*Blink-Blink*
"Fuck... My head hurts." Leon spoke in a low voice as he opened his eyes and noticed a black surface above him.
His whole body felt numb as he tried to move his arms and there was something heavy weighing down on his leg.
"Hmm...?" Leon slowly turned his neck to the left only to notice metal bars.
'What the fuck? Am I in a cage?' He thought as he slowly sat up straight and looked around the cage with a neutral expression.
Outside the cage Leon noticed that they were inside a cave of some kind and it was really dark.
"Master... Are you awake?" Dusk's voice came from the cage that was right next to him.
"Yeah. What about you?" Leon replied with a neutral expression as he looked at his left leg and noticed a thick metallic bracelet around it.
"I am fine master, but there is a magic tampering bracelet around my leg that's preventing me from using magic and I think it's the same with you?" Dusk asked in a neutral tone.
"Yeah... Just seeing it." Leon replied with a neutral expression.
"Master we are captured by a large group of bandits. They live deep in the forests as they've done some serious crimes and aren't allowed back in any Kingdoms." Dusk explained.
"How do you know?" Leon asked with a neutral expression.
"The seal on these magic tampering bracelet master... I have seen it before." Dusk replied.
Leon immediately turned his leg only to see a white seal, it was a one-eyed wolf.
"One-eyed wolf?" Leon asked with a confused expression.
"Yes master. I have come across them before, these are one-eyed wolf bandits and they roam in deep forests.
One of the most merciless bandit groups we can ever come across master. It is said that they also eat their own members when short on food. I saw them one year ago and they were around forty back then." Dusk explained.
"I see." Leon replied with a neutral expression.
"The bars are too strong master... I have already tried everything and couldn't get out."
"Yeah... They aren't made out of normal metal. Seems like they are also enchanted with reinforcement magic." Leon spoke with a neutral expression.
"I don't have any idea how to help you escape master. The best I can do is when they-"
*Step-Step-Step-Step*
"Well, Well, Well... Looks like someone is awake." An annoying voice came from the cave's entrance.
"Hmm...?" Leon immediately looked out and noticed a slim man coming towards him, he was holding a broad sword in his right hand and there was stupid smirk on his face.
"You know... I thought you will stay out of it for another five or six hours but you have a really good body. It recovered really fast." The man spoke as he sat down on a wooden box and stared at Leon with an uneasy smile.
"I don't really like you smile." Leon replied with a neutral expression.
"No one does at the start... But you will soon enough. In around thirty minutes you will wear a slave collar that will have my name on it and then you will become my precious sex slave that I will fuck anytime I want." The man replied with a perverted smile.
"Pfttt..." Leon smiled as a small laugh escaped his mouth.
"Hmm....? What are you laughing? You find something funny about what I just said?"
"It's just that I heard it for the first time. Now, I know how those girls felt when I said it to them for the first time." Leon replied with a smile as he looked at him.
"Oh yeah? You think I am funny?" The man spoke with a serious expression as he immediately stood up and pulled out a small knife out of his boots.
"Tell me if this is funny..." He immediately walked upto the cage and jabbed the knife straight into Leon's leg.
*STAB*
As the cage was really small, Leon saw it coming but couldn't dodge it.
"..." Leon slammed his fist against the ground, keeping his lips sealed.
"How do you like that?" He asked with a smile as he twisted the dagger around in Leon's leg.
But instead of reacting, Leon grabbed his face and pulled him forward, his face hitting the cold bars.
*THUD*
"L-Leave me... Leave me you fucking-" The skinny man spoke as he started twisting the dagger in Leon's leg even more.
"Listen to me very carefully, motherfucker. My name is Leon Luster and my fucking face will be the last thing you will see before dying, you understand fucker?
The dagger that you are screwing into my fucking leg right now, I promise you I will torture you with the same fucking dagger and I will torture you until you ask for death but I will not give you the mercy of death, I will give you something much more worse, something that when you go to hell, even the devil will fucking shiver when he looks back at your pathetic death." Leon spoke with a very deep and angry voice as blood rushed into his eyes and veins started popping on his forehead.
As soon as he let go of his face, the bandit immediately fell down to the ground as a scared expression appeared over his face.
*Thud*
*Chk*
Leon pulled out the dagger from his leg and threw it towards the bandit.
"You gave me thirty minutes didn't you? I will give you the same, live the last best thirty minutes of your life." Leon spoke as he stared at the bandit and pure bloodlust oozed out of his body, making the air around them really dense.
