[Gorfard’s Mansion]
It happened so fast it was so unexpected, that by the time Sol reacted, everything was already too late.
The two who had killed themselves with a smile on their face as they stabbed their own throat with all their might had been young girls not much older than him.
He even remembered dancing with one of them not long ago, and vividly remembered how thrilled and happy she had been that he accepted to dance with her.
She was a young girl, a seemingly innocent girl who had all her life in front of her, but...All of this had been simply crushed.
In all his life, even if counting his previous one, it was the first time Sol was faced with death in the truest sense.
As he watched the blood flow from their throat to their dresses then the ground, while they collapsed, Sol felt his mind teether in the limit of rationality.
“You…!”
Falling in a short daze, he couldn’t help but shout at the vampire woman in front of him. A woman as vicious as she was beautiful who introduced herself under the name of Zehn.
He wanted to ask— why?
He needed to know— how?
He wished to understand...
‘I need to get a hold of myself!’
Berating himself in his mind, he forced himself and calmed down his wildly beating heart.
Right now wasn’t the moment to fall under the pace of the enemy.
Slowly getting back his bearing, he stopped his hands from shaking and looked at the woman facing him as calmly as possible.
“What is your goal?”
The first and most important thing was assuring the security of most of the people gathered here. He had enough knowledge to understand just how much of a hit it would be to lose the people here.
But he couldn’t show how much he cared for them. Otherwise, it would give much more power to the enemy.
“Oh!?”
Zehn raised an eyebrow at this. Even though she was quite sadistic, she hadn’t ordered the death of those two girls for nothing.
From what Drei told them, it was quite clear that the prince had awakened an attribute, and as a dragon, even if hybrid, he should have a high resistance or immunity toward a certain kind of magic.
Even without that, the scales and overall endurance of a dragon were nothing to scoff at.
That’s why she had wished to break his composure as much as possible before the fight, something that shouldn’t have been that hard to accomplish since the prince was clearly a sheltered little kid.
“Seems like we seriously underestimated you. You gained your composure faster than I thought.”
“Answer my question.”
“Hum...What is our goal? What is it indeed?” She tilted her head genuinely confused, “Hey, Drei, what is our goal again?”
Sol narrowed his eyes and without diverting his attention from her, felt his surroundings.
“Sigh, I already told you that.”
Sol didn’t have to turn his head to know that this voice was coming from a few meters behind him. More precisely, from one of the previously controlled people...
It was a middle-aged man wearing a double-breasted suit with a gentlemanly air.
Zehn simply shrugged her shoulders, “Your plans are too complicated, you know? So I simply stopped listening.”
The man called Drei shook his head as he looked at the vampire affectionately as if he was a grandfather watching his slightly spoiled and unruly granddaughter.
“Remember. Trap the prince with a formation covering the entire mansion. Take hostages and control the prince. Finally, give the prince to our dear friend.”
Sol did not stop this little skit from happening. Even though being disregarded like this was quite humiliating, it helped him gather his bearing and become calmer.
What’s more, it was quite informative. In fact, it was very informative.
Firstly, he now knew that this house was surrounded by a protective barrier.
Such a movement should have already alerted the kingdom, so it was just a question of time before they broke through.
p
Drei stood for Three and Zehn for ten. If this was so, the leaders of the wings of freedom were at least ten.
What's more, one or more of the members of the wings were from his world, or the goddess of chaos had chosen those numbers for them.
Slowly, Sol felt himself relax more and more.
‘The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, while the oldest and strongest kind of fear is the fear of the unknown.’
For Sol, those enemies that had been shrouded with shadows were suddenly much less mysterious and dangerous.
While keeping vigilant, he asked, "So, it seems like you are the one giving orders? Drei, was it? Could you kindly explain what goal you wish to accomplish to me your goal by attacking Lustburg?"
He could feel that this man named Drei had basically no power in him. So he should be an easy target. With his speed, getting to him shouldn't be a problem.
At least in appearances.
‘This feels too much like a bait. This is most likely a trap.’
This reminded him of a saying.
If it swims like a duck, quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck, then, it’s most likely a duck.
No matter what, they didn't know that he could flee at any moment.
As long as they didn't have this information, he was in a superior position.
