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230. Foretelling a Meeting
-Will you accept Mars’ summoning?
-Location: Larkenta Castle. (Coordinates 850:248)
Millions thought to himself.
This summoning must be due to Mars being ambushed by Demon and so he called for backup.
Thinking about it longer or being suspicious was pointless.
Mars was close to him to begin with, and he had addressed them ahead of time in front of the castle.
Millions immediately accepted Mars’ summons.
Normally his body should’ve been sucked through a tear in the air, arriving instantly at Mars’ estate.
However, instead of the desired effect of traversing, the only response he heard was an irritating system message.
-Unable to traverse.
-Cannot find the summoner and location.
“Damn it… Was he taken down in such a short time!”
After hearing the system message, Millions let out a sigh, and his expression quickly darkened.
He was letting out a killing intent that seemed to carry all the rage in the world.
It was because he knew what that message meant.
It meant that the summoner had perished.
Either Mars had lost his life, or had been put into someone’s Mobile Storage, and therefore the location could not be found.
Since Millions believed that Mars had been ambushed by Demon, he thought that the Mobile Storage option was highly unlikely, and that Mars had been killed.
There was a higher chance that was the case.
Millions’ enraged form combusted into flames.
Cracks like that of a famine formed on his skin, covered in intense flames.
Not only that, but his form had changed from a human to something that resembled a feline predator, such as a tiger or a leopard.
This wasn’t Millions’ special ability, but a skill used for both attacking and movement.
This skill allowed the user to receive a massive boost to one’s speed, imbued bonus flame damage to attacks, and made it easier to avoid attacks using the increase in agility.
With that, Millions rushed as fast as he could to Mars’ estate.
While Min-Cheol was the one to ambush Mars, Millions did not know and assuming it was Demon who was responsible, ran as fast as he could before Demon could flee.
Like the bread crumbs left in the story of Hansel and Gretel, a trail of inferno was left behind where Millions passed by.
The flames were so intense that anyone could tell it was Millions just from looking at it.
While it did leave behind a trail, this skill allowed Millions reach his destination faster than any other skill he had.
He could’ve used a Return Scroll, but why would a noble of such high status carry something like a Return Scroll with him?
While the use of the scroll functioned as a method of travel, it also symbolized fleeing from a fight.
It was a consumable item that was considered a symbol of dishonor amongst the nobles.
Millions didn’t even clear his Predator’s Roar skill when he pushed the doors to Mars’ estate with enough force to destroy them.
A kick with large sharp talons shattered the thick doors, and the pieces were burnt into ash.
Step by step, Millions walked into the estate.
This was definitely the location that Mars had requested Millions to be summoned to.
His estate. His lobby.
However, Millions could not sense any signs of life nearby.
As he approached the spacious lobby submerged in silence, Millions was met with two brutally mutilated corpses.
“…”
It was Mars and Leta.
After Mars had requested for summons, Millions had arrived to scene in less than 3 minutes.
However, these two had lost their lives in that short amount of time, and the one who had murdered them had disappeared without leaving a trace.
Also, the place was too intact to say a fight between the powerful counts and someone stronger than them had broken out.
It was highly likely that the counts weren’t able to resist before being cut down in a single strike.
Even though the building was created from reinforced materials, the floor should’ve been crushed from running and jumping around alone.
If spells were used, it was obvious that the building would be demolished.
Seeing as none of that happened, it raised Millions’ suspicions.
“Demon… Just how strong have you become! Argh!”
The flames that covered Millions’ body grew fiercer with his angry roar, hitting the lobby’s ceiling and becoming intense enough to swallow the entire mansion whole.
The inferno consumed the estate within moments, becoming a massive ball of flame big enough for anyone in Larkenta to see its red glow.
Even though the estate was built from reinforced materials that had quite the resistances against most elements, it was still unable to withstand Millions’ rage.
Going off the rails with rage, he walked out of the flames in his bestial form and began to scour through the nearby estates of the nobles.
The rage wasn’t from the death of the two counts.
In his heart, he carried no love for the two counts that had lost their lives and the rest of the nobles too.
To him, it was the same as if a slave he owned had perished.
His rage stemmed from Demon’s betrayal, the slave that he himself had raised, and the berserk rampage he was going on was a response to how Demon was freely causing turmoil.
His trust and faith in Demon had been destroyed in one single move, and now he had been shown as a fool enough to earn the mockery of all the nobles of Larkenta.
Those who praised him for reviving the festival now kept their distance, while the positive attention he had received from the castellan had been extinguished overnight.
Determined to kill Demon before dawn, Millions began to light up all of Larkenta with flames.
****
“This could’ve gone really badly, master.”
“You’re right about that. He seemed unhinged to say the least…”
“What a crafty old man. Trying his trickery in that short amount of time to try summoning someone to him.”
“It’s a relief that things ended quickly because I was able to kill them in a single strike. If the clones were any weaker, it would’ve caused complications.”