"Y-Y-You... J-Just you wait... You fucking psychopath, I will kill you with my own hands." The skinny bandit spoke as his arrogance covered his fear and without wasting another second he stood up and ran out of the cave.
'Fuck...' Leon cursed in his mind as he looked at the wound on his leg and the continuous stream of blood flowing out of it.
"You are going to die." A feminine voice came from one of the cave's dark corner.
"Hmm...?" Leon's eyes immediately tracked the sound into the gloom, picking out a pair of legs trembling violently behind a stack of weathered wooden crates. As he focused his vision, he noticed the flesh was marked by thousands of jagged cuts and blistering burn marks.
"We are all going to die someday," Leon replied. He pulled off his shirt, tearing a thick strip of cloth before tightly wrapping it around the wound on his leg to stanch the bleeding.
"...some of us just accept death too fast, and others are too stubborn to even consider it a real thing. I am sorry... you are dying because of me," she spoke, her voice dropping into a hollow, neutral tone.
"How so?" Leon asked, his expression remaining flat as he secured the knot.
"When I get hurt... my body releases a sweet fragrance. No matter who inhales it, they immediately lose consciousness. I was the reason you got caught."
"That's why you have so many scars on your body, huh?"
"Yes."
"So, how many people have you killed until today?" Leon asked, his tone devoid of pity.
"I-I don't kill them... I just make them unconscious-"
"That's just bullshit," Leon interrupted, his face a mask of cold indifference. "You make them unconscious, and then they get killed. You are equally a part of this."
The girl shifted behind the crates, a heavy silence hanging between them before she whispered, "You are right. I have killed many until today. But I don't have any other choice."
"Do you have a slave collar around your neck?" Leon asked.
"Yes."
"So... why do they hurt you for the fragrance? Can't they just order you to produce it?"
"The fragrance only comes out when I am hurt and scared at the same time," she explained softly.
"I see..." Leon muttered. He leaned his head back against the rusted iron bars of his cage and tried to use a skill.
[WARNING: ALL THE SKILLS ARE ON LOCKDOWN.] [59:37]
'Still one hour left...' Leon thought, the glowing red warning reflected in his eyes, visible only to him, '...And where the fuck is Kael? I should've kept him near me.'
Dismissing the screen with a blink, he looked back toward the crates.
"Oi, girl... have you seen a purple crystal around here somewhere?"
"It was brought here with you," she replied in a low tone. "Now my master is trying to figure out what it is and how much it can be sold for."
'The crystal needs my command to activate the mist,' Leon thought, a calculating glint returning to his eyes.'If I can just get close enough to it and trigger the activation, everything after that will be a piece of cake.'
*Step-Step-Step-Step-Step-Step-Step.*
The heavy, unhurried thud of multiple footsteps echoed from the cave's entrance, vibrating through the damp stone floor.
'Here comes my ride...' Leon thought, a slow, smile appearing on his face.
Five men filed into the chamber. The four trailing behind were typical low-life bandits, but the man leading them was a different breed, massive, heavily muscled, with a jagged, pale scar tearing vertically down his left eye.
"He was the one, boss..." The skinny bandit spoke up, stepping forward to point an trembling finger directly at Leon's cage.
'I see... So he is the boss,' Leon noted internally, his posture relaxing into a stance of pure arrogance.
"Hmm...? This one?" The boss asked. He crouched down, bringing his scarred face level with the iron bars, examining Leon with a cold, neutral stare.
Leon didn't flinch. Instead, he looked back at the giant with a pathetic expression, treating the bandit leader as if he were nothing more than a harmless bug clinging to a wall.
"Are you the one who threatened my boy here, claiming that you are going to kill him in the next thirty minutes?" the boss asked, his voice deceptively calm.
"Twenty-five minutes..." Leon corrected, his gaze slowly shifting past the boss to lock onto the skinny bandit.
"Oh? But what will happen if I decide to kill you right now, right here?" the boss sneered.
"That would be the best decision you will ever make in your pathetic life," Leon replied, a mocking smile spreading across his face. "But killing me in a cage would be such a waste, wouldn't it? Why don't you take me out and kill me in front of everyone? That way, your entire crew can see how their great leader needs a magic tamper on a man's body just to kill him."
"HahahAHAHAHAHA...!"
The boss suddenly burst into a loud, booming laugh that rattled the cave.
'What the fuck is wrong with him?' Leon thought, maintaining his smug look while his mind raced.'Fuck, I can't even use the inspect skill to see if he's actually mentally unstable or just acting like a maniac.'
