A male's laughter thundered across the room. Noah didn't need to look to know that the second seat holder was the one who laughed. He had the most annoying laughter in the room as if making up for the lack of laughter coming from the first seat.
Simon Moretti, aka Heavycruiser, toned down his laughter after knowing that everyone was giving him their attention. "Noah, Noah, young seedling, aren't you aiming too high for your skills? Kill Bomberman? The Bomberman? Who in the right mind could do such a thing?"
The curator inwardly sighed as he was scared that Noah would cause trouble. They needed Bomberman alive, and if Noah dared to kill him, the curator might end up getting in trouble.
"Who in the right mind could do such a thing?" Noah sniggered at the notion as he echoed Simon's words. "Are you saying that Charon couldn't kill Bomberman as well?"
Charon, named Sharon Kyle and deemed the first seat holder, only flicked her gaze at Noah who was sowing discord between her and Simon… even dragging the organization with it. She then eyed the curator who was starting to feel suffocated.
Her lips moved as a melodious voice came out. "Sleepydog, you might have a personal feud with Bomberman, but keep the organization out of it. I might be able to take him down, but that would be a breach of our mission. Keep in mind what we are supposed to do as Shadow Hands."
The curator sighed before bitterly smiling at Noah. "Sleepydog, let's not make it personal. This is—"
"Eh, why not let him do it?" The girl from the sixth seat laughed out as well. "He cannot kill Bomberman even if he tried. There's no need to stop him."
"En?" The curator's mood darkened just when he felt lighter after getting Sharon and Simon's agreement. "Don't misunderstand. All of you are valuable assets to the organization as well. Losing one of you just for the fun of it wouldn't sit well with the organization."
"If we're that valuable, then we don't need Bomberman." Noah insisted again. "Let's get real with the factions' request. If we terminate Bomberman, that'll let them know that we hold a bigger power than him. One Bomberman is already a headache to them; what more of ten bigger figures?
"The organization is already capable of controlling the world like it wanted. We don't need Bomberman; he'd just be a stone in our path." Noah then huffed. "Unless… the organization itself thinks we're incomparable to Bomberman combined."
Sharon and the other seat holders' eyes flashed, but no one knew if they completely agreed with him. The curator was already sweating, and yet Noah kept on adding more and more pressure on his back. Even if Noah had no intention of hurting him, his words were fueling a fire inside everyone else's hearts.
In the end, Sharon only raised her dainty hand. "Enough of this. Sleepydog, we kill Bomberman if he wouldn't cooperate with the organization. Without the organization's green light, we are to engage without hostile conditions. Are we clear?
"However, if you find your life at stake, finish him." Sharon's eyes flashed again as she regarded the curator coldly. "We have no use for someone who cannot work with us."
The curator cursed his luck. Noah had successfully turned the Shadow Hands against him. Then again, he had no reason to believe that they were wrong after all. It was just that… the higher-ups wanted Bomberman more than anything. It was an obligation dropped on him—to make sure Bomberman would be on his knees in front of them.
He then cleared his throat. "We can work with that. Alright, I will be continuing with my presentation." He then proceeded with the other arrangements. Just like before, they were like a classroom of behaved children. No one had questions anymore, and even Noah wasn't murmuring complaints under his breath.
The meeting finished, and they were all allowed to leave. Since Noah was always not the quickest to leave, Sharon had the chance to prevent him from leaving entirely. Actually, only the curator had left when the Shadow Hands got into a discussion.
The first seat stared at his uninterested eyes and then spoke, "Noah Rocco, what do you plan to do?"
"...wait for you guys to try and recruit him. I know he would never say 'yes'. When he rejects, I will swoop down to kill him." Noah moved his head from one side to another as if checking if he had a path to escape the confrontation.
"What if he agrees to be one of us?"
Noah only eyed her before speaking in a very serious tone. "Then, prepare for a shuffle. You have no guarantee that he wouldn't kill any Shadow Hand out of a whim. I'll let you know… rascals like him loved having a rival to exercise their full power. He will kill us upon discovering we got skills."
