Master Crow was frowning the entire journey back. Silver's disappearance just didn't sit right with him. And his senses constantly inspected the area, trying to find the person responsible. As an assassin, one of his unique skill sets was finding people, so no matter how well a person might have hidden, he would usually find them. But this time he just couldn't!
Frustrated by this, Master Crow suddenly turned to Shadow One and said, "Flying at this speed so you can keep up is annoying. Hold on." And with a yank, Master Crow lifted Shadow One by the shoulder and disappeared at lightning speed.
Boom!
And a few short seconds later, Master Crow appeared in front of the secret layer. His appearance causing a loud sonic boom, which frightened most of the beasts in the forest to be quiet.
"Shadow One, go and find that Hog. I want to experiment on it as soon as possible!" Master Crow placed Shadow One on the ground before issuing some orders. After which he proceeded to enter the Secret realm with all the captives in tow.
"Yes, Master, I will find that Hog and bring it to you soon. But Master, can I please plead leniency for Second Brother? His mistakes don't warrant death. Please, show mercy!" Shadow One spoke and bowed as a show of respect. But his facial expressions neutral was as ever.
"Hmm. Keke!" Crow didn't turn his head, and he just hummed and giggled eerily in response. At the same time, Nick's severed arms and legs began floating out of Shadow One's gasp and went into the Secret layer, following right behind Master Crow.
"Second brother, I hope you survive through this. Sigh…" Shadow One lost his neutral look and a look of melancholy took over for a short second, but it then disappeared immediately as Shadow One headed into the forest in search of the Hog. The Hog's aura was just too weak for it to be detected using normal methods.
"Huh?" Master Crow sensed a life form in one of his cellar cages. But he didn't pay it any heed, the beast in there was just too weak! What could a beast at the profound realm possibly do? Master Crow then took the captives to the main hall. And after taking a sit on the main throne made of sculpted rock, Master Crow waved his hands lightly and lined up everyone neatly in front of him. All of them on their knees, well…except for Nick, who had no legs to kneel on and was lying on his stomach.
The dark mist binding everyone got removed as well, and Shadow Two finally got to see his surroundings. But his face went pale once he realized where he was. He then placed Shadow Five down and bowed his head, unwilling to look his Master in the eye.
Claire looked around nonchalantly as if there was nothing scary in her situation. In fact, she even shook her head multiple times as she looked around, slightly disgusted by the lack of decoration this Secret layer had.
Elder Frost looked relaxed and was snoring so loud his whiskers trembled.
Loyd had woken up, and he was looking around anxiously.
And Nick just laid there, apparently still unconscious.
"Wake up. Stop pretending." Master Crow suddenly said.
But even after a few seconds, there was still no movement.
Confused, Shadow Two, Loyd, and Claire looked at each other, wondering which one of them Master Crow was speaking to.
"I said, stop pretending to be asleep!" Master Crow snapped.
"Forgive me, Master, I just wanted to rest a little." Suddenly Shadow Five got up and dusted off his clothes with an embarrassed look. His Master found him out, after all, it was really embarrassing. The defeat he suffered at Shadow Two's hands and the fact that he got carried around like luggage had embarrassed him, so he had decided to sleep through this, but it seemed his Master wouldn't let him.
"Uhh…?" Master Crow looked honestly stunned. So, Shadow Five was pretending to be asleep as well?!
"Ahem, pretending to be asleep and not greeting me is a crime you will face punishment for later on. But for now, there is still another person here pretending to be asleep!" Master Crow turned his head to Nick. The person he had told to wake up earlier was Nick. As the person who had knocked him out, Master Crow obviously knew for how long it would last, but he didn't expect to find another pretend sleeper on the way!
Nick still didn't show any signs of waking up though, instead, he turned his head to the other side and smiled as if he was dreaming about something nice.
"It seems you don't respond to words, let's see if you will respond to action then!" Master Crow angrily bellowed as he lifted his hands up, seeming about to perform the same chop as always.
Nick opened his eyes slightly, trying to see what the man was up to, but when he saw that familiar hand movement he nearly jumped out of his skin!
"Waaa." Nick suddenly yawned and began opening his eyes slowly as he looked around the place as if he didn't know where he was. Nick acted like he had just woken up as he turned to Master Crow and asked, "What did I miss?"
