*Blink-Blink*
"Fuck... My head hurts." Leon spoke in a low voice as he opened his eyes and noticed a black surface above him.
His whole body felt numb as he tried to move his arms and there was something heavy weighing down on his leg.
"Hmm...?" Leon slowly turned his neck to the left only to notice metal bars.
'What the fuck? Am I in a cage?' He thought as he slowly sat up straight and looked around the cage with a neutral expression.
Outside the cage Leon noticed that they were inside a cave of some kind and it was really dark.
"Master... Are you awake?" Dusk's voice came from the cage that was right next to him.
"Yeah. What about you?" Leon replied with a neutral expression as he looked at his left leg and noticed a thick metallic bracelet around it.
"I am fine master, but there is a magic tampering bracelet around my leg that's preventing me from using magic and I think it's the same with you?" Dusk asked in a neutral tone.
"Yeah... Just seeing it." Leon replied with a neutral expression.
"Master we are captured by a large group of bandits. They live deep in the forests as they've done some serious crimes and aren't allowed back in any Kingdoms." Dusk explained.
"How do you know?" Leon asked with a neutral expression.
"The seal on these magic tampering bracelet master... I have seen it before." Dusk replied.
Leon immediately turned his leg only to see a white seal, it was a one-eyed wolf.
"One-eyed wolf?" Leon asked with a confused expression.
"Yes master. I have come across them before, these are one-eyed wolf bandits and they roam in deep forests.
One of the most merciless bandit groups we can ever come across master. It is said that they also eat their own members when short on food. I saw them one year ago and they were around forty back then." Dusk explained.
"I see." Leon replied with a neutral expression.
"The bars are too strong master... I have already tried everything and couldn't get out."
"Yeah... They aren't made out of normal metal. Seems like they are also enchanted with reinforcement magic." Leon spoke with a neutral expression.
"I don't have any idea how to help you escape master. The best I can do is when they-"
*Step-Step-Step-Step*
"Well, Well, Well... Looks like someone is awake." An annoying voice came from the cave's entrance.
"Hmm...?" Leon immediately looked out and noticed a slim man coming towards him, he was holding a broad sword in his right hand and there was stupid smirk on his face.
"You know... I thought you will stay out of it for another five or six hours but you have a really good body. It recovered really fast." The man spoke as he sat down on a wooden box and stared at Leon with an uneasy smile.
"I don't really like you smile." Leon replied with a neutral expression.
"No one does at the start... But you will soon enough. In around thirty minutes you will wear a slave collar that will have my name on it and then you will become my precious sex slave that I will fuck anytime I want." The man replied with a perverted smile.
"Pfttt..." Leon smiled as a small laugh escaped his mouth.
"Hmm....? What are you laughing? You find something funny about what I just said?"
"It's just that I heard it for the first time. Now, I know how those girls felt when I said it to them for the first time." Leon replied with a smile as he looked at him.
"Oh yeah? You think I am funny?" The man spoke with a serious expression as he immediately stood up and pulled out a small knife out of his boots.
"Tell me if this is funny..." He immediately walked upto the cage and jabbed the knife straight into Leon's leg.
*STAB*
As the cage was really small, Leon saw it coming but couldn't dodge it.
"..." Leon slammed his fist against the ground, keeping his lips sealed.
"How do you like that?" He asked with a smile as he twisted the dagger around in Leon's leg.
But instead of reacting, Leon grabbed his face and pulled him forward, his face hitting the cold bars.
*THUD*
"L-Leave me... Leave me you fucking-" The skinny man spoke as he started twisting the dagger in Leon's leg even more.
"Listen to me very carefully, motherfucker. My name is Leon Luster and my fucking face will be the last thing you will see before dying, you understand fucker?
The dagger that you are screwing into my fucking leg right now, I promise you I will torture you with the same fucking dagger and I will torture you until you ask for death but I will not give you the mercy of death, I will give you something much more worse, something that when you go to hell, even the devil will fucking shiver when he looks back at your pathetic death." Leon spoke with a very deep and angry voice as blood rushed into his eyes and veins started popping on his forehead.
As soon as he let go of his face, the bandit immediately fell down to the ground as a scared expression appeared over his face.
*Thud*
*Chk*
Leon pulled out the dagger from his leg and threw it towards the bandit.
"You gave me thirty minutes didn't you? I will give you the same, live the last best thirty minutes of your life." Leon spoke as he stared at the bandit and pure bloodlust oozed out of his body, making the air around them really dense.
"Y-Y-You... J-Just you wait... You fucking psychopath, I will kill you with my own hands." The skinny bandit spoke as his arrogance covered his fear and without wasting another second he stood up and ran out of the cave.
'Fuck...' Leon cursed in his mind as he looked at the wound on his leg and the continuous stream of blood flowing out of it.
"You are going to die." A feminine voice came from one of the cave's dark corner.
"Hmm...?" Leon's eyes immediately tracked the sound into the gloom, picking out a pair of legs trembling violently behind a stack of weathered wooden crates. As he focused his vision, he noticed the flesh was marked by thousands of jagged cuts and blistering burn marks.
"We are all going to die someday," Leon replied. He pulled off his shirt, tearing a thick strip of cloth before tightly wrapping it around the wound on his leg to stanch the bleeding.
"...some of us just accept death too fast, and others are too stubborn to even consider it a real thing. I am sorry... you are dying because of me," she spoke, her voice dropping into a hollow, neutral tone.
"How so?" Leon asked, his expression remaining flat as he secured the knot.
"When I get hurt... my body releases a sweet fragrance. No matter who inhales it, they immediately lose consciousness. I was the reason you got caught."
"That's why you have so many scars on your body, huh?"
"Yes."
"So, how many people have you killed until today?" Leon asked, his tone devoid of pity.
"I-I don't kill them... I just make them unconscious-"
"That's just bullshit," Leon interrupted, his face a mask of cold indifference. "You make them unconscious, and then they get killed. You are equally a part of this."
The girl shifted behind the crates, a heavy silence hanging between them before she whispered, "You are right. I have killed many until today. But I don't have any other choice."
"Do you have a slave collar around your neck?" Leon asked.
"Yes."
"So... why do they hurt you for the fragrance? Can't they just order you to produce it?"
"The fragrance only comes out when I am hurt and scared at the same time," she explained softly.
"I see..." Leon muttered. He leaned his head back against the rusted iron bars of his cage and tried to use a skill.
[WARNING: ALL THE SKILLS ARE ON LOCKDOWN.] [59:37]
'Still one hour left...' Leon thought, the glowing red warning reflected in his eyes, visible only to him, '...And where the fuck is Kael? I should've kept him near me.'
Dismissing the screen with a blink, he looked back toward the crates.
"Oi, girl... have you seen a purple crystal around here somewhere?"
"It was brought here with you," she replied in a low tone. "Now my master is trying to figure out what it is and how much it can be sold for."
'The crystal needs my command to activate the mist,' Leon thought, a calculating glint returning to his eyes.'If I can just get close enough to it and trigger the activation, everything after that will be a piece of cake.'
*Step-Step-Step-Step-Step-Step-Step.*
The heavy, unhurried thud of multiple footsteps echoed from the cave's entrance, vibrating through the damp stone floor.
'Here comes my ride...' Leon thought, a slow, smile appearing on his face.
Five men filed into the chamber. The four trailing behind were typical low-life bandits, but the man leading them was a different breed, massive, heavily muscled, with a jagged, pale scar tearing vertically down his left eye.
"He was the one, boss..." The skinny bandit spoke up, stepping forward to point an trembling finger directly at Leon's cage.
'I see... So he is the boss,' Leon noted internally, his posture relaxing into a stance of pure arrogance.
"Hmm...? This one?" The boss asked. He crouched down, bringing his scarred face level with the iron bars, examining Leon with a cold, neutral stare.
Leon didn't flinch. Instead, he looked back at the giant with a pathetic expression, treating the bandit leader as if he were nothing more than a harmless bug clinging to a wall.
"Are you the one who threatened my boy here, claiming that you are going to kill him in the next thirty minutes?" the boss asked, his voice deceptively calm.
