Chapter 26: Underworld

Natasha revealed to me everything she knew; from the fact that she is the true leader of the organization called Wildfire to the existence of Svarog, the leader of the second faction that dominates the Underworld.

With Natasha's character already confirmed as an ally, I promised to get Svarog on our side and then invade the Underworld.

-Great, this simplifies things. Thank you Natasha.

-You used to have such a forceful way of speaking but now you sound so friendly.... I really can't get used to this radical change.

-I'm sorry if I scared you, it's not that I'm faking it, I just tend to get carried away by the situation of the moment. My stupidity is also part of me, so....

I don't know if I should call this a man's instinct but you know that thrill of knowing you're about to fuck up but you still do it just because...? Well, I get easily carried away by that emotion.

-Fufufu~ it's okay, I understand. You don't have to keep explaining. To tell you the truth, that side of you is quite charming.

-Thank you...?

Why did I think I saw Mommy Kafka for an instant...? This is bad, I'm starting to hallucinate. For some reason, I want to escape from here.

-Nadie...?

-Well, it looks like your friend finally woke up.

Stelle slowly got out of bed.

-How are you feeling? Are you in pain anywhere?

-I'm fine. But, I had a strange dream.

-What kind of dream?

-It was a young Cocolia and there was also a strange voice...

-The Stelaron... is resonating with the Stelaron sealed inside you.

Natasha sharpened her gaze when she heard my murmurings.

-What did you see in that dream?

-The voice was trying to convince Cocolia to isolate the Underworld from the outside.

-It means that Cocolia was being brainwashed from an early age....

-That's bad news.

Natasha intervened in the conversation when I announced such a possibility.

-But, if you look on the bright side, at least now we know why Cocolia is hiding the existence of the Estelaron from everyone. We are now clear on who our real enemy is.

-It makes sense.

Now I can slowly reveal the truth behind Belobog to the rest of the Astral Express without unnecessarily speeding up the plot. I need time to prepare, for that I need to avoid any reckless developments.

-Stelle, meet Natasha, a doctor from the Underworld. She was the one who took us in after Sampo came to our rescue.

-It's a pleasure, I'm Stelle.

Stelle greeted politely when I introduced her to Natasha.

-Nice to meet you. Heh, heh, how polite.

Before long, both girls were able to establish a good rapport.

-Where is everyone?

-You're the last one to wake up, Stelle. Dang Heng went somewhere as soon as she woke up and March... you know her, she's probably having fun somewhere. Bronya too, she must be walking around now.

After we said goodbye to Natasha and left the clinic, I updated Stelle further by explaining about Wildfire. Out there we also found March playing hide and seek with 3 kids.

-March can really have fun with anyone, can't he?

-Look who's talking...

Stelle's accusatory look left me speechless. Is she implying that I'm childish like that too (yes)?

-I'm going to play with them, are you coming?

-I'll pass. I have more important things to do.

-I see...

I say goodbye to Stelle and head off to deal with my important business. Of course I'm talking about the casin...! I mean, the Fight Club!

There inside the ring I can see Dan Heng fighting alone against several robots at once.

I go to the betting box and put all my shields on Dan Heng's name. If you're wondering where I got all this money, I took advantage of the confusion and borrowed it from some Crinargenta Guards while they were chasing us.

Since credits are not yet circulating in the Belobog market, I have no choice but to raise budget with the currency (shield) of this world like this.

-Come on, Impassive Little Dragon! Kick those Automaton Beetles' asses!

-Nadie?

Oops, looks like I got a little too excited.

-Dan Heng, don't worry about me and win that fight at all costs. I bet our entire budget on this.

-Do we have a budget?

-Yes, don't ask where I got it from. Just win the fight and multiply my money so we can pay for the hotel accommodation.

-Okay.

-By the way, this is just a tip from me. Defeat the Automaton Beetles before it's their turn, their shield is fucking irritating. Sometimes I wonder if those bugs are actually Conservation Emanators.

-What are you talking about...?

There was no time for him to respond. When Dan Heng diverted his attention to me, the three Automaton Beetles took advantage of the situation and attacked him in surprise.

-Dan Heng, watch out!

-I have everything under control.

-If you dare to lose, I'll sell one of your kidneys to make up for the loss!

-...

In no time, Dan Heng won the fight and my shields were multiplied by 10.

-What a surprise! Brothers and sisters, give a big round of applause to the Impassible Dragon for his incredible victory!

The cheers were not lacking.

Then, the second fight began. This time, Dan Heng's opponents are three Automaton Hounds.

-Be careful Dan Heng, that bastard heals. Also destroy them before it's their turn.

-Again, what are you talking about, Nadie?

With this second victory, my initial budget increased 100 times!

-I'm rich! Wahahahahaha! At this rate I'll be a millionaire! Wahahahahahahahaha!

By this time, I could almost prepare a tub of shields.

-Sisters! Brothers! Are you ready for the most spectacular, most exciting, and most brutal fight of the day? The Impassible Little Dragon is on a streak of two wins in a row! Their next opponent is none other than the Robomatic Squad, automatons extolled by Boss Svarog himself!

When the announcer spoke again, everyone screamed with excitement; but I could only scoff aloud.

-Ha! All that talk for mere Automaton Spiders? It's an easy win Dan Heng! Just like the Automaton Beetles, the Automaton Spiders have a weakness for wind and they don't have those pesky shields! Dan Heng, you just have to destroy them before they self-destruct themselves! Now make my winnings a thousandfold! Wahahahahahahahahaha!

-*Sigh*.

At this point, Dan Heng didn't even seem to have the energy to answer me.

-So the semifinal of the 1758th Master of the Ring Challenge begins!

As the fight was about to begin, out of nowhere two figures entered the ring.

