Midnight.
On the northern edge of town, where the social and financial status of the people could be discerned by simply looking at the buildings. Only one thing reigned supreme here: poverty.
Which indirectly made it the best soil for crime, as no one cared about the poor souls living here, most of whom were slaves, orphans, or refugees.
However, one building stood out from the rest—a three-story, tall stone structure like a small mansion. Clearly, its owner is much wealthier than the others in this part of town, evident by the guards patrolling around it.
One guard, who had been drinking all night, paused his patrol and slipped into a nearby dark alley to relieve himself. As he attended to his business, he suddenly felt a presence behind him.
"Who's ther-"
Crack crack.
Before he could turn around, shadowy hands gripped his neck and snapped it effortlessly.
"One down," a figure with a chilling, deep voice spoke before disappearing back into the darkness.
The people inside this fancy mansion were unaware that their guards were being hunted silently, one by one.
On the first floor of the building, three individuals sat comfortably on lavish sofas—two men and a woman. Adorned in expensive and elegant attire, however, their behavior is far from elegant and Noble.
Surrounding them were over ten women, all of whom were slaves, easily identifiable by the collars around their necks. These women were naked—completely the way they came into this world, serving the three nobles and obeying their every command without question.
On the middle sofa, one man sat with slave girls attending to his every desire. He had a girl on each arm, playing with their breasts, while three girls were tending to his needs below. With a satisfied expression, he looked over at the noblewoman sitting across from him, who was currently experiencing pleasure on every inch of her body at the hands of the slave girls.
"Are you satisfied with our product?" he asked.
The noblewoman didn't immediately respond, as she was engaged in a passionate kiss with a young slave. After a few moments, she separated her mouth from the young girl's and glanced at the man.
"Haha! Very satisfied... I can see myself using this product every night," she replied, excitement evident on her face.
The man chuckled, pleased with her response. "Fufufu... Our girls are highly trained in the art of pleasure, and as slaves, they will fulfill your every desire without hesitation."
The noblewoman's eyes sparkled momentarily, and she inquired, "Really? Every desire?"
"Of course, my lady. I can guarantee they will satisfy your deepest desires. After all, they cannot refuse," he reassured, picking up a smoking pipe.
"Good, then I will take five women with me. I want them to be from every race, not just humans," the noblewoman decided.
The man nodded slightly, a smile playing on his lips as he observed the noblewoman invading the mouth of the slave girl again.
He shifted his gaze to the other noble seated nearby, only to find the man lost in the pleasures being bestowed upon him.
'Good, two new buyers for my product,' he smiled in satisfaction as he laid his head back, smoking and enjoying the caress of the girls.
Behind him was a beautiful young woman with long black hair that was almost reaching the floor. The woman stood there like a statue. With her eyes closed and covering her private parts. A slave collar was around her neck.
'Tsk…Her will is still strong' The man's eyes briefly glowed with a green light. 'Just surrender yourself to me. Flower of the East'
BAAM!.
Suddenly, a guard slammed the door open. He was sweating like hell and panting heavily.
"Sir, Sir! We have a problem-" Before he could explain, a giant black greataxe came flying from behind, effectively splitting the guard in half instantly, like a hot knife through butter.
"!!!" Shock struck everyone in the room, and they immediately stopped all action. Not a muscle moved as they stared at the bloody scene, with two halves of a human being between them and a black, draconic-shaped greataxe.
Only when the greataxe flew back to the entrance did they recover from their shock. Everyone's eyes unconsciously followed the greataxe as it was grabbed by a hand emerging from the shadows
From the darkness emerged a tall, black-haired man with pale skin and two flaming red eyes. He was wearing what, obviously, to everyone, was old armor.
Behind the man stood a young girl with blond hair and light blue eyes. She wore a gray robe that concealed her body curves and held a wooden staff in her hand.
"Disgusting place," she spoke in disdain.
The owner of this place raised his eyebrow "It's rude to call someone's home disgusting, young lady."
The owner's eyes flashed with a green light for a second before shifting his gaze to the man in front of him.
"May I ask who you are and what you are doing in my establishment?"
The man scanned the room, taking in everything and everyone. When his gaze fell on the naked slave women, a heavy pressure emanated from him, felt by everyone present.
"Vincent, Right?" His voice was deep and heavy, like the air around him.
"Yes?" Vincent narrowed his eyes upon hearing his name.
Well, he was known by another name—not a name but a title: 'The Dealer.' Only a few people knew his true name. His brain began working at high speed, recalling and filtering everyone who knew his name—a skill he acquired from years of working in this business.
"You can call me Aron, and I'm here for-"
"Oya! Aren't you a handsome man?" Aron was suddenly interrupted by a noblewoman who sat on a sofa surrounded by slave girls. The woman displayed a seductive smile.
"Why don't you come over here next to me and let me help you relieve some stress? Hmm? Look at those shoulders and that chest." Then the noblewoman turned to Vincent.
"My dear 'Dealer,' can you capture this man for me? I want him in my collection."
Vincent smiled at her. "Of course, Lady Adara. Anything for you."
Aron stood there, slightly annoyed by the lady's sudden interruption. However, what ignited rage inside him was the look on the faces of the slave girls. Their faces appeared "empty" of life, showing no emotions at all. They looked as if they had given up on life and accepted their fate.
The only one who showed some emotion was the slave who had been standing behind Vincent, the woman with long black hair who had previously stood like a statue with her eyes closed. But now she gazed at Aron with unique violet eyes.