"Twenty-five minutes..." Leon corrected, his gaze slowly shifting past the boss to lock onto the skinny bandit.
"Oh? But what will happen if I decide to kill you right now, right here?" the boss sneered.
"That would be the best decision you will ever make in your pathetic life," Leon replied, a mocking smile spreading across his face. "But killing me in a cage would be such a waste, wouldn't it? Why don't you take me out and kill me in front of everyone? That way, your entire crew can see how their great leader needs a magic tamper on a man's body just to kill him."
"HahahAHAHAHAHA...!"
The boss suddenly burst into a loud, booming laugh that rattled the cave.
'What the fuck is wrong with him?' Leon thought, maintaining his smug look while his mind raced.'Fuck, I can't even use the inspect skill to see if he's actually mentally unstable or just acting like a maniac.'
"No one whom I have captured until today has shown me this much disrespect, I have seen people beg me for mercy and for their lifes..." the boss said, his laughter cutting off instantly as his face twisted into grim seriousness.
"...But along with the disrespect, you gave me the best idea of all. Let's kill you in front of everyone. Open his cage... Let's grant the bastard his last wish."
"But boss... I wanted to fuck him and-"
Before the skinny bandit could finish his sentence, the boss snapped his head around, his scarred eye widening with absolute malice. The words died instantly in the bandit's throat.
"Open the cage and take him out," the boss commanded, his voice dropping into a deadly register. "Or do you want to end up inside it instead?"
"Y-Yes... Sir," the skinny bandit stammered.
"Yes? What, do you want to die?"
"N-N-No sir... I meant 'yes' to your orders!" the bandit squeaked, frantically pulling a heavy ring of metallic keys from his pocket.
He shoved the largest key into the lock and turned it.
*Click.*
The iron door swung open with a harsh groan.
"Let's go, you fucking bastard... You should've just sat there silently. At least you would've lived a bit longer," the skinny bandit hissed, grabbing Leon by the collar and dragging him out into the open space with an irritated, trembling grip.
Leon didn't resist. He stood tall, dusting off his pants before looking down at the skinny man with a cold, placid smile.
"Don't you worry, I am in no hurry to die," Leon replied with a smile. "And you now have exactly twenty minutes now."
*Step-Step-Step-Step-Step-Step-Step*
Leon walked forward with a smile on his face as two bandits grabbed his hands and their boss walked right next to him.
'What the hell is wrong with him? Doesn't he fear death? If only I had people like him with me, I wouldn't have to hide in forests.
What a waste of talent... if he had a little less attitude I would've recruited him into the group.' The boss thought with a dissapointed expression as he looked at Leon.
'Fuck... He could've been one of the best slave but he had to show his attitude in front of boss. Now none of us get to have fun, stupid fucker.' The skinny bandit thought as he looked at Leon with an irritated expression.
"LEADERRRRRRRRR... HELPPPPPPPP-" Suddenly a loud screaming noise came from outside but it was cut short with a loud *THUD*.
"Heh..." Suddenly the smirk on Leon's face widened as he straightened his figure.
"What the-!!??????" The boss immediately ran forward and as soon as he reached at the cave's entrance, his eyes widened in complete shock and body froze up.
"Boss what happened?" The skinny guy immediately walked upto him with a confused expression and touched him on the shoulder before turning his head towards the cave's exit.
Suddenly his eyes widened in fear as well and the boradsword that he was holding in his hand fell down to ground.
*Thud*
"Finally..." Leon spoke as he walked upto them and looked outside with a smile.
The view outside was far more gruesome than he had imagined.
Kael was ripping apar a Bandit's head from his body with his bare hands while a woman was hanging on a tree branch, her lower half missing and her intestines were hanging out, she was trying to scream but her lungs were also lying down on the ground.
The ground outside wasn't brown or green, it was completely soaked in crimson blood and dead bodies that were ripped apart into thousands of pieces.
"HELPPPPPPPPPPPP... USSSSSS... LEADERR..." A man shouted as he ran towards the cave with a scared expression on his face but before he could've reached there...
"Where are you going?" Kael spoke as he pulled out one of his axes and threw it at the the man using the minimum possible amount of power.
*SWISH*
*CHK*
The axe jabbed right into his skull and his eye ball popped out of their sockets immediately as his corpse fell down to the ground.
*THUD*
"You lowly bugs dared to touch my master? DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?" Kael spoke as he walked upto the dead man and pulled out his axe from his skull.
*Chk*
Kael then walked upto the Leon and immediately went down on his knees in front of him.
"I accept any punishment you have for me master. I understand that I have done wrong but please don't send me back to purgatory." Kai spoke as he immediately smacked his head down on the ground with full force.
*THUD*
"Y-You destroyed everything... K-Killed everyone precious to me." The boss spoke as his expressions shifted into anger and he grabbed the broad sword that was lying on the ground.
Without wasting another second, he raised it and brought it down on Kael's head with full power.
"DIE BASTARDDDDDDD..." He shouted loudly.
"Kill him." Leon ordered with a smile.
"As you command, master." Kael spoke as he immediately disappeared from the ground and re-appeared behind the boss bandit.
In just a split second, he swinged his axe and separated his head from his dead body.
*Chk*
*Catch*
But before the head could've fallen down, kael caught it in his hand and re-appeared in front of Leon with it.
"Should I kill them as well, master?" Kael spoke as he pointed towards the bandits who were standing right next to Leon.
"Hmm...?" Leon slowly turned to look at them and noticed that both of them have soiled their pants and their bodies were shaking violently from fear.
"S-Sir... Please spare me, I-I will always be your slave, I-I will do everything you tell me to do... I-I will eat your shit if you want... Please sir, please let me live." The skinny bandit spoke as he grabbed Leon's leg tightly.
"How about you open these chains and that magic tampering bracelet from my leg?" Leon asked with a kind smile as he looked at the skinny bandit.
"Y-Yes... Sir. I-I will do it immediately." The skinny bandit spoke as he immediately pulled out a special key from his pocket and unlocked the magic tampering.
*Click*
*Thud*
"Now chains..." Leon spoke in a low voice.
"Y-Yes..."
*Click*
*Thud*
As soon as the chains fell down to the ground, Leon rubbed his wrists and snatched the keys from his hands.
"I will be back in a second... If any of them tries to run away or even move, kill them but not him, I need this one alive." Leon replied as he pointed towards the skinny bandit.
He then walked back inside the cave and opened Dusk's cage.
"Master... I am sorry for dissapointing you." Dusk spoke as he walked out of the cage with a shameful expression on his face and his head hanging low.
"Don't worry, Dusk. Even I passed out immediately by that fragrance." Leon replied as he opened up the magic tampering bracelet from his leg.
*Click*
*Thud*
After opening the bracelet, Leon walked upto the wooden crates and noticed a small girl with long brown hairs sleeping peacefully while leaning against the crates.
As Leon observed closely he noticed that not only her legs but her whole body is covered in cuts and burn marks.
"Just when I was starting to feel a little sympathy for those who died outside." Leon thought as immediately removed the slave collar from her neck as it was already open.
He then picked her up into his arms and started carrying her towards the cave's entrance.
But as soon as Leon reached in front of the cave's entrance, he noticed that the other two bandits who were grabbing his hands before, were also killed by kael.
"They tried to run, master." Kael replied with a neutral expression.
"Good Good... Now, let's start with you because your time is now... OVER." Leon spoke as he looked at the skinny bandit with a very evil smile.
-x-X-x-
Leon is now tying the skinny bandit to a tree.
"S-S-S-S-Sir... Please, I-I beg you. I-I will literally do anything... a-a-anything you say, you can even fuck me if you want." The bandit spoke in a desperate tone as sweat dripped down from his forehead with any stops.
"Oh I don't know about fucking you, but I will fuck you up... So, don't you worry about that." Leon spoke as he tied the knot and tapped on his cheeks twice before walking away.
He then picked up the same dagger that the bandit had used to stab him.
"Say... What's your name?" Leon asked as he cleaned the dagger.
"M-M-M-Miles..." He replied as fear appeared in his eyes and his body started shivering violently.
"Miles huh? That's a good name. So, Miles... let me tell you something and I want you to remember this. Although it's something that you will come handy in your next life but let's start.
