The Young Master in the Shadows

Chapter 441: All to be eaten!

It was one-hour past dawn when a light knock on the door woke Victor from his sleep. Last night was spent interrogating Dario about many things concerning everything from the silver empire to the competition in general and Victor learned a couple of important things after grilling the guy until he spilled everything he had.

The first was that he knew nothing about what lords were… Lords were Lords… They were protectors of their races. The Storm lord, who was probably a female, was the reason the Silver Empire stood strong for thousands of years after creating the storm barrier that surrounded the entire continent and stopped the demons that roamed the sea from entering.

She also created the Dragon knights to hunt those demons who would manage to pass through the cracks every now and then.

The demons beyond the barrier were not weak ones like the ones who exist east of the Death Gorge, but some real bad shit who came here when the other kingdom was lost and had been living and corrupting this world ever since.

In the Silver Empire, She was the de facto leader as she was the one who usually appointed the emperor and the prime minister. The same as how that guy Zendo ran the Sun Elf’s kingdom The only difference she had from him, was that she took an active part in governing her empire and usually made many appearances in social parties and national celebrations, though she seemed to have stopped doing that 35 years ago for some reason. Many now believe that she was out most of the time fighting the demons beyond the great barrier, though Victor doubts that.

The second thing Victor learned from Dario was concerning the competition. It was not really a competition, but a kind of honey-filled slaughter ground, With mortality rates reaching 40% every year.

All the competitors should be older than 17 and younger than 25 and they mostly belong to three kinds.

The first were the nobles who were in desperate need of an oath like Dario. They were a minority who had no other choice as many of them would be in some deep shit if they failed to level up. The fight for inheritance in these noble families was deadly! Dario had a younger brother who had 9 points of authority, and the moment his level surpasses that of his big brother he would kill him to take his place as the heir.

The second kind of participants were the suspicious ones and those who committed great crimes but couldn’t be prosecuted normally due to them being nobles or lacking concrete evidence. Rosette, who was creating her own faction, seemed to be using the competition as a court. She just needed to send an invitation, and no one would dare refuse her, as that was a crime deserving death by itself. Victor, who was thrown here by Lyra, probably belonged to this type.

The third kind was the commoners who wanted to be knights. Those usually take an intensive 3-year training course before entering the competitions to prove themselves and earn a noble title. Strangely enough, they seem to have a greater likelihood of surviving with most of the casualties being on the noble's side.

Yup… The competition was clearly rigged!

According to Dario, this year the competition would involve no less than 250 individuals, 50 or so of them were nobles while the rest were commoners who for security reasons, were being accommodated in another building. There seemed to have been some trouble between them and the nobles in the past years. Typical fantasy world stuff….

Anyway, with the competition contents being a secret and getting changed every year, Dario had no idea what to expect.

Hearing him Victor did consider making a little trip around the castle, but remembering his latest blunder with the elves he decided to stay put and keep low-key for now. Just until he figured out the truth about the lord, her relationship with his family members, and such… 

KNOCK KNOCK!

The door was knocked again.

“IT IS TIME…” The dwarven maid who opened the door said, giving both Victor and Dario, who sat up and began to look around, a disgusted glare.

“We understand!” Victor said as he jumped off the bed. 

The maid nodded, then turned and left.

“What… It is morning already?” Dario, who was barely able to open his eyes, frowned and asked Victor.

“Yeah…. Get ready,” Victor said as he walked out into the corridors where other young men began walking out of their rooms.

They were all clearly nobles wearing diverse kinds of expensive garbs and armor.

At one glance Victor could see that more than half of them were not good people. He could smell it, the rotten air around them.

Wait… How?

As those people began to walk Victor began to slowly use his nose and sniff around…

Was this like Lily did? Did he develop this skill too? 

Victor quickly completely shut off his draconic bloodline and his demonic bloodline, one at a time… The demonic bloodline was the culprit. 

No wonder…Lately, he could feel it getting stronger, especially after encountering the demon kin and using his bloodline to subdue them, it was as if it was getting stimulated!

This made him a little worried. He really needed to find some good references to learn about demonic bloodlines, otherwise, he might become a real Nutcracker!

