Inside of the store, Daimon and the others followed Tadeus and the recently created Nethereal through the many secure points, which were disabled by the Nethereal previously.
The question here was whether this guy had already informed that Romel guy or not, because Daimon's plan might have to change depending on that.
But at the very least he could confirm, Horrorclaw wasn't informed of what was happening here, so there was space to maneuver.
'Make him talk when I give you the signal, you know the pre-made story, and don't try to play any tricks, you'll be dead before anyone could react so don't forget about it', said Daimon to Tadeus.
The old assassin didn't dare to show any signs of discomfort, he knew that Daimon will not hesitate to kill him, maybe Stellar ranks are a power to be wary of, but the silver haired youth had three Maximum ranked at his side, so a little early stage like him could be replaced without any problem.
This branch of Black Wave was quite similar to the one at the Mermen Sea, in the sense that they also operated under the disguise of average looking stores, but they didn't build an underground play zone like Pablo, and instead it was more of a gathering room, similar to the mission hall that was reserved for second year students back at the academy.
At least that was the best comparative Daimon could think of right now, they arrived at the center of the room, where the leader of this branch of Black Wave as well as his vice-leaders stayed to wait for the return of the Nethereal.
Daimon thought they will at least try to escape or something, but after seeing the state in which the leader was, he understood why, the guy was infected by that black mist, that the Nethereals could use, and judging by his emaciated appearance, the bags under his eyes and his previously pale skin which now had a yellow feverish tone, the guy's organs had suffered a lot.
But nothing that the better healing light user of Neptune couldn't cure, the problem is that as an assassin, the leader of the branch couldn't go and ask for an audience with Aurora on a whim, not to mention he isn't 100% human but a mix of White Walker.
He would have had to pay a certain fee just for the chance to enter the territory of the Light Palace, then he would have been investigated and only if he was deemed acceptable, Aurora would have met him, it was a long process, and time was the thing he lacked right now.
'Well on the surface that is a good reason to kidnap Jasmine, the Light Palace is the place where the best light element mages gather, they can cure the wounds made by Nethereals, so of course they are a main target', thought Daimon.
That same lack of a skilled enough light mage, is what was forcing the leader of this branch, to either submit and join the pirates, or die a horrible death.
"So, have you thought about my offer, leader Malkim, if you become one of us, not only your life will be saved, but the affliction that is making you restless will become a blessing for you, I was a peak Half Stellar a few days ago but look at me right now, I'm a full-fledged Stellar ranked", said the man who was covering its face with a mask.
Malkim, in other words the leader of this branch of Black Wave, was in a predicament, after Romel tried to forcefully recruit him, he naturally resisted, but now his life was at peril, and he didn't have the time to take things slow, not to mention that the enemy now had another Srellar rank to move so the answer was obvious for him.
Malkim didn't climb all the way to be the leader of branch, while being reckless, caution was one of his virtues, unfortunately he was against the wall in this situation, but he didn't forget to ask.
"I accept to join you, if you can guarantee mine and my subordinates's lives, of course that includes curing me, also I want to know who will I be working for".
Ultimately Malkim is a mercenary it's not like he was loyal to anyone to begin with, certainly that black mist gave him an ominous feeling, but it's not like he was innocent anyway.
Apparently, he asked for something he shouldn't have, because the atmosphere suddenly tensed up, and the pressure of a Stellar rank descended into the room, normally Malkim would have been able to endure it, but in his current state the pressure made him and his subordinates fall from their chairs to the ground.
The man then stood up and walked towards Malkim and the others, before he crouched down in front of them.
"You have no qualifications to demand for anything, the only thing you need to know is that you will live and that you will be subordinated directly to me, am I clear?".
Malkim gritted his teeth, he swallowed his pride and limited to nod, he was in shock because not too long ago the masked man in front of him, was a half Stellar rank, he advanced maybe a couple of days ago, but this pressure was on par with him prime, which before being wounded, should have been at the middle of the early stage.
In other words, the masked man was too strong for a recently ascended Stellar, which in a sense made Malkim not regret his decision that much.
"Is that how it will be for me too, Roger?", Tadeus voice interrupted the moment, the masked man turned to see the old assassin who had a doubting expression on his face, before saying.
