Black Snake, Give Me Your Gold Coins! / My Black Snake Is So Pitiful-Threatened into Crying and Throwing a Tantrum

Russell sneered at that.

"..."

The black snake fell silent.

In ancient Yan, monogamy with multiple concubines had long been practiced.

That meant Nobles with the most resources could easily spread a little too much of their DNA by accident.

There really was no point discussing bloodlines with Yan people.

"Alright, since you're willing to talk, you're one of my Pokemon now."

Russell looked at the dumbfounded black snake, swiftly pulled a notebook from his pocket, and held it out before it.

"Quickly tell me how Grand Duke of Baikal and Viscount Kerk are preparing to start the Ursus-Yan War, along with the evidence. Oh, and I remember you have quite a bit of inheritance too. Give me the bank account numbers and the locations of your stored resources."

He could not be bothered to drag this out.

His schedule was actually packed.

Although he had said he would soon be heading to Victoria for the Wallfacer conference, he had taken Raikou Ryoma's money, Valmont's talismans, and owed Skadi a favor because of Victoria's investigation.

That meant that, over the next while, he had to meet with Raikou Ryoma, help Valmont plan out his criminal empire, and try to help Skadi deal with the cultists following her...

He was actually very busy. He had no time to discuss Noble etiquette with this old bastard.

"Oh, Viscount Russell, do you think those demands are reasonable?"

Seeing the seemingly agitated youth, the black snake floating in midair recovered some of his composure instead.

Oh.

The Russell who had always been composed and aloof in Talulah's memories was actually showing such an ugly appetite?

Thinking of Victoria's predicament and Yan's stable political situation, the black snake smiled.

So that was it. Your life was not going so well either.

That made sense. If everything went smoothly while setting things up in three empires at once, that would be the strange part.

"You wish to take most of a Grand Duke's territory and the Third Army Group without offering even a little benefit in return. Do you not find that utterly absurd?"

The misty serpent said so.

Russell said nothing. In front of him, he simply grabbed a rat.

Amid the black snake's slightly puzzled expression, the man sneered and activated his newest skill.

Flesh Mutation: Proliferating Taste Buds!!

As the skill activated, Russell's handsome face turned almost instantly pale.

An unusual aura spread through the air, and an intensely ominous feeling rose in the black snake's heart.

"My lord, what is this?"

"You've misunderstood one thing—"

"I'm not making a deal with you. I'm threatening you."

Russell placed the kunai beside the rat and made a declaration that caused even the black snake to tremble.

"If you don't give me what I want, I'll stuff your soul into this rat whose intestines are covered in taste buds!!"

The Black Snake, Spit Out Your Gold Coins!

The Red Dragon's power was flame. Their royal bloodline was practically a natural disaster; before those despairing flames, even cities would be reduced to ashes.

The Nightmare's ability was a domain of fear. When they charged in groups atop Warhorses, the sea of terror could effortlessly crush the minds of the Godborn.

The Blood Demon Lord was even more perverse and cruel. He could easily turn enemies into his slaves, becoming an army unto himself.

As one who had lived for ages,

Koschei had seen many kinds of Originium Arts.

He believed that no matter how sinister Originium Arts in this world became, they would at most be on the level of the Sarkaz Royal Court.

But—

Russell...

Watching the screaming rat, even the black snake fell into prolonged silence.

From a rational standpoint, he could suspect Russell's words were a scam.

After all, a person's Originium Arts might have different applications, but they generally remained within one field.

For instance, Talulah could manipulate fire and magma, but she absolutely could not manipulate ice.

Frostnova could create blizzards from thin air and forcibly freeze enemies, but she could never use flames.

Because the direction of their Originium Arts had been determined from the very beginning.

Ice and fire.

The black snake had seen Russell's Originium Arts through Talulah. They were Mental-type, just like his own. The difference was that Russell leaned toward guiding cognition, while he specialized in transferring consciousness.

Creating taste buds in a rat's large intestine was undoubtedly an ability from the flesh-alteration category.

It could not be said to have no connection whatsoever with Mental-type Arts; it was simply completely unrelated.

By conventional logic, Russell had to be bluffing him.

But—

What surfaced in the black snake's mind as he looked at Russell's face was not that nearly invincible one-on-one cognitive distortion, but the halberd thrusting upward...

A phantom pain struck, and the black snake instinctively clamped his legs together.

That strike had undoubtedly been imbued with Guaranteed Hit, and Guaranteed Hit clearly had nothing to do with Mental-type Arts either...

Furthermore, while binding consciousness also fell within the Mental-type category, it was as distant from cognitive distortion as two entirely separate fields...

Russell had already displayed Originium Arts from three different fields.

"...As you wish. I will provide whatever assistance I can."

After a moment of silence, the black snake yielded.

In centuries, this was perhaps the first time he had directly raised the white flag without even entertaining the thought of resistance.