Bam…

A guy bumped him in the shoulder.

“Watch out!” the guy, who was a young man with a clean-shaven head, a muscular build, and a golden dragon tattoo that clearly spanned his entire body, spat after giving Victor one disdainful look.

“...” Victor just looked at him saying nothing as he dusted his coat as if an insect had just brushed by.

The young man who was clearly testing Victor whom he didn’t recognise frowned, not liking his attitude. “You… See you on stage…” he said as he left, noticing the dragon knight who came to get them looking at him.

Victor frowned and then appraised the young man.

; ;

Ridgar II de le lion Class: Lancer Level: 101 Authority: 13 Abnormal Status: Lost Days Curse (2/17) Bloodline: Human 100% Fate power: D Predefined Fate: Get Eaten.

At his age, this guy was not bad at all. The question was: Why was he here? To be eaten?

“You really should be careful around that guy…” Dario who seemed to have come out of the room behind Victor at one point said. “He is Duke Ridgar’s only son, and recently had been caught running illegal slave wrestling rings… Princess Lyra wanted him executed, but under the noble law he managed to get scot-free after paying a fine,” he explained. He really believed that Victor was some impoverished backwater noble who knew nothing.

”He wouldn't get away scot-free if he had to be here…” Victor said, appraising the rest of the nobles. All of them had lousy D~F fate power and 80% of them had ‘Get Eaten’ fate… It was definitely happening here!

“Don’t underestimate a duke’s power, this guy has enough protection tools, that he might be able to take on a baron demon alone!” Dario shivered. “Hopefully the competition won't be a tournament this time around!”

“... Yeah…” Victor said, sighing and looking at Ridgar’s fate. This guy is so dead… But he might have a few good things… Those were Victor’s thoughts as he gave the green jade storage ring on Ridgar’s finger a look. Another thing to steal… Didn’t he already get enough stuff in the Gorge? NEVER…

Victor paused… Lately, he was getting a little too greedy, probably the effects of his Draconic and demonic bloodlines overlapping.

Damn it… Another thing to be careful about…

Regardless…

Slowly Victor and Dario followed the other young men out of the dormitory into the streets that were still barely lit by the early morning sunlight. It allowed Victor to really appreciate the medieval gothic-style architecture around him.  It was not bad…  It is just that it felt a little stiffy with all the ionized air around, the effect of the thunder that struck randomly above them every once in a while.

“How can you be this relaxed!?” Dario, who was beside him, asked as he looked around fidgety. “Fuck! You look more like a tourist than someone about to face death! Is this the effect of living on the front lines all your life?” he asked.

“You could tell?” Victor raised one eyebrow. This guy really had a wild imagination.

“I can’t… But no wonder you caught Ridgar’s eyes!” Dario whispered, making the other nobles who heard him take a step away from them. They clearly feared Ridgar too!

“Yeah… But I think he will be in too much trouble to care about me in the competition…” Victor shrugged as heard the dragon knight clear his throat.

“EHM… Listen up… We will now head toward the competition Arena, follow me closely and be careful not to get lost, or we might mistake you for cowards… The moment you have been registered as a competitor you have signed a death weaver… If you escape, it is a swift death!” he warned.

“WHAT THE FUCK? First, you forced us here, and now you want us to walk there like some serfs? ” A sissy-looking young man asked rudely. “DO YOU THINK I SHOULD RESPECT YOU? I demand a four-horse carriage to be…”

BAM

The knight punished him in the stomach, sending him three feet into the air before he collapsed to the ground.

“Follow me…” he said after giving them a look each, clearly counting them. After that, he turned and began walking in a certain direction.

The troubled nobles looked at each other, then mercilessly leaving their friend who had collapsed, they quickly followed.

Victor slowed down in the back as he appraised the knight. A level 215 knight... This guy was the real deal! Wait...

; ;

Simon Rass Class: Dragon Knight Level: 215 Authority: 19+3 Abnormal status: STORM LORD'S 2ND RANK MINOR BLESSING: CAN ABSORB THUNDER TO HEAL. Bloodline: Human 100% Fate power: B Predefined Fate: GET REFINED BY ZIFR THE GREAT

What with this guy's authority? Victor quickly noticed the +3 near the Authority level. He pressed on it.