"Capture the blonde girl too. I want her," the man to the left of Vincent suddenly spoke, examining Pethra from head to toe. He licked his lips. "She's young and fresh, just the way I like it."
"I can see she caught your eye, Lord Julian. I must say she's pretty, and with a bit of 'training,' she'll be a perfect fit for your activities," Vincent replied with a smile on his face.
As a "Dealer," he must fulfill his clients' requests. If his clients are satisfied, he can extract a mountain of coins from them.
Pethra, standing behind Aron, didn't care about the lustful gazes of Julian and Vincent. She cared only about one person, Adara. Currently, she is giving death stares to Adara
'That bitch! How dare she look at Aron with those lustful eyes? He's not yours, bitch; he's mine, 'MINE'... She must die, die, die...' Pethra repeated these words many times as she imagined hundreds of ways to kill Adara.
Vincent grabbed a small golden bell from the table, and as its sound rang out, ten men in the same armor emerged from different corners of the room. Vincent made a hand gesture, ordering his men, "Capture them, but be careful not to damage them too much. They're about to become our next product."
One of the men nodded slightly, drawing his sword. Soon, the others followed suit, circling around Aron and Pethra.
"Worms," a demonic, heavy voice resonated, freezing everyone in place.
"Kneel."
A tremendous pressure bore down on everyone's shoulders as the gravity in the room suddenly doubled. Despite the immense force, no one fell to their knees. They somehow managed to resist.
Seeing that everyone was still standing, a dark-red energy started emanating from Aron, and a shadow with red eyes appeared behind him.
"I said KNEEL!" Like an order from Heaven—or in this case, Hell—every person in the room dropped to their knees as the gravity increased more than tenfold. The only one unaffected by this was Pethra, as Aron unconsciously prevented his power from harming her.
"Now, where was I? Oh yes..." Aron was about to speak when he was interrupted again by Adara.
"How dare you? I'm a noble-"
"SILENCE!"
"Interrupt me again, and I'll rip your tongue out." Aron's threat was enough to silence the noblewoman. However, It wasn't just the threat that made her shut up. For some reason, Adara couldn't open her mouth to speak, even if she wanted to.
Aron turned his gaze to the attractive half-blonde, half-black-haired man—Vincent
"Vincent, or the Dealer, as people like to call you. My name is Aron, and I'm here specifically because of one of your 'deals.'"
Vincent struggled to raise his head to glance at Aron.
"A deal that involves... Children.'"
Vincent's heart skipped a beat at the mention of children. This was one of his most profitable and frequent deals.
'How? I was sure I had covered my tracks. Has one of my clients betrayed me? But who would dare? I hold all their dirty little secrets.'
Vincent was a cautious man, only accepting business with individuals or groups when he had some sort of secret or leverage against them. That was his "safety net." You never knew when someone would stab you in the back, and when that happened—and it would eventually—you better have the power and ability to stab him back, or you'd be finished in every possible meaning of the word.
"What do you want?" Vincent asked.
Aron displayed a wide smile. "Straight to the point, eh? I like it."
"But first~"
"!!!" Julian visibly shuddered as he felt Aron's gaze.
Aron started approaching him, and with each step, Julian's fear grew. He wanted to escape from this place, but how? He couldn't even move.
Aron grabbed Julian by the neck and effortlessly lifted him into the air. Julian's face turned pale as he saw those crimson eyes, eyes filled with rage and hatred.
"Worm, you think you can take what's mine, my 'treasures.'"
"My treasures are beyond your filthy hands."
'Kyaa! He called me 'Treasure'. I Love it' Pethra again was freaking out from the inside.
A shadow started gathering in Aron's right hand, revealing a giant black greatsword. Aron pointed the tip of the blade at Julian's chest.
"Your punishment is..."
"Mmm! Hmm~.." Julian tried to speak and plead for his life, but no words came out.
"...Death."
"AAAHHHH!!" Julian screamed in pain as the sword pierced his chest.
"!!!" Everyone shivered at the sound of his scream.
'Fuck! There goes one of my income sources,' Vincent cursed. Surprisingly, he remained calm, or at least calmer than the rest.
However, what happened next instantly washed away that calm and replaced it with terror.
Julian's body started to shrink, his skin turning pale like a corpse. In everyone's eyes, he looked like he was rapidly aging. Within seconds, he went from a healthy young noble to a sick old man, his bones visible beneath his skin. The cause? Aron's greatsword. The greatsword absorbed all the blood in his body down to the last drop.
Aron grinned. He was happy. Why? It seemed that the greatsword was feeding and growing.
"From now on, your name will be Python."
"!!!" Python transmutes emotions of happiness to Aron. It seemed that he liked the name a lot.
Aron dropped the skeleton-like corpse and gazed at Vincent.
"The rats, mages, and the alchemist I want to know their places of operations."
Vincent hesitated for a moment before answering.
"Fine... I have their locations in my safe on the second floor."
Aron glanced at the second floor. He was about to take a step when Vincent spoke again.
"You'll need my amulet to access the safe. Without it, everything inside will be destroyed."
Aron narrowed his eyes at him, not liking Vincent's obedience.
'Too easy,' Aron thought.
Despite this, he approached Vincent. Aron lowered himself and as he was about to grab the amulet.
Vincent suddenly raised his head and gazed directly into Aron's eyes.
"Fool," he spoke, as his eyes flashed with a green light.
"...Eh?"
[Caution: Mind control skill detected]