“I just knew that devils preferred staying here.” He declared smugly, clearly confident in his assumption that he had grasped my weakness. “As long as you listen to my commands, I can allow you to stay here perpetually, if you choose to oppose me, I’ll throw you back to hell.”
“One more question.” I said, paying his threat no heed. This was an extremely important matter that I had to verify. No matter how you looked at it, it was too much of a coincidence that I was able to get summoned right as I entered the summoning zone. That amount of luck would’ve been equivalent to striking the five million jackpot in a lottery.
“Before I was summoned here, I wasn’t readily available for summoning. The fact that you were able to summon me right as I entered the summoning zone was just too much of a coincidence.”
“Oh that, I would’ve forgotten about that if you hadn’t mentioned it.” As he said that, he took out a dainty but slightly shoddy red wallet. It was a common style of wallet that was found everywhere in the Western Human Realms. However, this particular wallet had something those other wallets didn’t have. A tear that was very roughly stitched together.
I know this wallet…it’s Nicole’s wallet!
During my childhood years, I remembered repairing her wallet once. Back then, I sewed on a backing to the tear in order to patch it up. Due to my horrid sewing skills, the seam ended up being eye-catchingly crooked. While I hadn’t seen this wallet for a while, there was no mistaking that bit of tailoring.
“This wallet…why do you have it…” If this wallet is in his hands, does that mean that Nicole had been captured by him as well?
As I thought about that, it felt like a knife had been driven into my heart. My fists clenched tightly as a red haze began clouding my mind, wiping away all other thoughts, leaving only a desire to kill him behind.
I’ve just seen an example of how he treated women, if he really had Nicole, then…didn’t he mention that he had already toyed with the women here? Does that mean that…Nicole had already been…
There’s no way that’s true. Nicole’s too strong to be captured…there’s no way her fate would end up like this…she should be in some corner of the world safely waiting for me to marry her…there’s no way I’ll believe it! There’s no way that wallet is Nicole’s! That seam must be a coincidence, it’s nothing but a coincidence!
“Wallet? You mean this thing? Hahaha, why can’t I have it?” Having missed the point entirely, he proceeded to let forth an uproarious laugh as he haughtily admitted to his crime.
“While I’m curious as to why this ended up being your medium, my guess is that you aren’t interested in all these. Instead, the matter of this wallet’s owner is probably of greater interest to you. As luck would have it, we have her locked up as well.”
“…” Nicole is here?
However, he didn’t stop there either. I didn’t know what his motives were but he continued stoking my anger with his words: “That little girl was pretty fun to play with. She initially tried to resist me but after a round of fixing, she became much more obedient. Oh right, truth be told, this wallet alone isn’t enough to summon you. The main culprit is this.”
He reached into the wallet and took out a knot of blue hair and gently toyed with it between his fingers: “The real medium is this instead.”
“…” I had nothing else to add in the face of that overwhelming evidence. No matter how hard I tried to lie to myself, there was no denying the facts now. The appearance of that knot of hair means that the wallet was really Nicole’s…
That knot of hair was placed inside the wallet after I had patched it up. A few days before that, I vaguely remembered my elementary school teacher on Earth mentioning that in the past, a suitor would pass a lock of hair to his or her target as a sign of love.
While this custom didn’t exist in the Western Human Realms, I couldn’t help but cut off a lock of hair and sneak it into her wallet…in the entire Western Human Realms, I was probably the only one who would do so…
“Where is she?” I asked in a calm, piercingly cold voice.
“Her?” He stroked his chin as he thought about it for a moment before grinning as he happily declared: “I got bored of her so I gave her to the Drump brothers. I’m not even sure if she’s alive right now.”
Having been mentioned, one of the bald men stepped up to explain in a sonorous voice: “ Young Master, she’s not dead yet. However, it’s a shame that she’s crippled.”
“Don’t listen to Big Brother’s nonsense, Young Master. It’s not just “crippled”, her treatment could only be described as inhumane. She tried to run away a few days ago so Big Brother decided to break her limbs. We haven’t fed her these past few days either so she’s mostly dead by now.” The other bald man complained in a joking tone.
“It’s all Big Brother’s fault for being so vicious and crippling our toy. Now I don’t get to play with her. Please give us another girl to play with Young Master.”
“What do you mean ‘I was too vicious’, you weren’t any better either. Weren’t you the one who stuck that wooden rod into her?”
“That was just a wooden rod. Big Brother, you actually brought in a male dog to toy with her. I lost all interest after watching that.”