First lesson of the day... You can't walk without your fingers and toes. Wanna find out if it's true?" Leon asked with a smile, as he immediately took off Miles' shoes.
"N-N-No... S-Sir... Please I beg-" Before he could've completed his sentence, Leon stabbed the dagger straight into his left leg's toe and cut it off cleanly.
"ΑΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗHHHHH... SOMEONE SAVE MEEEEEEEEEEEE-" Miles started shouting but before he could've shouted anymore, Leon placed the dagger right over his vocal box.
"Shout once more and I will pull out your vocal box or better... I will cut your lungs and you will be just like her, but alive. Understand?" Leon spoke as he pointed towards the woman who was hanging on the tree.
"Y-Yes..." Miles replied with a scared expression as he immediately bite down on his lips to stop himself from screaming.
"Now... Should I insert the dagger in between his nails first or take off the skin from his legs?" Leon asked as he turned to look at kael.
"I don't know master... I don't torture people. I am a very merciful soul." Kael replied with a neutral expression.
"Yeah you sure are... give me Maverick." Leon spoke with a neutral expression.
*Swish*
Suddenly the Malebolge changed it's appearance and Maverick appeared instead of Kael.
"Master." Maverick immediately bowed down to Leon as he pulled out his knives.
"Tell me the best way to torture him..." Leon asked with a smile.
"You should really peel off his skin but not his muscles master because we don't want him dying from blood loss?
Once his skin comes off, even the air will hurt him." Maverick replied with a maniacal smile.
"You do it... I will just sit here and enjoy. Here use this dagger " Leon replied with a smile as he walked upto a stone and tossed the dagger to Maverick.
*Catch*
Maverick catches the dagger and Leon takes a seat on the stone.
"Now, Now... It's been a while since I did it. Let's see..." Maverick spoke with a smile as he slowly inserted the dagger's tip into the upper left corner of Miles' chest.
"N-N-No... Please..." Miles spoke with wide eyes as fear covered his face.
"Haa... So many years in that dark pit only to see this expression once again, this sooths my soul. First layer... Second layer and third layer..." Maverick spoke as he immediately moved the dagger across his chest and stomach, making a oval cut with such smoothness that even Leon's eyes widened in surprise.
A red oval line appeared over his body as blood flowed out of it.
"This is my favourite part..." Maverick spoke with a psychotic smile as he grabbed the skin and ripped it off from his body in one swift motion.
*Crrrrrrr*
"ΑΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗHHHHH..." Miles shouted once again in agony as his muscles were revealed and tears started coming out of his eyes.
'Such precision with a blunt dagger like that? He could've made into a perfect psychopath doctor.' Leon thought.
"If only I had some salt with me.... This would've been even more fun to watch."
Maverick thought with a smile as he looked at Miles.
"P-Please... J-Just kill me... I-I can't take it any more. I beg you... K-Kill me." Miles spoke as he started crying and begging again.
"Kill you? I have no intentions of letting you die." Maverick replied with a wide smile as he spun the dagger around his fingers.
For the next ten minutes, Maverick peeled off every single patch of skin from Miles' body and poked the nerves that hurted him like hell.
Ten minutes later...
Without skin, Miles' body looked horrific as his muscles were revealed completely and he was crying loudly.
"N0000000000.... PLEASEEEE... HELP."
"MY LEGGGGGGGGGG..."
"PLEASE SPARE-AHHHΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗ...."
The forest resounded with Miles' painful cries as Maverick continued to torture him in the worst possible ways, he cutted off his eye lids and slowly started bleeding him.
Meanwhile Leon sat on the rock and enjoyed all of this with a smile on his face.
*Pop*
Suddenly a half-transparent screen popped up in front of him.
[Note: Skill lockdown has been removed.]
As soon as Leon saw the message, he stood up from the stone and walked upto Maverick.
"Give me the dagger..." Leon ordered with a neutral expression.
"Yes, Master." Maverick replied as he handed the dagger back to him immediately.
Leon took the dagger and looked at Miles' with a smile.
"Do you want to die?" He asked.
"Y-Yes, Yes, Yes... P-Please kill me... I-I beg you sir." Miles spoke as his mouth barely moved.
"Fine... Which kingdom is the closest to this place?" Leon asked with a neutral expression.
"V-V-Vergas e-empire..." Miles replied in a low tone.
"It's a human empire ?"
"Yes... T-The c-church controls it." Miles replied in a low voice.
"Very well then... In your text life, try not to be a stupid fuck." Leon replied with a smile as he raised the dagger and jabbed it into his skull.
*STAB*
-x-X-x-
*Splash*
"HAHHHH...." The little girl immediately woke up from her sleep and took a deep breath as she felt the cold water splashing against her face.
"Morning sunshine... wake up. Your freedom might go back if you don't wake up to greet it." Leon spoke with a neutral expression as he took out one of Bandit's shirt from a blood stained bag and wore it.
"W-What?" She immediately looked around with a confused expression as the ground was still covered in red blood but not even a single corpse was visible.
"Master... It's done." Maverick spoke as he walked out from behind the bushes with neutral expression.
'The Malebolge might be one of the best monster that I have summoned till now.
Thirteen evil motherfucking souls in a shapeshifting body and it can consume more dead bodies to increase it's shapeshifting accuracy! Leon thought with a neutral expression as he looked at Maverick.
"Oh... another one, should I peel off the kid's-" Maverick started speaking but Leon cut him mid-sentence.
"No need." He spoke as he used his skill.
The Malebolge disappeared instantly and the imp appeared in it's place.
"Master..." Imp spoke as he immediately bowed down to Leon.
Leon picked up a broken branch from the ground and used another skill.
The branch glowed golden for a little moment before returning back to it's original state.
"Vergas Empire..." Leon spoke in a low voice as he placed the branch vertically on the ground and removed his hand from the other end.
*Thud*
The stick fell toward the north.
"Keep going into that direction and scout for a kingdom. If you see it, report it back to me." Leon commanded the imp with a neutral expression.
"As you command, Master." The imp immediately started flying away without wasting another second.
"T-The collar..." The little girl spoke as she placed her hand near her neck with a neutral expression.
"Now... let's deal with you." Leon turned towards her and used his skill on her.
[Name: Kurai]
[Class: Fragrance Keeper]
[Race: Half-Elf]
[HP: 600/600]
[MP: 300/300]
[Description: Kurai was born into an Elven mercenary household, but after her elf mother and human father died on a mission she was immediately sold off to a slave trading firm by one of her relatives, while her sister was kept in house for raising.]
*Sigh*
Leon sighed as he readed the description and dissapointed expression appeared over his face.
'... and I thought Elfs were intelligent creatures.!' He thought.
"W-Why?" Kurai spoke as tears started to fill her eyes.
"Why I saved you?" Leon asked with a neutral expression.
"Yes.."
"I don't know-" Before Leon could've completed his sentence, Kurai walked upto him and started punching his legs as she cried loudly.
"Are you mad little girl?" Dusk asked with a confused expression.
"I-I killed so many people... Y-You s-said I killed all of them... *Sob-Sob* H-How am I supposed to live with... that now? *Sob-Sob* Why didn't you just let me die or *Sob-Sob* or killed me with them?" Kurai asked as she cried even more and continued to punch Leon.
'She is not even ten and yet she is so aware about what is happening around her and she also blames every death on herself. The elf blood inside her body made her wiser before time. Leon thought as he placed his hand over head and used his skill.
As soon as he used the skill, all the cuts and burning marks on Kurai's body disappeared immediately.
"Kurai..." Leon spoke in a low voice as he slowly pulled her in and hugged her slightly.
As soon as she heard her name from Leon's mouth, even more tears started to come out of her eyes, as she remembered that the bandits always only called her with abusive names.
"... It wasn't your fault." Leon completed his sentence.
After that Kurai took a shower in the river and Leon gave her one of the Bandit's son's clothes as they were the only ones remaining without blood stains.
"Let's go." He spoke with a neutral expression as he immediately grabbed kurai and jumped into Dusk's back.
"Dusk... I am hungry and I want to eat a good meal and get some good clothes and I want to fuck some really curvy and married women.