Now, he needed to be sure of something,
“Also, dear Duke, could you give us the pleasure to come down? I don't really like how you are watching all this from high up.”
*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*
“Magnificent! Simply beautiful.”
The Duke slowly descended from the stair while clapping, “From your expression, I guess that you aren’t surprised?”
“I am definitely surprised. I am also a little disappointed. Duke Gorfard...No, I guess I should simply call you Loki now, after all, you are unworthy of the title of Duke.”
This definitely struck a chord, as Loki's expression warped for a short while before finally calming down,
“I am impressed by how sharp your tongue is, Sol. Let’s stop the games, will you? We know you are stalling for time. But do not make a mistake. This barrier had been created by using the many living sacrifices. No matter how powerful she is, even the sword saint won’t be able to break this barrier for a long while.”
Sol gritted his teeth, “Sacrifice? Just how many people?”
“Was it twenty? Fifty? What does it even matter? Sol, rather than worrying about those who are already dead, you should worry more about those alive.”
Sol could feel his emotion boiling once again. It really wasn’t a mistake to place a kill order on that bastard.
“What do you want?”
He barely hissed those words under his breath, his eyes, staring at the Duke like a blazing inferno.
“Simple. Sol...You are a hybrid dragon, right? Did you awaken your core?”
Sol's expression warped in shock.
Those words reminded him of what happened with Arachne.
This brought him another startling piece of information.
They promised to help Arachne revive Mars with his core.
They promised to help heal Gerald's granddaughter with his core.
He didn’t know what they promised Loki, but it once again needed his core.
The worst was that it seemed that two out of three of them had been completely hooked.
But there was one problem, he only had one core.
Thinking about how those two would betray everything to get his core but in the end, only one would succeed.
Thinking about how they were nothing more than silly marionettes being manipulated by the enemy.
Thinking about how all their hopes and dreams would be shattered,
Sol couldn’t help it,
“Hahahah!” He exploded in laughter.
He laughed and laughed so much that he felt short of breath.
He laughed to expel all his pent-up feelings of frustration, rage, sadness, and disappointment.
The other three frowned at his incomprehensible reaction, while Loki asked with an irritated expression,
“May I ask what is so funny?”
“I am laughing at you, you adorable stupid bastard. I am also laughing at how brazen those guys are. But more than anything, I am laughing at how everyone seems to treat me as a prey on the chopping board.”
Wiping a tear from the corner of his eye, Sol stretched a little as he said,
“This really feels great. Didn’t laugh like that in a while.”
Stopping his stretch, he began to jump up and down to loosen his muscle.
Grinning, his eyes twinkling with mischief, he continued, “Well, I guess it’s time to show you a secret technique I learned from a family of powerful warriors.”
Energy began to swirl through his body, as his eyes turned golden and his body was covered in golden scales.
“Sol! Are you disregarding the lives of those people!?”
“Your highness, I would advise you to stay calm. Even without those hostages, Zehn isn’t someone you can beat at your current level.”
Sol didn’t answer as he crouched down as if preparing to rush in a straight line toward Zenh,
“Zehn! Be careful.”
“Roger.”
A crimson aura covered Zehn's body as she readied herself to receive whatever the little prince would throw at her. Normally, she would have already rushed, but this secret technique sounded like a big deal, and she didn’t want to receive a deadly counter.
“This secret technique is called…”
Drei focused, ‘What is it called?’
“Running away."
Then, under their widened eyes, he vanished.
“What!?”
They couldn't believe it. This shouldn't be possible.
Drei, with his centuries of experience, immediately understood what was happening and paled as he screamed,
"Zehn! Be careful! He has the same magic attributes as the leader!"
“It's too late. I guess."
*Ugh*
A shiver went through Zehn's spine as she turned to find the Duke, with a bloodied hand going through his chest and a grinning prince standing behind him.
“Well, well, well. It seems like you guys understand what kind of magic I used. This is slightly troublesome. Anyway, let's make things clear."
A predatory smile formed on his face as he stared at them, "You guys made one mistake, you see… I am not locked in with you guys.”
Withdrawing his hand, he didn't even spare a glance as Loki's lifeless body slumped on the ground.
“It’s you, who are locked in with me.”
It was time to show who was the real prey.
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