"No one whom I have captured until today has shown me this much disrespect, I have seen people beg me for mercy and for their lifes..." the boss said, his laughter cutting off instantly as his face twisted into grim seriousness.
"...But along with the disrespect, you gave me the best idea of all. Let's kill you in front of everyone. Open his cage... Let's grant the bastard his last wish."
"But boss... I wanted to fuck him and-"
Before the skinny bandit could finish his sentence, the boss snapped his head around, his scarred eye widening with absolute malice. The words died instantly in the bandit's throat.
"Open the cage and take him out," the boss commanded, his voice dropping into a deadly register. "Or do you want to end up inside it instead?"
"Y-Yes... Sir," the skinny bandit stammered.
"Yes? What, do you want to die?"
"N-N-No sir... I meant 'yes' to your orders!" the bandit squeaked, frantically pulling a heavy ring of metallic keys from his pocket.
He shoved the largest key into the lock and turned it.
*Click.*
The iron door swung open with a harsh groan.
"Let's go, you fucking bastard... You should've just sat there silently. At least you would've lived a bit longer," the skinny bandit hissed, grabbing Leon by the collar and dragging him out into the open space with an irritated, trembling grip.
Leon didn't resist. He stood tall, dusting off his pants before looking down at the skinny man with a cold, placid smile.
"Don't you worry, I am in no hurry to die," Leon replied with a smile. "And you now have exactly twenty minutes now."
*Step-Step-Step-Step-Step-Step-Step*
Leon walked forward with a smile on his face as two bandits grabbed his hands and their boss walked right next to him.
'What the hell is wrong with him? Doesn't he fear death? If only I had people like him with me, I wouldn't have to hide in forests.
What a waste of talent... if he had a little less attitude I would've recruited him into the group.' The boss thought with a dissapointed expression as he looked at Leon.
'Fuck... He could've been one of the best slave but he had to show his attitude in front of boss. Now none of us get to have fun, stupid fucker.' The skinny bandit thought as he looked at Leon with an irritated expression.
"LEADERRRRRRRRR... HELPPPPPPPP-" Suddenly a loud screaming noise came from outside but it was cut short with a loud *THUD*.
"Heh..." Suddenly the smirk on Leon's face widened as he straightened his figure.
"What the-!!??????" The boss immediately ran forward and as soon as he reached at the cave's entrance, his eyes widened in complete shock and body froze up.
"Boss what happened?" The skinny guy immediately walked upto him with a confused expression and touched him on the shoulder before turning his head towards the cave's exit.
Suddenly his eyes widened in fear as well and the boradsword that he was holding in his hand fell down to ground.
*Thud*
"Finally..." Leon spoke as he walked upto them and looked outside with a smile.
The view outside was far more gruesome than he had imagined.
Kael was ripping apar a Bandit's head from his body with his bare hands while a woman was hanging on a tree branch, her lower half missing and her intestines were hanging out, she was trying to scream but her lungs were also lying down on the ground.
The ground outside wasn't brown or green, it was completely soaked in crimson blood and dead bodies that were ripped apart into thousands of pieces.
"HELPPPPPPPPPPPP... USSSSSS... LEADERR..." A man shouted as he ran towards the cave with a scared expression on his face but before he could've reached there...
"Where are you going?" Kael spoke as he pulled out one of his axes and threw it at the the man using the minimum possible amount of power.
*SWISH*
*CHK*
The axe jabbed right into his skull and his eye ball popped out of their sockets immediately as his corpse fell down to the ground.
*THUD*
"You lowly bugs dared to touch my master? DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?" Kael spoke as he walked upto the dead man and pulled out his axe from his skull.
*Chk*
Kael then walked upto the Leon and immediately went down on his knees in front of him.
"I accept any punishment you have for me master. I understand that I have done wrong but please don't send me back to purgatory." Kai spoke as he immediately smacked his head down on the ground with full force.
*THUD*
"Y-You destroyed everything... K-Killed everyone precious to me." The boss spoke as his expressions shifted into anger and he grabbed the broad sword that was lying on the ground.
Without wasting another second, he raised it and brought it down on Kael's head with full power.
"DIE BASTARDDDDDDD..." He shouted loudly.
"Kill him." Leon ordered with a smile.
"As you command, master." Kael spoke as he immediately disappeared from the ground and re-appeared behind the boss bandit.
In just a split second, he swinged his axe and separated his head from his dead body.