For that... We need to get to that virgin or whatever stupid fucking named empire that is and I want to get there fast, so show me some speed boy." Leon spoke with a smile as he grabbed Dusk's fur tightly.
"All you needed to say, Master." Dusk spoke as a smile appeared over his face, he immediately took his running stance and his fur started to glow brightly blue.
"Kid, grab my hand as tightly as possible and close your eyes. Try not to open them, if you don't want to go blind." Leon spoke as he looked at kurai.
"Y-Yes, sir." Kurai spoke as she immediately grabbed Leon's hand and closed her eyes.
As soon as dusk used the skill and took the first step, all three of them completely disappeared from their position as if the air had swallowed them.
As dusk ran through the forest he left a blue streak of mana behind him and as soon as that streak touched a tree, a clean cut appeared over it's trunk and it fell down almost immediately.
*THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD*
As he ran through the forest, a clean path of fallen trees made it clear that he wasn't something to be touched when running.
Even the monsters heard Dusk's footsteps coming from miles away and stepped away from his path.
In just twelve seconds, Dusk reached on the forest's northern exit and stopped.
Leon opened his eyes and noticed that the Vergas Empire was right in front of them.
-x-X-x-
*Thud*
Leon jumped down from Dusk's back as he looked at the Vergas Empire.
Vergas Empire was completely covered in a huge round wall and there was a huge rotating set of rings hovering directly above the kingdom.
"It's not even big enough to be called an empire. An empire consists of two or more kingdoms. This is just a small Kingdom covered with big ass walls and what the fuck is that hovering thing over it?" Leon thought as he immediately used his skill on it.
[Name: The Summoner's Pellet]
[Rank: B]
[Description: A summoner's pellet is used to collect and store energy from sun and moon, in the form of Keton crystal balls and they can be used as one of the purest sacrificial offerings, that can be used to open the final door of purgatory and summon creatures beyond imagination.]
"Hehe... Hehehehe..." Suddenly Leon started laughing as evil ideas started to pop up in his mind.
"Should I take the smaller form, master?" Dusk asked with a neutral expression.
"Yeah, do that. We are going into that kingdom." Leon replied with a neutral expression as dusk immediately changed into his cat appearance and both of them started walking towards the kingdom.
"Umm... Sir, we shouldn't go into that Kingdom." Kurai spoke with a scared expression.
"Why?" Leon asked with a confused expression.
"I don't have much knowledge but I will tell you everything I know about this kingdom. The one-eyed wolf bandits used this kingdom as their main supply source for food and clothings, while in exchange they supplied them with artifacts and jewelries." Kurai explained.
"So? What's the problem in that? Every thief needs to sell the stolen goods." Leon replied with a neutral expression.
"You are right, Sir. But... The people living inside that Kingdom, they are really weird. Everyone does whatever the girls in black and white dresses tell them to do.
They live in very odd and same looking houses and eat the same food that is also distributed by the girls in black and white dresses. When the bandits were talking about that Kingdom, I also heard that there is someone named mother maria who controls everything and some people say that she can even revive the dead." Kurai explained.
'Revive the dead? Is she a necromancer or what? If she is a necromancer, I will be able to mimic her skill! Leon thought with a curious expression.
"I have seen it before..." Dusk spoke in a low voice as he stared at Leon's face.
"Hmm...?" Kurai looked at dusk with a confused expression.
"Wait for it..."
"Okay... We are going in." Leon spoke with a neutral expression as he came out of his thoughts.
"There it is." Dusk spoke in a low voice as a smile appeared over his face.
"Come." Leon spoke as he started walking towards the kingdom, Dusk and Kurai started following him.
...
As they were walking towards the kingdom, Kuria stared at Dusk with big eyes.
"Hmm...? What?" Dusk asked with a confused expression.
"Umm... Can I pet you?" Kurai asked with an innocent face as she looked at him.
"No little girl, keep your hands away from me. I don't like anyone touching me other than master." Dusk replied with a neutral expression.
"B-But..." Kurai spoke as tears started to accumulate in her eyes.
"Aghhh... Fine, but only pet my-" Before dusk could've completed his sentence, Kurai picked him up into her arms and started scratching his head.
"H-Hey... oh, this... actually feels good." Dusk spoke as a smile appeared over his face and he relaxed his body.
"Wait..." Leon spoke as he stopped walking and noticed a big group of guards standing on the Kingdom's entrance gate.
All the guards wore black armours and holded long spears in their hands as they checked the supply wagons.
'The security is too high... But why?' Leon thought with a confused expression.
"Kurai... Those guards, are there always this many of them on the gate?" Leon asked with a neutral expression.
"No sir. On normal days there are even more guards standing on the gate. I think it has to be one of the rally days." Kurai replied with a straight face.
"What's a rally day?"
"On rally days, Mother Marie comes out of the church and takes a whole round of the kingdom in her chariot." Kurai explained.
"I see... Dusk and Kurai, both of you will stay here. Dusk keep an eye on her." Leon replied with a neutral expression.
"Master!? But what if something goes wrong inside?" Dusk asked with a worried expression.
"Don't worry..." Leon spoke as he immediately used his skill.
The Malebolge immediately re-appeared in front of Leon.
"Give me Vesper." Leon commanded.
The Malebolge immediately started changing it's shape and in just a few seconds, it took the form of a beautiful lady.
She had a black veil on half of her face, her head was covered with a white hat and she wore a crimson dress with golden borders.
She also holded a small white umbrella in her left hand and a small sand hourglass in her right hand.
"I greet my master." Madam Vesper delicately pinched her gown from the right side and lifted it a little as she bowed down to Leon in a royal manner.
"So, you are madam Vesper... The puppeteer aristocrat who manipulated thousands of men into murdering their own families and then watched them confess to it just for fun?" Leon asked as a smirk appeared over his face.
"Ah those were good old days, master. I have had so much fun in that time but then I was sent to the purgatory and turns out having fun has a prize after all." Vesper replied with a smile as she looked at Leon.
"Good... You will be coming with me." Leon ordered with a neutral expression.
"Oh okay, but doing something so dirty here in the open... I mean I am okay with it but it's-"
"Not cumming... You will be coming with me to that kingdom. You really have a twisted mind don't you?" Leon asked as a smile appeared over his face.
"Anything to please my master." Vesper replied with a smile as she bowed down again.
-x-X-x-
Vergas Empire's entry gate...
Seventeen guards stood on the gate and there were two separate queues to enter inside the empire.
The queue on the right side belonged to wagons and the left side belonged to the people on foot.
As Vergas Empire has low to none farming capacities, they trade and buy most things from outside the kingdom but the security checks at the gate are very sharp.
Every wagon that enters inside the kingdom must be checked throughly for any outsider spies who might try infiltrate the kingdom.
Five guards checked each and every single wagon throughout and placed the items back into it once they were assured that there was nothing suspicious inside it.
As the wagon moved forward, a guard registered the driver and merchant's name in a record book and gave them a temporary Identification card that allowed them to stay inside the kingdom for seven hours.
Once all these procedures were done, only then the wagon was permitted to go inside the kingdom.
...
On the left side the queue belonged to the men and women who were on foot, mostly they were all locals who went out to collect firewood and monster meat, but at the end of the line, stood Leon and Vesper.
'What are they even hiding inside that Kingdom? For a medieval Kingdom like this, the security checks are stronger than the pentagon back on earth.' Leon thought with a calm expression as he noticed that even the people who belonged to the kingdom were being checked out throughly and they were being asked random questions.
...
A man walked upto the guards and handed them a completely blank white card.
The guard passed the card to another guard who was sitting on a chair with a crystal ball in front of him.
He immediately placed the card behind the crystal ball and looked at it with a neutral expression.
"Welcome back, Mr. Fagenbokur. It says the purpose of your trip was to meet someone in the Elf kingdom. Have you brought something that can testify to it that you went to the elf kingdom?" The guard asked.
"Yes... This is a Regan Pearl. They can only be in the Elf kingdom." The man spoke as he handed over a sapphire glowing pearl to the guard.
"Very well... What's your house number?" The guard asked.
"324-B."
