How to Tell
"Burying is better" Ray stated, looking at the body, and being somehow thankful for how thin Gorren's body became.
"There's a greater chance of being caught,"
"We can just do it here," Ray said, pointing to the ground beneath their feet as he said so, only to watch Argo shake his head in obvious disappointment.
"It would take hours,"
But Ray was just about to open his mouth again to speak when he heard footsteps. Loud footsteps that were distinct enough to disorient him.
Ray had only just glanced in the direction of the alleyway when he spotted the shadow of a man standing there.
At that moment all the luck in the world seemed to elude him as the lightbulb that had been flickering above him since he entered the alleyway suddenly lit up.
Bright enough to show every corner of the alleyway, his face, and the very dead and stiff body of Gorren still lying on the ground in front of him.
"It's not what you think it is…" Ray said not knowing what else to say after being caught red-handed. There was no explanation that would be good enough to explain why he was standing over a dead body.
"Judg…" he opened his mouth half screaming the words to call other night patrol officers called judges to his position, the second he saw the strange situation in front of him.
But before he could even fully speak, he found himself falling to the ground and losing consciousness in a second.
"Argo…" Ray sighed, a staunch expression of relief on his face. A little stunned to find Argo who had been standing directly in front of him now hovering over the knocked-out stranger on the floor.
"I could just burn them…" Argo spoke up, zeroing his gaze on the person at his feet. He was dressed in overall black with a deep blue jacket that stood out from miles away.
"No…" Ray yelled.
"I don't care what happens to Gorren but the Judge shouldn't be touched,"
"Mhmm… that's going to be a problem," Argo sighed and he was barely done talking when a static sound from the pocket of the knocked-out judge went off.
"Shhhh… come in. Judge Derek… section report…" the sounds were still going off when Argo hurriedly switched it off, the sounds coming from it echoing in the dead of the night.
"Get rid of Gorren. We're leaving now," said Ray in a hurry, wanting nothing more than to disappear from the alley they were in.
But regardless, Argo simply stood there looking at Ray without doing anything about it.
"He knows what you look like," was all Argo said and he had barely finished saying those words when he spoke again.
"They're coming. Two more judges," Argo announced in a clear manner this time around and Ray had barely heard those words when his heart began to pound in his chest as he slowly began to panic.
"Master!" Argo spoke again, raising his voice, " I either kill one judge or three, It makes no difference to me," he said in a colder manner, staring at the human who was supposed to be his master but who couldn't even give him the appropriate instructions he asked for.
At that point, Ray realized that there was no other choice.
Killing Gorren in the heat of the moment in self-defense was totally different from killing an innocent bystander that was a Judge, simply doing his job.
"The two judges would be here soon," Argo commented, standing completely still with a completely neutral expression on his face as he faced Ray waiting for him to make a decision.
A few more seconds passed with Ray staring at nothing but the alley walls beside him, before he bent down to look at the judge at Argo's feet from where he stood. A few feet away and right beside Gorren's corpse.
"Kill both of them and leave no traces behind. We're leaving before the other two arrive," Ray said in a cool tone, looking more at Argo and the smile that suddenly appeared on his face than at the bodies on the ground, watching in slight horror as Argo slowly began to use soul crush on the judge's body.
"I don't feel like a master," Ray thought, realizing that the system and Argo somehow appeared in his life, which meant it was given and although he could give commands, the power wasn't truly his own.
Looking sharply and more intensely at Argo's handiwork as the body of the Judge slowly dwindled into nothing, Ray couldn't help but wonder what would happen if the sharp-eared, red-eyed and slightly short being suddenly decided to turn on him.
"What happens when the system no longer favors me? How long will this power continue to be mine?" He thought suddenly more aware of the pain still coursing through his bones as his knees remained bent close to the ground watching everything that happened in front of him.
"I'm still just as weak as before. Not powerless but still weak…" Ray thought, a great need to have a power of his own rousing deep in his mind.
"All I can do is take advantage of what I've been given mercilessly until then," Ray thought, his eyes squinting slightly as he made up his mind, watching Argo suck all the bodies in front of him until even traces of their clothes and everything they had with them was gone.
As per Ray's instructions the moment Argo was done and right before the two Judges could get any closer to the alley where they were, the both of them disappeared from there almost like they were never there.
The next moment they appeared right in one of the bathrooms of the public house where Ray stayed. The one right next to the alley where he had been attacked.
Argo still had a small smile on the edge of his lips but it disappeared the moment he saw the straight and rigid expression on Ray's face.
"Explain to me how your powers work," Ray told him and the next second Argo opened his mouth to reply.
"Everything is in the sys…"
"I command you to truthfully explain everything about how your power works and everything you know about the system," Ray commanded, intent on not waiting any longer for his minion to get stronger before knowing the necessary details of his new powers.
He had no idea who gave him the system but he was confident that it wasn't for free.
The next second, Argo instantly sobered up going as far as to bow his head slightly in submission.
"I have no idea how I came to be but the rules guiding my every action is clear. You are my master and I am to obey you," Argo replied.
"For how long?"
"I don't know."
"Can you hurt me if you choose to?"
"I don't know," Argo replied, shocked to discover parts of his relationship with his master that he didn't even think he could explore.
"What the hell is that…"
"For instance, I-I think if you were to kill yourself, I would do everything I can to stop you even if I have to hurt you," Argo replied in a lower tone, bowing his head a little lower not daring to look up at Ray's face.
As much as Argo didn't want to say it. He was delighted to have a master. His whole body thrummed in delight at the thought of serving and following every one of his instructions. Thoughts of their body getting even stronger plagued him every minute which meant that apart from doing everything he could to protect his master, he didn't want to disappoint him in any way.
"Can I hurt you?" Ray coldly asked, looking at his minion standing in front of him with a distant expression on his face, recalling how easily it had been for it to kill two humans without flinching. What then would he do to him the second he no longer serves him?
"Can I hurt you?" Ray asked again in an even more impatient tone as he stared down at Argo.
Meanwhile, Argo did all he could to stop himself from shaking as he felt fear for the first time. His small and tiny body, which was a full two feet shorter than Ray's already skinny but tall body, shook from head to toe as he struggled to reply.
"Master…" Argo began, desperate to outline the relationship between that of a master and a servant. The entirety of the knowledge in his head. How servants were to serve and masters were to protect but…
"I won't repeat myself. Can I hurt you?" Ray asked with a completely serious expression on his face.
"Ye…yes but master would never do that right?" Argo breathed out, tears heavily pooling in his eyes as he bent his head forward staring at the bare bathroom floor, doing everything to hold the floor back.
"I don't know," was Ray's answer before going ahead to give Argo the rest of his orders.
"Tomorrow, we'll start looking for a big guild to join. I expect you to perform excellently. I'm guessing you can't be seen by other people right?"
"Yes but master, I…"
"I don't wanna hear it. Just go back to wherever you go to rest," Ray replied walking out of the bathroom the moment he was done talking, not at all waiting to hear the rest of what Argo wanted to say.
"How…how am I going to tell him that I already used most of the power I got from killing two humans on teleporting us out of the alley. Today was dreadful but why do I feel tomorrow would be even worse," Argo thought to himself with a sad expression on his face as he also walked out of the bathroom.
No one else could see him but he also had no intention of going back to his dimension.