Testing the Water

Edmund's case was reasonably solid so he was off the hook by a heart-stopping slim margin, narrowly avoiding getting his soul damaged or wiped by the agony known as soul fire. He could also tell that his idol the archbishop, which he still liked despite her threats, was already scheming up some nasty ideas on what to do going forward by the lovely and sinister expression she was making.

While Odella plotted and Edmund secretly crushed on her, a knock on the door paired with an "It's me" and broke the silence. She recognized the voice and allowed him in.

Lucien kneeled next to Edmund and said in a solemn tone, "I've completed my task, your eminence."

"Hmm? You've found that Dragon Slayer?" A malicious and surprised grin spread across her beautiful face. What are the chances of something like this working so well?

"No I have not, but I did manage to find this..." He took out a massive dragon spike and raised it above his head in an offering style to her, "It's one of the Void Dragon main horns that the Dragon Slayer sold, and its quality is outstanding."

Kyren used [Gene Transformation] while in his dimension to harvest a single spike from himself. Because his Elder Dragon form was much bigger than his youngling version, he told Lucien to pose his smallest spike as a horn. This was all so the old man could have proof that he fulfilled his duty in his extended absence.

"I guess that isn't too bad. Make sure to start research right away with all of the other Void Masters."

"Of course... I hope you don't mind me asking, but why are you looking for the Dragon Slayer that killed this dragon?"

"We'll be deploying the Templars to eradicate him. I might even send all of my bishops just to make an example out of him for the rest of the demonic race that are hiding in our societies..."

The old man stifled his surprised yelp and luckily no one noticed. Odella then continued to explain Edmund's recent "findings" and some vague details about her plans.

"I-I see..." He remained somewhat calm even though he stumbled upon such a large piece of information for Kyren. He also inwardly cursed Edmund for being such a little brat. There was nothing he could do to shift this suspicion on Kyren without possibly exposing himself if they did an investigation.

"I needed something to get my mind off those damnable Immortal Souls and this Dragon Slayer germ came at a perfect time."

She then began to angrily rant about the unreasonable behaviors of the Immortal Souls. She was getting so pissed off by the recent reports that she could finally vent some of her frustration. While Lucien absorbed all of the info he was hearing, Edmund felt honored to be a method of stress release for Odella so he took on her fury silently.

"If we can't recruit any more immortal beings by the beginning of the preparation period for operations Exodus, Cleansing, and Exorcism then we'll wipe them all out permanently, soul and all!!

I can't have them falling into the hands of those disgusting grotesques and gross non-humans..."

'Exodus?! Cleansing!?! Exorcism!?!?!' Lucien has never heard of these plans before, even with his generally high status within the church. It seemed that in her frustration, she let something she shouldn't have slip and has already forgotten she said it. The titles alone caused his thoughts to wander to horrible theories based on the Archaic Church's beliefs and aspirations, 'I need to tell him as soon as possible!'

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Kyren and the three girls came out of his [Gate] in an alleyway near their destination. The atmosphere was very harmonious and cheerful as the citizens mingled. The Templars were terrorizing and intruding on the whole city and region for so long that people started to suffer from their fear of them. As soon as they disappeared, the people left from there hiding places and tried to repair the society and economy of Kassio after their long absence.

Players were the only ones who didn't go into hiding and they instead carried on as though the church wasn't bursting into homes and doing forced searches. Some indeed wished to help out, but players at this stage of the game were F~grade to E~grade beings so they had no power or say over anything. The church's period of terror however did generate countless missions and tasks for players to reimburse themselves in.

As the four of them walked down the street, the player's attention slowly shifted towards them and excitement grew quickly. Krista and Maya were wearing their trademark dragon mask disguises and they were immediately recognized. Krista was an idol while Maya was a godlike NPC in the players' opinions. Maya was a well-known figure in the entire Alvestine Empire because one of her tasks in his absence was to sell some of her excess products to Immortal Souls in absolute secrecy in all of the cities in which her influence reached. They referred to her as "Blackmarket Blue" or "The Azure Secret Agent" because of the method in which she sold to them and the astonishing quality of her merchandise.

Rayna was wearing a brand new golden-colored dragon mask that Darien made recently and an exquisite dress that matched Maya's in both quality and beauty, using a style unique to her. The players didn't recognize her, but they immediately guessed that she was another important NPC by the matching gear. What confused them was Kyren's presence and the fact that he was leading the three beauties as though he was their superior.

"Is this an event?"

"Is something going to happen?"

"Do you think we can interact with them? Maybe they have a hidden storyline..."

"You can ask them if you want. I'd rather keep my head on my shoulders just in case they aren't friendly."

"This must be an event! Four important ****(NPCS) all together in one place!"

The group ignored the whispers and quickly came before a tall and luxurious building in a generally less busy location. This was at Kyren's request for reasons unknown to Maya.

