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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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Chapter 191: The Golden Myriad Trading Guild Master
I quickly ascended the stairs and stopped as soon as I reached the fourth floor.
Beyond the middle gate to the left, two guards stood in line on either side of the tightly closed door.
One appeared to be a guard of the Golden Myriad Trading Guild, while the other had a scabbard with a snake engraving on his hip.
A skull tattoo was clearly visible on his forehead.
As soon as I opened the middle gate and approached, the Bellusia guard glared at me.
"Halt."
I scanned my surroundings, checking left and right, ceiling and floor, all at once.
Even when I extended my senses, I couldn't feel the presence of anyone else besides these two.
The fact that the Blood King Serpent had come with only one bodyguard meant this was a secret visit.
I immediately asked the Golden Myriad Trading Guild guard,
"Is the Golden Myriad Trading Guild Master inside?"
"He's in a meeting. Didn't you hear downstairs?"
"I have an urgent matter to discuss. Please inform him."
Just as I noticed a flicker of unease on the Golden Myriad Trading Guild guard's face, the Bellusia guard reached for his hip.
"Get lost."
Typical Bellusia manners.
"I am the Dark Light, Commander of Samael's Crazy Mage Squad. Inform him."
"Dark Light?"
Astonishment filled the Golden Myriad Trading Guild guard's eyes.
Even the menacing Bellusia guard looked at me with a slightly flustered expression.
Meanwhile, I assessed the atmosphere between the two.
The Golden Myriad Trading Guild guard was clearly wary of the Bellusia guard.
Judging by the silence from within the room, a mana barrier must have been erected.
The Bellusia guard asked again, this time with a slightly more respectful tone,
"What brings the Dark Light here?"
I addressed the Golden Myriad Trading Guild guard,
"I've come to see the Golden Myriad Trading Guild Master. Please inform him."
"I apologize, but..."
"Is it difficult to relay the message? Or are you hesitating? If you can't do it, I'll go in myself."
The Bellusia guard spoke to me once more,
"He's in a meeting with the Clan Head."
"I've come to see the master of the Golden Myriad Trading Guild. Why are you interfering?"
"No one can enter until their conversation is over."
"You're not understanding me."
The moment I opened the door, the Bellusia guard moved his right hand, which was resting on the scabbard at his hip.
Simultaneously, an explosive surge of mana erupted from within the room.
Fwaaaaaang—!
Just before the door burst open and the sinister energy surged out...
An expression of disbelief filled the Bellusia guard's eyes.
Fabat—!
A fountain of blood erupted from his cleanly severed wrist.
He stared blankly at it for a moment before screaming.
"Kaaaaack!"
After severing the Bellusia guard's wrist with my Dark Lightning, I opened all the circles of my heart and looked inside the room.
Amidst the acrid smoke, I felt murderous intent directed towards my forehead.
'Fire Sword.'
As I swung my flame-engulfed right hand and deflected the small silver needle, poison briefly scattered in the air.
A moment later, the smoke cleared like a washed fog, and I could finally see the scene inside.
The middle-aged man sitting in the seat of honor was the Golden Myriad Trading Guild Master.
And beside him, the Blood King Serpent was staring at me with his head tilted.
The sight of dozens of snakes coiled atop his head was still as unpleasant as ever.
"We meet again, Ruin Samael."
"It's been a while."
"I said no one was to be allowed in... You're a strange one."
The Blood King Serpent glanced at the guard with the severed wrist and then looked back at me.
The snakes on his head raised their heads and radiated hostility.
"Have you come here to die?"
I also looked at the guard with the severed wrist and said,
"You have to be careful when poison could fly at you at any moment. He made the first move."
The Blood King Serpent looked at me with a surprised expression.
"An outsider knows about that?"
Nowadays, the Bellusia Clan was famous for their various strange weapons, but it was poison and hidden weapons that played a crucial role in their rise to the position of Vassal Clan.
