Chapter 51: A Demon
Just as Moss had the slightest intent of harming Alex, the Mark of Subservience flared into activation and burned deep into him, causing him to thrash around while petrifying screams tore through his lips.
Alex watched him with a taken aback expression and thought, I didn’t think it would be this strong.
For a moment he felt sympathy for Moss but it soon vanished as he remembered what kind of person Moss actually was.
He clenched his fist and remarked inwardly, Rayna must’ve been the one to tell him about my CV limit.
A few minutes passed and as the mark finally stopped gnawing at his soul, Moss breathed heavily and stared at Alex’s feet with blurry eyes.
Around him was a puddle of tears, snort, and piss prompting Alex to wave a hand before his face and say, "It seems you still haven’t grown up."
Moss slowly raised his head and looked at Alex glaring at him.
"I... I am sorry," he mumbled, his tone heavy and full of remorse.
However contrary to Moss’s expectations, Alex laughed loudly while grabbing his abdomen as though it was the most comedic thing he had ever heard.
"You are sorry huh? Well, I’d be damned but is a sorry enough for everything that you’ve caused?"
"What gives you the right to push off your responsibilities with a word that has long since lost its importance?"
"Do not play with me, Moss. I do not want your sorry, I want answers. Answers that you will give me regardless of your will."
He stepped closer to Moss and hearing his footsteps, Moss shook in fear.
"P-Please don’t hurt me! I’ll tell you everything! Just ask me the question."
Alex stopped a step away from him and took an item from his inventory.
The item was a mirror shard as big as his palm filled with silver mist. It was the very item for which he had fought against Salak.
[Cloudy Mirror Shard]
[Grade: Rare]
[Description: A shard of a lovely mirror that once held the image of -Unknown- broken by the Prime Night.]
Unknown... Even I don’t know what that means. Is it an entity? An item?
Alex shook off the useless thoughts and showed the shard to Moss.
"Does Antonio have an item similar to this?"
Moss slowly moved his gaze toward Alex’s hand and after examining it for a while, he shook his head and muttered, "I’ve never seen anything like this before... but I am not sure if Boss Antonio actually has it or not."
Alex gritted his teeth and stored the item.
It would be problematic if he were the one. Why didn’t that stupid author give clues about who it was? Haah...
"Alright. Then tell me where Antonio is?"
Hearing the question, Moss lowered his head to the ground and stayed silent.
Gradually, the mark began to sear into his soul and he yelped as the agony returned.
Seeing his determination, Alex chuckled and said, "Haha, how loyal. But is your loyalty stronger than your will to live?"
Annoyed with his theatrics, Alex let out a sigh and ordered, "Moss. Stand up."
The moment those words fell into Moss’s ears, he rose to his feet and stared at Alex with his eyes as wide as saucers.
"H-How?!"
A wide grin appeared on Alex’s face and he said, "I have yet to use the mark to its full strength so you better answer me."
Moss shivered and Alex’s grin which was of joy to him appeared as the eerie grin of a demon.
Alex’s eyes shone with mana as he asked once again, "Answer me. Where is Antonio?"
No. I cannot tell him! I-If I do Boss won’t leave me alive.
From the moment Free Sword had captured him he had concluded that no matter how strong they were they couldn’t defeat Antonio who had the Invulnerable Shell talent.
But as Alex was now using the mark more strongly, his lips parted by themselves and he answered, "B-Boss has entered the second layer to help the Players with talents to reach E so they can enter the inner city before Free Sword and Lightbearers and take all of the opportunities."
Moss’s face turned pale and he crashed to his knees. "What have I done?" He mumbled weakly.
Just as I had expected. Alex nodded and asked, "Is it true that Dark Wolves have a Player with a hidden mage class?"
Moss who had already given up on everything slowly shook his head and said, "It’s impossible to even take a Mage class before reaching level 10 so how could we have one with a hidden class? The one we have is just a Shaman who can use a single support chant."
That’s right... Then why did Allura fall for such a dumb move? Alex frowned.
"How much does Antonio know about me?"
Moss shook his head. "I don’t know. I’ve heard Boss once came to the outer southern city to meet you but that was because Allura One was the one who had told him about you having an A-Rank talent."
So she thinks that I have an A-Rank talent...
"Alright then." Alex turned around toward the stairs leading to the ground floor and said, "Stay here unless Kael tells you to go back."
Moss watched him with lifeless eyes and nodded as a whisper escaped his lips, "Just you wait..."
As Alex left the basement, he stumbled into the wall and sat down with a dark expression on his face.
"At the end, I still choose the easier method..." he mumbled dejectedly and a self-deprecating chuckle escaped his lips.
He looked at his palms. They were clean, yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that something ugly was clinging to them.
"Maybe Allura was right... Maybe the path I’ve chosen doesn’t allow one to be heroic. Perhaps I am destined to be a demon just like the original Alex."
After sitting there like a lost pet for a while, he pushed himself off the ground and mumbled in an amused tone, "I definitely sounded like an edgy teenager there."