*Chk*
*Catch*
But before the head could've fallen down, kael caught it in his hand and re-appeared in front of Leon with it.
"Should I kill them as well, master?" Kael spoke as he pointed towards the bandits who were standing right next to Leon.
"Hmm...?" Leon slowly turned to look at them and noticed that both of them have soiled their pants and their bodies were shaking violently from fear.
"S-Sir... Please spare me, I-I will always be your slave, I-I will do everything you tell me to do... I-I will eat your shit if you want... Please sir, please let me live." The skinny bandit spoke as he grabbed Leon's leg tightly.
"How about you open these chains and that magic tampering bracelet from my leg?" Leon asked with a kind smile as he looked at the skinny bandit.
"Y-Yes... Sir. I-I will do it immediately." The skinny bandit spoke as he immediately pulled out a special key from his pocket and unlocked the magic tampering.
*Click*
*Thud*
"Now chains..." Leon spoke in a low voice.
"Y-Yes..."
*Click*
*Thud*
As soon as the chains fell down to the ground, Leon rubbed his wrists and snatched the keys from his hands.
"I will be back in a second... If any of them tries to run away or even move, kill them but not him, I need this one alive." Leon replied as he pointed towards the skinny bandit.
He then walked back inside the cave and opened Dusk's cage.
"Master... I am sorry for dissapointing you." Dusk spoke as he walked out of the cage with a shameful expression on his face and his head hanging low.
"Don't worry, Dusk. Even I passed out immediately by that fragrance." Leon replied as he opened up the magic tampering bracelet from his leg.
*Click*
*Thud*
After opening the bracelet, Leon walked upto the wooden crates and noticed a small girl with long brown hairs sleeping peacefully while leaning against the crates.
As Leon observed closely he noticed that not only her legs but her whole body is covered in cuts and burn marks.
"Just when I was starting to feel a little sympathy for those who died outside." Leon thought as immediately removed the slave collar from her neck as it was already open.
He then picked her up into his arms and started carrying her towards the cave's entrance.
But as soon as Leon reached in front of the cave's entrance, he noticed that the other two bandits who were grabbing his hands before, were also killed by kael.
"They tried to run, master." Kael replied with a neutral expression.
"Good Good... Now, let's start with you because your time is now... OVER." Leon spoke as he looked at the skinny bandit with a very evil smile.
-x-X-x-
Leon is now tying the skinny bandit to a tree.
"S-S-S-S-Sir... Please, I-I beg you. I-I will literally do anything... a-a-anything you say, you can even fuck me if you want." The bandit spoke in a desperate tone as sweat dripped down from his forehead with any stops.
"Oh I don't know about fucking you, but I will fuck you up... So, don't you worry about that." Leon spoke as he tied the knot and tapped on his cheeks twice before walking away.
He then picked up the same dagger that the bandit had used to stab him.
"Say... What's your name?" Leon asked as he cleaned the dagger.
"M-M-M-Miles..." He replied as fear appeared in his eyes and his body started shivering violently.
"Miles huh? That's a good name. So, Miles... let me tell you something and I want you to remember this. Although it's something that you will come handy in your next life but let's start.
First lesson of the day... You can't walk without your fingers and toes. Wanna find out if it's true?" Leon asked with a smile, as he immediately took off Miles' shoes.
"N-N-No... S-Sir... Please I beg-" Before he could've completed his sentence, Leon stabbed the dagger straight into his left leg's toe and cut it off cleanly.
"ΑΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗHHHHH... SOMEONE SAVE MEEEEEEEEEEEE-" Miles started shouting but before he could've shouted anymore, Leon placed the dagger right over his vocal box.
"Shout once more and I will pull out your vocal box or better... I will cut your lungs and you will be just like her, but alive. Understand?" Leon spoke as he pointed towards the woman who was hanging on the tree.
"Y-Yes..." Miles replied with a scared expression as he immediately bite down on his lips to stop himself from screaming.
"Now... Should I insert the dagger in between his nails first or take off the skin from his legs?" Leon asked as he turned to look at kael.
"I don't know master... I don't torture people. I am a very merciful soul." Kael replied with a neutral expression.
"Yeah you sure are... give me Maverick." Leon spoke with a neutral expression.
*Swish*
Suddenly the Malebolge changed it's appearance and Maverick appeared instead of Kael.
"Master." Maverick immediately bowed down to Leon as he pulled out his knives.
"Tell me the best way to torture him..." Leon asked with a smile.
"You should really peel off his skin but not his muscles master because we don't want him dying from blood loss?