"What's your wife's name and place of birth?"
"Melda and place of birth would be Otlin kingdom."
While this was going on, Both Leon and Vesper waited in line for the next twenty minutes.
....
Twenty minutes later,
"Welcome to the Vergas Empire... How can we help you?" The guard asked with a neutral expression as he looked at Leon.
"This is madam Vesper Von Valris, the mistress of Jackson household and I am Barry Allen, her bodyguard.
We were travelling to our kingdom Gotham, when we got attacked by some bandits in those mountains and we barely escaped but everything we had with us is now gone except a little bit of money, we are hungry and need to buy some food from your kingdom.
We also want to take some rest here if possible." Leon explained as he looked at the guard with a neutral expression.
"First of all, I greet the mistress..." The knight spoke as he immediately bowed down to Vesper and all the other guards also followed him, as they bowed down.
"The formal greeting of a knight to a seven star nobel mistress should be more polite, don't you think?" Vesper spoke as she looked at the knight with a displeased and disgusted expression.
"I-I-I am sorry, my lady. Let me greet you once again." The knight hesitated and went down on one knee immediately.
The other guards followed his lead and went down on their knees as well.
"We the guards and knights of the Vergas Empire, greet the gracious mistress of the seven star Jackson household." The knight spoke as he stood up after that.
"Good." Vesper replied with a neutral expression.
'She was able to made them go on their knees just with a displeased voice and a stare? She really was a high level aristocrat when she was alive huh?' Leon thought as he looked at the knight.
"So, can we go inside?" Leon asked with a neutral expression.
"Yes, but we are only allowed to issue temporary only twenty-hour stay, resident cards for outsiders.
It's not a disrespect, ma'am. But you can talk to Mother Marie directly and get the stay extended on-"
"Twenty-four hours is more than enough, my wagons will come searching for me in no more than twelve hours when they find out that i didn't arrive at the destination." Vesper replied with a neutral expression.
"Yes ma'am. Give me the card." The guard spoke as his partner handed him a blank black card.
"If patrolling guards ask you anything inside, you can just show this to them and they will leave you alone." The knight replied as he holded the card in front of Vesper.
"I don't like people handing me things." Vesper replied with a neutral expression.
"Y-Yes..." The knight immediately turned his hand towards Leon.
"Thank you. Are you going to check us as well?"
"We won't dare to touch the mistress of such high household. Please go in." The knight replied.
Leon and Vesper walked forward and entered inside the Kingdom without any problems.
...
"How do you know they aren't lying?" A guard asked as he walked upto the knight.
"I know nobels and she has the same talking style and attitude." The knight replied with a neutral expression.
"Do you really know any kingdom named Gotham and a household named Jackson?" The guard asked.
"Y-Yeah... It's in the North and Jackson family is a very big household there. Now get back to work, you fucking idiots." The knight lied and shouted in order to close down any upcoming counter argument or questions.
-x-X-x-
Vandiem Royal Castle....
The air inside the grand meeting room was suffocating.
An oval table of polished, dark oak anchored the center of the space, surrounded by men whose faces were carved with grim anxiety. On the far left sat Adwin, his powerful posture rigid, his sharp eyes locked onto a detailed world map spread out before him as if trying to read the future in its ink.
*Creak.*
The heavy doors groaned open. A man with silver hair stepped into the room, a palpable wave of dread trailing in his wake.
"Evening, gentlemen... unfortunately, I can't call it a 'good evening,' as a very big problem is walking towards us as we speak," he announced, his voice tight but steady.
He moved toward the front wall, the rhythmic tap of his boots the only sound in the tense silence. "My name is Frenir. I am an alchemist, and a mage as well, although I am not the best at any of my classes and by class, I am just a farmer. But as they say: a jack of all trades is a master of none, yet oftentimes better than a master of one.
I will be addressing the tragedy that we have brought upon ourselves. Let's begin."
With a sharp flick of his wand, a massive canvas map unrolled across the stone wall, snapping into place..
"Gentlemen, as we all know, there are thirteen known human kingdoms. Out of those thirteen, only three share a common mining site: the Gorgon Mountain. We didn't know where that name originated, as all historical records related to the mountain were burned in a great fire centuries ago.
We also didn't know who the mountain truly belonged to. So, the three kingdoms, Vandiem, Rowanmen, and my own kingdom, Grundum, decided to share it instead of going to war. It had sufficient iron ore mines to fulfill the needs of all three nations."
Suddenly, Frenir choked on his words, his expression turning stark and hollow.
Seeing the young man falter, Adwin leaned forward, his fierce gaze softening into a sympathetic expression. "Son... you don't have to do it. I can get another strategist to explain your findings if you want to grieve for your loss."
Frenir swallowed hard, shaking his head. "N-No... Please, no one can explain this better than me, sir." He took a breath, anchoring himself against the edge of the table.
"Three days ago, many of our workers who were mining the ores on the south-western side of the Gorgon Mountain didn't return home in the evening. We immediately dispatched a platoon of elite guards to search for them, but unfortunately, even that platoon of our best guards didn't make it back that night.
"The next morning, we prepared a full army of knights and raided the mountains to search for the missing men. This army was being led by my father, King Trevor J. Raymond. The force consisted of twenty-four hundred knights and fifteen hundred mages, out of which three were royal mages."
Frenir leaned forward, his knuckles turning white against the oak. "Now, gentlemen, I want you to focus on this next piece of detail very carefully, as it will explain the absolute depth of the situation we are in right now. Out of an army of thirty-nine hundred men... only thirteen made it back."
A collective wave of shock rippled through the room. The hardened army generals, the proud royal mages, and the calculating strategists all paled. Some placed their hands over their mouths in disbelief, while others began to sweat under their heavy robes.
An utter, deathly silence covered the room. Adwin's face turned incredibly dark.
"W-What h-happened to the others?" one of the strategists finally stammered, breaking the silence.
"The thirteen who came back... ten of them were in a state of catatonic shock and are still being treated in our church," Frenir said, his voice dropping into a grave whisper.
"One was brutally injured beyond recognition, and the remaining two provided me with answers that made me question reality itself. Their exact words were'There were statues, and they moved... They killed, and they can't be killed.'"
Frenir began to pace, the shadows of the room stretching over his silver hair.
"After this incident, I was forced to go to that mining site myself with a detachment of guards and mages to search for my father. I also wanted to find out what the knights saw that made them so terrified.
As I ventured deep into the forests, I found the empty mining sites, but there were absolutely no traces of human life. No blood, no bodies.
But after searching for a while, I found footprints that led me to a cave entirely unknown to all three kingdoms. It was sealed shut with massive boulders. There were noises coming from inside, noises as if someone was grinding thousands of huge stones together at the exact same time.
"The moment I ordered the mages to remove the boulders, the noises stopped instantly. And once the entrance was cleared... I saw something that would be impossible to believe if you didn't see it with your own eyes.
There were thousands of statues stuffed inside that cave. But these statues weren't normal stone carvings. They were the exact same men who went missing in those very mountains"
"Kid... are you telling us that someone turned everyone into stone?" one of the army generals interrupted, his brow furrowed in deep skepticism.
"Someone, or something," Frenir corrected, his hands slamming flat onto the table as he leaned over the maps. "But that is not the real problem. Those statues had a terrifying property. The ones at the front of the cave were standing perfectly still, as stone should be. But the statues in the back..."
"What?" the general pressed.
"...The statues in the back were alive. They were moving, and they were observing me just as I observed them."
"That's stupidity!" a royal mage scoffed, standing up with a highly offended, serious expression. "There is no magic in existence that can turn flesh to stone, and even if it did, what would be the point of petrifying them if they can still move?"
"I am not as wise as you, sir," Frenir replied coldly, unbothered by the outburst. "But I remembered the words of the surviving knight, and I realized something crucial: the statues don't move when light falls upon their bodies. I haves tested it. Why don't you come with me and see it for yourselves? I have brought one of them back. Please, follow me."
Frenir turned on his heel and walked out of the meeting room.
Without a word, Adwin stood up from his chair, his imposing aura shifting the room. Instantly, the rest of the council fell into line, their arguments dying in their throats as they quietly followed him out into the corridor.