; ;

AUTHORITY: BASE: 18 BLESSING: STORM LORD > ROSETTE: +3

What was that? A blessing? Is that how oaths worked? Strange... How did this work? Why didn't Lyra and her knights have this...

Victor, who stayed in the back frowned a little then quickly followed after he watched two knights who appeared out of nowhere quickly drag the collapsed guy away, and then three others entered the dormitory, probably to get some poor guy who didn’t want to die. 

None of the other knights had the blessing... Only that one guy... He was not the low ranking knight as he dressed as!

Interesting...

Suddenly, Victor noticed a thread of malice that extended from him to the sky.

He looked up… A dragon was flying there and a little girl sat on it watching with a an gloating smirk on her face.

That was a girl who definitely held a grudge against all nobles and probably men too. She was clearly in dire need of a good spanking…  That was what Victor had decided. It worked on Alpha after all.

…

Axel entered the grand meeting room and began to look around. 

LUXURIOUS! That was the first word that came to mind.

“Sorry to call you so suddenly young master!” Suzan who seemed to be the CEO’s Secretary said. 

“It is ok… I was not doing anything important…” Axel sighed, lamenting the now crumbled-up Playdude magazine he left in his hotel suite’s bathroom. “Now where is that album?” he asked.

“It is right…”

BAM…

The door of the office was pushed open, and a young woman with purple hair walked in. Although she appeared to be from his family, for some strange reason, he felt that her hair color was the wrong shade.

“HUSBAND!” the purple-haired young woman ran to his side. “Why did you not return home yesterday?” she asked.

“You are…” he asked.

“Ah… Right… I am Aria… You wife!” Aria said with a frown. “If you returned home last night, we would have properly talked!” she said, pouting a little.

“...” Axel hesitated, remembering the info he got from Kai yesterday about the girl named Aria… Right, she was the one who was mistaken for his sister… the one who ran the business, the money-making wife. Her breasts were a little bigger than the others, but still too flat for his taste…

“HUSBAND!”

“Ah… I got a little drunk and didn’t want to drive…” he finally said. “We will talk later…” he added, not wanting to discuss any of the ‘sensitive’ matters in front of Suzan who was his type of a woman. Her size was just right…

“Ah…” Aria frowned, and as if noticing where he was looking, she turned to face Suzen. “Why did you invite him here? Didn’t Vice President Margret tell you that he was sick?” 

“Ah… ” Suzan didn’t know how to reply. “It is just…”

“It is my fault… She wanted to ask me about the new album release, and since I hadn't heard it yet, I decided to come here…” Axel decided to act as a man and take the blame. “I need to meet Alice at noon after all, and have a few hours to spare…” he added. He was going to meet his mother with her and was a little nervous about that.

“Oh…” Aria frowned. “Then let’s get on with it…” She sighed walking to the main chair at the side of the meeting table and pulling it from under it. “Please husband… Take your seat!” she said, clearly showing dominance in front of Suzen…That’s what Axel felt and he really liked the feeling of being fought over… Only if he could fight back… DAMN THAT IMPOSTER! Did he really have to go and get castrated!

With those thoughts, Axel quickly took his chair then watched as Aria sat beside him.

“SUZAN!” Aria spat.

“Right…” Suzan said as she pressed a key to the side of the table, making a hidden compartment open in the center of the table and a bunch of VA equipment popped out. The light of the room dimmed as metallic curtains closed the large window panels and a projection screen appeared in front of them.

Alex nodded. This place was a production company, they really had all the nifty gadgets.

“Feel free to put on the headphones…. Now I will present to you the finished Lara and the Magical Girls Album, Featuring Monica…”

“Where is Monica? Shouldn’t she be here?” Aria stopped Suzan and asked as Axel put on one pair of high-tech headphones.

“She is shooting for her Camio the movie on the beach with Mira…”

“Oh. Ok… Carry one then,” Aria interrupted, but not before Axel heard the words Beach and Mira… Could he go there… He swallowed.

