"My powers are not complicated. Just tell me which god you need."
Emilia responded to Mary's question.
"The demon god."
Mary answered, and Emilia was surprised. The demon god is among the primary six gods and is not someone to be trifled with.
The room around them was covered in mist and a glow as blue as the deep sea.
A purple figure made of light appeared in the room, the demon god.
"Little Oracle! How are you? Why did you want to talk with me?"
The demon god sounded delighted.
"My lord, there are two people who requested an audience with you."
Emilia answered respectfully.
Mary was bewildered each time she saw Emilia act like this in front of Danniel or Shu. Why can't this annoying girl speak to her with such respect?
Danniel scanned the two strangers in the room and was surprised to see one wasn't a stranger. That person is Armageddon.
"Armageddon, what do you want?"
Danniel looked at Armageddon with discontent, and the latter's expression showed a mix of hatred and fear.
"Beats me."
Armageddon answered, and Danniel understood something. This little girl with piercing green eyes, who showed no trace of fear in front of him, was the mastermind of the situation.
"And who are you?"
Danny scanned her with his eyes.
"My name is Mary Mob. I have a warning from the future."
Mary did a little bow and looked at him with a confident smile.
"The future, you say. And how did you stumble upon this warning?"
Danniel asked. Even if she is speaking the truth, there is no proof.
"I am a gifted and the holder of god's past. So if you ask me how I know, the answer is quite simple, I lived it."
Mary answered.
Danniel's eyes lit with excitement. Having her as an ally would be a great tool. Not to mention, no mortal should know of this gift. So just her knowing about it is enough proof of her claim.
He coughed a little, and his expression became more serious.
"So, what is the warning?"
"Two warnings: The first, If you ever destroy the limiter, the world will be destroyed. The second, The god you know as Antony is neither a god nor the real Antony. He is untrustworthy and conspiring to kill you."
Mary explained, and Danniel was in shock.
He had no way of knowing what would push him to destroy the limiter, nor did he expect Antony to be a traitor.
"Thank you for the warning, but if you want me to listen, there is something I need you to do."
Danniel chose to exploit the situation.
"What do you need?"
Mary was willing to do nearly anything if it meant she didn't need to go back again.
"The tournament will start in a few years. When that happens, I want you to assist a certain fo-"
"I already have plans for Shu, so you don't need to worry."
Mary cut him mid-sentence. She was surprised he truly cared about Shu and planned for different people to help him from such an early point.
Before, she was sure he was nothing but a manipulative god who was using Shu.
They both nodded in satisfaction from getting what they wanted. He got extra support for Shu, and she received assurance that the future would change.
********
It's been over a year since she saved Emilia. Mary, Armageddon, and Emilia traveled to Olbogondor Saarı and met with Shí Hóu. They found more people and built a group with Mary as their head.
She traveled with her group toward the new lands.
********
Shu's group just arrived at the island of crime.
The road was paved with black bricks. The buildings were cramped and built from dark materials, which made the buildings look menacing, and walking through the streets was dark, cramped, and claustrophobic.
They reached an opening at the end of the street and saw a large market.
"Hey, you there! You seem like you'll be interested in what I have to sell. Would you like to check my merch?"
A sketchy shop owner said and bowed to Hannah.
"Is it okay?"
Hannah turned her head toward Dam and asked.
"Benjamin, accompany Hannah and Shu. Make sure they return to the ship on time. You have money, right?"
Dam said.
"Yes, sir."
Benjamin said.
"Then it's okay, have a good time."
Dam said and went to restock on supplies with Thomas and a few of his men.
Hannah, Shu, and Benjamin all followed the sketchy seller.
He told them that his 'work name' was Jefferson.
He led them through a dark back ally that was even more cramped than the main road. Something that sounds impressive once you consider how cramped and dark the main road was.
They entered a building that used expansion magic to make it larger inside.
"Seeing that you already have one, I don't know if you want more, but you can check around and see if you want anything."
