—Hiss.
She could hear the hissing of snakes from right beside her ears. No one else could hear this sound, but it was clear as day to her.
[He… You…]
‘I don’t want to hear it… I don’t want to hear it…’
The silver-haired girl curled up dejectedly and sat on the head of the boy who was supposed to be the medium for her soul. Touching her horns, she was thinking that it would be foolish of her to use her powers in the ancient ruins, the place where she had run away from.
It wouldn’t be a huge problem in other circumstances, but they were bound to notice if she used her powers on the edge of the Abyss. Only idiots would fail to notice that. The monsters that were waiting for her on the other side, calling her their queen, had been wandering around for a long time. That fact did not change.
In the past, her father had no choice but to watch her become the Demon Lord to save her. As it was the only way, she had become the Demon Lord not with the existing six branches but a whole new branch–the Demon Lord of the Abyss. She had taken down all the other Demon Lord candidates to rise to the position of absolute power to survive.
That was what she thought Goddess Freyja had planned.
Although she ultimately escaped from the call of the Abyss by rising to the position of the Demon Lord, the position that would make her become the greatest enemy of her father, it had left her with a horrible future that would make her fight her father.
When she finally faced death by the blade of the Sword Lord and had been sealed inside Caldeiras as a spirit before disappearing from the world…
‘I cannot hold out for long… Then…’
Her becoming the Queen of the Abyss was not just about her sacrifice anymore. According to what they were saying, when the King of the Abyss and the Abyss became one…the tables were going to turn.
So… Even if she felt guilty toward Davey, she could not hesitate for him and for everyone he protected.
‘I have…to become the Demon Lord again.’
Not as the former Demon Lord, but the resurrected Demon Lord.
Perserque stayed silent as she reached out her hand to Davey. Her sorrowfully trembling fingertips did not reach him.
‘I’m sorry… Davey… I’m so sorry…’
Although she thought this was a foolish situation, all Perserque could feel was that her inevitable destiny was nothing but cruel.
* * *
The old Whale Pub was in an old and unrenovated building that had been bought cheaply. It had a style that made one feel more nostalgic rather than being a beautiful building. It usually only opened at night, and it was quite popular amongst mercenaries and laborers who did rough work.
Davey, who walked into the loud pub, stared at Aina, who was quietly following him. She would alert others by keeping her disguise as a large man, so she had decided to keep her true appearance with just her elf ears covered in this situation.
“It’s dirty.”
“Do assassins care about cleanliness, Aina?”
Didn’t assassins roll in mud to achieve their goal?
Aina Helishana quietly shook her head at Davey’s nonsense. She muttered, “I think I asked you to call me Jack if you could.”
“Do you think a tough name like Jack would suit your face right now? And it doesn’t change you, whether you are Aina or Jack. Let’s sit.”
Aina looked somewhat unhappy, but she stayed silent.
“Welcome! What can I get for ya?”
Any citizen would normally recognize Davey, but unfortunately, no one could recognize him right now. Davey was using an illusory magic spell to change his face. To them, he probably looked like an ordinary mercenary.
“Bartender, I’m here to sell some barley beer from Kintarsos. Interested in buying any?”
“Huh? Sir, this is a place to sell drinks to those lowly men over there, not a place to buy drinks. And where is Kintarsos?”
Even though the bartender was looking at Davey like he was being ridiculous, Davey kept pushing for a response. He urged, “If you buy some now, I’ll add some Mackenzie honey in it, too.”
“Haha! Look at this guy. Get out if you’re not going to order!”
With the bartender’s irritated shouting, a few men rose from their seats. Most seemed intrigued by Aina’s beauty even though she hid herself under a hood, but a few of them weren’t.
The men cautiously looked at each other before slowly approaching Davey.
“What is it?”
“Hey. You’re selling barley beer from Kintarsos? We’re a little interested.”
“Oh, really? You have a pub, too?”
Looking at the man, Davey could see a tattoo of a crescent moon with a sword penetrating it on his shoulder; it was the symbol of the Blackbird, a human trafficking criminal organization.
