[Sensitive content warning]
Walking through the human slaughterhouse, the vampire called Mormen was lecturing on and on about how all the meat was processed before being shipped to royalty and nobles who were willing to pay to fulfill their twisted desires.
"Not all of them are eaten though, some are kept alive for…" coming out of the slaughterhouse, Mormen turned around to address the two mercenaries directly. "Tormentation, maybe even masochistic plays, or well, you might already know where I'm going with this."
"Necrophilia?" Haruki added.
"What? No! Why would they want them alive then?" Wearing a contorted frown he almost seemed offended by what Haruki said.
"I'll just close my ears," covering her ear with her hand, Asuka started walking further ahead.
"So who are you buying? Someone alive or someone dead?" Clasping his pale hands he began rubbing them together like a sleazy salesman.
"None," Haruki replied before joining Asuka up ahead.
Baffled by the reply, Mormen kept on glaring at Haruki until he disappeared from his sight. Slack-jawed he turned to the buffoons who had brought him here and wasted so much of his time.
"He just wanted to have a look,"
"The mistress has some kind of relationship with him, we couldn't say no,"
Hearing the words of the men acting as Haruki's guide, Mormen clenched his teeth and threw his hat on the ground.
"Get the fuck away from here!" He roared with bleeding eyes. "The next time I see you I'll hang you lots on the meat racks!"
Terrified of the vampire, the men began dashing away in the direction they had come from. Stumbling here and there, they stole a few horrified glances at the bloodthirsty vampire itching to rip their heads. While the men stormed off back to where they were at the start of the day, Haruki and Asuka were headed off to the adventurer's guild as their last stop for the day.
'I didn't think she'd be able to take over all of this in the time it took me to return from Daria, it's frightening to think what she can do if left unsupervised.' Thinking about placing a demonic spy on Moriyana, Haruki kept walking through the street with his mind occupied with thoughts.
Asuka too was no different, seeing all the bleeding corruption and carnage she wondered who the real demons were. Her and her master or the countless humans willingly working under puppets being controlled by Moriyana? Whatever the answer was, she didn't really want an answer.
"Miss Rise!" Called a familiar voice as they approached the guild.
Turning to the voice Maggie's voice, the two noticed the clovers rushing over to them. Wearing cheery smiles, they stopped in front of Rise. It was their first time meeting up with her after coming back from Daria, and thus excited to tell her about everything about the journey, they couldn't contain their joy.
Delighted to see them again, Asuka instinctively beamed a smile.
"Your boyfriend is here too, huh?" Garth said, trying to tease Rise.
Lacking the energy for any serious response, Asuka nervously let out a chuckle. A bit disappointed by a lack of reaction, Garth perceptively noticed the downed tone in their bodies, but knowing better than to poke at other people's matters he let it quickly slip off his mind.
"Let's head in, we have lots to tell you!" Jumping up and down, Maggie urged the group to move forward.
Their destination being the same, they decided to go along with the clovers.
'We needed info on monster hunting, but I doubt the clovers would be any help.' Deciding against including them, Haruki headed into the guild with the rest of the group. However, as soon as they entered, a loud thumping sound perked up their senses.
"You call this an adventurer? Don't make me laugh," dressed formally in a blue suit, a strange man mocked an adventurer he'd just thrown over the bar counter. "It's a pit really, what passes as an adventurer these days."
Staggering on his feet, the fallen adventurer gradually pulled himself up the counter. As soon as Haruki and the others saw his face, they all felt an urgency to rush over to him for help.
"It's Kane!" Cried Maggie rushing towards him with no regard for her own safety.
"Get away from him, mister!" Garth yelled following right behind her.
Terrified of the man, Maya clenched tightly on her staff and slowly made her way towards Kane.
"What's happening?" Asked Haruki, scanning the place for other members of Kane's party.
Unfortunately, apart from him, there didn't seem to be any other member of the silver storm in the guild. And even the people present were simply acting as bystanders not wanting to stick their legs in some stranger's quarrel.
"You bastard, you take that back or I'm gonna break every bone in your body!" Before anyone could get to him, Kane growled at the man.
Climbing out of the counter, he grabbed onto his greatsword and flung it at the man from its blunt end. However, before it reached the man, he took out his fencer and redirected the greatsword's trajectory away from him and onto the ground.
"Weak," he whispered as Kane's sword stabbed through the wooden floor.
"By Atlas, if you don't shut up I'll fu-"
"Shut up," stabbing him on the head with the fencer's hilt, the man made Kane fall unconscious. "Subpar at best, and I was told he was one of the best in town."
Struggling to comprehend how easily Kane was defeated, all the others simply stood there petrified by the display of strength by the stranger. Brushing off his short blonde hair, he drew the fencer back and turned around to the onlookers.
"Anyone else want a try?" He said, lightly bowing in a ceremonious manner.
'Fuck it.' Annoyed by his cheeky attitude as well as the fact that he'd hurt someone who'd been of great help to him, Haruki could no longer control his urge to battle. Taking a step forward as Asuka, clover and even the other adventurers watched, he drew out a sword and held it directed towards the man.
"I don't usually like to fight, but you're not gonna hurt one of my friends and just walk off without a scratch," the difference in their skills was monumental, and yet for the first time Haruki had no real plan but he wasn't gonna back off from the fight.
"A friend, huh?" Drawing his fencer out, he directed it toward Haruki as well. "Don't disappoint me then, go ahead, avenge your friend."
"I will," closing his eyes, Haruki thought back to the time he was being trained by Michael.
'Surprise your foe before landing the first strike, that's the only way to throw off a stronger enemy.' Although he hated the man's guts, he couldn't deny his proficiency in dueling, and thus taking a swift dash toward the stranger, he let out a discharge of mana from every pore of his body.
"Clone!!!!!" He roared, swarming his foe with his lookalikes.
This chapter is updated by freew(e)bnovel.(c)om