Chapter 139
And they died without any chance to fight back.
Damn it, this is fucking damn damn it.
Are all Victoria idiots?
This thing, which looked like a walking, super-powerful Originium bomb, was just wandering around their capital, and the Victoria didn't even sense a threat?
No... wait...
For a moment, something seemed to flash through my mind.
No way... Duhkare almost broke out in a cold sweat from the absurd idea he had just come up with.
Impossible! How could Victoria possibly have the ability to win over and control such a monster?
No, no, I have to get this message back. Theresis's strategy toward Victoria must be changed, or in the worst-case scenario, they'll drag the entire Kazdel into the abyss!
Duhkare pondered for a moment, then suddenly paused, looking around at the scenery.
Wait a minute.
Why haven't they landed yet, even after jumping for so long?
The moment his vision processed the surrounding scenery, he suddenly realized that he was suspended in mid-air!
No, it's not levitating... it's being dragged along by something!
Duhkare looked down at the blood-red chains binding him, and at his back, four spider-like jointed limbs had somehow sprouted out.
At this moment, these four limbs were like nails firmly pinning him to the ground in mid-air behind him.
Ghosts! Ghosts! Ghosts! Ghosts!
What the hell is this thing?
Damn it, it's still moving!
No way?
...(Sarkaz profanity)
Duhkare seemed to have gone mad, kicking his dangling legs frantically in an attempt to save himself, but the four limbs climbing the wall proved that his efforts were in vain.
On the street, a passing child stared in astonishment at a man with four spider-like "tails" leaning against a wall a short distance away on a residential building.
"Mom, look! A masked wall-climbing superhero!"
"What Superman...?"
Some of the young Feline were holding their children's hands, looking in the direction he was pointing.
There was nothing there.
"Oh, baby, are you sure you're not mistaken?"
"No! There really is a Superman! His mask can change color! I clearly saw his mask turn white all of a sudden! And then he just scrambled into the window."
Snap...
Blood
The fleshy spider legs slowly carried the pale-faced Duhkare back from the window and gently placed him against the other end of the coffee table. Then, the chains that had been binding him seemed to melt away, easily freeing him.
But...
He felt no sense of breaking free from his restraints.
At this moment, that terrifying being sat right in front of him, and whether he was bound or not made no difference to him.
Splash...
Zuo Jian put away the kettle and pushed the full teacup to the other end of the table, in front of Duhkare.
Hello, nice to meet you. I hope you remember me.
He pointed to his pose, which was now mimicking the face of a nun.
He even made special adjustments to the appearance in order to communicate with Duhkare.
However, for the other party, Zuo Jian's appearance is not that important.
At this moment, the boundless aura of devouring energy emanating from him, even subconsciously, was enough to tear apart any pretense of appearance.
However... only someone like Duhkare, who is quite sensitive to auras, was "lucky" enough to notice this feeling.
"What brings you here?"
Although he felt his usually cold heart was about to burst out of his chest like an overloaded steam engine, Duhkare managed to maintain basic decorum and prevent himself from appearing too out of line.
If we ignore his very well-behaved sitting posture...
"My name is Zuo Jian, and this is Laurentina. As you can probably tell, this is our temporary 'home'."
Zuo Jian didn't respond to Duhkare's words, but instead introduced Laurentina to herself, as for Skadi...
She figured the other person had probably already spoken to her, so she skipped over it.
"... Duhkare, my name is Duhkare."
Although unaware of the other party's intentions, Duhkare returned the name after hearing Zuo Jian introduce himself.
Although I was very unwilling.
It was quite obvious that after he gave his name, almost everyone could see with the naked eye that the person opposite him seemed to have taken a liking to something.
It makes it seem like... you're being watched.
"Duhkare, is that right..."
Zuo Jian nodded in satisfaction; the introductions between them marked the beginning of a good exchange.
However, Laurentina clearly had no interest in joining this boring conversation. Realizing that Duhkare's demeanor made it unlikely that he would make any of the usual offensive remarks, she turned to tease Skadi.
"Yes... Is there something you need? I don't think I've offended you in any way—"
He stared at the Zuo Jian, asking with lingering fear.
However, the latter simply raised his teacup slowly and blew on it.
"Mr. Duhkare, you need to understand one thing: this residence is currently the 'home' of me, Laurentina ... and Skadi, although you could say it's just a temporary stop."
"But humans, as creatures, always need some kind of spiritual anchor, just like my family Laurentina ... and Skadi. We've been wandering the wilderness for a while now. A house might just be a place to stay for you, but for us, it means much more."