Jefferson said. He didn't look at the two men standing by her side even for a second.
Hannah looked around the place.
It was a giant space filled with many cages. She could see beastmen, humans, demons, angels, and many other species in each cell.
"Hey, you there! Young beastman! Tell your master to buy our freedom!"
An old beastman shouted at Shu. He resembled a hybrid between a lion and a human.
"Old beastman, What are you talking about? There's no way he would help us. Can't you see he is one of them?"
Another beastman said. This fellow resembled a zebra.
"Bad enough, he is a kin of the Canine tribe, so he wouldn't do anything that might seem disloyal to his master. But this fellow is a kin to the Vulpini branch, a disloyal scum who would only help himself and won't risk a hair on his tail to help us."
Another beastman said and then almost hit Shu with his spit. This Beastman resembled a bear.
"Hey, kin of the Vulpini! Do you have nothing to say for yourself?"
A beastman that resembled a crow said.
"Sir, it's hard to see in this lighting. Can you please provide a light source?"
Hannah requested politely.
"Yes, ma'am."
Jefferson said, and the room brightened up in an instant.
'We keep the light low only because many of the merchandise are sensitive to light.'
Jefferson thought to himself.
With the room illuminated, it was even clearer how dirty the cages were and how badly the 'merchandise' was treated.
"His fur is orange! He is a member of the Redfox family!"
A demon shouted as he noticed Shu's fur.
All the beastmen in the room stopped shouting curses at him, and some even bowed their heads.
It was silent for a while, and then Shu started talking.
Jefferson noticed how valuable Shu seemed, based on the other slaves' reaction, and was about to suggest a trade to Hannah, but Hannah shot a look at him that scared him shitless.
"What do you know about my family?!"
Shu roared at the big room, but no one dared to answer. He wasn't so stupid that he wouldn't know he was adopted, but he knew nothing about his real family.
Seeing that they wouldn't answer his question, he looked at Hannah with an expression that made it clear he wanted to leave.
As they walked outside, a big entourage passed them with some noble in the middle. Seeing that noble, Shu felt something weird and heard voices from somewhere.
"Surely, we can agree on a better deal. Maybe I will buy your entire stock at double the price? My hunting ground always requires more animals."
He heard this sentence echo in his head.
"Good to see you, Young Lord of the Ashir family. Is there anything from the merchandise you would like to buy?"
Jefferson asked, and the young lord looked back in the direction where Shu went to.
"Do you have anything like this vulpini?"
The young lord asked, and Shu's ears started twitching.
Shu started sweating. What was that sentence he was hearing? Why does he feel that if he doesn't stop in his tracks, then he will regret it?
"You want more excitement in the hunting ground, eh? Of course, I got some tough merch."
Jefferson said and walked toward the young lord to shake his hand.
Shu started laughing with a broad smile on his face. Whatever that voice in his head was. He heard just what he needed to stop in his tracks.
"You are in luck!" He claimed loudly to the slaves. "I wasn't going to free a bunch of people who spit in my face and wouldn't answer my question, but I have one rule. No killing." Shu explained and shot a look full of deadly intent at the young lord.
He launched at the guard closest to the lord, the strongest opponent.
The guard was knocked out in an instant.
Shu grabbed the guard's stave and swung it at everyone who tried to kill him.
Most of the servants and guards didn't care much for their duties. So it was pretty easy to reach the last two enemies.
Mr. Jefferson and young lord Ashir.
He knocked them out quickly.
"If any of you want to follow me instead of this man, then free the slaves and loot all the people I knocked out. If you don't, then just run away."
Shu said.
Out of thirty servent and guards, only five joined him, and they did as he said.
"What I said about them qualifies for you as well. If you don't want to join me, then you can just run."
Shu said to the freed slaves, but none of them moved.
The lion beastman went forward, bowed, and said.
"As our ancestors are indebted to your family, we are indebted to you."
"If so, then let's go back to the ship."
Shu said. His eyes glowed with a bright yellow light.