Once his skin comes off, even the air will hurt him." Maverick replied with a maniacal smile.
"You do it... I will just sit here and enjoy. Here use this dagger " Leon replied with a smile as he walked upto a stone and tossed the dagger to Maverick.
*Catch*
Maverick catches the dagger and Leon takes a seat on the stone.
"Now, Now... It's been a while since I did it. Let's see..." Maverick spoke with a smile as he slowly inserted the dagger's tip into the upper left corner of Miles' chest.
"N-N-No... Please..." Miles spoke with wide eyes as fear covered his face.
"Haa... So many years in that dark pit only to see this expression once again, this sooths my soul. First layer... Second layer and third layer..." Maverick spoke as he immediately moved the dagger across his chest and stomach, making a oval cut with such smoothness that even Leon's eyes widened in surprise.
A red oval line appeared over his body as blood flowed out of it.
"This is my favourite part..." Maverick spoke with a psychotic smile as he grabbed the skin and ripped it off from his body in one swift motion.
*Crrrrrrr*
"ΑΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗHHHHH..." Miles shouted once again in agony as his muscles were revealed and tears started coming out of his eyes.
'Such precision with a blunt dagger like that? He could've made into a perfect psychopath doctor.' Leon thought.
"If only I had some salt with me.... This would've been even more fun to watch."
Maverick thought with a smile as he looked at Miles.
"P-Please... J-Just kill me... I-I can't take it any more. I beg you... K-Kill me." Miles spoke as he started crying and begging again.
"Kill you? I have no intentions of letting you die." Maverick replied with a wide smile as he spun the dagger around his fingers.
For the next ten minutes, Maverick peeled off every single patch of skin from Miles' body and poked the nerves that hurted him like hell.
Ten minutes later...
Without skin, Miles' body looked horrific as his muscles were revealed completely and he was crying loudly.
"N0000000000.... PLEASEEEE... HELP."
"MY LEGGGGGGGGGG..."
"PLEASE SPARE-AHHHΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗ...."
The forest resounded with Miles' painful cries as Maverick continued to torture him in the worst possible ways, he cutted off his eye lids and slowly started bleeding him.
Meanwhile Leon sat on the rock and enjoyed all of this with a smile on his face.
*Pop*
Suddenly a half-transparent screen popped up in front of him.
[Note: Skill lockdown has been removed.]
As soon as Leon saw the message, he stood up from the stone and walked upto Maverick.
"Give me the dagger..." Leon ordered with a neutral expression.
"Yes, Master." Maverick replied as he handed the dagger back to him immediately.
Leon took the dagger and looked at Miles' with a smile.
"Do you want to die?" He asked.
"Y-Yes, Yes, Yes... P-Please kill me... I-I beg you sir." Miles spoke as his mouth barely moved.
"Fine... Which kingdom is the closest to this place?" Leon asked with a neutral expression.
"V-V-Vergas e-empire..." Miles replied in a low tone.
"It's a human empire ?"
"Yes... T-The c-church controls it." Miles replied in a low voice.
"Very well then... In your text life, try not to be a stupid fuck." Leon replied with a smile as he raised the dagger and jabbed it into his skull.
*STAB*
-x-X-x-
*Splash*
"HAHHHH...." The little girl immediately woke up from her sleep and took a deep breath as she felt the cold water splashing against her face.
"Morning sunshine... wake up. Your freedom might go back if you don't wake up to greet it." Leon spoke with a neutral expression as he took out one of Bandit's shirt from a blood stained bag and wore it.
"W-What?" She immediately looked around with a confused expression as the ground was still covered in red blood but not even a single corpse was visible.
"Master... It's done." Maverick spoke as he walked out from behind the bushes with neutral expression.
'The Malebolge might be one of the best monster that I have summoned till now.
Thirteen evil motherfucking souls in a shapeshifting body and it can consume more dead bodies to increase it's shapeshifting accuracy! Leon thought with a neutral expression as he looked at Maverick.
"Oh... another one, should I peel off the kid's-" Maverick started speaking but Leon cut him mid-sentence.
"No need." He spoke as he used his skill.
The Malebolge disappeared instantly and the imp appeared in it's place.
"Master..." Imp spoke as he immediately bowed down to Leon.
Leon picked up a broken branch from the ground and used another skill.
The branch glowed golden for a little moment before returning back to it's original state.
"Vergas Empire..." Leon spoke in a low voice as he placed the branch vertically on the ground and removed his hand from the other end.