“Didn’t you bring in a horse, using that dog is nothing compared to your horse.”
“I only did that after you brought in the dog!”
“Alright, alright, enough bickering. I’ll get a new toy for you guys later.” While his words showed a slight annoyance at the brothers, his reddish cheeks told otherwise. All that talk had given him a few innovative methods of unleashing his beastial desires.
“You guys should know how to enjoy yourselves. This young master has always relied on a stick to conquer his prey, never before has he thought of using animals. Just based on this alone, I can’t compare to your naughtiness.”
“Haha, thanks for the praise Young Master.” The bald brothers replied in unison.
“The next time you should compete with the dog and see who is better.”
“Alright Young Master. Don’t worry we won’t lose to some dog.”
“That’s right. Big Brother will be first to unload.”
“…” Inhuman, beasts, monsters!
As I listened to their filthy banter, my head was constantly bombarded by images of Nicole being humiliated…by the time I came back to my senses, my right hand was already grasping the hilt of Shadowfang.
“A two-star weakling like you dares to fight back?” The robed spellcaster reacted to my show of rebellion not with fear but with disdain.
“Drump, Frump, teach him a lesson. After spending so much effort summoning him, there’s no way he is just some ordinary head imp. Putting aside his weapon, he probably has an exceptionally high growth factor. Make sure not to kill him.”
“Leave it to us Young Master, when have the both of us ever disappointed you.” The bald men confidently bumped their gauntlets, not even caring to take up a stance as they stood there haughtily with their arms folded. While their eyes were focused on me, there was naught but mockery in them. Clearly, they didn’t see the two-star me as a threat.
His decision to stand aside and spectate worked perfectly in my favor. As long as I was able to kill these two bodyguards, this mage shouldn’t be an issue afterwards. Chanting requires time and given our proximity, even a three-star mage wasn’t a problem for me.
With my left hand on Shadowfang’s scabbard and my right on the hilt, I cautiously advanced until I was a mere five meters away from the brothers. I felt a deathly stillness wash over the cells of my body as I recalled Habona’s movements.
The look on their faces grew graver as they watched my movements. While they didn’t know the reason for the sudden change in my aura, they knew to be cautious. The brothers finally abandoned their “folded arms” stance and began to take up a defensive stance.
From their defensive stance, I could tell they had a great deal of confidence in their sturdy metal gauntlets. That means only one thing, they won’t dodge this blow!
An opportunity! Inversion Cut!
With a slight lean forward and a lowering of my center of gravity, I broke the stillness…
Truth be told, even I didn’t understand why I was able to perform the Inversion Cut now. I was barely able to perform the stance back when Habona taught the move and yet under this blinding rage, the skill felt noticeable smoother.
In a harmonious union of breath and force, Shadowfang shot out of the scabbard like a flash of lightning and under the disbelieving gaze of the brothers, sliced through their metallic gauntlets and chainmail, bifurcating the brothers!
“Im..impossi…” Before they could even finish their sentence, their bodies fell to the sides in halves.
“Impossible…that’s impossible! Drump and Frump were three-star warriors that could advance to four-stars at any time… All their equipment was low-grade enchanted gear and even had their defensive properties strengthened. How did you kill them in one slash! And I clearly saw you swing backwards…how did it…”
The fact that a two-star devil was able to kill a couple of three-stars was definitely unbelievable so I could understand the shock he felt right now, not to mention that it was a single strike that cut both of them down.
This success was in large part due to the overwhelming level difference my epic weapon afforded me and also the tricky Inversion Cut. A cut that looked like it was slicing backwards but was instead slicing forward? Rather than a warrior skill, it seemed more like an assassin’s skill. It was this sense of disjointedness that allowed me to assassinate these two three-stars.
Even after killing these two men, Shadowfang was still as pitch black as ever with not even a speck of blood on it. From time to time, a black flash of light would run around the blade’s body, increasing its sinister aura. With the warriors dead, there was only one target left.
With every step I took, his heart pounded in unison as he desperately retreated.
Despair and fear me. For death has come for you…
I want you to experience the utter depths of terror before you die!
Unfortunately, I didn’t know how to summon devils or I would summon a couple of imps to gnaw on his body.
“Don’t…don’t come any close…if you come any closer, I’ll strike back!” He weakly threatened me as he continued his helpless retreat, the arrogant smile on his face as dead as his two henchmen. All that remained was the fear of death.
