Chapter 56: A contact.

"194 Non-Players, more than half of them are still young and even a kid..." Madam looked at the report the 1st Finger gave her. "Kill them all. He's not among them anyway," she added and looked at the gathered Non-Players in a vast field.

Madam looked at the 10 people wearing masquerades, hiding the top half of their faces. They all hid their bodies, armor, and weapons they had with their capes. They looked like statues because they didn't move a muscle as they watched Non-Players being burned alive.

"You're killing them like that? It's my first time seeing you killing people with mercy," Leid asked and enjoyed the show.

"A single stare was enough to make them open their mouths. None of them knew about that man, only the face, but they didn't know who he was or where he went," Madam explained as she looked at her status screen and the skills she possessed. "I don't need to torture them since it's a waste of time," she added.

"True, but what about the villagers that hid them there? Are you seriously going to let it slide and turn a blind eye because they're our master's people?" Leid glanced at Madam, and his words were overheard by the Masquerade.

All the men wearing masquerade masks glanced at Madam, and their gazes sent chills down Madam's and Lied's backs. They never thought they would experience something like that from those people. Lied regretted saying that in front of them and the fact Madam looked at him dead in the eye made it even worse.

"You know where the village is?" Madam stared at the Masquerade with a cold gaze. "If you know, then go and kill them as you please," she said.

All the 10 of them turned around and grabbed their horses, departing to Sevan Village to kill everyone. Madam who saw them leave immediately released a chill wind and Lied could see snow particles formed in the air around him.

"I don't care about those people. I care about the village that Hondo made himself. What you just did, you're going to be the one who destroyed the village and I'm not going to take this lightly," Madam unsheathed her daggers and held them tightly. She had never been so furious that she showed her killing intent.

"Ahh fuck... I'll tell them to leave the village alone..." Leid sighed and grabbed his horse to catch up with the Masquerade.

Madam sheathed her daggers and she didn't realize the blazing flames got extinguished because of her chill wind. The bodies that were about to turn into ashes were saved by her. Seeing those burnt and stiffened bodies, Madam thought it would be better to leave them that way so people could see them when they passed by the area.

"Madam, we believe he's not here on the 2nd floor. If we think like them, the safest place wouldn't be here or the 3rd floor, but the floor that we have discarded, the 1st floor," The 1st Finger pointed out. "We heard about someone clearing the 17th and 18th floors in the Sacred Dungeon. I think it's still the same person," he added.

"When was it?" Madam glanced at the 1st Finger. "If you heard it by now that means it has been a week since it happened. Finding him would be harder than here. I'm going down to the 1st floor. You go to Sevan Village and inform them," she said as she hopped on her horse.

"On your own?" The 2nd Finger looked at Madam.

"I can handle myself. If I encountered them, that would be even better because I could play around with my new skills," Madam looked at her hand and clenched it tightly.

Madam left hurriedly because she couldn't wait to have a rematch with Aria. She was humiliated once, and she hated the fact she lost like that and was unable to do anything like a pathetic.

When she came down to the 1st floor, she didn't see anything suspicious or odd about the city. She used her Dragon's Sense to check if there were strong presences around her because she remembered those assassins could change their appearance as they pleased. But after observing her surroundings, she didn't find anything at all, only weak Players who came to help rebuild the city.

The first place she checked was the entrance to the Sacred Dungeon. The guards approached her hurriedly to inform her about the death of the 2 guards. She already knew the culprit behind the guards' deaths, and she was convinced Aria and the others were indeed on the 1st floor to protect that Non-Player.

Madam knew it would be impossible to find them knowing the 1st floor was twice as big as the 2nd floor. Finding them wasn't the best option, and the only way was to wait for them to go back into the city. She believed they were planning to clear the Sacred Dungeon again because there was no reason for them to clear the dungeon if they did it for fun.

She decided to stay in the nearest building so she could keep an eye on the Sacred Dungeon entrance.

After a whole week of waiting there was no sign of the Night Terror even with Leid and the Masquerade. Something didn't feel right because she didn't sense any Night Terror in the city even with the Dragon's Sense. There was nothing they could do but wait because there was no other way for Night Terror to leave the 1st floor unless they had a scroll for them to go back to a different floor.

"This is so boring..." Leid sighed as he put his legs on the table and tried to get into a comfortable position. "So your job is like this? Back when you were still a Headhunter? I mean you're still a Headhunter," he looked at Madam sharpening her daggers.

"How do you think I managed to kill hundreds of the Resistance Army?" Madam asked back and she sounded annoyed to be in a conversation with Leid. "Also, if you don't want to be here, you can just leave. Nobody is going to stop you," she looked at Leid.

"I still don't understand why do you hate me so much, Esra," Leid looked at Madam with a serious expression. "You were my junior, and I helped you a lot when you were a new Player in the tower. I have never done anything that would make you so hate me except the moment I snatched that treasure from you," he remembered the time he helped Madam.

"And I have helped you climb the tower up to the 60th floor, so we are even. The reason why I despise you isn't because of what you did," Madam stood up and couldn't take it anymore talking with Leid. "It's because of what you didn't do," she pointed out and went to the window to check the street.

Leid knew what Madam was talking about and he understood her hatred toward him. But he couldn't believe that was the main reason why she hated him and despised him.

"Is that the reason why you stop climbing the tower?" Leid stared at the wall.

"That's none of your business," Madam answered coldly, but then she remembered what Checil said to her back when she was in Checil's office. "You have entered the 70th floor, right?" She turned around to look at Leid.

The moment Madam asked that question, Leid's expression turned cold and it made him uncomfortable.

"Why do you ask? You're not interested in climbing the tower, so why do you care?" Leid asked back. "Well, since you're my junior, I will tell you what's up there..." he paused to gather the courage to tell the truth. "It's the first time I've made contact with Gods," he answered.

Madam raised her eyebrows and she never thought that would be the answer. She was curious about it and went back to the table to listen to it more. But suddenly the 1st Finger came in and he looked at Madam as he nodded his head. That was the signal that she had been waiting for a whole week.

"We found him. He's on his way to the Sacred Dungeon," The 1st Finger informed. "What should we do, Madam?" he asked.

"What else?" Madam stood up and grabbed her jacket. "I'm going to follow him into the dungeon. I want to see what that man is capable of. You guys stay outside with the Masquerade because the Night Terror would be near to protect him," she added as she walked to the door.

"I'm coming too. I waited for a week in this stupid place, and it has been a while since I went to the Sacred Dungeon," Leid responded as he grabbed his greatsword and put it on his back.

"Then you have to listen to me or I'm going to kill you first," Madam stared into Leid's eyes.

"Of course! I promise," Leid smiled.