*Thud*
The stick fell toward the north.
"Keep going into that direction and scout for a kingdom. If you see it, report it back to me." Leon commanded the imp with a neutral expression.
"As you command, Master." The imp immediately started flying away without wasting another second.
"T-The collar..." The little girl spoke as she placed her hand near her neck with a neutral expression.
"Now... let's deal with you." Leon turned towards her and used his skill on her.
[Name: Kurai]
[Class: Fragrance Keeper]
[Race: Half-Elf]
[HP: 600/600]
[MP: 300/300]
[Description: Kurai was born into an Elven mercenary household, but after her elf mother and human father died on a mission she was immediately sold off to a slave trading firm by one of her relatives, while her sister was kept in house for raising.]
*Sigh*
Leon sighed as he readed the description and dissapointed expression appeared over his face.
'... and I thought Elfs were intelligent creatures.!' He thought.
"W-Why?" Kurai spoke as tears started to fill her eyes.
"Why I saved you?" Leon asked with a neutral expression.
"Yes.."
"I don't know-" Before Leon could've completed his sentence, Kurai walked upto him and started punching his legs as she cried loudly.
"Are you mad little girl?" Dusk asked with a confused expression.
"I-I killed so many people... Y-You s-said I killed all of them... *Sob-Sob* H-How am I supposed to live with... that now? *Sob-Sob* Why didn't you just let me die or *Sob-Sob* or killed me with them?" Kurai asked as she cried even more and continued to punch Leon.
'She is not even ten and yet she is so aware about what is happening around her and she also blames every death on herself. The elf blood inside her body made her wiser before time. Leon thought as he placed his hand over head and used his skill.
As soon as he used the skill, all the cuts and burning marks on Kurai's body disappeared immediately.
"Kurai..." Leon spoke in a low voice as he slowly pulled her in and hugged her slightly.
As soon as she heard her name from Leon's mouth, even more tears started to come out of her eyes, as she remembered that the bandits always only called her with abusive names.
"... It wasn't your fault." Leon completed his sentence.
After that Kurai took a shower in the river and Leon gave her one of the Bandit's son's clothes as they were the only ones remaining without blood stains.
"Let's go." He spoke with a neutral expression as he immediately grabbed kurai and jumped into Dusk's back.
"Dusk... I am hungry and I want to eat a good meal and get some good clothes and I want to fuck some really curvy and married women.
For that... We need to get to that virgin or whatever stupid fucking named empire that is and I want to get there fast, so show me some speed boy." Leon spoke with a smile as he grabbed Dusk's fur tightly.
"All you needed to say, Master." Dusk spoke as a smile appeared over his face, he immediately took his running stance and his fur started to glow brightly blue.
"Kid, grab my hand as tightly as possible and close your eyes. Try not to open them, if you don't want to go blind." Leon spoke as he looked at kurai.
"Y-Yes, sir." Kurai spoke as she immediately grabbed Leon's hand and closed her eyes.
As soon as dusk used the skill and took the first step, all three of them completely disappeared from their position as if the air had swallowed them.
As dusk ran through the forest he left a blue streak of mana behind him and as soon as that streak touched a tree, a clean cut appeared over it's trunk and it fell down almost immediately.
*THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD*
As he ran through the forest, a clean path of fallen trees made it clear that he wasn't something to be touched when running.
Even the monsters heard Dusk's footsteps coming from miles away and stepped away from his path.
In just twelve seconds, Dusk reached on the forest's northern exit and stopped.
Leon opened his eyes and noticed that the Vergas Empire was right in front of them.
-x-X-x-
*Thud*
Leon jumped down from Dusk's back as he looked at the Vergas Empire.
Vergas Empire was completely covered in a huge round wall and there was a huge rotating set of rings hovering directly above the kingdom.
"It's not even big enough to be called an empire. An empire consists of two or more kingdoms. This is just a small Kingdom covered with big ass walls and what the fuck is that hovering thing over it?" Leon thought as he immediately used his skill on it.
[Name: The Summoner's Pellet]
[Rank: B]
[Description: A summoner's pellet is used to collect and store energy from sun and moon, in the form of Keton crystal balls and they can be used as one of the purest sacrificial offerings, that can be used to open the final door of purgatory and summon creatures beyond imagination.]
"Hehe... Hehehehe..." Suddenly Leon started laughing as evil ideas started to pop up in his mind.
"Should I take the smaller form, master?" Dusk asked with a neutral expression.