"Oh, how much in assets do you still have?"

Russell quickly put away the kunai.

Russell was actually talking big.

He himself only had two abilities: cognitive distortion and Gungnir.

The soul-binding armament had been obtained through Huihui from the Crimson Demon Tribe leader. It could not be said that he knew a little about soul-binding techniques; he simply knew nothing at all.

He did have the Sheep Talisman, an item that could affect souls, but limited by his occult knowledge, that talisman had no room to shine.

He had merely felt that, having acquired such a nasty skill, it would be a terrible waste not to use it to threaten people.

So he had simply put on a performance.

Judging from the black snake's reaction, the results were quite good.

I really am a little genius.

Russell gave himself a thumbs-up.

Then he decisively handed a small notebook and pen to Koschei.

Koschei quickly filled it with information. Russell picked it up, looked it over, and frowned.

"Why is there only information about Grand Duke of Baikal and Viscount Kerk? What about your assets?"

Was this guy trying to defy him, the possessor of Flesh Mutation Power?!

The youth sneered and raised the kunai and rat once more.

Koschei's mouth twitched. Even Talulah had never demanded money from him with such righteous confidence.

"I am merely Koschei... not the complete black snake."

"Strictly speaking, I cannot even fully control Koschei's inheritance—in the time since I 'died,' another 'black snake' has occupied my position of power."

"All I can give you is information regarding Grand Duke of Baikal and Viscount Kerk."

Koschei spoke.

The youth opposite him said nothing, but his hand seemed to gradually move toward the kunai in his pocket.

Koschei felt his scalp tingle.

Russell seemed to use Originium kunai as a wand. He was clearly preparing to continue casting Originium Arts.

Whether that fellow intended to perform the Great God Declaration or stuff a soul into a rat next, both were utterly terrifying prospects for Koschei.

"Please do not be so impatient. Though I have lost Koschei's territory, I still maintain certain connections with some officials and Nobles. I believe securing ten mines for you should still be within my capabilities."

Under the pressure of having his asshole blasted apart and being forced to savor Old Eight's delicacies, Koschei's desire to survive erupted fiercely.

Mm, very good.

That was another ten mines.

Gold coins were like water in a sponge. Squeeze hard enough, and there would always be some.

Russell happily put away the kunai, feeling as delighted as a plantation owner watching Black laborers enthusiastically work in a cotton field.

But then again, would ten mines suddenly be added all at once?

Ah...

Naruto could handle one, and the Shadowkhan Army Valmont had given him could handle one or two more.

What about the remaining mines?

Russell fell into the blissful agony of indecision.

Seeing the pleased expression appear on Russell's face, Koschei let out a breath of relief. A wave of exhaustion followed. The things he had encountered today were more aggravating than all the troubles he had faced over the past several centuries combined.

Ah, it feels like you're about to become Koschei's psychological trauma.

The Prompt Device sent a message.

Russell thought that was perfectly normal. First, the guy had taken thirteen Thousand Years of Death from him, then been forcibly captured as a Pokemon, and now had been threatened into coughing up all his gold coins. If he actually developed a favorable impression of Russell, people could only wonder whether something was wrong with Koschei's preferences.

The advantage was that Koschei probably would not dare confront you again for some time. The disadvantage was that it would be difficult for you to obtain all of his aid from now on—this old bastard knows Ursus extremely well. If you arrange matters around Grand Duke of Baikal, at most you can wipe out the debt and swallow a small portion of the Grand Duke's assets. After all, you are not the only Noble in Chernobyl. To take everything, you would have to kill all the other Nobles.

But if you did that, you would simply be treating the people of St. John's Fort like monkeys—if every Noble in the city died except you, and you swallowed a pile of Noble assets, Ursus would likely put out a warrant for you. At that point, you would probably have to flee to another world, or you would be in for a very bad time.

But if it were this old lecherous snake instead, he could let you swallow all of Viscount Kerk's assets and at least sixty percent of Grand Duke of Baikal's assets.

Holy shit, sixty percent of Grand Duke of Baikal's assets?!!

Russell whipped his head around and stared at the black snake with blazing eyes.

That gaze made the black snake's heart skip a beat.

What the hell was this bastard planning to pull now?

My Black Snake Is So Pitiful, Crying and Throwing a Tantrum After Being Threatened

"Lord Black Snake, as the will of the Ursus nation, surely you can directly swallow all of Grand Duke of Baikal's assets, right?"

The youth's eyes burned with unprecedented fervor.

The black snake immediately sucked in a breath of cold air.

Swallowing all the assets of a Grand Duke in one go.

Was that even something a human being would say?!!

Ever since the former Emperor's reforms, Ursus's martial prowess had soared to the point where all neighboring nations felt deeply uneasy.

Yet the current Emperor was not skilled at centralizing power, which directly resulted in large numbers of troops falling into the hands of Great Nobles. Grand Duke of Baikal was a typical example.