-x-X-x-
As soon as Adwin and the others walked out of the meeting room, they noticed a big cage sitting on the balcony right outside in the evening sunlight.
There was a grey statue standing inside the cage, in a bent down position.
"This is a worker's statue that I picked up from the cave's front and brought it back for all of you to watch." Frenir spoke with a neutral expression as he pointed towards the statue.
"You are telling me this was a real man before? And got turned into a stone statue?" One of the Royal mage asked as he immediately walked upto the cage and started touching the statue.
The other two royal mages immediately followed behind him and started inspecting the statue as well from different angles.
They casted spells on the statue and examined it from inside out.
Frenir looked outside and noticed that the sun has already gone down the horizon and the sunlight is also going back.
"I would suggest you gentlemen to step away from the statue as the sunlight is getting away." Frenir spoke with a neutral expression.
"Yes." All the Royal mages immediately stepped away from the statue, except one, he was younger than the other mages and had even more curiosity in his eyes.
He was writing down the information that was being extracted by his spell.
"Sir... I would suggest you to get away from the statue." Frenir warned once again with a serious expression this time.
"Give me a second..." The mage replied as he continued to cast the spell and write down the information on his notebook.
"Sir-" Before Frenir could've completed his sentence, Adwin raised his hand towards him.
*Raise*
"That's why we are paying him in gold coins. Let him risk his life for wisdom, if that's what he wants." Adwin replied with a serious expression.
"A-As you say, sir." Frenir replied as he saw the sunlight slowly fade away from the balcony and as soon as the dark covered the Royal Castle.
*Crack-Crack*
Cracking sounds started coming from the statue as it's eyes rolled towards the mage and with incredible speed, the statue moved it's right hand in order to grab the mage's neck.
"What-!?" Everyone standing there immediately got shocked and their eyes widened in shock.
But, before the statue could've grabbed his neck... The mage immediately jumped back and dodged the attack effortlessly, while continuing to write down information.
"Heh... What's his name?" Adwin asked with a smile as he looked at the elder Royal mage.
"His name is Martin Manglon, your majesty. He was my student for four years and has risked his life several times just to collect knowledge. He is too curious." The elder mage explained with a smile.
"The curious ones are the most dangerous ones..." Adwin replied.
"Okay... It's a connected being." Martin spoke as he stopped the spell.
"Connected being?" Frenir asked in a low and confused voice.
"A connected being is something that is connected to a bigger source of power and it's being controlled by that source. All of it's actions are administered by that source.
Also know as Hive Beings. It's an inspiration taken from a bee hive that gets controlled by a queen and all the others are just her workers." The elder mage explained.
"No, No, No... Elder Kinuma, you might be wrong there." Martin spoke with a smile as he flipped through the pages of his diary.
"Hmm...? About what?" Kinuma asked with a confused expression.
"The hive beings are different from connected beings... The hive beings work under a superior power and take orders but execute them with their own mind.
Connected beings on the other hand are one complete being with a single consciousness and different bodies. The consciousness which is controlling this body can clearly hear what he is hearing." Martin explained as he pointed towards the statue.
"Is that so?" Adwin asked with a neutral expression as he walked upto the statue.
The statue's eyes immediately shined brightly yellow as it turned towards Adwin.
"You have really good mages here in your kingdom, King Adwin... Hehehe. They will come handy once I take over their mind as well." The statue spoke as he looked at Adwin.
"Why don't you tell me your exact location and then we will see who is going to take over whom? What do you say?" Adwin spoke with a serious expression as he looked directly into the statue's eyes.
"You knew my location. I was in the same cave that he got this statue from, but don't worry... the sun is going down and I will change my location again, but this time... I will not be that easy to find."
"Isn't that a bit cowardly? You talk about taking over my kingdom but too scared to even show your true self?" Adwin asked with a mocking smile.
"Are you trying to mock me, king Adwin?" The statue asked.
"I like to mock those who don't even have the courage to tell me their name." Adwin replied with a smile.
"My name... Hah, it's been a while since someone asked my name. Two hundred years ago, people feared just from listening my name, everything went silent whenever someone took my name in the northern valleys.
And you dared to ask my name, fine... My name is, Gorgonia De Struct, Mistress of silent death."
Everyone standing there immediately froze as soon as they heard her name and sweat beads started forming on their foreheads.
"T-The Gorgonia who destroyed the hidden kingdom of Orcs and Ogres?" One of the army general spoke up with a scared expression.
"Hehehe... That was a really good time. I killed so many of them with their own kind's hands. They were all begging and crying, fighting for their pathetic lifes from their own fathers, brothers and soldiers who swore to protect them, HAHAHAHAHAHHAHA." Gorgonia laughed as she looked at the general.
"You can't be alive. My grandfather, Great sir Lucas R. Lorence the fourth killed you. He beheaded you and hided your head. " Adwin spoke with a serious expression.
-x-X-x-
Vergas Empire...
Leon and Vesper entered inside the Kingdom and looked around only to notice that there was no one on the streets, they were completely empty.
"What is happening?" Leon asked with a confused expression as he looked around and noticed that four guards are coming towards them.
"I have literally seen a Kingdom full of corpses yet this one gives me creeps. The silence on these streets is too eerie." Vesper spoke with a neutral expression as he looked around.
The guards walked closer to Leon and Vesper, but they passed by them without saying anything or even looking at them.
"Whatever... Let's go." Leon spoke as he started walking.
"Yes, master." Vesper replied as she started walking behind Leon.
...
As they kept walking forward, Leon noticed that all the houses looked almost alike, they were small and square shaped with no roofs, almost like boxes. They had nameplates on them that stated the number of members in the house, their names, their ages and their classes.
As Vesper looked around, she noticed that every house had only one window and one door in them.
Suddenly a smile appeared over her face.
"Master... I think this is-"
"A glorified prison?" Leon completed her sentence as he noticed small kids looking at them from the windows.
"Well, I was about to say a Red kingdom, but glorified prison works as well." Vesper replied with a neutral expression.
"What do you mean by a Red kingdom?" Leon asked with a confused expression.
"They used to exist two hundred years ago... These Kingdoms are built in isolation and are ruled by high ranking demons and mostly all of it's residents are being holded here for a favour they took from the high-ranking demon." Vesper explained.
"So basically... They are prisoners with contracts?" Leon asked with a neutral expression.
"Yes. I assumed that the Elfs eradicated all of these kingdoms when they went to war with the humans but turns out they are still surviving and this particular kingdom is a very big one with a full fledged demonic church in it.
But, the demonic presence here is too low. The negative mana is just not enough." Vesper replied with a confused expression.
"That means the demon is not here?" Leon asked with a confused expression.
"High ranking demons feel very relaxed in these type of Kingdoms and release their aura without any limits to mark every corner of their kingdom, so that any other demon can't-" suddenly Vesper stopped talking as she started staring at the ground.
Leon looked down and noticed that there are many curved black lines drawn on the ground with some black bricks among the grey ones.
"What?" Leon asked with a confused expression.
"This pattern on the ground... I have seen it before." Vesper spoke with a confused expression as she stopped walking and started staring at the ground.
She turned the small hourglass in her hand upside down and the sand started falling.
Leon looked back and noticed that the same pattern was drawn all over the Kingdom's ground.
"It's not a magic circle, there aren't any enchantments written in between the lines." He spoke with a neutral expression.
"I know that... It's something that we used to call,'Reverse Magic Gates' back in the day, I thought every record on how to make them was destroyed with the Red Kingdoms, turns out knowledge can survive through anything.
The enchantments on these types of magic circles are written on the other side, that's facing the ground." Vesper explained as she started walking forward once again with a smile on her face.
"Reverse magic gates? Is it a summoning spell?" Leon asked with a neutral expression as he continued to look around.
"Ah... Now i remember, it's an Altar red kingdom." Vesper spoke with a smile.
As soon as Leon heard this, his eyes widened in shock.
"You can't sense the aura of a higher ranking demon because..."
"...It's not summoned yet." Both of them spoke at the same time.
"Master... Look." Vesper spoke as she nodded her head towards the front.
