"Let me see!!" Ruri shouted with clenched fists but didn't try to remove the paws covering her eyes.
"Mew!" Mimi hissed, and Rudy watched both of them with an impassive expression.
"Do not look at me," he muttered loudly and stepped back into the shadows to hide himself.
Ruri frowned. "You don't have to worry, you can't be that ugly. Right, Mimi?"
"Meow." Mimi bobbed her head in acknowledgement.
Rudy sighed and explained, "It's not that I am ugly—"
"Holy crap!! What the hell is that?! A juggernaut?!" The young man accompanying Ruri shouted, eyes wide with disbelief.
His gaze went downwards, and seeing that, Rudy commented flatly. "Don't look down."
But alas, it was already too late.
"In the name of final will!! Is that an elephant trunk?!"
Rudy facepalmed himself and Ruri, clueless to what her companion was talking about, slightly tilted her head and asked, "Erick, what's an elephant trunk...?"
Erick's face went instantly pale; he frantically shook his head and stammered, "W-Well..."
He thought about it for a second and muttered, "Something big and thick!! B-But there's nothing big and thick here!!"
Already done with their childish theatrics, Rudy muttered, "Can't you just give me something to wear?"
"Yeah! Let's do that," Erick nodded, took out a black ring from the pocket of his sleek black pants, and threw it towards Rudy. "Wear it on your finger and channel some of your essence into it."
Rudy caught the ring, examined it for a moment, and noted in his head, 'A spatial ring.'
"Mimi, how long are you going to keep my eyes covered?" Ruri asked in a slightly irritated tone.
"Just a minute, Miss Ruri," Erick answered while gesturing at Rudy to quicken up.
Rudy nodded, wore the ring on his left index finger, and remarked in his head, 'It is just as I had thought... They are from Shadow Syndicate, which stands head-to-head with Aveline's Moon Weavers. Are they here to take care of me in case Melissa failed to?'
His lips curved into a faint smirk, a cruel glint passed through his eyes, and he channelled his blood essence into the black ring.
Just as his essence entered the ring, Final Will's voice resounded in Rudy's head.
[You have obtained an artifact!]
[Dark Spatial Ring #15692]
He focused on the runes before him, and more appeared.
×××××××
Dark Spatial Ring #15692
Grade: [Rare]
Description: [A ring that folds space within itself, allowing the wearer to store any non-living object inside. Items remain suspended in a preserved spatial pocket until retrieved.]
Storage: [37/100]¹
[Retrieve Stored Items]
×××××××
He focused on the bottom runes, and the information about the items stored inside was sent directly to his head. "A jacket, shirt, belt, pants, a pair of boots... and lots of adult maga—"
"Just wear the damn clothes!!" Erick shouted, flustered.
Rudy smirked slightly and retrieved the clothes from it.
All of which were much smaller than his absurdly tall figure, yet just as he wore them, the sleek fabric expanded and shaped itself to fit his figure.
He kept the top three buttons of his shirt open, brushed his long crimson hair to the back, and muttered while stepping out in the open, "You can remove your paws."
"Mew," Mimi replied, bobbed her head, and removed her paws from Ruri's eyes.
"Finally, I can see again!" Ruri shouted cheerfully, shifted her gaze towards Rudy, and questioned, "Did you see..."
The words stuck in her throat, and she lifted her head at a forty-five degree angle and murmured under her breath, "Hot..."
Under the soft moonlight, Rudy's porcelain, chiseled body gleamed like carved marble, and his crimson hair and eyes made him seem untouchable.
The black, sleek uniform of the Shadow Syndicate further intensified his looks.
Ruri fell silent as she stared at him in a daze.
Erick shot Rudy a disgusted glare, turned his head towards Ruri, and mumbled, "Miss Ruri—"
A heavy roar tore through the silence of the moonlit night, and all of them turned their gazes towards it.
"Wha!" Rudy stumbled back in fear.
Ruri's blue eyes gleamed softly.
"A terror gate?" Erick stepped beside her and questioned with a serious look on his face.
She shook her head. "No, it's a single dreadborn."
Erick nodded. "It must've hidden itself during the last mecha patrol."
Ruri looked at Rudy from the corner of her eye, and after seeing the fear-stricken look on his face, she remarked inwardly, 'He can't be Rudric Ironwell, he wouldn't have gotten scared... Is he already dead? Never mind, I'll take this one to the syndicate.'
She took Mimi in her arms and dashed towards the dreadborn. "Follow my lead, Erick!"
"Wait! Not again!!" Erick screamed as he followed behind her.
Rudy stood frozen in his spot and watched them run towards the dreadborn in the far distance with a horrified expression.
Just as they were far enough, Rudy's expression returned to their usual calm, and a dim glow covered his eyes as he used [Scarlet Sight] on them.
"I was correct..." he whispered. "She is indeed Ruviera Rose, a breaker from the path of nature and the holder of the moniker — Giggling Dagger."
He furrowed his brows and mumbled under his breath, "Why is an enforcer of the syndicate here?"
The ground shuddered, and something gleamed in the far distance.
A thud echoed throughout the area, and Rudy commented in a low voice, "Fifteen seconds to kill a Deviant Horror that has four cores... she is just as outstanding as the files said."
Seeing them coming back, Rudy's expression turned into that of relief, and he muttered, "It is great that both of you are fi—"
Before he could finish, Ruri pointed her hand toward him like a claw and asked in a chilling voice, "Who are you?"
Rudy put his right hand on his heart and said, "I am glad that you asked."
He crossed his legs, bowed slightly as he looked at them, and stated with a wide smile.
"I am Vlad — Vlad Belmont."
—
¹Storage: [37/100] — 100 = 1 cubic meter.