Chapter 69: Everything Ends Peacefully
The two left the Stone Tower at a frantic pace.
Priam kept a firm grip on the little girl’s arm, and she followed him with almost unreal obedience.
To her, the world around them was a sea of threats. She could feel, with terrifying clarity, the countless eyes hidden in the shadows.
For that little girl, silence was her only weapon.
She didn’t know who the man who bought her was, nor what he intended to do with her, but she knew that compared to the predatory gazes she sensed in the darkness, his grip was her only temporary source of safety.
She curled up beneath the black cloak wrapped around her body, an item she had worn ever since being locked inside that cage.
It had been designed to conceal her Bloodline.
Only elite Mages could pierce that barrier, but doing so required effort that would attract unwanted attention.
Priam wasn’t calm either.
He felt an unprecedented sense of danger, as if an invisible target had been pinned to his back.
He took a deep breath, and the Ether within his body roared.
At the same instant, wind-element runes appeared around him, floating through the night like glowing fireflies.
The little girl’s eyes widened as she stared at the runes, a spark of genuine fascination appearing within them.
It was the first beautiful thing she had seen amidst her nightmare.
*Wooooosh!*
A wild gust of wind erupted, and the pair became a blur, vanishing into the forest.
Now that he had reached the ninth level, Priam’s control over the wind element had become much more solid. His Ether reserves and the potential of his technique had also multiplied.
He could now move at high speed outside of combat while using only a third of his total Ether.
It wasn’t even close to his maximum speed, but it was enough for what he needed right now.
The girl felt the air slicing across her face.
The speed was extreme, yet she didn’t dare scream.
Terror and admiration battled within her as the trees passed by like shadows.
After ten minutes of uninterrupted flight, they suddenly stopped in an open field.
Before them stood an enormous runic circle embedded in the ground, emitting a faint glow that stood out in the darkness of the night.
It was the teleportation inscription.
"Sir, I need to return home immediately."
Priam spoke loudly, directing his words toward a demon waiting in a corner while holding a runic tablet.
"I have the fragment with the coordinates. Just activate the circle, please."
Priam tossed a spatial ring to the demon.
Inside, hundreds of Black Diamonds glittered, an amount far above the normal fee for the service.
The demon checked the contents, and greed flashed through his eyes.
He broke into a wide smile and nodded at Priam.
Without wasting time, Priam took out the Fragment of Primordial Chaos.
The crystal had shrunk to half its original size, but the coordinates of the Ylisse Clan were still engraved within its essence.
Priam moved quickly, dragging the silent little girl into the center of the circle.
*Buzz*
The inscription on the ground began to hum, releasing a bluish light that illuminated the entire field.
The surrounding space started to twist, signaling the beginning of the spatial jump.
Priam let out a sigh of relief.
He only needed to pass through this portal.
Once inside his clan’s territory, he would be safe.
The most important factor was that by using the Fragment of Primordial Chaos as the coordinate anchor, Mages of the mortal plane had no ability to trace where he had gone.
But...
In that exact split second, Priam’s instincts screamed.
He turned around abruptly, his eyes meeting those of the demon operating the system.
The demon’s smile was no longer one of greed.
It was pure mockery, filled with ridicule.
Priam looked down at his own hand.
Only then did he notice that the Fragment of Primordial Chaos wasn’t emitting the necessary connection glow.
The item wasn’t communicating with the inscription the way it should.
He didn’t have time to react.
Reality shattered around him.
Space shifted violently, and the two of them were swallowed by a distortion that would certainly not take them home.
...
...
...
In the blink of an eye, the world around them stopped spinning.
"!"
The little girl expelled all the air from her lungs and doubled over as though an invisible hammer had struck her chest.
Priam also felt immense pressure crushing down on his shoulders.
Even before space had fully stabilized, they could already feel the freezing air and the pungent smell that filled it, reminiscent of oxidized metal.
Then their vision cleared.
Priam’s eyes immediately narrowed as he found hundreds of black and red points of light staring at them coldly.
They were everywhere.
In every direction.
And of every imaginable size.
Demonic Mages.
Every single one of them had weapons already raised and aimed at the center of the circle, ready to fire.
Priam clenched his fists tightly. He was completely surrounded. But how?
It didn’t take him long to understand.
"What a great reputation..." he muttered dryly, his voice dripping with venom.
It became clear that that merchant clan was nothing more than a pack of greedy opportunists. They had probably sold the information to a local demonic power the moment the auction ended, after realizing that someone "insignificant" like Priam had won a legendary treasure.
Flaris’ family wasn’t anything special, and in their eyes, Priam was just a young humanoid with average power for the mortal plane.
Why would they bother keeping their honor toward someone who couldn’t retaliate?
The few minutes it took him to reach the teleportation inscription had been enough for them to send a message to the demon operating the site. He hadn’t been sent home; he had been served up on a silver platter in an unknown location.
"Hahaha... brat! There’s nowhere for you to run!"
A deep, thunderous voice boomed from a figure over three meters tall, resembling a mountain of black muscles.
"You are now on the planet High Dark Peak! And the entire Dark Peak clan has already sealed this region. Even if you were ten times stronger, you wouldn’t be able to escape!"
Priam narrowed his eyes but remained silent, feeling the little girl’s hand trembling violently against his.
He remembered the merchant he had spoken with before, the one who had told him about this clan and planet. Because of that, he was slightly surprised to learn that he had been sent somewhere so close to where they originally were.
"We don’t want any unnecessary bloodshed. We have no personal grudge against you, and you seem to be someone with a somewhat significant background," the giant demon’s voice softened slightly, though the threat remained.
"We heard you paid 400 million Black Diamonds for her. Here’s what we’ll do: we’ll give you 600 million Black Diamonds right now. You’ll walk away with a huge profit. After that, we’ll reactivate the teleportation array, and you can go as far away as you want. I see you’re holding a Fragment of Primordial Chaos... using something like that, it’s impossible to track where you’ve gone. Everything can end peacefully between us."
Priam stared directly at the demonic entity before him.
Saying he wasn’t nervous would be a lie.
He had never been surrounded before, much less by so many figures that could definitely kill him.
They were all demons, and their imposing physiques could intimidate any human from Earth.
Meanwhile, Priam was just a beginner in this chaotic world.
Anyone would be trembling from head to toe in terror.
But contrary to expectations, a powerful will ignited inside Priam’s chest.
It grew stronger and stronger as he felt the fear of the little girl holding his hand.
He took a deep breath...
[System Assimilation Level: 01]
[Progress: 30% (UP)]
Priam didn’t even read the message, but a different light pulsed within his eyes, and he genuinely felt a change.
It was as if his mind had suddenly become incredibly clear and steady.
And strangely...
It felt as though none of this was truly new or impossible for him.
Around them, the army tightened their grips on their weapons, ready to turn him into a pile of flesh at the slightest sign of resistance.
Feeling the encirclement closing in, the little girl tilted her head upward.
She tried to find Priam’s eyes behind the mask, and at that moment, the dam holding back her emotions shattered.
Tears began flowing uncontrollably, washing down her pale face.
Earlier, she had remained strong, enduring the auction with quiet courage.
But now, after feeling the pure malice of those demons and the certainty of being sold once again like an object, the realization of her fate finally broke her.
To her, even death seemed sweeter than whatever awaited her in the hands of the Dark Peak clan.
Priam took a deep breath, the cold air burning his lungs.
Through their contact, he could feel her despair.
He turned toward her, meeting that pleading, shattered gaze, and simply gave a slight nod.
"It’ll be okay..."