“I’m unsure how strong he is, but I’ve never felt such killing intent in my entire life.”
“And look what he’s doing. Does he plan to burn down the entire castle as well? He seems really pissed off… I know that Demon wouldn’t do anything insane like that…”
“Of course. Master might be able to fight against him, but Demon is probably still far too weak to fight against a marquis.”
“Hm… “
“This is just a guess, but don’t you think that’s Demon’s owner, Millions? Or maybe the castellan?”
“That could be the case. But you’re not scared, are you? Why are you shaking so much?”
“Huh? O-Of course not! Why would I be afraid when I’m here with you, master? As long as 2 or 3 marquises don’t charge you at once, there’s no way we would lose. It’s because it’s a bit chilly right now. Chilly.”
“What an excuse when it’s sweltering hot.”
“It’s because I have a weak constitution… “
“If your guessing is correct and that is Millions… We cannot allow them to meet.”
“Why is that? Isn’t the Demon the one you were guarded against? Then wouldn’t it be much more convenient for Demon to die at Millions’ hands? You don’t have to lift a finger and you get rid of a thorn in your side.”
“You could think that way. However, both Demon and Millions are currently my enemies. If they fight one another and the victor absorbs the other’s strength, then it becomes that much more of a headache for me. And there’s no 100% guarantee that Millions would win.”
“Hm…”
“Counts are the most I can allow Demon to consume. I cannot allow marquises or above to become Demon’s prey.”
Immediately after defeating Mars and Leta, Min-Cheol and Dan felt an intense killing intent heading their way and scrambled out of the estate.
Dan swiftly went into the Mobile Storage and Min-Cheol immediately tore the Return Scroll prepared in advance.
While they were unsure who was charging towards them, they had instinctively chosen to escape due to the sheer amount of pressure from the killing intent.
If considering rage alone, it was enough to convince them that whoever was coming their way was stronger than the castellan.
With a breath of relief, Min-Cheol and Dan continued their conversation.
“Master. Now there’s even a pyromaniac jumping around and setting fire to everything. It seems that the counts are out for blood as well.”
“…”
“That means that we cannot move carelessly even more so than before.”
“We’re fine. They’re aiming for Demon.”
“Even so…”
“Dan.”
“Yes, master!”
“Can you use Soul Messenger on anyone?”
“Hm… I guess you can? As long as you meet them once, and know their name, you can connect to your recipient with surprising accuracy. It’s the same with summoning.”
“Is that so? That’s welcoming news.”
“Sure… That is the case… Why am I getting goosebumps? I don’t know what you’re thinking of, but my instincts are telling me that this isn’t a good idea.”
“What are you saying! It’s because you’re cold. And you have a weak constitution.”
“Whew…”
Dan had a look of regret, as if he had fallen into a pitfall trap he dug up.
While he did not know what Min-Cheol was thinking, he could tell instinctively that it was a reckless and dangerous idea.
After a bit of good humor with Dan, Min-Cheol continued to speak.
“As you have said, the nobles are now going all out in their fight against Demon.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“That means that there is a high chance that they will be roaming in groups.”
“That would be likely, especially for the counts.”
“That’s why your role has now become a bit more important.”
“Huh? What do you mean…”
“You know all the faces of Larkenta’s nobles, right?”
“I do. All of them have at least visited Swesi once.”
“Our plan of action remains the same. We stay in the estates of the counts and wait.”
“After that?”
“Then you need to confirm their faces for me. Start with if they’re a count or a marquis, so that we know if I can handle them or not.”
“That is something that I wanted to do as well. I’m tired of only hiding.”
“That’s good.”
“However, I’m a bit concerned when you asked me about the Soul Messenger and summoning skill…”
“Ah. Don’t worry about that. You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Ha… This is making me really nervous…”
“Let’s go. Weak constitution and chilly guy.”
“Huh? Yes!”
****
Demon had so far taken down a total of 2 counts.
Using the same method that Min-Cheol used, Demon had waited at their estates and tried to keep the fights as low profile as possible.
However, Demon could not defeat the counts with ease like Min-Cheol could, leading to difficult battles.
The only reason why Demon had not yet been discovered by others was that these two kills had occurred before the nobles had mobilized with great frenzy for the search.
Despite the fights causing quite a lot of noise, this reason alone had saved Demon for now.
However, the fights to come would not be so difficult.
Because Demon had obtained the power of two counts, it would be a breeze to defeat other counts now.
However, this would only apply to fights against other counts.
Surprisingly, Demon, Min-Cheol, and Millions had not met each other yet.
Demon was really lucky, while Millions was extremely unlucky.
Like the chase between a certain cartoon cat and mouse, the battle continued.
Seeing Millions covered in flames, Demon also realized that nobles at least as strong as or stronger than marquises had mobilized.
“Kuhu! How amusing. Catch me if you can. It’s not all bad fighting with my life on the line!”
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