When I pointed out that poison could have been launched the moment the Bellusia guard moved his right hand, the Blood King Serpent, surprisingly, nodded in understanding.
Perhaps he considered it a show of respect.
Several of the snakes on the Blood King Serpent's head seemed to smile, their mouths stretching wide.
It was then.
"Crazy Mage Commander of Samael."
A deep voice rang out.
The moment the Golden Myriad Trading Guild Master, sitting in the seat of honor with a calm expression, looked at me, I immediately sensed that their meeting was unfolding in a way entirely different from what I had anticipated.
Although I couldn't sense any mana from him, he exuded an aura that didn't falter even in the presence of the Blood King Serpent.
No wonder something felt strange.
I smiled and looked at the Golden Myriad Trading Guild Master.
"So, it seems this meeting was prearranged?"
The Golden Myriad Trading Guild Master nodded and said,
"Indeed. Judging by your eyes, you wouldn't have waited even if I told you to. What urgent business do you have with me?"
"The seal."
The Golden Myriad Trading Guild Master's expression, which had seemed impervious to any disturbance, suddenly changed.
"What are you talking about?"
"The seal. Don't you know? You seem to recognize it from your expression. The Guild Master's seal has disappeared..."
The Golden Myriad Trading Guild Master quickly covered my mouth.
"How did you know?"
"That's what I'm here to talk about."
The Golden Myriad Trading Guild Master replied in a low voice,
"...Please wait in the next room for a moment. I'll come as soon as I finish my discussion."
At that moment, the Blood King Serpent, Alshura, who had been watching me and the Golden Myriad Trading Guild Master with an intrigued expression, spoke up.
"I'll listen in as well."
The Golden Myriad Trading Guild Master shook his head.
"This is an internal matter of the Trading Guild."
"Is that so?"
Suddenly, Alshura looked at me.
"We also have unfinished business, you see. The disappearance of my heir in the Demon Realm seems to be related to you, no matter how I look at it."
I looked at both of them and said,
"There's no need for any of us to play games. I have something to discuss with you too, Blood King Serpent. Let's just talk about everything here. Golden Myriad Trading Guild Master, the seal wasn't stolen by an outsider."
The Golden Myriad Trading Guild Master's expression hardened, and he glared at me.
"Didn't I tell you to wait?"
"It's too late, already."
"..."
"Your closest aide stole it. Has anyone been acting strangely lately?"
The Golden Myriad Trading Guild Master sighed and looked at me with a helpless expression.
"This is unbelievable. I only found out about it yesterday, how could you...? How did you know the seal was missing?"
"There are ways to know everything. First, think about it."
"The Guild Master's seal is missing?"
I spoke to the Blood King Serpent, who was looking at the Golden Myriad Trading Guild Master as if he had found a weakness to exploit.
"Hey, Blood King Serpent. Why are you grinning like an idiot? From what I see, you're the one with the bigger problem. Do you still believe your heir is missing? Your son is dead. He was killed by a masked man. Have you ever heard of the demon tribe?"
"...What?"
"Do you know he's dead but can't accept it? Or do you truly believe he's still missing?"
Suddenly, a thick, sinister energy began to emanate from the Blood King Serpent's body.
The dozens of snakes on his head raised their necks and simultaneously narrowed their eyes, turning them yellow.
"What did you just say?"
"I said the heir was killed by the demon tribe."
Actually, I was the one who killed him, but there was no need to say that.
Looking at the Blood King Serpent's expression, I realized that he truly knew nothing.
This also meant that Bellusia had already been overtaken by the demon tribe.
"I don't understand how you manage your own household. Want to know something else? Your third son was abandoned by the demon tribe. I question whether you're truly the head of a Vassal Clan."
"..."
Fwoosh—
With a feeling that my vision was shaking and turning yellow, a snake detached from the Blood King Serpent's head and sprang into the air.
The viper's eyes were slitted vertically.
With explosive speed, it opened its jaws wide and lunged towards my head as if to swallow it whole.