"Yeah, do that. We are going into that kingdom." Leon replied with a neutral expression as dusk immediately changed into his cat appearance and both of them started walking towards the kingdom.
"Umm... Sir, we shouldn't go into that Kingdom." Kurai spoke with a scared expression.
"Why?" Leon asked with a confused expression.
"I don't have much knowledge but I will tell you everything I know about this kingdom. The one-eyed wolf bandits used this kingdom as their main supply source for food and clothings, while in exchange they supplied them with artifacts and jewelries." Kurai explained.
"So? What's the problem in that? Every thief needs to sell the stolen goods." Leon replied with a neutral expression.
"You are right, Sir. But... The people living inside that Kingdom, they are really weird. Everyone does whatever the girls in black and white dresses tell them to do.
They live in very odd and same looking houses and eat the same food that is also distributed by the girls in black and white dresses. When the bandits were talking about that Kingdom, I also heard that there is someone named mother maria who controls everything and some people say that she can even revive the dead." Kurai explained.
'Revive the dead? Is she a necromancer or what? If she is a necromancer, I will be able to mimic her skill! Leon thought with a curious expression.
"I have seen it before..." Dusk spoke in a low voice as he stared at Leon's face.
"Hmm...?" Kurai looked at dusk with a confused expression.
"Wait for it..."
"Okay... We are going in." Leon spoke with a neutral expression as he came out of his thoughts.
"There it is." Dusk spoke in a low voice as a smile appeared over his face.
"Come." Leon spoke as he started walking towards the kingdom, Dusk and Kurai started following him.
...
As they were walking towards the kingdom, Kuria stared at Dusk with big eyes.
"Hmm...? What?" Dusk asked with a confused expression.
"Umm... Can I pet you?" Kurai asked with an innocent face as she looked at him.
"No little girl, keep your hands away from me. I don't like anyone touching me other than master." Dusk replied with a neutral expression.
"B-But..." Kurai spoke as tears started to accumulate in her eyes.
"Aghhh... Fine, but only pet my-" Before dusk could've completed his sentence, Kurai picked him up into her arms and started scratching his head.
"H-Hey... oh, this... actually feels good." Dusk spoke as a smile appeared over his face and he relaxed his body.
"Wait..." Leon spoke as he stopped walking and noticed a big group of guards standing on the Kingdom's entrance gate.
All the guards wore black armours and holded long spears in their hands as they checked the supply wagons.
'The security is too high... But why?' Leon thought with a confused expression.
"Kurai... Those guards, are there always this many of them on the gate?" Leon asked with a neutral expression.
"No sir. On normal days there are even more guards standing on the gate. I think it has to be one of the rally days." Kurai replied with a straight face.
"What's a rally day?"
"On rally days, Mother Marie comes out of the church and takes a whole round of the kingdom in her chariot." Kurai explained.
"I see... Dusk and Kurai, both of you will stay here. Dusk keep an eye on her." Leon replied with a neutral expression.
"Master!? But what if something goes wrong inside?" Dusk asked with a worried expression.
"Don't worry..." Leon spoke as he immediately used his skill.
The Malebolge immediately re-appeared in front of Leon.
"Give me Vesper." Leon commanded.
The Malebolge immediately started changing it's shape and in just a few seconds, it took the form of a beautiful lady.
She had a black veil on half of her face, her head was covered with a white hat and she wore a crimson dress with golden borders.
She also holded a small white umbrella in her left hand and a small sand hourglass in her right hand.
"I greet my master." Madam Vesper delicately pinched her gown from the right side and lifted it a little as she bowed down to Leon in a royal manner.
"So, you are madam Vesper... The puppeteer aristocrat who manipulated thousands of men into murdering their own families and then watched them confess to it just for fun?" Leon asked as a smirk appeared over his face.
"Ah those were good old days, master. I have had so much fun in that time but then I was sent to the purgatory and turns out having fun has a prize after all." Vesper replied with a smile as she looked at Leon.
"Good... You will be coming with me." Leon ordered with a neutral expression.
"Oh okay, but doing something so dirty here in the open... I mean I am okay with it but it's-"
"Not cumming... You will be coming with me to that kingdom. You really have a twisted mind don't you?" Leon asked as a smile appeared over his face.
"Anything to please my master." Vesper replied with a smile as she bowed down again.
-x-X-x-
Vergas Empire's entry gate...
Seventeen guards stood on the gate and there were two separate queues to enter inside the empire.
The queue on the right side belonged to wagons and the left side belonged to the people on foot.