Sharon only hummed before walking away as if nothing happened. Her loyal hands, the fourth and seventh seats, followed her out just like that. However, Simon still continued to size him up… only to snort in dismissal. He turned away and had two more Shadow Hands leave with him. At this point, only the sixth and tenth seats were left in the room with Noah and Laquisha.
"Nene is expecting you to kick Sharon's ass just because you want it, but it seems that you're not really interested in letting her nurse a grudge of losing her top seat." The sixth seat and nicknamed Needle, Hara Nene, placed both hands behind her back and leaned closer to Noah as if capturing a glimpse of his face from below. She really didn't need to do so as she was just 150 centimeters, too short for a twenty-seven-year-old.
"We don't have the same playing field." Noah only looked down at her and ignored the view down her collar as she had quite a flat chest.
"Are you really planning to kill Bomberman?" The tenth seat and nicknamed Swallowtail, Hannah Tran, hummed as she tried to find the next words to say. "I mean… he had never been hurt even by the marines. There are actually rumors that he… he is a demon incarnate."
Noah only smiled at her and scratched a cheek, feeling a little guilty towards Hannah. "No worries. I know what a real demon is, and he's nothing like it."
He quickly turned to Nene before Hannah could dissect his sentence. "Don't lose communication with us. If you ran into Bomberman and found yourselves in a pinch, call for us."
Nene only nodded as she stood up properly before grinning wildly at him. "It's show time for the real demon incarnates, right?"
"You're labeling me wrongly." He poked her nose.
…
In a mansion inside a huge cave, Noah arrived with Laquisha. Even if it was Laquisha's house, Noah had no place to call home aside from this one for now.
They're invisible, but all the black dogs were there waiting for their master to come back. He reached out subtly and petted all the black dogs without Laquisha noticing. Then again, even if she did, he would not tell her anything.
When they got to the waiting room to speak about Bomberman, Laquisha was stunned to see three—no, four figures waiting for them in the diamond-sparkled waiting room. Noah, however, looked forward to seeing only three of those figures.
Inside the waiting room which walls were laden with white and pink diamonds, three men were helping themselves to some juice—the only refreshment in Laquisha's house. One of them was a dashing young man who seemed to be around Noah's age. He had porcelain skin, giving so much contrast against his black eyes and lush black hair.
The bearded man had bushy brows, mustache, and beard that were grayed due to the man's age. His eyes, however, were clear and a little mischievous.
Next to him was a young boy, only seven or eight years old in appearance. He had dark hair as well as dark eyes and seemed to be the grandson of the bearded man. However, the fire in his eyes didn't seem to reflect a young soul.
All three of them were in black suits though the child was wearing shorts. They all seemed to be from the same institution.
However, the fourth figure was a little girl who was napping next to the young man. She had white hair and radiant skin, wearing a plain white shirt. As she was asleep, they could not see what her eyes and demeanor were like.
"Ah, Noah, Laquisha! Welcome back! It seemed like you took your time reporting back to the organization!" The young man greeted them like they were friends, but Noah didn't even spare a gaze at him. He then noticed Noah gazing at the male child. "Oh, right… I ought to introduce them…
"Laquisha, I need you to meet Belphegor." The young man gestured to the bearded man first and then to the child. "And of course, your dear Mammon."
"Mammon?!" Noah and Laquisha gasped at the same time.
A huff then came from the child who was swirling the juice in his glass. "I don't normally come out, but I heard that this particular house is clad in diamond. I have to say… I really like your house.
"Moreover, we came out to have something very important to discuss with you, Montana Mills." He flicked his eyes from Laquisha to Noah. "You probably know that Nadin Jaeger had come back."
"Montana Mills..." Noah chuckled. "I haven't been called with that name for a long while, but I should get used to it again. My killer is back, and I figure you'd be helping me greet him, right?"