"The prices of those artifacts are insane. The War Summit has been postponed, and some people are using that chance to resell what they bought for higher prices."
A conversation took place between two drunken adventures. Their body was covered with glimmering armors, full of dents and scars. Their appearance gave away the countless battles they went through.
"I woulda done the same," answered his partner. "Those artifacts are created by none other than the ghost himself. Their collection value by itself is astronomical."
"Maybe we can try getting our hands on some," grinned the thickly bearded man. "The Lord of Hidden City must require human resources. I hear that one auction earned him hundreds of thousands of gold."
"A good target," laughed his partner. "Then let's hit the road now. I bet a lot more people are joining his city after the news of his wealth."
The two people laughed again and stood up to walk out of the inn. However, a person came in as they were about to leave, bumping into both of them. The two giant men staggered before regaining their balances, but their wrath could not be restrained.
"Watch your steps, blind bastard!"
"Apologize before we…"
The second man couldn't finish his words because the newcomer turned around. A pair of red eyes glared at them, and the white hair was enough to make the two men kneel immediately.
"We were blind. Please forgive us, Red Demon," they said while trembling with fear. The woman snorted before resuming her walk.
"Barbarians," she spat while taking a seat on the bar. "Are there any recruits?" she asked the bartender who poured her a drink.
"Not really," the lanky man smiled as he pushed forward the cup. "The usual honey milk."
"What a shame," she nodded while snuggling with her drink in hand. "I already told those bastards that we need to make ourselves more known if we wanted to grow."
"You know the council would never agree, not after that incident," the bartender shook his head. "I already warned you about calling them, bastards. They are not people you can offend."
"A habit from the past," she said with a smile.
"A past that you forgot about," sighed the bartender. "If you are going to keep some habits, make sure they are good ones."
"I didn't know that one of your responsibilities were to bother me," scowled Red Demon. "Make sure to recruit more people. You meet plenty of powerful people in this place, and that is why we have you located here."
"Ah, I almost forgot," the bartender said. "A few people were looking for you. They did not know your name, but they described your appearance."
"Someone who knows how I look like?" frowned Red Demon. "And you killed them, right?"
"Well, I tried intimidating them into revealing their identity," the bartender coughed. "But they…" he mumbled something.
"Talk louder, bastard," frowned Red Demon with anger.
"They were so powerful that I couldn't lift a finger. It was a man and a woman."
"You couldn't lift a finger, huh?" she said with surprise. "Are there any unique traits you can remember about them?"
"Ah, yes. The man had golden eyes."
The moment she heard his answer, Red Demon jumped from her spot. Her body was over the bar in an instant, grabbing the bartender by the collar. "What did you tell them?"
"They did not ask a lot, only about you, and I told them that you would be here today. I don't think they wanted any trouble because the man was quite polite."
"You fool," she threw him away. "They are here for the…"
BOOM!
An explosion shook the inn and destroyed the front door. Wooden shards flew everywhere as the dust blocked their vision. All adventure were on full alert, grabbing their weapons and glaring at the door.
"Hello," a cloaked man walked into the inn, and a woman followed him. "I apologize for destroying your door, but my friend is quite rash. Ah," the man stopped walking as he smiled at the bar. "You are here, Red Demon."
"I am honored that you came looking for me," Red Demon stood up from her spot as she pulled down her hoodie. "I think this is an inappropriate place to talk. How about we go somewhere else?"
"I am afraid that won't be necessary because my friend is not here to talk, but to fight," as the man finished his words, the woman beside him disappeared.
Red Demon was sent flying by a punch, destroying the inn's walls and flying into the forest. The rest of the adventures couldn't move because they couldn't see how the woman got here.
"You are better to ignore us," smiled the man, "or you will be dead. Well then, let the show begin."
***
"Wait a bit, Hel," Arthur called for the hydra woman who had Rae pinned to a tree. Hel turned to glare at him before releasing the coughing Rae from the chokehold.
"Seika… of Living Beings," she said after gathering her breath. Her eyes were glowing red, and blood was flowing down her face. "What is the meaning of this? I thought we had a good relationship."
"A good relationship which you exploited," said Arthur as he crouched down to meet Rae's eyes. "I can see that you are not the same person anymore, so I won't hold back against you. But, first, tell me where the child is."
"I have no idea what…"
Rae tried to lie, but a crushing presence slammed her to the ground, creating a crater. Her body gave cracking noises as the bones resisted the energy of Hel.
"You are not fooling me anymore, Rae," smiled Arthur. "I know that you took the child. However, I would appreciate it if you told me the truth instead of making this difficult for the both of us."
"You… bastard…" Rae lifted her head to glare at him. Arthur was amazed at her endurance of the crushing force the hydra was using. "I will… kill you…"
"You sound like the Rae I know," sighed Arthur as he motioned for Hel to stop crushing her. "I am not your enemy. On the contrary, I am the one person in this world who cares about you. Unfortunately, however, you lied to me and endangered my city and my life."
"Hah," she took deep breaths. "Hah, hah, hah. I was following orders. We needed the Freda Kingdom to feel the predicament of the Mernars so that those old monsters would show their faces."
"And you were okay using me as a scapegoat for that plan," sighed Arthur. "I thought that we could be friends, Rae. However, it seems you are a different person now."
"You don't understand. These people can take us back to our world. They have a way of taking us back, and this plan was all to accomplish that."
"You didn't deny that I was a scapegoat," Arthur looked helpless. "I am not going to help you after this. This is your proof, Hel. They have your child, and we are going to bring it back."
"Give it back," her voice sounded like it came from the depth of hell. "You have three seconds, and then I will kill you if my child is not here."
"You can fucking try, monster," Rae's mana exploded as she glared at the hydra while standing up. "I will not go down without a fight, and I will reveal nothing."
Arthur noticed that scales appeared on her body as her scarf turned into armor and wings. This was her signature move, and it seems this power was drilled into her bones.
"Three," Hel glared back without attacking. It seems she was sticking to her word despite the transformation of her enemy. "Two," rang loudly in the surroundings as Rae gritted her teeth. "One," she raised her hand to attack.
Arthur was silent throughout the exchange. He would not allow Rae to die, but he knew someone else would intervene. Ever since they arrived at this inn, Arthur could feel the runic powers in this land.
True to his expectations, all mana suddenly disappeared from the forest. Runic lines appeared on the ground as the circle stopped the attacks.
"May I ask for latency?" a voice asked from above them as the two were confused. Arthur raised his head to see a man standing atop a circular hologram. "Please show mercy, Great Ruler."
"Who are you?" asked Hel with a frown as she clenched her fist. It seems she realized that she couldn't summon any mana.
"I am one of the three grandmasters of the Council," the man descended from the sky. "And also… a friend of yours, in an indirect way," he said while smiling at Arthur.
"It has been a while, Ori," Arthur said with a sincere smile as he stared at the middle-aged man in front of him.. "I'm not sure, but it seems that you have grown a bit older since the last time we met."
