Chapter 1025 Secrets Within Secrets
The four who had held the undead back while Arthur destroyed the tower had sustained many injuries, not to mention exhausting their mana. If the situation had persisted a little longer, it would have been fatal for the group.
Arthur decided to give them the time needed to recover instead of going to the next floor. The undead lay on the ground like stringless puppets now, including the bodiless head that had been talking nonstop.
"It didn't take you long to kill the Dullahan," said Joey while sitting beside Arthur on a giant boulder. Fae was tending to her sister's wounds, while Koby was sleeping on the ground. The mage seemed drained, and black circles appeared beneath his eyes. "It makes me think that… you didn't even need us to begin with."
"I did," denied Arthur with a smile. "If I was alone, I would have resorted to using the black lightning. That's something I wish to avoid at the moment, because… you saw the reason I would feel this way."
"You are a man of mysteries, Alexie," said Joey with a frown. "I don't know what I should do with what I've learned about you. I know that you are not a bad person, but your strength is terrifying."
"What can you do?" asked Arthur with not a hint of arrogance, but pure amusement. Joey thought for a while but simply shrugged. "You can tell Xeloria about me, but it wouldn't make you a hero. I don't fear Xeloria, but Xeloria should fear me."
"If you are that powerful, then why not become a lord?"
"I have no need for such titles. I want to achieve something bigger and far-reaching for this tower. The things I witnessed make me unable to leave it as it is."
"Then, you are hoping to change things?"
"Hope is a pathetic word. Instead of hoping, I plan, execute, and achieve," answered Arthur as he placed his hands behind his back and decided to lie down over the boulder. "You should rest as well. The ninth floor will be a lot more difficult than this one."
After advising him as such, Alexie's breathing grew faint. Joey stared at the man, sleeping without a care in the world. It was such a peaceful scene, but it was backed by unbelievable belief in himself.
"A bizarre man," said Joey before jumping down. "I'm going to look for something to help us in this godforsaken fortress. If anyone needs me, you can call for me as loud as you can."
Fae and Nixie turned toward him and gave a nod. The lean and muscular man then jumped down from the boulder and started walking through the rubble. He did not know what he hoped to find, but a good bottle of rum would make his day.
After he walked for several minutes through the destroyed battlefield, filled with dead corpses that had sought to kill them earlier, Joey found himself far enough from the group. Then, he looked around and found an empty storage room to hide in.
In the darkness of the room, a red hologram appeared before the man. It was a certain skill he had been given, which he chose to activate at this time. A sand clock began spinning before the image of a woman appeared before him.
"Greetings, my lady," bowed Joey toward the woman shrouded in shadows. Her figure betrayed that she was drinking something in the leisure of her home. Joey did not raise his hand until she allowed him to do so.
"Rest at ease, Joey," said the woman in the hologram as she placed down her cup. "It is unusual for you to call me before achieving your mission. I received no word that he died, either."
"The mission is still underway, my lady," said Joey as he raised his head to stare at her with a grave expression. "I wanted to report something that could not wait."
"If it is not something that threatens us, then it is not worth using the skill for," said the woman with slight displeasure before sighing. "Since you judged the situation to be of such urgency, then I shall listen."
"A man appeared in Xeloria, whom you might have heard of," began Joey with a frown. "He fended off the Ballistae Division on his own before fleeing the city."
"Old news," said the lady with a shake of her hand. "I already sent ravens to investigate his identity. Is this what you wanted to tell me?"
"I found him in disguise, my lady. However, this man has merely hidden his true abilities all along. He is stronger than any lord I have ever met and more carefree than any child."
"Stronger than any lord?" asked the lady after a pause of shock. "Is he stronger than me, Joey?"
"…I apologize for the impudence, my lady, but you would not survive against a single attack of his," answered Joey with sweat covering his face. "I sense that he still has more hidden up his sleeve."
"Such a thing is not possible. Unless he has been farming monsters for ten years without revealing himself, it cannot make sense," said the woman with a shake of her head. "However, it does not matter how he came to exist. Can you eliminate him?"
"I dare not even think of such a thing," answered Joey while lowering his gaze to the ground. "I thought that unless someone is a lord, I could kill them. However, he is a monster disguised as a human."
"What is his goal?"
"I have yet to understand, but he doesn't want to be a lord. He wants something bigger than that, although I do not know what it is."
"Change priorities. Prioritize knowing his motives and keep track of his movements. Report back to me every time the countdown resets."
"Understood," nodded Joey. The communication then ended, leaving him in the darkness of the room. Joey then tightened his fist as he tried to breathe in and out, calming himself down.
After that, Joey left the room and started going back to the rest of the group. However, before he made his way through the rubble, a figure appeared in the middle of the street. Nixie had her arm covered in bandages as she seemed to be looking around.
"Looking for me?" asked Joey with a smirk, teasing her. Nixie flinched and turned toward him, but did not deny his question. The soldier stopped several feet away from her with a frown. "What's wrong?"
"I wanted to talk to you about something," said Nixie as she seemed too nervous to even talk. Her forehead was sweaty, and her fingers could not stop moving. "Let us find a private place first."
"A woman shouldn't trust a man so easily," said Joey with a sigh. "If I was anyone else, they would have thought you wanted something else."
"That is fine too," said Nixie without hesitation. Joey was taken aback by her response and realized that this might be her goal to begin with. However, it intrigued what she wanted to talk about.
"Follow me," said Joey as he led her to the same empty storage room, where light barely found them. Once the two were inside, Joey sat over a group of barrels before raising his foot beside him. "Go ahead. No one can hear us here."
"It's about Alexie. I overheard what you two talked about," said Nixie with a troubled face. "It seems that he cannot control that giant monster we saw earlier. If that is the case, the one ending our lives might not be the demons."
"Even if that happened, we would just revive."
"Do you think that monster is not a demon?" said Nixie with agitation before trying to piece together her next words. "I think that… he is just using us to clear this dungeon. Once we leave this place, he would not let us go."
"What makes you think he would do that?"
"We know his secret now, and if he does not trust us, then he would make sure no one can tell Xeloria about his identity," said Nixie with a frown. Joey was silent because he realized this must be the case. "We need to work together."
Nixie then walked toward him and placed a hand over his thigh. Joey stared at it for a few seconds and then turned toward the wounded woman. Even though her face was a little dusted and bruised, she was still very attractive.
Joey was a soldier who would never pursue pleasure. He vowed to serve his lady as long as he had a breath in him, so he had no intentions of falling for this invitation. Furthermore, it was nuts to go against that man.
"I don't think he is that kind of person."
"You, just like the rest of us, don't know him," said Nixie as she began caressing his leg with a seductive smile. "If you were in his place, would you let us live?"
If anyone found out his identity, Joey would kill them immediately. The decisiveness in his mind birthed suspicion that this woman might not be entirely wrong.
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