As Vergas Empire has low to none farming capacities, they trade and buy most things from outside the kingdom but the security checks at the gate are very sharp.
Every wagon that enters inside the kingdom must be checked throughly for any outsider spies who might try infiltrate the kingdom.
Five guards checked each and every single wagon throughout and placed the items back into it once they were assured that there was nothing suspicious inside it.
As the wagon moved forward, a guard registered the driver and merchant's name in a record book and gave them a temporary Identification card that allowed them to stay inside the kingdom for seven hours.
Once all these procedures were done, only then the wagon was permitted to go inside the kingdom.
...
On the left side the queue belonged to the men and women who were on foot, mostly they were all locals who went out to collect firewood and monster meat, but at the end of the line, stood Leon and Vesper.
'What are they even hiding inside that Kingdom? For a medieval Kingdom like this, the security checks are stronger than the pentagon back on earth.' Leon thought with a calm expression as he noticed that even the people who belonged to the kingdom were being checked out throughly and they were being asked random questions.
...
A man walked upto the guards and handed them a completely blank white card.
The guard passed the card to another guard who was sitting on a chair with a crystal ball in front of him.
He immediately placed the card behind the crystal ball and looked at it with a neutral expression.
"Welcome back, Mr. Fagenbokur. It says the purpose of your trip was to meet someone in the Elf kingdom. Have you brought something that can testify to it that you went to the elf kingdom?" The guard asked.
"Yes... This is a Regan Pearl. They can only be in the Elf kingdom." The man spoke as he handed over a sapphire glowing pearl to the guard.
"Very well... What's your house number?" The guard asked.
"324-B."
"What's your wife's name and place of birth?"
"Melda and place of birth would be Otlin kingdom."
While this was going on, Both Leon and Vesper waited in line for the next twenty minutes.
....
Twenty minutes later,
"Welcome to the Vergas Empire... How can we help you?" The guard asked with a neutral expression as he looked at Leon.
"This is madam Vesper Von Valris, the mistress of Jackson household and I am Barry Allen, her bodyguard.
We were travelling to our kingdom Gotham, when we got attacked by some bandits in those mountains and we barely escaped but everything we had with us is now gone except a little bit of money, we are hungry and need to buy some food from your kingdom.
We also want to take some rest here if possible." Leon explained as he looked at the guard with a neutral expression.
"First of all, I greet the mistress..." The knight spoke as he immediately bowed down to Vesper and all the other guards also followed him, as they bowed down.
"The formal greeting of a knight to a seven star nobel mistress should be more polite, don't you think?" Vesper spoke as she looked at the knight with a displeased and disgusted expression.
"I-I-I am sorry, my lady. Let me greet you once again." The knight hesitated and went down on one knee immediately.
The other guards followed his lead and went down on their knees as well.
"We the guards and knights of the Vergas Empire, greet the gracious mistress of the seven star Jackson household." The knight spoke as he stood up after that.
"Good." Vesper replied with a neutral expression.
'She was able to made them go on their knees just with a displeased voice and a stare? She really was a high level aristocrat when she was alive huh?' Leon thought as he looked at the knight.
"So, can we go inside?" Leon asked with a neutral expression.
"Yes, but we are only allowed to issue temporary only twenty-hour stay, resident cards for outsiders.
It's not a disrespect, ma'am. But you can talk to Mother Marie directly and get the stay extended on-"
"Twenty-four hours is more than enough, my wagons will come searching for me in no more than twelve hours when they find out that i didn't arrive at the destination." Vesper replied with a neutral expression.
"Yes ma'am. Give me the card." The guard spoke as his partner handed him a blank black card.
"If patrolling guards ask you anything inside, you can just show this to them and they will leave you alone." The knight replied as he holded the card in front of Vesper.
"I don't like people handing me things." Vesper replied with a neutral expression.
"Y-Yes..." The knight immediately turned his hand towards Leon.
"Thank you. Are you going to check us as well?"
"We won't dare to touch the mistress of such high household. Please go in." The knight replied.
Leon and Vesper walked forward and entered inside the Kingdom without any problems.
...
"How do you know they aren't lying?" A guard asked as he walked upto the knight.
"I know nobels and she has the same talking style and attitude." The knight replied with a neutral expression.
"Do you really know any kingdom named Gotham and a household named Jackson?" The guard asked.
"Y-Yeah... It's in the North and Jackson family is a very big household there. Now get back to work, you fucking idiots." The knight lied and shouted in order to close down any upcoming counter argument or questions.