The Young Master in the Shadows

Chapter 494: Courting Death (1)

The infinite emptiness was as vast and mysterious as Victor remembered it, with Ismeralia appearing like an endless wall behind him, and Trilaria like a star in the distance. Connecting them was a tunnel of energy that he was floating inside.

Still, he could barely take a look at all of this. The moment he crossed the gate, he immediately felt as if his body began to be pulled backward, not forward, as it should have been.

Without delay, he activated his draconic bloodline transformation, making his body get stuck in place. A very familiar feeling that he was very thankful for.

He turned to look back, and from behind him, a hand made out of black smoke reached out trying to catch him.

Naturally, it passed right through him.

It paused for a second as if to comprehend what just happened, then began to feel around the tunnel like a short-sighted man searching for his glasses. Each time it passed through Victor who appeared like the old master it passed right through him as if he was just a ghost slowly drifting away.

“Are you offering hand jobs for those leaving the world or something here?” He finally asked as he began to get annoyed. At his current speed, he would never reach Trilaria in 1000 years. He needed to get rid of the Storm lord ASAP.

The hand paused for a moment there, then made a sigil with its fingers, immediately Victor, who was pushing as hard as possible to move away, began to feel gusts of winds fly past him. The real him. He realized it was some kind of a locking array that took 34 seconds to figure out his real position. Although he was a master of disguise, in total emptiness, there was so much he could do.

Moments later, he found himself locked in a tornado of black smoke that created what looked like a cage around him.

3 seconds later a woman in cyan armor appeared in front of him with a crimson veil covering her mouth. The Storm Lord.

The moment she appeared, Victor tried to expel her from the tunnel as he was the gate owner, but strangely enough, he couldnʼt

“Those little tricks of yours wouldnʼt work next to my domain...” she smirked as she enjoyed his flustered look. ”Do you mind having a few moments to talk with this seat before you leave?” she asked as she brushed her hair and looked at the old master with disgust. Her question was not really a question, but an order.

“I am busy… And I thought I already made it clear through Victor that I don’t want to meet you!” he said with a cold voice. “You are not my type… Even your mother was not my type!”

“Enough with that stupid act! … What is your real identity?” she asked, ignoring his ramblings.

“Just a demon hunger who likes older women…” he shrugged.

“And before that… Who were you?”

“Is that important? Aren’t you just after my Authority points?” he asked.

“Speaking with smart people really makes things easier!” she said. “But still, I need to know your identity.”

“Very careful I see…. Worried that I might be someone who liked little girls before? Or are you afraid that I might belong to some supreme power…” the master pondered. “Either way, I am not going to tell you… Take a guess…” he said as he secretly salivated over what kind of new info, she might give him.

“From your way of acting you cannot be an Invader, a Scavenger, or a Reaper and you clearly don’t work for the demons… That leaves three possibilities, you can either belong to the Heavenly Empire, be a Gate Guardian, or be one of those System Worshippers… If my guess is right, you should be a Gatekeeper of Rosette’s world!” she said putting her hand on her mouth over the veil as if she was pondering.

“Very observant... And if I were?” the master didn’t even flinch as he analyzed the info. Invader? Reaper? He was not familiar with those words. The Heavenly Empire reminded him of the heavenly sect, and the term gate guardian was familiar. Didn’t Zoe and Mona have something similar in their fate? Once back, he really needed to take his time and check the books he took from the library.

“It changes nothing!” the storm lord said., mostly sure that she had guessed right. “Give me half of your authority and I will let you go…”

“We made a deal!”

“It only works inside Ismeralia. We are already out!” she said spreading her hands.

“And If I refuse?” he frowned.

“I will kill you and try to harvest as much of your Authority as possible…”

“Oh… Very aggressive… Although I do like women like that in bed, you are still not my type…”

“You have 3 minutes to decide!” she ignored his insults.

“Let me ask you this then… Why did you did you put the parasite in that horny girl?” he asked.

“He he… I just don’t like others to play with my toys…” she said as her eyes curved in a smile. “If you agree I will also help you remove it!”

“You have a way to kill her mother too don’t you…”

“Agree and I will also let Rosette live…” the storm lord didn’t feel the need to hide anything since this guy seemed to have already figured things out.