"No, unlike this idiot you didn't refuse to join, but looked to, also he is weakened so I can convert him, but you aren't, so your conversion will be left for Lord Garrius once we return to the Maelstrom Sea… I can't tell you much, but that Lord is the one who converted sir Romel, so you will be on par with me at least, if you brought that woman's head, then you'll probably be ascended to a similar position as sir Romel, who has made a great contribution".
The masked man whose name was Roger, took the time to explain, not because Tadeus had some sort of friendship with him, but because he was specifically told to bring Tadeus with him back to the Maelstrom Sea, even if he had to force him to.
As to why the Lord who gave him and Romel this new power, wanted a member of Black Wave from the Elemental Sea, they didn't know and they didn't dare to ask.
Listening to Daimon's voice in his head, Tadeus continued with the conversation.
"What kind of contribution is needed, you know my situation, so if I can do it previously, my conversion was it… would be smoother, maybe that Lord you mention will even reward you for aiding me", he said.
The masked man thought about it for a second, then he looked at the room and after making sure they were the only ones here, he answered.
"There are certain races and some specific people that are a nuisance for the superior of Lord Garrius and the others that stand at the same level, the best way to get promoted is killing, capturing of proportioning information regarding them, depending on the situation".
"Sir Romel informed Lord Garrius about where to find one of those many targets, you might have heard of them, the Angel Fish clan which is only conformed by women, they are in the list of extermination, and Sir Romel was lucky enough to find a hint regarding their hideout, so the mission of extermination was assigned to him".
"We don't know how strong is their leader, as she was able to escape the encirclement of Sting and Blackbeard, that's in part why we are taking in new recruits so easily, don't let the opportunity go, because later even if you want to join, there will be more regulations and you aren't young so…", Roger didn't finish his sentence, but Tadeus could understand what he meant.
Instead of investing in an old man that was reaching the end of his life, a large-scale organization will choose those with high potential, the only reason as to why he was chosen so easily, is because they needed strength over talent for the time being, and because he was a member of Black Wave that came by his own will.
Tadeus didn't ask for anything else, so, Roger continued with the process which he called "conversion", for starters he grabbed one of the four vice-leaders by his neck, he cut his own palm and then placed it on the mouth of the vice-leader.
"Unfortunately, since I recently ascended my Nether isn't strong enough to convert others, unlike Lord Garrius and the one who converted Lord Sting just by standing near to him, so we'll have to do it the old way, it might take longer to fully act but whatever, drink up or die", coldly said Roger.
The vice-leader had an expression of disgust, which is understandable, the blood that seeped out of Roger's hand wasn't red and fluid, but dark and dense, there are races with blood colors that differ, in Neptune, for example the members of the strongest clans of the Mermen Sea are said to have red blood with a tinge of blue, and something similar applies to the Elemental Sea, supposedly it has to be with the fact that their affinities are stronger than normal.
As the vice-leader was forced to drink Roger's blood, the nearby space waved and before anyone could do anything, a horrible pressure fell from above.
Having heard maybe not everything he wanted, but some really nice new information regarding how the Nethereals worked and the goals of this small faction in particular, the operation started.
The ones who appeared were a member of the White Walker and a Skelefiend, a high stage Stellar and a middle stage one respectively, Remi and Bandor to be more accurate.
"So, this is where you rats have been hiding all the time, the verdict is immediate execution!", shouted Remi.
Roger glared at Bandor, who knew he was working with the pirates, that are allied to Horrorclaw and then said.
"Whate are you doing, why the hell didn't you warn me of this clown coming, call Horrorclaw or someone to deal with him, if the operation fails it will be on you".
Bandor heard Roger and he inwardly sighed, the operation had failed long ago, this whole situation was created by the silver haired youth, and everyone in this room was a puppet dancing in his hand.
Unfortunately, he couldn't say anything unless he wanted to die and that wasn't the case, so he followed his role and attacked Remi by "surprise".
Dark blue battle aura gathered on Bandor's hand as he punched at Remi, taking him by surprise and landing a punch on the chest of the White Walker.
"Boooom!", the strength behind the punch blew up the roof of the storage room, revealing the sky above them.
"Hurry up take these guys with you, I'll stall Remi while reinforces come!", shouted Bandor.
Roger didn't need to hear that twice, he snapped his fingers and Malkim and the others, Tadeus included, were trapped into a black mist sphere, he then flew into the sky with the spheres following them.