-Hey, sisters and brothers, something unexpected happened! Two people from the audience entered the ring! Do they want to team up with the Impassible Dragon?

It's Stelle and March 7th.

-You woke up.

Dan Heng commented with his arms crossed, to which March replied.

-Yes, and the first thing we did was come looking for you! And now that we've found you, we're going to keep you from getting your ass kicked. You're welcome!

-I can get along just fine without you.

-That's right, just like Dan Heng said! He can manage on his own, so you two go downstairs now!

I interrupted the conversation between the two of them, surprising March by discovering that I was in the audience.

-Nadie?

-Silence March, don't you see how the profit multiplier dropped after you two went up! If Dan Heng's numerical disadvantage disappears, the extra profit from betting on him disappears too! So get over here right now!

-That's it! That's it!

At some point, Sampo appeared to also protest next to me.

-Hey... Dan Heng, what do we do?

March hesitated to leave Dan Heng alone when he saw me yelling at her so fiercely.

-...Do whatever you want, I'll win anyway.

-Be more careful Dan Heng, you almost said the cursed word! Are you looking to die split in two?!

-...

As already said, Dan Heng lost all energy to answer me.

In the end, Stelle and March 7 got out of the ring, allowing Dan Heng to show off in front of everyone and me to fulfill my dream of becoming a millionaire by my own means.

-Well done Dan Heng, here's your share. 10% of the profits, you are free to do whatever you want with that.

Dan Heng accepted the shields in silence. It was then that Stelle came to me and looked at me with puppy dog eyes.

-What about my share?

-Get lost.

-...

My money, my money.

You should thank me for at least being willing to pay for your hotel accommodations and food. My God, I'm too kind.

-By the way, you don't run away.

-Hk!

Sampo, who was about to sneak away from us, was caught by the collar of clothes by Dan Heng.

-P-please have mercy?

-First answer our questions, then I'll see what I do with you.

We left the Fight Club dragging a body (Sampo) with us and headed down a desolate alley so as not to disturb others.

Then, Sampo fell on his ass, Stelle stepped near his crotch and I brought my face close in a threatening manner.

-But look what we have here, Stelle.

-Jujuju~ What an interesting prey we caught, Nadie. If you want to live, Sampo, let go of all your belongings.

-Hiiih! Please have mercy on me!

Sampo trembled before Stelle's and my threats.

-If you dare to resist, my brother Dan Heng here will stab you with his spear (he won't).

-A-all right, I'll cooperate, take everything I have! Please don't hurt me!

Stelle took all the valuable belongings from Sampo and put everything in her inventory. But still unsatisfied, Stelle out of nowhere demanded.

-The clothes too.

-Huh?

At the perplexity of the victim, I took out a knife from my inventory and brought it close to Sampo's neck.

-What's wrong, Sampo? Didn't you hear my friend talking?

-D-okay, now I'm undressing!

Then Sampo stripped down to his underwear.

-Underwear too.

-I-isn't that's not too much excess?

Stelle's second demand also surprised me.

-Stelle, I also think that's a little....

-I said the underwear too!

-Yes!

With no other choice, Sampo complied with Stelle's orders while crying without any dignity.

While Stelle and I forced Sampo to undress, Dang Heng and March 7 looked at this whole scene with their eyes rolling....

-Guys, we're not here to extort money from him. Give him back his clothes.

-Ah, didn't we?

After Dan Heng cleared up the misunderstanding, Stelle gave Sampo his clothes back, but not the valuable belongings. For the record, I didn't go so far as to demand her underwear, I never thought Stelle would have such a sadistic side....

-Ugh. My savings...

Ignoring Sampo's cries, Stelle counted "her" bag of savings with a proud smile on her face, as if she just got off work after doing a great job.

-How cruel. Why do I have to go through all this? Did I do something without realizing it and offend them?

-You left us in the hands of the guards.

Stelle complained when he heard Sampo's murmur.

-Wait a minute, wait a minute, rewind. If I hadn't escaped, Gepard would have captured us all. And you think he would have given you a chance to talk, huh? He would have locked you up in the hotel with bars on the windows! I was protecting you from the shadows at all times! Do you know how hard it was to find the right moment? You were being watched all the time!

-Even if they were, was it necessary to poison us?

This time it was Dan Heng who complained. Of course, Stelle couldn't miss the opportunity to extort money from Sampo once again.....

-That's right, how could you poison us! I demand compensation now!

-W-wait, wait, wait miss! You just took everything I have and now you want to extort money from me again?! Isn't that too irrational?! Maybe you already forgot, but the situation was critical and I didn't have time to think, so I pulled what I had on hand.

Isn't my little girl amazing? Look how quickly she became an expert extortionist.

Despite the non-joking jokes, Dan Heng was serious about the subject.

-Didn't you do it to hide something? For example, some secret you didn't want us to see?

-...

Sampo kept silent in the face of Dan Heng's accusations.

-Dan Heng, what secret are you talking about?

March began to feel nervous as she understood the seriousness of the situation.

-I don't know for sure yet... but I know that our "friend" is hiding something.

-Time out! My only goal is to help you as much as I can, and without expecting anything in return! Please don't go around spreading rumors about me!

I could feel Sampo's look of distress on me; of course, I ignored it. With no other choice, Sampo changed the subject to divert everyone's attention.

-To prove my sincerity, I will take you to meet Wildfire. If you need to find anything in the Underworld, you can go to them.

-Take us there... and no tricks this time.

Stelle accepted the offer on behalf of everyone but still maintaining a bit of mistrust.

-Trust me! As I said before, Sampo never allows friends who have helped him to come to harm.

In this way, Sampo took us to meet the top brass of the Wildfire.

.