“I really don’t like chicks like you… “Victor sighed. “I wouldn’t even fuck you if you were….” he paused. “... I DEMAND AN ARBITRATION! ” he screamed. Feeling her killing intent as the black thread grew darker, he immediately activated the KARMIC ARBITRATION skill.

WARNING: ARBITRATION BEGAN!

The world around them turned bright white then completely black.

He stood on one side and the storm lord who was trying to look around in shock was on the other.

“What the hell….” she frowned feeling a strange ancient power lock her in place.

“I saved your life from the verge of death!” the old master said before she could understand what happened, making a red thread extend from his side and begin to tie her up.

“Ah….” the storm lord took a moment to realize what was going on. This was a part of the skill, the moment she wondered how it worked, she automatically understood it. “You piece of shit…. “She cursed under her breath, feeling a little annoyed that she had become a target of such a skill. “We already signed a deal for that! I owe you nothing!” she said after some thought making the thread slowly dissolve.

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“You broke the deal by giving Aerith that parasite… Although the contract was not broken, it still counts as bad Karma… Your life was in exchange for theirs… You planned to kill them later as you confessed earlier!” he said making the dissolving stops leaving a few strings wrapped around her.

“Shit…” she cursed as she realized that this was the reason the old master asked her about Aerith a few moments ago. It was to make her confess to putting the parasite in her, in order to be able to use the fact in this tribunal where every statement must be backed by evidence. She was really played. “I saved their life before though I owe it…”

“You only did that to benefit yourself and in fact, you are the one who owes Rosette a part of your life!” he said making the threads shine with a red light proof that he won this.

“... A deal itʼs still a deal… “she tried to refute it as his mind raced.

“And you didn’t follow it to the letter…”

“You….” she frowned. “You also didn’t keep our deal, releasing demons in the capital, creating chaos!” she said making a thread spring from her toward Victor.

“What demons? Do you have a proof? And even if it was me… I didn’t promise not to mess with you…”

The thread shimmered for a moment then collapsed.

“Shit….”

Both of them went silent for a moment there as the red thread began to wrap against the storm lord.

“As a settlement for this Tribunal, I want you to die!” Victor said as he didn’t have anything more to add.

The thread began to tighten up around the storm lord.

“Not happening! This is not equivalent to what I owe you!” she spat, making the thread relax.

“Then I demand that you let us go and do not entrap us at all!” he said, he couldn’t demand too much due to how the skill worked, it must be in equal value.

“Fine! I can stop entrapping you… This will be in accordance with the contract…” she quickly said, fearing that Victor might rephrase his request or change his mind.

“I…”

Before Victor who didn’t expect her to reply this readily could say a thing the skill finished. The price she paid was sufficient.

He found himself again in the tornado prison that began to disappear. The storm lord just stood there eyeing him.

He couldn’t wait to slightly withdraw his bloodline to allow the tunnel to pull him toward Trilaria, but the moment he let go, he began to be pulled to the opposite side, forcing him to transform back and stop the movement!

“You promised to let us go!” he said as he still felt the strange power pull him toward Ismeralia.

“Oh… That is not me!” the storm lord chuckled as she turned to look back.

From Ismeralia, a familiar figure began to emerge. It was a young elf with shiny red hair and a dazzling tight battle suit. Zendo, the Sun Lord in all his glory.

Shit… Victor cursed inwardly.

One of his backup plans was to pull Zendo here and make him fight the storm lord in case things went south. But it seemed like the storm lord had already made a deal beforehand, ruining his backup plan. One shouldn’t underestimate old foxes!

“We meet again….” Zendo said as he looked at Victor.

“Again? Who are you? This is my first time meeting someone like you!” the old master frowned.

“Oh really…. Then wasn’t this what you left behind the last time?” Zendo asked as a mummified Donkey head appeared in his hand.

“...” the old master frowned. “This is?”

“.... The thing you left…”

“I left nothing…. Could this be about your mother?”

“What?”

“Your mother, she was a hot elf and everything, but I really had to leave… I know that leaving you to grow without a father might be a little….”

“YOU BASTERED! I…”

“CAREFUL!” the storm lord interrupted. “He is some really sneaky piece of shit, don’t get pulled into his games!” she warned watching Zendo begin to be played.

“I know… I am not like you!” Zendo spat with some annoyance, as he slowly calmed down, throwing the donkey head at Victor. “The last time you managed to really fool me and escape, let’s see if my attacks can hit you this time….,” he said.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Before Zendo could continue his speech, the donkey’s head that was passing by Victor at that moment, exploded!

