In a dimly lit cave, a single candle flickered, casting shadows across the rough stone walls.
"Boss, you think they ran into some trouble?" a lanky man asked. He was dressed in leather armor, a red bandana over his light green hair, and a short sword hanging at his hip. His tall, wiry frame shifted nervously as he glanced around.
"No," came the rough voice of the man across from him, broad-shouldered and built like a bull. He wore steel chainmail with a thick chestplate, and his heavy hammer rested by his side. "Even if they encountered some trouble, you really think anyone could take on ten majin and get away alive?"
"Both of you, shut the fuck up."
The two men stiffened at the irritated voice, their heads snapping toward the sound of footsteps echoing through the cave.
"Hey, boss." They both bowed as a man emerged from the shadows, holding a roasted leg of what appeared to be a wolf, biting into it with fervor.
"You're annoying as hell," he muttered, his tone sickly sweet yet unnervingly creepy. "What if they ran into trouble? It just means more livestock for us, anyway."
His face twisted into an unsettling grin, stretching unnaturally across his cheeks.
"Fucking imbeciles," the man muttered to himself, casting a look of disdain at his subordinates before sighing.
'Why the fuck did I end up here? There's not even internet in this place,' he thought with a sneer, glancing at his hands now cloaked in an eerie black shadow.
That's right—this man wasn't from this world. One day, he had been transported here, leaving his old life behind.
'At least this is better than prison,' he mused with glee as he took another bite of the wolf leg. His gaze shifted to the side, where a group of humans huddled together, fear etched on their faces. Among them were women and children, and even a few elves, their hands bound by swirling shadow energy that locked them in place.
"What's that sound?" he muttered as he felt the ground begin to rumble.
"W-what the hell is this!?" his two foolish followers cried in fear as the ground shook violently, like a continuous earthquake.
Standing up from where he was sitting, Aldrich—the leader—scanned the cave, sending a pulse of shadow energy into the ground. His senses picked up an enormous amount of energy heading straight toward the cave.
Acting on instinct, Aldrich summoned a barrier of shadow energy around himself and his precious goods, just in time to save them from a flaming arrow that shot through the cave, nearly incinerating everything in its path.
"W-what the fuck..." Straining against the pressure of the arrow's impact, he pushed his shadow energy outward in a wide arc, cooling down the cave instantly and extinguishing the flames that had nearly engulfed him.
'Those flames were definitely targeting me,' he thought, glancing to the side where the goods lay, unharmed.
'Whoever this is… cares about them,' he mused with a smirk, a plan already forming in his mind.
From the smoke emerged a man of otherworldly beauty, with long, white hair that hung unkempt yet almost translucent in the dim light. His gaze was as sharp as a steel blade, cutting through the haze with an intensity that made Aldrich's blood run cold.
Steeling himself, Aldrich looked at the man with a smirk.
"Well, I didn't expect this," he sneered, "but you should sell for far more than anything I've ever sold."
Shadow energy began to swirl around him as he stretched his arms.
"I didn't expect you to be this weak," the white-haired man replied, his tone cold and dismissive.
The words struck a nerve, and Aldrich's face twisted with rage. If there was one thing he despised, it was being underestimated.
"Don't underestimate me, you pest!" he shouted, channeling the shadow energy under his feet to launch himself forward.
The ground cracked and split as he shot toward Karna in a flash. Aldrich pulled his fist back, pouring an absurd amount of magicules into it, and struck with everything he had.
Gone was his usual restraint—the concern for keeping his goods intact. This time, he had abandoned that policy, fully intent on slaughtering this pest who dared to mock him.
The air around his fist seemed to scream as his punch connected with the pest's chest.
But confusion clouded his face as he realized he had only struck an afterimage, which shattered the instant his fist made contact.
"Like I said, you're awfully weak." Aldrich spun around and punched out again, only for his fist to collide with another afterimage that shattered upon contact.
"Fight fairly, you coward!" he roared, anger distorting his face as he looked around wildly.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" came the voice, taunting him from behind. He whipped around, striking out furiously.
"You're so weak you can't even see my movements." The voice echoed around him as his punch hit yet another afterimage, crumbling around his fist, leaving him feeling like a fool.
"Fine, then! I'll just bring this entire cave down!" he roared, slamming his fist into the ground with all his strength. Cracks spread rapidly, splintering out like a spiderweb across the cave floor.
"Let's see how you save them! Heh heh heh! Ahahahah!" He spread his arms, laughing maniacally as rubble began to rain down around him, filling the cave with chaos and destruction.
"You mean the people who are outside." The voice shattered his moment of triumph once again.
Aldrich sneered, focusing on the man now standing in front of him, entirely unaffected by the collapsing cave, just as unfazed as Aldrich himself.
"Motherfucker," he grumbled, his eyes narrowing with deep hatred. No one had managed to provoke such animosity from him—like this man before him—both in this life and the one he had left behind.
"I'll definitely enjoy killing you," he declared, taking a deep breath. He concentrated, channeling all of his shadow energy toward his heart, turning it black.
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Short chapter, was ill with fever and only had time to read..