Zuo Jian spoke with a somewhat earnest tone.
Duhkare listened, but the less he understood, the more confused he became. And confusion represents the unknown, which, in the face of something terrifying, subconsciously transforms into terror.
"What... what exactly are you trying to say...?"
The other person slowly walked to the broken window, looked at the shards of glass scattered on the ground, and spoke with some sadness.
"You know, this room is of extraordinary significance to us, but now one of the windows is shattered like this. Why is that, Mr. Duhkare? Why did the window break?"
Zuo Jian asked, feigning grief.
Chapter 97, Laurentina: What did you bring back, Zuo Jian?!
Glug...
Duhkare swallowed nervously, glancing at the broken window beside him.
As well as...
The deep sense of loss and sorrow on Zuo Jian's face.
Although it's obvious at a glance that there's a lot of acting involved, that doesn't matter at all.
The other person isn't actually trying to show how sad they are by making that expression.
Instead, he wanted to tell others how sad he was.
In other words... even if it's obviously fake, would you dare to refute the other party on that point?
At least they didn't say it directly; instead, they used this euphemistic way to express their dissatisfaction.
Expose him? Are you out of your mind?
Right now... the other party's underlying intention is quite clear: they are dissatisfied with his previous attempt to escape!
He understood that the more powerful a being is, the more it hates anything trying to escape its control.
It's even more astonishing that he's still alive and can outwardly maintain a polite conversation over tea with the other party...
It's definitely not because the guy in front of me is some kind person, but because...
He looked at the entity before him, lost in thought.
Is it because he is "valuable"?
That's probably true, but that doesn't mean you can use that to take control of the conversation from the other person.
When facing a powerful entity, don't overestimate your own importance. Otherwise, are you really going to gamble everything on a single thought of theirs? Don't be ridiculous.
... not to mention...
The value the other party gains from me...
Sorcery? Bloodfiend's arts? Neither.
Is it... the Royal Court... the Sarkaz and Kazdel...?
Duhkare's expression hardened, forcing himself to stop trembling unconsciously.
The other party wants to extract this value from him... No, damn it, Duhkare doesn't even dare to imagine what would happen if such a being reached Kazdel!
Should we run? The chains are gone now, but the other side has already removed them, clearly they don't care about their existence.
What if I tried again... no, what if I approached first, unleashed the Originium Arts to create an explosion and a cloud of blood mist, and then vanished into the shadows?
The worst outcome would be that he would be beheaded and die on the spot as soon as he got up, but that would be better than leaving himself in the enemy's hands and having to hand over all the information about Kazdel and other high-value information.
No... wait...
Duhkare raised his head slightly, cold sweat constantly beading on his fair forehead.
The existence before him, and the information about him... only he himself knows.
He couldn't afford to take unnecessary risks; he had to live to convey the fact that such a monstrous being existed in Victoria to Kazdel... to warn Theresis not to act rashly, otherwise... the consequences would be unimaginable.
Damn it...
Duhkare's face was somber, as if he were contemplating something extremely serious.
Zuo Jian couldn't understand why this guy was making an expression that looked even more difficult than when he was filling out multiple-choice questions in the college entrance exam.
He simply wanted to raise the price slightly to get the guy to pay for the window, and then "curiously" ask about the guy's background to steer the conversation towards something related to the Sarkaz.
Let him see if there are any forces or armed groups he can borrow, maybe they'll come in handy.
Huh? As for the idea of accidentally picking up some important person or something?
Zuo Jian was long past the age of fantasizing about things that were only found in fantasy novels.
How could such a coincidence happen?
No way, no way, no way!
As he was thinking, he suddenly felt an itch in his waist. He turned his head and saw that Laurentina had sat back down and poked her waist with a finger.
Zuo Jian looked away and met Laurentina's bright red eyes.
[What? Aren't you going to keep Skadi?]
It seems like things aren't going too well on your end, so I came to check in. How's it going? Did the talks go smoothly?
The two began to skillfully communicate through physical touch, and Laurentina could even adopt a nonchalant posture.
[Things didn't go so well... I seem to have overstated the value of that window; Mr. Duhkare seemed to fall into deep thought when the topic of compensation came up.]
After listening, Laurentina glanced with some doubt at Duhkare, whose face was so dark it looked like it could be ground into ink.
Strangeness.
They don't look like impoverished people; at least they're dressed decently. How could they possibly be unable to afford compensation?