Evan reappeared a good twenty meters from his original position, looking up to see the figures of two men staring right at each other.
One of them, was wielding a simple silver-coloured sword, with his hand stretched out for a thrust while the ground beneath his feet was on the verge of caving in.
He was a tall dark-haired man dressed in a simple grey noble coat with black outlines, black pants and a black pair of gloves on his hands that held his silver sword.
The other, who had his hand stretched out, grabbing the blade of the silver sword with his bare palm, was man with brown hair.
No other facial features about him could be seen as he was wearing a black mask that covered all of his face, with the hole for his eyes having a tinted glass that prevented one from seeing their true colour.
He had a platinum-coloured guild card hanging from his neck, with the letter 'S', clearly printed at the back.
Seeing this scene, Evan instantly understood what just happened, barely holding back the small smile that crept onto his face as he took distance from the two men.
"An S ranker who wasn't in the original report, huh?"
"…"
The brown-haired man remained silent in response to the words spoken by the tall dark-haired man who was naturally the lord of the county they were in, Count Falos.
The silence remained for exactly five seconds, before Count Falos suddenly pulled back his sword and slashed forward again all in one breath, however, it was easily blocked by the magic power-coated palm of the black-masked man.
Shockwaves spread out into the surroundings, deepening the crater the two were already in, however, they paid this no mind as they instantly began an exchange of blows at blinding speeds.
The brown-haired man unsheathed the sword on his waist that although looked like a simple standard issue blade, was powerful enough to withstand blows from Count Falos's demonic energy-infused sword without needing to be infused with energy.
All of a sudden, the brown-haired man activated a skill and parried the Count's sword, before pulling back his fist and punching forward right after, delivering a left-straight that sent the Count flying out of the crater and into one of the few manors in the estate that was still intact for some reason.
**BOOOOMMM!!!!
Naturally, the thousand-acre manor was cleanly divided in two after the Count crashed into it from one side and fell out from the other.
However, he immediately stood back up and cracked his neck before turning his gaze in the direction of the black-masked man, who frowned under his mask and spoke to Evan.
"Young Duke, if there's anything else you haven't said, then you better start saying it now."
Unsurprisingly, this black masked man was Ralphie in disguise, and he was currently gazing in the direction where Count Falos had fallen with a slightly shocked gaze as he didn't expect the count to be this powerful.
'He's a grandmaster-level existence.'
In response to Ralphie's words, Evan heaved a sigh and deactivated his blessing of destruction before replying.
"Well…For starters, remember the time I said the Count was corresponding with a senior member of the Demonic Hand?
That was a lie.
The count wasn't corresponding with any senior member of the Demonic Hand; the Count IS the Senior Member of the Demonic Hand."
Greed, Pride, Eliza and Amelie who just arrived, heard Evan's words and had a variety of reactions from shock to realization and even indifference.
However, they didn't have time to explore their reactions as the Count's voice rang out as the man calmly walked back towards their Group.
"Demonic Fusion."
A thick wave of Demonic energy surged from his body, flooding the surroundings and knocking everyone except Ralphie back a few meters.
The masked man didn't intend to give his opponent the time to assume a more powerful form, instantly dashing towards him, however, he was blocked by three particularly powerful, near grandmaster level Dulhan's.
This block, however, was only temporary as the Dullahans were on the verge of Death after being beaten and battered by the A-rank adventurers, and they only came to use what little strength they had left to deter Ralphie from reaching the Count.
A second wave of Demonic energy, one more powerful than the first, was released into the surroundings, pushing back even Ralphie this time.
By the time the A rankers had arrived to capture their runaway opponents, a pillar of demonic energy rose up into the sky, clearing up a second later to reveal the new form of Count Falos.
His noble coat had been discarded, allowing them to see how his already large body grew even larger in stature, growing more muscles with black streaks on his arms.
The colour of his eyes was inverted, and a strange ink-black mark manifested on his face, growing so large that it nearly covered half his face.
Finally, two pairs of bat-like wings emerged from his shoulders, flapping lightly as he slowly descended to the ground.
Seeing his current appearance, Evan clicked his tongue as he completed his earlier statement.
"The man you are looking at, is the Right-hand Man of the Eighth Finger of the Demonic Hand."
Despite hearing Evan reveal his identity, Count Falos showed no expression of surprise as he calmly picked up his fallen silver sword.
He gazed at the A-ranked adventurers and officer-ranker military personnel who were clearing out the weaker soldiers and adventurers from the area, before looking at the ground and chuckling lightly.
Pride and Greed tightened their holds on their weapons as the two high demons could understand just how much stronger the Count currently was when compared to before.
After a sudden silence, the Count looked up at the few Senior Mages and A rankers who had surrounded him and spoke slowly.
"I happily congratulate you all.
For on this fine night, you have chosen to guarantee death for yourselves."
Despite the fact that his words angered some of the high-ranked knights, they didn't attack him first, as the unfamiliar chill of demonic energy that he was exuding from his body made them wary.
Besides, even if they did, Ralphie would have stopped them as the moment the Count spoke, Evan had spoken to him through the transmitter and told him to prevent anyone from attacking.
As for the reason:
"Something is strange.
He's too confident."
"What?"
In response to Pride's question, Evan gestured to Ralphie and spoke.
"He should have seen the S ranker.
An S-rank adventurer is at least level 400, which should tell him that he's not the S rankers match, Even with his Demonic Fusion.
After all, even if his demonic fusion enables him to easily defeat people more than 25 levels above him, this particular S ranker is also an abnormal existence like that, capable of matching the average person 20 levels higher than he is without stress.
Whatever hidden trump card he has that would make him confident; he should know there's no way the S ranker would not have one too. Trump card, negates Trump card, and we're back to square zero where the S ranker is still stronger."
Evan avoided directly saying Ralphie's name, as the Count who possessed superhuman hearing would definitely catch onto it and he did not want Ralphie's presence here to be exposed.
The boy was trying to wrap his head around the source of Count Falos's confidence when he noticed something strange.
Parts of the ground he was standing on, were black.
It was not the darkness of the night, as the fires of explosions and the large floodlights that they brought from Bultom were lighting up the area.
Just when the A rankers were about to make the first move, Eliza's shocked voice rang out, startling Evan and all the others present. Even Count Falos turned to her with a look of confusion on his face.
"What the Fuck?!"
Seeing the gazes that she was receiving, Eliza looked at everyone around her like they were either crazy or sick in the head as she asked.
"How have none of you noticed THAT?!"
"Noticed what?"
"The thick aura of death and darkness surrounding us!!!
How hasn't anyone noticed it?!"
Eliza's words made the A rank adventurers look around them but they sensed nothing wrong, even Ralphie who sensed something was strange could not pinpoint exactly what was strange.
Amelie activated her blessing of light skill and the reaction of shock that appeared on her face following that action, surprised Evan who was watching her.
Turning back to Count Falos, Evan saw the man who was gazing at Eliza with confusion, suddenly revealing a devilish grin.
Goosebumps sprung up all over Evan's skin as he looked at the ground and remembered his own words to the Duke and the rest of the dignitaries he recently met with.
-- He can conceal the huge amount of death aura characteristic of high-level necromancers, as well as the Demonic Energy that he possesses, making it so he can be easily mistaken as a normal human being with high levels of proficiency in dark magic.--
At that instant, he realized what was happening and he screamed out to all those present.
"EVERYONE! BACK AWAY! NOW!!!"
Updat𝓮d from freew𝒆bnovel(.)com