"Shit, out of all the damn possible moments, they had to appear now, and that Remi bastard, who the hell is he working for, if he isn't loyal to that old man", angered at the fact that his mission might have been compromised, Roger was furious, he didn't have the time to try and hide himself, since every second counted right now.
So, he could feel the gazes of the people and heard their whispers, what surprised him is that everyone repeated the same sentence, "Invaders, kill them!", which made Roger frown, his disguise made him look like a mixed White Walker, similar to Malkim, his train of thoughts stopped in cold when an even stronger pressure hit him like a hammer, smacking him against the ground.
"Since when do the pirates dare to be so rampant in a city that is under this old man's jurisdiction", Armando who descended from the sky, suppressed the group that was trying to escape, but then another change in the situation happened.
Remi whose figure was a bit haggard suddenly appeared next to the group that was forced to lay down on the ground, took out a black scroll which burned out and they were all sucked in by a portal that appeared next to them.
The people naturally started talking and whispering between them, because how could they not recognize Remi, as he is one of the biggest public figures, a member of the council and a High stage Stellar rank.
Bandor who looked miserable right now, flew towards Armando and then said.
"Chief, Remi is a traitor, he helped those guys escape from me, I was about to contact you and Lord Horrorclaw but he outpowered me".
Armando gave Bandor a suspicious gaze, but he didn't say anything, before a portal appeared to take them out of this place.
…
The moment Armando left, it was as if a thin invisible layer disappeared from the eyes of all the people present, these citizens didn't know that they watched a realistic illusion, created by the combination of Armando's spell and the screenplay created by Daimon.
And so, the rumors started to spread, this particular city suffered a lot by the invasion of the pirates when they were at war, and the fact that Horrorclaw was allied with them was a top-level secret, because both members of the White Walker and Skelefiend lineages lost friends and family due to them.
No one knows who started it, but the rumor that Horrorclaw was working with pirates spread like wildfire, and at the same time, the rumor that the heretics that burned out Snakele's statue was trying to invade the Skalia continent also become well spread.
The only one who benefitted by the sudden public opinion surge, was the old pacifist Armando, who called both of the other groups criminals, and invited the citizens to come to the territories under his jurisdiction, promising to keep them safe.
As for the group of "pirates" that were sucked in by a black portal, that was something created by Thea, because Remi had already used his escape scroll, that group as well as Bandor and of course Armando all appeared inside an isolated room back at one of the border regions of the Skalia continent.
Needless to say, but Roger had an expression of disbelief when he saw the three that were aiming at each other's throats a second ago, suddenly calm down and stand next to each other, imagine his expression when he also saw Tadeus joining them.
"Well, that should be enough to put both the scheming guy and Marcus against each other, while the public joins old Armando, that was within the scope, but I didn't expect to find such a nice test subject, he doesn't have a black sphere in his body, so he is perfect to see if Sarah can be cured with my flames", a calm voice that came from behind of him, made Roger feel a shiver running down his spine.
He turned around just to see a silver haired youth with a smirk on his face, next to him there was purple haired woman who he of course could recognize.
Unfortunately, he didn't even have time to scream before everything went dark, right now Roger didn't know it, but staying unconscious was better than what was about to come, since a black armored tall figure happily approached him with a notebook in his hand.
Daimon didn't stop the bone general, he asked Thea to go with him, this time she said she wanted to inspect the curse triggering, so that she can know how to detect them, right now Daimon was thinking how to trigger the mission he was lacking.
The last time he got his mission because he altered the route of Adam within the dimensional tunnel, which probably made him land at the Elemental Sea, while he appeared at the vicinity of the Mermen Sea, which "stole" him from the opportunity to meet Mellie.
'If that's the case then…', Daimon turned to see the leader and vice-leaders from Black Wave who were frozen at the sudden change in the situation, the one wo was forced to drink Roger's blood was retorting on the ground, so Horals also took him to the next room, for "observation", Bell went with them too, because she had many questions to make.
Armando looked at the silver haired youth who even at this moment was thinking his next step, and he was a bit in a loss.
'He unveiled the truth of Horrorclaw's alliance, put him against the other guys and also pushed the public to my side at the same time, in less than a day he is already three steps ahead of the enemy… maybe Shirel being captured by him was a blessing in disguise, there is also that black armored guy who is his subordinate, it seems like the goddess hasn't abandoned us after all', he thought.
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