"You did well on this location. I'm very pleased."

Maya giggled and fiddled with a strand of her ponytail. She worked inhumanly hard to go above and beyond with everything he requested. His praise felt so good to hear after all of the efforts she's put in, "All of the locations I've chosen are either the same or even better."

"How many?"

While they were arriving inside and walking down the hallways, Maya tried her best to summarize all of the events and accomplishments throughout the recent period, "I'm currently in the process of buying some final plots of land. By the end of this week, we should have shops, warehouses, logistical, and/or production-based buildings in every city and most major towns within the entire Alvestine Empire. Sadly, we won't be able to manage anything more outside of the country with the number of personnel and funds we have.

Recruitments have been going well and we've been using fancy and advanced magical tools to assess whether they are worthy and loyal enough to join us. We also bought a massive quantity of golems and silhouettes to give us the ability to work with minimal staff. Production of the list of stuff you requested and more has been going smoothly.

Also, those amazing factory designs you gave me have been working wonders! They're practically otherworldly!"

He was completely astonished by how much she got done in such a short amount of time and continued to praise her. Business stuff was her element so she continued to talk about related matters and the future.

Once they arrived at the room they were looking for, Krista opened the door for them and he walked in first. The room was the biggest and finest negotiation space in the building. A cushioned armchair sat on the opposite end of a coffee table, parallel to a long couch meant for the visiting party. On the couch was the darkness magic user. The other two guests were to meet with him separately.

The player on the couch sized him up as discreetly as possible but found absolutely nothing remarkable about the supposed big boss, nor was he able to notice his immortal soul due to their strength difference. Kyren on the other hand didn't need to observe the man at all because he knew everything about him ever since the moment he saw him in the arena sparring with Rayna. Even his "special" items in his Dimensional Storage were like an open book for him.

Once he sat down and faced the man on the couch, the three girls stood at attention near the sidewall. They practiced these things to make him look good in front of outsiders and it was definitely working. The man has met or knew all of them so he was surprised by their subservient demeanor, making him a little intimidated by the hooded figure opposite of him.

"Now tell me your name." Kyren started the conversation while leaning back with an "entertain me" vibe.

He shot back with a resolute and deviant aura, "Isn't it courtesy to say your name first?"

The female trio was dumbfounded by his bold words and they were about to simultaneously release their auras to warn him but they were stopped short. The recipient of the comment instead gave out a loud chuckle that literally made the building shake and the darkness user flinch.

"I see that you're trying to assess whether or not I'm worthy of leading you... or something like that."

Kyren's words were completely ordinary and inquiring, but there was something menacing and deep written in between the lines that were hardly noticeable. His silent hoodlum-like demeanor faltered slightly as he straightened up his back while his face unconsciously became ashen, "It's WreakingHavoc757, or Havoc for short..."

Havoc's nature wasn't just for show. He was in a rough patch of society IRL(1) and he's done and witnessed some really bad and inhuman things. He always tested the waters with the biggest boss in any new mafia or gang he joined. If he wasn't impressed by even a little bit, he would leech everything he could from them and skip town. That's been his whole lifestyle since before he had the age of double digits and although it was dangerous, obviously making a lot of enemies, it's never failed him once yet.

This was the first time he was actually terrified of a superior above him and his years of experience with shady business screamed at him to think twice about his actions.

He joined this game with six other brothers-in-arms to pass some time while they laid low after a big job. The plan was to use this game as entertainment for the seven of them until the coast was clear, which would take a few years in real life. What he didn't expect was to find something that actually caught his attention other than the dark and evil theme the game offered him.

"*Sigh* I apologize for wasting your time, I'm quite satisfied. I look forward to our future." He bowed slightly to show some respect, and then stood up to show himself the door. There was nothing else he wanted more than to make a hasty escape. His instincts told him that if he stayed any longer, the monster with a hood would surely discover his secret and that could possibly be disastrous. Now that he thought about it, he acted far too rashly when he decided to test this person out without any solid precautions.

"That's disappointing..." He looked towards the beauty with the blue mask and ordered her to bring in the other two visitors.

Havoc flinched when he heard his words and stopped himself midway when he reached for the knob. An all too familiar sensation of a gun being pointed at his back washed over him as a single thought crossed his mind, 'Goddamnit... he knows already!'

As though he read his mind, Kyren halted his order to Maya and looked at him solemnly, not saying a word. Havoc did a one-hundred-eighty degree turn and sat back down.

A long and uncomfortable silence followed, making everyone tense, at least everyone except the patiently waiting hooded monster.

Kyren broke the silence first and said in a gentle but firm tone, almost as though he was thinking out loud and he happened to overhear, "You can't test the waters till you jump in head first..."

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1: IRL) In real life.