“Yeah, you’re also adding Mackenzie honey in it, too? It should taste fine. It’s going to be pretty expensive, huh?”
“Well, that’s how business works, isn’t it?” Davey said calmly.
At the same time, the men stared at Aina with eyes filled with lust.
Aina was made uncomfortable by the men’s gazes, but she did not say anything.
“Alright, Well, follow us. We’ll show you someone who wants to buy some.”
“Alright.” Davey stood up with the men and followed them out of the pub without hesitation.
Two men were chatting with each other and leading the way. While chatting and exchanging lewd jokes, they led Davey to an old warehouse in the outskirts where no one was paying attention.
“We will go through the confirmation first. It seems like you were introduced to us from somewhere, so tell us the secret passcode.”
“The sword that pierces the moon will always rip apart the sun.”
Eerie smiles appeared on the men’s faces as they heard Davey. They said in unison, “It’s clear. Follow us.”
Not long after, the men opened the wooden door to the warehouse and led Davey underground.
‘They made a space underground while I was gone…’
Davey had declared that people could not illegally renovate buildings, but it seemed like his declaration had no effect at all.
Following the two men, who were now silent as if they hadn’t been chattering a couple minutes ago, Davey realized that the cave they had made was located in the underground sewers he had made. There was only one sewer system in the Heins Territory; he had made it to supply water to each household. What this meant was that this criminal organization had made something like this in a place that Davey had worked hard to create.
“What is this?”
“A deal. Where’s Boss?”
After a long walk, the man who was standing in the middle of the narrow path stopped them. As the two men standing in front of Davey spoke seriously, the man scanned Davey and Aina. He stared at Aina and licked his lips.
“Slurp. Man, I’m going to drool. Boss is inside. Go.”
Davey walked into the sewer and ignored the man, who was following Aina with his gaze to catch every last glance of her. Soon, he could see quite a large number of men standing in the empty field-like space that he had made.
‘Yeah, there’s no better place for a deal than an underground space where no one pays attention.’
“Boss, a deal.”
“A deal? Do you know what kind of situation it is right now?”
The muscular man muttered irritatedly and looked over. His eyes widened when he saw Aina.
“I came to do business. Are you not going to do it?”
“It’s not a good time. The seigneur of this territory caught a whiff of us.”
“How unfortunate. Then, I’ll have to scrap this deal.”
“What?”
“You don’t know the kind of person the seigneur of this territory is?”
As Davey tried feeling things out, the man said with a scoff, “That loafer prince who leaves all his business to his vassals and travels around without any knowledge of what goes on in his territory? There’s nothing to know about him. We’re living our best life since he’s running around in other places after developing his territory. To be honest, there wouldn’t have been a problem if our stupid subordinates didn’t get caught…”
“Hm…” Davey nodded as he stopped Aina, who flinched.
“So, you’re not going to make a deal?”
“Well… It’s true that times are dangerous right now, but how would that loafer prince know about the business that happens here? Sure. The product?”
“Let’s not hurry. But aren’t you being too hostile? It seems like you gathered all your members.”
Dozens of men were standing around in the underground space. Some were even hiding in the dark.
“Ha. Think whatever you want. We don’t harm customers anyway. So, the product?” The man asked again like he didn’t want to get off-topic again. When Davey pushed Aina toward him, the man looked at Davey in surprise. He said, “What? I thought you guys were a team.”
“It’s a product. I had a hard time obtaining it.”
“Well… She’s quite pretty, but nothing too surprising.”
“You think so? Let’s see if you think that way,” Davey said before removing Aina’s hood to reveal her long ears.
“Hup!”
“A… An elf!”
Davey heard surprised voices from all over the underground space. After all, elves were probably extremely valuable as products.
“She’s not just any elf; she’s a Dark Elf who corrupted herself. Of course, she would be a better sex slave than a stiff elf.”
With an interested look, the muscular man said, “Alright. Let’s do business. How much do you want?”
“A thousand in gold.”
“...An absurd amount.”
“She’ll be a lot of money even if you just resell her.”
“...” The man remained silent as he thought about it.
Davey sighed. “Let’s scrap this. I have no reason to do business with you if you can’t even use that amount of funds. From what I hear, there’s another gang here.”
