stopped his heart."
Yumi bit her lower lip. *A power like this... is terrifying. No movement, no weapons needed—just a glance.*
"H-Hey... Maybe we can talk this out?" The leader scrambled backward, his hands shaking against the damp earth. "I-I can help you! I know my way around the town up ahead!"
Zen didn't respond. His white eyes shifted to the leader's leg.
***Crack!***
"Aaaarrrgghh!!" A bloodcurdling scream tore through the air.
"Did that hurt?" Zen asked, glancing between the two remaining men.
Strangely, there was no blood. The leader's leg simply went limp, like a ragdoll's.
"I disabled the nerve functions in your leg," Zen said as he stepped closer. "I doubt it hurt much. Just... numb."
Yumi's hair stood on end. *This is even scarier than if he'd used a sword or normal magic.*
The leader wailed: "P-Please! I have a kid at home! My wife is pregnant! We're just poor folks forced into robbery!"
Zen crouched in front of him, his expression cold and merciless.
"A tragic story," he murmured. "But tell me... how is that any different from your victims? They must've had families too."
"And why should I care about your excuses? Once I decide to kill someone, I kill them. That's my rule—nothing changes that."
His right hand lifted slowly. Yumi watched as Zen's fingers moved, plucking at invisible strings.
"Goodbye."
***Thud.***
The body collapsed, eyes wide with a frozen final expression.
Yumi stared at the corpse, then at Zen, who stood there unnervingly calm. "You... actually killed them all."
"Still in doubt?" Zen wiped his hands on his pants. "They were societal trash. The world's better off without them."
"By the way, you're weirdly calm about this," Zen noted abruptly, his eyes having returned to their normal black. "Most people would vomit or faint."
Yumi sighed. "I... might have read too many isekai novels. Scenes like this are practically daily occurrences in those stories."
Zen raised an eyebrow. "So fiction desensitized you to reality?"
He suddenly bent down, rifling through the robbers' clothes.
"What are you doing?" Yumi asked, disgusted as Zen flipped through the corpses' pockets.
"Looking for money," Zen answered bluntly. "We'll need funds in this new world."
From the leader's cloak, he pulled out a thick leather pouch. When he opened it, the faint glimmer of gold coins peeked through in the evening light.
"Bingo," he muttered.
Yumi leaned in curiously. "How much is that?"
"Not sure," Zen estimated, flipping a coin between his fingers. "But it's enough to get us settled in town for a while."
"Let's go," Zen said, standing up.
Yumi nodded, still fixated on the bodies. "Do you... do this often?"
Zen paused. "What? Killing or looting?"
"Both."
"I've never used my power for evil," Zen answered plainly.
"I see..."
"Speaking of which," Yumi suddenly perked up, "isn't your power kinda similar to a certain isekai protagonist? What was his name again...?"
"Hm. Yogiri Takatou?"
"That's the one!" Yumi snapped her fingers. "Your ability reminds me of his—the power to instantly kill anything, with no chance of revival. Though in Volume 15, apparently he could revive people he accidentally killed? Oh, and that novel already has an anime adaptation too."
"I've read the whole thing," Zen replied. "The ending was pretty open-ended, though. There were still so many unexplained elements—especially about his biological mother. Supposedly, he was 'born inside someone's womb,' so logically he should have a father too, right? But the novel never revealed who that was. Hopefully, the sequel with Tomochika's student will explain everything."
"You're right," Yumi agreed. "But wow, I didn't expect you to be a novel fan too."
"Reading's better than watching anime," Zen answered simply as they resumed walking. The sky above them had shifted to a deep orange.