Leon immediately looked forward and noticed a huge crowd in the middle of the town, gathering around a huge chariot driven by two muscular black horses.
On the driver's seat, sat a very weak man who had a very sad expression on his face.
Behind him sat three woman, two of them wore black veils on their faces, meanwhile the third one, looked out of the world.
Her figure was unbearable to watch as her massive boobs jiggled everytime the chariot moved a little.
Her huge ass had the same Jiggle when she stood up from her seat and waved towards the citizens who surrounded her.
The black robe that she wore was diminishing her curves, while barely holding them. Her face was so beautiful that barely looking at it, gave Leon a perverted smirk on his face.
Without wasting another second he used his skill on her.
[Name: Marie Maroons]
[Class: Aura Maiden]
[Race: Human]
[HP: 68000/68000]
[MP: 157000/157000]
[Description: Marie Maroons, also known as Mother Marie. She was considered a cursed child who killed her mother on birth and father two years later on a hunt. She was sold to different slave traders but no matter where she was sold, her masters eventually ended up dead.
After a while even the slave traders released her fearing that she will bring bad luck to their firm. She disappeared from the world's eyes and now lives in Vergas Empire's Demonic church as it's Head Nun.
Marie serves a high ranking demon of unknown name and she is searching for the one who killed her master's most loyal minion, Merlin.]
'The more levels I am above the inspected target, the more information I can get with the {Inspect} skill. Now that's a worthy perk of levels, other than just increasing my HP and MP.' Leon thought with a neutral expression.
"Something wrong, master?" Vesper asked with a confused expression.
"I am going to turn her into a fleshlight for my dick." Leon spoke as he looked at Mother Marie.
"Umm.... What?"
-x-X-x-
"Mother Marie... Please touch my son's head."
"Mother Marie, please heal my wife."
"Mother Marie... Please, I want to join the church."
People surrounded the chariot from all sides and raised their hands just to get a slight touch from her hands.
Meanwhile, Mother Marie looked down on them like petty bugs and smiled as she just waved her hand at them from above.
Suddenly, her eyes locked onto the two figures that were standing behind the crowd and observing her from a distance.
'Hmm...? They aren't from the kingdom but they don't look like traders or merchants as well. Are they visitors?
But the look in their eyes doesn't seem like a visitor's look.' Marie thought as she immediately started to look back at the crowd.
...
"Master..." Vesper spoke with a smile.
"I know... I know, she saw us. But she is pretending that she didn't." Leon spoke as a smile appeared over his face.
"What's the plan, Master?" Vesper asked with a smile.
"I need information on her Church and a schedule of this kingdom, what happens when and why it happens. An Inn should do the job. Let's go." Leon spoke as he started walking towards the other direction.
"Yes, Master." Vesper replied as she started following behind him immediately.
...
"Children of the shadow... Follow them." Marie spoke with a smile as she continued to wave at them.
"Yes, Mother."
Both of the girls sitting besides her stood up and disappeared into thin air immediately.
....
As Leon walked forward, he noticed a couple in almost same black coloured clothes coming towards him.
"Excuse me." Leon spoke as he walked upto them.
"Y-Yes?" The man who was around twenty-seven years old spoke in a scared voice as soon as he saw Leon.
'What is wrong with him? Why is he scared?' Leon thought as he looked at him, but as soon as his eyes drifted towards the woman walking with him, he noticed that she was even more scared of him.
The woman was hiding behind the man and she was grabbing his coat very tightly.
"Is something wrong with me?" Leon asked with a confused expression.
"W-What?" The man asked with a confused expression.
"You are acting as if I am some kind of monster who will eat you immediately." Leon replied with a smile.
"I-I-I am sorry, but we aren't allowed to-" Before he could've completed his sentence, a voice came from behind.
"Oi... What are you doing there?"
Leon immediately turned around and noticed two patrolling guards coming towards them.
"What are you doing here? Identify yourself." The guard didn't ask Leon anything but started questioning the couple.
"S-Sir, I am Yunio and she is my wife Rina, we live in house 33B6 and we have a children waiting for us at home." The man spoke as he looked at the guards with a hesitated expression.
"Check it..." The guard spoke as he looked at his partner.
"Yes." The another guard immediately pulled out a small crystal ball from his pocket and started rubbing it slowly, while looking at it continuously.
"B6 block is all the way in the northern district, what are you doing here?" The guard asked with a neutral expression.
"I came here to buy some clothes for me and my family, Sir." The man spoke as he immediately showed him the bag filled with clothes.
"They check out." The other guard spoke with a neutral expression.
'They check out? This really is a prison. They can't even shop without getting inspected like crazy.' Leon thought in his mind.
"Good... Be on your way." The guard spoke with a neutral expression.
"Y-Yes." The couple immediately left after this.
"Sir... Can I help you?" The guard then turned toward Leon and asked in a polite tone.
"Yeah... we are looking for an Inn, somewhere-"
"Please go straight from here, take the third left turn and you will come across a large Inn. It's specially build for nobles and their servants." The guard replied in a polite tone.
'He knows who we are, but he didn't even saw the card. The information network of this kingdom is very secure and fast. Do all the guards know about our arrival?
Does Marie also knows about us? No, that can't be, I saw doubt and confusion in her eyes... She had no idea about who we were.
Are these guards using some kind of telepathic connection to connect with each other?' Leon thought with a confused expression as he continued to stare at the guard.
"Something wrong, sir? Everything you need will be provided in the Inn. Lunch, dinner and clothes.
They already know that you are coming, your rooms are already being prepared. Should we escort you to the Inn?" The guard asked with a neutral expression.
"Sure." Leon replied with a neutral expression.
"Please follow us." The guards spoke as they started walking forward, Leon and Vesper started following them.
"How did you know who we were?" Leon asked with a neutral expression.
"We are the guards of this kingdom, sir. We know everything that goes around the whole Kingdom." The guard replied, his words clearly revealed that he had no intention of talking further on the same topic.
*Poke*
Suddenly, Leon felt Vesper's finger poking his hand.
"Hmm...?" He immediately looked at her and noticed that Vesper was pointing towards the guard's back with her right hand's index finger.
He immediately followed her finger's direction and noticed that a black spike like thing was peeking out of the guard's upper armour.
'What's that?' Leon thought as he immediately used his skill on the guard.
[Name: Frumus]
[Class: Rodon]
[Race: Demon]
[Level: 47]
[HP: 80,000/80,000]
[MP: 10,000/10,000]
[Description: Rodons are one of the most powerful demonic guards that are mostly found in large groups and they look very similar to humans, except their spine has sharp black spikes poking out. They only work for three or above blood-ranked noble demons.
These guards are known for their physical strength and stamina. But the most intresting trait that they have is known as {Shared Knowledge}. This trait allows them to share small parts of knowledge with each other in a short distance without communicating verbally.]
'Ah... So, they are demons.' Leon thought indifferently.
As the demon guards walked forward, Leon and Vesper walked behind them with smiles on their faces.
After walking for a little bit, both of the guards stopped in front of a big building that had around ten floors and it was built with premium wood.
There was a huge golden wooden board hanging in front of the building that said,'INN Rosiea'.
"We will take our leave from here. Please go in and you will be escorted directly to your rooms." The guards spoke as they bowed down to Vesper slowly and left after that.
"Thank you, Gentlemen." Vesper replied in a low tone as a faint smile appeared over her face.
"A human kingdom protected by demons?" Leon spoke lightly with a smile as he looked at the guard leaving.
"The humans are just offerings for the higher rank demon's summoning ritual, master." Vesper spoke in a low tone as she looked at Leon.
"A whole Kingdom just to summon one demon. A little too ineffective don't you think?" Leon replied in a low voice as he walked upto the Inn's gate, but before he could've touched the door, it opened itself.
*Creaaak*
As soon as the door, opened up... Leon saw a lady in her 40's bowing down in front of him.
"W-We greet you, ma'am. Please come in." She spoke in a hesitation filled voice, as she immediately stepped aside.
'She is scared... Her body is shivering and there is someone standing behind the door. Even though she is trying to hide her presence, I can feel it.