"Humph!" Master Crow's eyes grew a shade darker as his anger bubbled up, but he still kept it in check as he said, "I have the people you care about under my grasp, so you will either tell me what I want to know, or I will torture them to death!" Master Crow smirked in an evil manner as he spoke.
"Huh…"
But…it seemed like Nick hadn't heard him because he looked around to see the people kneeling right beside him.
"Didn't you hear me, boy?!" Master Crow was seconds away from exploding.
"No, I heard you. It's just that…when you said you have the people I care about under your grasp, I wanted to see who exactly these people were…but I can't seem to find people I care about here, maybe you have them hidden somewhere I don't know." Nick replied.
"Stop with the games! I know that this girl is your disciple, and you went through an awful lot of trouble trying to save the other man." Master Crow pointed at Claire and Loyd, respectively.
"Haha!"
Suddenly, Nick, who had no limbs began rolling around the place while laughing.
"What a funny Scarecrow, don't you know scarecrows are supposed to be scary, not funny?!" Nick soon stopped rolling and said with a smile. And then he continued.
"Let me correct you. Claire, did I accept you as my disciple?" Nick asked.
"Well…no, but Master, you promised to accept me if I passed some trials in this Secret realm!" Claire looked at Nick with a smile that could light a room. She looked very enthusiastic and seemed to be looking forward to those trails.
"Exactly, she hasn't passed my trials yet, so she isn't my disciple." Nick looked at Master Crow in scorn.
"And you, Loyd, did you, or did you not betray me once I came to save you?!" Nick asked.
"Brother Nick, I know I messed up by running away and leaving you to fight alone, but didn't I make up for it by returning?!" Loyd seemed emotional. How ungrateful was this bastard?! Wasn't he facing death right now because he had returned to help Nick?! How could Nick still mention his past mistakes to make him feel bad?! He was young back then so he didn't know what true friendship was…
"Make up for it by returning?! Are you an idiot or are you acting like one so people would feel pity for you?! Who did you help by returning?! Did you save me? No, you even dragged my poor Silver to the chopping block, and because of that, this goddamn Scare Crow killed my precious pet!" Nick seemed to have gotten worked up all of a sudden as tears fell down his cheeks.
Loyd didn't know what to say. But suddenly he had a bright idea, and he turned to Nick and said with a bright smile, "It's the thought that matters, brother Nick."
"Yes, you are right. So, I will just think about saving you from now on, there's no need to take action." Nick replied.
"Enough! You will either tell me what I want to know, or we will just see if you really don't care about these people." Master Crow had had it. What kind of interrogation was this?! There was no order at all!
"Go ahead! Just kill them." Nick replied calmly.
Master Crow didn't say anything else either and just lifted his hands.
"Of course…if you do kill them, I will also kill the two people I have under my custody." Nick suddenly said.
"What?!" Master Crow frowned and stopped his movement.
"What, didn't Shadow One tell you already? I'm pretty sure he mentioned that I have Shadows Three and Four hidden somewhere." Nick's calm face was starting to irritate Master Crow.
"Humph, how could you hurt them when you are here? Also, didn't you say you don't care for these people, why do you suddenly care if I do anything to them?!" Master Crow didn't believe Nick could do anything to them in his present situation.
"That's where you're wrong. I sent Shadows Three and Four somewhere you can't find them. And even though I don't care about these people, I can't let you hurt innocents." Nick looked resolute.
"So, are you saying any pain I inflict on these people, you will, in turn, inflict it on my men?!" Master Crow asked gloomily.
"No, I am not as cruel as you. Why would I torture people for the crimes of another?!"
"Good, then…" Master Crow hadn't even finished his sentence when Nick continued.
"No, I will just kill them for your crimes. Torturing people would just be too cruel! If you even touch a single hair on them, I will kill both your people, no discussions!" Nick then closed his eyes.
Whatever happened next seemed to have nothing to do with him.
"Brother Nick, you can't!" Shadow Two suddenly stood up in agitation. Those were his brothers after all.
"It's out of my hands now. Their lives are in you Master's hands." Nick replied, with his eyes still closed.