“Then I will start…” Suzan said, pressing the play button made the screen display the video of a bunch of girls fighting monsters on top of a train flying in space and throwing heart-chapped rays.

We rode the love train!

It took us to heaven

Choo Choo

The hero fought the demon in the rain

He beat her and saved the world again

Go Go

Can’t leave if you wanna keep sain!

Can’t stand the parting Pain

Nooo Nooo

…

Axel was shocked…” Wasn't this song the one about the young master's train? When did it become a love train?” he asked. He heard it yesterday getting performed by a new influencer called Gloria who was doing some very seductive poses while dancing.

“That was a publicity stunt, we can’t let a band of little girls sing that!” Aria said. “You were the one who insisted on it!”

“Ah… Ok…” he swallowed. The song was not bad! And this love train version was a little better…

“Next…”

PUSSY PUSSY… PUSSY… CAT!

BAD PUSSY… CAT…

EVIL PUSSY…  CAT

GRAB THE PUSSY… CAT…

SPANT THE PUSSY…CAT…

KICK THE PUSSY… CAT.

DEAD PUSSY… CAT CAT…

DON’T KILL THE PUSSY… CAT CAT

JUST PUNISH THE PUSSY… CAT CAT

CAT CAT CAT CAT!

DON’T SPARE THE BAD PUSSY… CAT

…

Axel watched as a group of little girls who were dressed like cats sang with large scissors in their hands.

Were they saying … Cat cat… or cut cut?

He didn’t want to know… But this song was catchy too…

“We tried to keep this as animal friendly as possible… But we might suffer some backlash from some activist group…” Suzan explained.

“It is ok…” Aria said. “Right?”

“Ah… Right… I wanna see some models do this song in skimpy cat outfits though…” he suggested, making Aria look at him, not with disgust, but with appreciation.

“Good idea…” she nodded.

“I also…”

BANG!

The meeting room door was kicked open.

“WAIT… YOU CAN’T…” someone yelled, but before Axel could tell who, a young man entered the room, then out of nowhere, he hurried toward Axel.

“YOU BASTARD… HOW DARE YOU TAKE MY RIGHTS… I AM HERE TO DEMAND…”

Axel tried to step away from the young man, but as if knowing Axel would do that, the guy quickly reached out toward him, aiming straight for his balls!

As a man who practiced martial arts and clearly saw that evil attack coming toward him, Axel had no choice, but to push the guy away softly.

BANG…

The moment Axel’s hand made contact with the young man’s chest, the latter shook and then took two steps back, looking at Axel with shock.

“I… YOU… WHY?” he asked in a reluctant voice then collapsed to the ground with a pocket knife in his chest, blood began to paint the white shirt he was wearing red.…. WHAT? WHERE THE HELL DID THAT COME FROM?

Axel gasped in shock, not really understanding what had just happened as the security guards entered the room, and surrounded the intruder.

One of them checked on him.

“AH…. HE IS DEAD….” the guard said in shock, looking fearfully back at Axel as if asking him what to do.

“What? Dead” Axel asked in shock. He barely brushed the young man’s chest. Where did that knife come from? “It is not me… I barely touched him!”

“Ah…”

“DAMN IT! Isn’t that Abe?” Aria exclaimed in shock.

“Abe?”

“We will talk later…” Aria who was frowning spat. “Quickly, pill the knife and close the wound! Handcuff the corpse and cover his face and chest…Make it as if he was escorted out of here, we will make it as if he died in police custody or in a cell!” She quickly ordered the guards in a cold voice.

“Yes..” the guards didn’t dare to refuse. As people who wired for the media industry, they were used to doing shady things. They were hired in the first place because they had that mentality.

“We shouldn’t let anyone know that he died here…” Aria continued as she took her phone to send a message.

“Boss… I think it is a little late for that…”' Suzan who was to the side suddenly said, making both Axel and Aria look back and notice that the remote-controlled curtains around the windows were already pulled open and outside of the glass, more than 10 drones were filming what was happening inside!

“SHIT!”