Slash—!
The moment I wrapped my right arm with the Fire Sword and swiftly cut off its neck...
Alshura's fingertips flickered, and dozens of golden needles shot towards me, aiming for my entire body.
Each one was coated with deadly poison.
The needles flew towards me, targeting every possible escape route, launched with calculated precision.
Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh—!
I immediately spread the Blue Fire that enveloped my left hand to block them.
It was the 6th Circle Frozen Blaze, pre-cast in a memorized form.
For a moment, surprise filled the Blood King Serpent's face.
Inwardly, I scoffed at his fake expression and reversed the rotation of the circles in my heart.
Whiiiiir—!
Right at that moment, the severed head of the yellow snake beneath my feet leaped into the air, spewing crimson blood from its mouth.
It was one of Bellusia's three ultimate poisons, the Blood Poison.
I had already anticipated this.
The unorthodox attack method used by the Bellusia Clan Head was shockingly cruel to those who witnessed it for the first time, but for me, it was easier to deal with compared to the other five Vassal Clans who followed a more conventional path.
I had seen this type of attack countless times.
After neutralizing the Blood Poison's attack range with Dark Explosion, I unleashed the aftershock of the Dark Explosion directly at Alshura.
Saaaa—!
"...This is..."
A moment later, as the darkness dissipated, Alshura, who had taken a step back, glared at me with an incredulous expression.
His astonishment stemmed not solely from my personal strength, but rather from my movements, which seemed to anticipate and counter his attack.
"Ruin Samael."
As Alshura was about to speak, I cast "Word of Mouth" first.
"Do you know that your Vice Clan Head is aiming for your position?"
"...What?"
Alshura's eyes widened once again.
"So you do know. I would have been disappointed if you didn't. Do you also know about the woman controlling the Bellusia Vice Clan Head?"
"How dare..."
A powerful malice erupted from Alshura's body.
This time, the eyes of all the snakes on his head turned red simultaneously, and a strange sound began to emanate.
Chiii, chiii—!
"You are truly insolent. Just because you blocked one attack..."
I met Alshura's gaze and said,
"Bellusia Clan Head, if you're not planning to unleash the Myriad Poisons here, it would be wise to stop. Otherwise, you'll only suffer losses."
"...What?"
"Exactly as I said."
"You even know about the Myriad Poisons?"
Fwaaaaa—!
Alshura's eyes narrowed like a snake's, and the malice around him amplified several times over.
For the first time, he began to scrutinize me with a cautious expression.
He observed every single movement and my mana, as if facing a true adversary.
He had no choice but to do so, considering I had mentioned the Bellusia Clan's secret technique, the Myriad Poisons.
I also reversed the rotation of the circles in my heart and looked at him.
"Just who are you?"
"I am the Crazy Mage Commander of Samael."
"..."
As we locked eyes, the Golden Myriad Trading Guild Master, who had been observing the situation, spoke up.
"Stop it, Blood King Serpent."
"..."
"It seems that both you and I need to have a conversation with the Crazy Mage Commander. If you harm him, the support for Bellusia will be revoked."
The Golden Myriad Trading Guild Master, this man was also a cunning fox.
When his own weakness was exposed, he desperately tried to silence me.
But as soon as he heard about Alshura's weakness, he deliberately tried to defuse the situation.
Of course, I had been aiming for that from the beginning.
"Are you threatening me now?"
"Of course not. As the Clan Head knows, and for the same reason we met, I believe the Crazy Mage Commander here holds the key to solving that mystery."
Alshura also realized that the Golden Myriad Trading Guild Master was intentionally trying to calm the situation.
However, there was nothing wrong with the Guild Master's words, so he couldn't refute them.
After glaring at me and the Golden Myriad Trading Guild Master for a long time, Alshura shook his head and sat down.
"If you spout nonsense, your head will be the first to roll."
"That won't happen."
I looked at Alshura first.
"Do you happen to know a fox with a long tongue?"
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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