"Guys, don't be afraid. This Balthor just took the opportunity this time to kill that guy Kurma when he was caught off guard. It is just his decision and has nothing to do with me."

Lucien first cleared himself up and then said,

"Don't worry. I just want to stay till the end, as I have some plan on how to kill that bastard Lionheart family. I really didn't expect Balthor to kill Kurma in his anger."

He smiled a little awkwardly but saw that everyone was still on guard and no one was actually trying to come forward to ask for the so-called mission anymore.

It seemed the death of Kurma really shocked them too much, and all they wanted was to leave, nothing else.

'Sigh…forget it. It is just a few of them anyway. I don't need their help.'

After seeing their reaction, Lucien finally sighed and shook his head, feeling that it was time to end this farce.

He had enough debtors on the list anyway; losing a few of them didn't matter much. Not to mention, he got quite the surprise from Balthor, Kurma, and even…

'…why is that guy Aldren still not attacking me? Don't tell me he also chickened out?'

Lucien couldn't help but look at the two guys standing quietly at the corner in wonder.

"Lord Lucien, I'll take this mission. How about rewarding me with an advanced-ranked Sword?"

Just when he was getting distracted, suddenly he heard someone's voice from the front. Only, when he saw who it was, it was now Lucien's time to get surprised.

'Hugo?'

Although the person who just asked was draped in a black cloak, hiding his figure and face completely, he could still recognize him through his Debt Marker.

'What is he trying to do?'

But that made him quite confused, as while everyone was getting scared to continue the farce, Hugo came forward, intending to take a mission to kill his own family member.

Of course, Lucien was quite surprised.

"Sir? Is this mission…unavailable?"

Hugo asked again in a confused voice after seeing him staring at him in silence. With his hoarse voice and changed body language, it was quite hard to recognize him if not for the marker.

"Hmm? Yeah, this is still available. Is this knife enough?"

Although Lucien was quite confused, he still smiled like before and threw a crimson Sword in Hugo's direction lightly.

He wanted to see what this guy wanted to do. After all, this guy must hate him to the core due to the incident at the Genesis Rift.

"Haha…this is perfect. This is the exact weapon I want."

But to Lucien's surprise, Hugo actually laughed loudly and caressed the sword in his hand, admiring it dearly.

He even waved lightly as if to weigh it and nodded to show his satisfaction. He looked just like those guys from before who got what they wanted from Lucien.

'Is this guy here to take advantage of this situation or what?'

For a moment, seeing him like this, Lucien thought that Hugo might be trying to take advantage while at it.

Just, his timing was quite odd, wasn't it?

"Thank you, Sir Lucien. I will make sure to complete this mission to the best of my ability."

Just as Lucien was trying to guess Hugo's motive, the man actually bowed in gratitude, promising to see the task through.

To be fair, he looked more genuine than all those fake Assassins and Mercenaries around.

'I didn't know he could act this well.'

Lucien was about to roll his eyes in silence when Hugo suddenly looked up again, this time with a different intention.

"But before I set out, I want Sir Lucien to accept my gift as well."

Hugo spoke calmly before pulling out a dark bead and tossing it straight toward Lucien.

"I hope you'll like it."

"BOOM!"

That was the last thing Lucien heard in Hugo's grinning voice, right before the bead detonated in his face.

"Lucien, be careful!"

Everything happened in an instant, as even though Lucien was on guard as soon as Hugo appeared, he was still caught off guard.

After all, he never knew such a small bead could explode with such intensity, not to mention the thick demonic energy that sprang out of such a small bead, directly engulfing the entire Chamber simultaneously.

"What is this?"

"Is this Kurma's skill again?"

"N-No ... .this is…this is demonic energy. Shit, run."

As soon as the deep darkness engulfed the entire chamber briefly after the detonation of the bead, someone immediately realized what power it had.

But precisely that realization made him shiver from head to toe in absolute fear.

Demon, it was a taboo subject in the Carag Continent. After the appearance of the World of Origin, one thing that managed to instill fear into every being in the World of Soren was the demons.

Although most people only knew they were the harbingers of chaos that crawled out from the Abyss, that alone was enough to keep their names whispered in dread.

After all, tales of cities swallowed overnight, kingdoms reduced to ash, and people with unmatched might falling helplessly before them were heard by everyone.

For the common folk, a demon was not something they expected to see with their own eyes, as it was a shadow, a nightmare, and a curse in human form.

Even the most arrogant clans and proud kings dared not treat their existence lightly.

Of course, people would get afraid by feeling such a thick demonic essence covering their entire vicinity. Just feeling its aura, they could feel the cruelty within.

How could they not get scared?

"Demon? Him?"

Lucien also heard that person's scream and looked at Hugo in surprise. After all, he knew who he was.

"Boy, something is not right with this guy. I feel like…this guy is a…Necromancer. And his realm is quite high."

Just when Lucien was thinking about the absurd situation in front of his eyes, he suddenly heard Velmara's solemn voice from the side.

He was the one who just used his ability to shield Lucien and Helena from the explosion of that bead just now.

But he still couldn't get rid of that Demonic Energy spreading rapidly in every direction. This showed how powerful that thing was.

Moreover, from how Velmara was already changing his body shape, Lucien could feel that Hugo in front was quite strong.

Strong enough to give Velmara a challenge. But…how was that even possible?

"Necromancer?"

Lucien heard Velmara but got more confused by the second. After all, he knew Hugo awakened a Warrior class.

So how could he be a Necromancer all of a sudden?

'This doesn't make sense.'

"Hehe…as expected of Lord Velmara, you quickly realized what I am."

But when Hugo laughed and agreed to Velmara's words, it became clear.

Of course, those dense demonic energies blackening the entire chamber, and the low howls and creepy cries that were beginning to surface from every direction, made it even clearer.

"Who are you?"

As the demonic energy from the bead's explosion spread through the surroundings, the danger level spiked exponentially out of nowhere.

It was as if some hidden environmental effect had been triggered, like in a game world, causing Hugo's attribute to skyrocket without warning. Even Lucien could feel the palpitations coming from Hugo.

"Haha…Sir Velmara, is there a need to know who I am? Isn't it enough that you know I am your enemy?"

Hugo grinned behind the mask while looking at the gigantic owl that was shielding Lucien out of his view, protecting him.

Since Velmara was an owl, the sudden darkness didn't affect him much. But those cries and screeches he was hearing everywhere were really making his nerves tense like never before.

After all, even inside the Shadow Kingdom, he never really faced a demon or someone related to them. All he knew was also rumour, like everyone else.

So, he had to be extremely careful since he couldn't make the same mistake twice here.

"Boy, you might need to hide for a while. This guy isn't normal. I feel extremely dense death energy on him. It will be bad if you come in contact with it."

Velmara didn't answer Hugo, and instead warned Lucien, who was still sitting on his chair, caressing Helena's (Sera) thigh affectionately, causing the poor girl to hide on his shoulder from the beginning in shame.

Even when such a thing happened outside, she didn't look, as her face was already so red that she was feeling dizzy.

"Death energy? Hmm…it seems the poor guy got used by someone."

Lucein raised his eyebrows and slowly stood up from his chair, finally placing Helena on her feet.

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

However, his inadvertent words not only surprised Velmara, even Hugo was taken aback as he asked Lucien reflexively.

He didn't know why, but from the beginning, he felt that Lucien knew who he was.

'But…that's impossible.'

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