The man frowned. “You’re going to do business with those wild dogs? Think again. They’re not gentlemen like we are.”
“Since when are garbage people like you gentlemen?” Davey complained.
Although he could hear hostile voices all around him, Davey ignored them and stared at the man.
“Alright… I’ll take it.” The man nodded decisively.
Just like that, Aina left Davey, followed the men, and disappeared.
“You’re sure of the quality? Is she a virgin?”
“Well… I didn’t touch her as I heard that there is high demand for that.”
“Good. A thousand gold… I will accept. However, I must negotiate.”
At that moment, some men began approaching Davey with weapons in their hands.
“A thousand gold is a bit too much. Three hundred.”
“Are you threatening me? Abandoning all courtesy?”
“No one is going to know even if you die here. I am the law in this underground world, the king. Do you think that loafer prince of the Heins Territory is going to be able to stop me?”
Davey just stayed silent as the men surrounded him. To him, it did not matter what decision the men made.
[Crackle… They were not too far from here. What should I do?]
Not long after, Davey heard Aina’s voice. He covered one ear with his hand and quietly mumbled, “Do what you want when I give you the signal.”
Turning to glance at the muscular man, Davey then said calmly, “You’re going to regret it.”
“Let’s be gentlemen here. The underground is our territory. The credit of our organization is trustworthy. However, a thousand gold is too expensive. Three hundred.”
“Two thousand.”
The man frowned when Davey doubled the price instead of bringing it down. He said, “Five hundred.”
“Four thousand.”
“You think…negotiation is a joke?”
“Do you people think that I’m joking around with the price?”
When the muscular man nodded slightly, more members began approaching Davey.
“Let me ask you one thing,” Davey said.
“Speak.”
“Are you the leader of the Blackbird?”
The man nodded. “Yes.”
However, Davey had used Perserque’s ability to discern that this muscular man was not the boss.
Davey scanned the men who surrounded him before finding someone who was particularly different from the rest. He pointed at the quiet and frail man, then said, “That person seems more like this boss.”
A threatening silence surrounded the room.
‘Bingo.’
“It seems…like you’re going to have to die here.”
“Was my guess correct?” Davey smiled and looked around, ignoring the men who completely surrounded him. Then, he raised his right arm and snapped his fingers.
Snap!!
At the same time, a black flame burned in the path he had come in through.
‘Ah… I really wanted to try this, too.’
—Again…?
Perserque, who was quiet, looked at Davey like he was being ridiculous.
“Conscience.”
Snap!! Whoosh!!
Davey’s second snap covered the vents in the room.
“Maketh.”
Snap!!
As his last snap blocked the back door, which seemed to be the only escape route, Davey smiled terrifyingly. At the same time, the men frowned in confusion at this strange situation.
“Man.”
‘Do you know what this means? Let me teach you a lesson.’[1]
Crack!!
As soon as he stopped talking, Davey seized the head of the man who stood closest to him and crushed it with his hand. He said, “You are not human as you have abandoned your conscience.”
As the illusory magic began wearing off Davey’s face, the men quickly gaped in shock.
“You will have to pay the price for messing with my territory this recklessly.”
As he pulled out a dagger from the dead man’s pocket, black smoke began to flow out of Davey. It was the precursor to Moonlight Steps, the secret walking method of assassins.
“Aina, rescue all the citizens who are there. Cut all the tendons of everyone you see. I can just put them back together later.”
‘You can make them feel extreme pain. Just don’t kill them.’
“T-The seigneur!”
Realizing Davey’s true identity, the men pulled out their weapons in shock. Now that they were caught, they knew that they would have to die. Realistically, they wouldn’t have done something like this without any backup plan.
Davey slid one foot back and reached out his hand into the air.
Crack!!
He snatched a man wearing a black martial arts uniform from thin air and crushed him into the ground.
“How are you going to live when your assassination skills are this sloppy?”
Davey said nothing, but assassins did not discriminate against each other. They were simply targets to another assassin who had better skills.
1. A reference to the famous quote from the movie ‘Kingsman’. ☜
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