Before Victor, who was flung away, could realize what happened, Zendo turned into a streak of light appearing next to him then striking him with a burning palm. “DIE!”

The palm naturally passed right through him.

“Shit… I told you to be careful…” the storm lord spat.

“She told you….” the old master who appeared a dozen feet away said. “It is really about your mother, isn’t it?”

“You think you are funny don’t you…” Zendo scolded as a huge spiral of fire began to form in his hands. “I really want to see you dodge this then!”

Moments later the entire tunnel was engulfed in a sea of flames. It was as if the entire world had been turned into the surface of the sun! There was no place to escape!

“DAMN IT! Careful!” the storm lord scolded as she flew away with a shimmering water shield appearing all around her. “If I take even one hit, I might die!” she lied.

“Don’t worry, I will keep my part of the deal if you keep yours, after this, all you have to do is surrender and become my bride to….

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH….” Zendo suddenly stopped talking and began screaming like a bitch as a very important part of him that made him a man felt as if it was on fire. He could feel it burn for real! A feeling that he as the Sun lord, should never experience!

“BEHIND YOU!” the storm lord suddenly warned.

Zendo who was momentarily in so much pain he couldn’t think, failed to notice Victor, who had one of his legs burnt to a crisp, attacking from right behind him.

If it were not for the intense flames of the vortex that filled the tunnel reacting and deforming around him, no one would have even noticed him at all.

“AHHH… SHIT…. AHHHHH….” Zendo didn’t even bother to stop screaming in pain as he formed a shield of fire around his body. With this, even if Victor were to use some of those poisonous needles, they would all be burnt before they reach him.

Sadly, what came through the flame and hit his head was not a needle, but a huge slat made of some kind of metal.

“Ah…. OHHHHHHH….” Zendo jumped away almost immediately, with the slab merely scratching his handsome face. “AH…. What are you….” he paused as he gasped, realizing what just happened? He could no longer use his skills. Not only that, his Flame storm had stopped and his Gravity Pull that he was using to keep the old master in Ismeralia was deactivated.

“You should learn kid… Messing with me is courting death!” the old master said waving his hand and causing Zendo who lost his power to be pulled back toward Ismeralia. This was his power as the one who owned the gate. He smirked then turned to the shocked storm lord. “The same goes for you…” he said, leaning the huge familiar slab on his shoulder as if it was some huge club.

“Wasn’t this the one in the Knight’s headquarters…” she asked in shock. “You… YOU BASTERD YOU STOLE IT!”

“I don’t know what you are talking about…” he shrugged, winking at her and waving his hand at her, causing her to also be pulled back. She didn’t resist, diapering into Ismeralia while glaring at him.

“See yea…” he said then after taking a deep breath disabled his bloodline transformation and in milliseconds, not only did the pain of his burnt-up leg assault him, but his entire body was pulled toward Trilaria!

”AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH…. DAMN IT…………………” behind him, all he could hear was her cursing voice coming from two spots in Ismeralia!

***

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Space shimmered and a vortex formed in midair above an octagonal slab in the middle of a huge hall carved in the middle of a mountain.

Moments later, someone passed through it.

It was Victor who fell to the ground before immediately turning around and forming a sigil with his hand, causing the newly established gate behind him to turn black. It’s a locked state.

“Shit… That was close… AH….” he cursed, grimacing in pain as he looked at his burnt leg. He had to sacrifice it, using his disguise skill to turn it from a normal leg to a third leg before activating his KARMIC RETRIBUTION skill on Zendo with a 50% return.

It was his only choice in order to find a chance to strike that warry Zendo with the slab. That idiot who was clearly a System lord, should have lost all of his power by now!

Victor sighed as he grabbed a few healing pills and threw them in his mouth while activating his bloodline again.

He really didn’t want to harm Zendo. The balance in Ismeralia was very delicate, and he was a little worried that any shift in power would cause the demons to destroy it all!

Well, with the storm lord healed, things should be manageable!

He sighed as he watched his leg begin to heal at a visible rate. Now he had to take care of…

He paused as in his mind, he heard one of his wives, whom he missed so much, calling for him in distress!

“COURTING DEATH!” he yelled as he vanished.