This is new... Did the level increase also did this? It's as if my natural instincts have gained a huge boost.' Leon thought as he immediately stepped back.
"Ma'am... Please enter." Leon spoke as he stepped aside and made way for Vesper.
As soon as Vesper walked into the Inn, her eyes immediately darted towards the gate's backside.
But, there was no one there.
'She felt the presence as well. Whoever or whatever that was, dissapeared the second Vesper started to turn her head.' Leon thought.
"S-Something wrong, Ma'am?" The lady asked with a scared and confused expression.
"No... Take us to our rooms." Vesper replied with a neutral expression.
"Y-Yes, please follow me." The lady spoke as she immediately started walking forward.
Leon entered inside the Inn and closed the gate behind him, looking at the roof with a neutral expression.
....
Two black shadows stood inside the Inn's empty dark room.
"Did she see you?"
"No, I made sure I was fast enough to get out."
"How can she have such sharp insticts? Who is she?"
"I don't have any idea, but I don't have a good feeling about that guy with her as well. Should we report him back to mother?"
"Report what?"
"That-"
"That we aren't having a good feeling about the butler who is hanging around with a nobel woman? You want to report this to mother?"
"But-"
"See, it's reasons like this why mother doesn't like you that much. You are so fucking stupid. We need to get more information on them before we can report anything back."
"Y-Yes."
"Let's go."
Both of them dissapeared instantly.
....
*Click*
*Creaaak*
The gate opened up and Vesper entered inside the room with Leon and the old lady.
"If you find something not to your liking. I-I will be right down and Y-You can call me with this." The old lady spoke as she pointed towards a small bell that was right above the table near the bed.
"An enchanted bell? Is it linked to the one in your room?" Vesper asked with a smile.
"Y-Yes... Ma'am. I-I will take my leave now. The clothes and food will be shortly delivered to the room for you ma'am.
Sir, your uniform is already in that closet and you can eat the normal food down in the kitchen, my daughter is making it right now. Also your room is right next to this one." The lady spoke as she turned around and started leaving.
"He will eat with-" Before Vesper could've completed his sentence, Leon interrupted.
"I understand. I will change and come down for food immediately." Leon replied as he showed a hand gesture to Vesper.
The lady left immediately after that and closed the door behind her.
*Thud*
"Master-"
"I know, I felt the presence. She must've sent someone to keep an eye on us." Leon replied with a smile.
"If you can get me single a drop of that spy's blood... I will make him beg for mercy in front of you before you can blink." Vesper spoke with a smile as she slowly tapped on her hourglass.
"For now... You just keep it down and wait in this room. They will bring you the food and clothes, just take them and wait for me here.
I will go down and try to see if I can seduce her daughter in order to get some information out of her." Leon spoke as he immediately removed all of his torn and burnt clothes.
"Oh my... You have a really big one." Vesper spoke with a smile as she looked at Leon's dick.
"Big what?" Leon asked with a teasing smile as he walked upto the closet.
"I am the lady of noble house, master and it doesn't suit me to say such bad words you know, but back in the day we used to call it... Stick, but seeing yours today... I think they were really confused between stick and thick rods." Vesper replied with a smile.
"Stick is a good name for dick..." Leon replied as he pulled out the butler outfit and wore it in just seconds.
"You know master... there is someone else in this room that you can seduce to relieve your sexual urges." Vesper spoke as she finally placed her umbrella on the bed and slowly took off her veil.
"Woah..." Leon spoke as his eyes widened in shock.
As soon as Vesper removed her veil, Leon's eyes widened in shock.
She was beyond beautiful, her eyes glowed brightly blue, lips were juicy and plumpy. She had a perfectly beautiful face but Leon's face immediately turned back to normal.
"That's why no one suspected you when you were killing all those families."
"You flatter me master, but everything aside... you can use my body as much as you want. You know, I died a virgin and never got to experience how it feels to warm a man's bed." Vesper replied with a smile.
"You make a good point. But right now you aren't the only one that body belongs to and I am not having sex with thirteen damned souls who were thrown into the purgatory and half of you are male and one chimera." Leon spoke with a neutral expression as he walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.
*THUD*
"Hah... Looks like not even my soul will get to have sex." Vesper spoke with a neutral expression as she wore her veil once again and laid back down on the bed.
...
*Step-Step-Step-Step-Step-Step-Step*
Leon walked down the stairs, while adjusting his coat.
'This coat is too tight for me.' Leon thought as he immediately stopped mid-stairs and felt the presence once again.
'I am being watched again. This time from the ceiling. I can feel the gaze, but the presence is different this time.
How many of them are here?' Leon thought as he started going down normally after re-adjusting his coat.
As soon as he walked down, he noticed the lady sitting on the reception with a worried expression on her face.
'She definitely knows about them... Is she being threatened?'
"Ah sir... Please go to the first room in that corridor, that's the kitchen. You will find my daughter there, she will serve you the food and the sitting facilities are also there." The lady spoke with neutral expressions as she looked at Leon.
"Yes." Leon replied with a neutral expression as he started walking towards the kitchen.
As soon as he passed the staircase and entered inside the corridor, he felt the presence behind him following closely.
He reached in front of the kitchen and entered inside with a neutral expression on his face.
As soon as he entered inside the kitchen, he noticed a girl around twenty years old sitting near the fireplace.
She was throwing wood into the fire, in order to increase the heat for food that was boiling over it.
"Hi-" Before Leon could've completed his sentence, he felt another presence inside the room.
'Another one is hiding behind the door.' Leon thought with a neutral expression.
''Ah... Are you the butler of that nobel lady?" The girl spoke as she didn't even turn to look at Leon.
"I am." Leon replied with a neutral expression as he pretended to ignore the other spy as well.
"Take a seat, the food will be served shortly." She spoke in a neutral tone as she started walking towards the cutlery.
"Okay..." Leon replied with a neutral expression as he walked upto the small rectangular wooden table that had two chairs placed on it's opposite sides.
He sat down slowly on one chair and used his inspect skill on her.
[Name: Orina]
[Class: Housewife]
[Race: Human]
[HP: 500/500]
[MP: 1000/1000]
[Description: Orina is just a simple girl who was abandoned by her parents. She was begging on the streets for food but some nuns from the church spotted her and brought her back to the Vergas Empire.
She now lives in Rosiea Inn with Iris, an old lady who loves her just like her own daughter. She is feeling scared right now as she was threatened to act normal and don't answer any kingdom related questions by the guards of the Vergas Empire.]
'That means they don't have any idea about the spies.' Leon thought with a neutral expression.
Orina picked up the plates and poured some rice with curry in one plate and chopped some salad in the other plate.
"There is no sweet dish to-" Orina started speaking but as soon as she turned around, she saw Leon's face and froze immediately.
She had an average face, black eyes, brown hairs and a dull expression on her face.
But as soon as she saw Leon, her face turned red and her heart started beating faster. Her body became an ice block in the middle of the room as she stared at Leon with a flustered expression.
"Hello~" Leon spoke with a smile as he placed his hand on the table and rested his face over his knuckle.
"H-Hi..." Orina spoke in a shaking voice as she immediately felt her pussy getting wet.
"I can work without the sweet dish... If I can have the company of the beautiful lady." Leon replied with a neutral expression as he smiled.
"B-Beautiful? M-Me?" Orina asked with a confused expression as she walked upto Leon immediately placed both of the plates on the table and immediately ran back to the cutlery section.
She took two plates, filled them with the same thing and came back to the table.
"C-Can I sit ?" She asked with a flustered face.
"Sure... Beautiful lady." Leon replied with a smile.
'I don't even need to use any skills in order to seduce her. But, I can't ask her any questions with two spies listening to our conversations.' He thought with a neutral expression.
"You really think, I am beautiful? Me?" She asked with a smile.
"You are one of the most beautiful I have ever seen." Leon replied as he slowly moved his hand and grabbed her hand.
*Grab*
"Wahhhh..." Her face turned even more red as soon as she felt Leon's warmth on her hand.
'Hmm...? Both of them dissapeared ? I can't feel their presence, are they going on the upper floor to spy on Vesper?
Well... It's the right time to ask her questions.' Leon thought as he tightened his grasp on her hand.