Chapter 50 - Kaliss versus Erica 1 (2/2)

Knock knock

“Erica, your ride is ready.”

“... I’ll be there shortly.”

Erica couldn't help but be a bit peeved that the mood had been ruined.

“Where are you headed?”

“Jeweller Guild in the Craftsmen's district. We just finalized a new deal.

“Then I’ll escort you there.”

After all Woohyuk was employed by Erica’s merchant association as a Special mercenary.

Darius, The Grey Wolf was absent today due to his injuries from their fight, so he would have to fill in.

“That’s a great idea.”

Erica beamed as she clung close to Woohyuk.

Upon stepping out of the mansion, there was a black carriage waiting for them.

“Here, sit next to me.”

“As the Special mercenary, it was a must for him to stay close to Erica.

As Woohyuk stepped inside, the driver coachman whipped the horses.

“Hyaah!”

The carriage set off, there were only 10 guards including Woohyuk, because their destination was quite close, being inside the city.

“What region do you hail from Woohyuk? I’m from Floren.”

“I’m from Ertonia.”

“Oh, you come from quite far. Since you have many comrades, you must have had quite the adventure making you way here.”

Erica tried to strike up a conversation with Woohyuk. He was definitely the kind of person she wanted to have around for as long as possible.

Their current contract only lasted until this situation was resolved, so it wasn’t enough to tie him to her.

As the two of them continued their conversation.

Chaeng, chaeng!

A group of ruffians appeared from a nearby alley, bringing the carriage to a halt. There were about 30 of them, outnumbering the guards 3 to 1, so it was quite the predicament.

“Uh, what should we do?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Woohyuk scooped up Erica and then kicked the carriage door open.

Bang!

He saw Erica’s guards were already sprawled on the ground.

‘They’ve acted faster that I thought.’

This assassination attempt before Blackbeard even arrived, meant that something had changed.

Woohyuk accessed his Demonic Energy and easily subdued the assailants all at once.

“Kuhuk.”

“What...what is this.”

It was the same technique he had used against Darius, the Gray Wolf. The only difference was that it was applied over a wider area, rather than a single person.

As their assailants were easily subdued with Woohyuk’s strength, the mercenary guards escorted Erica over.

“Who sent you?”

“We won’t talk.”

“... Unfortunately that isn’t the right answer.”

Erica signalled a nearby mercenary with her eyes, who mercilessly struck the man down with his sword.

Chawaah!

Blood spurted out like a fountain from the stump like neck, as the head had been cleanly severed. At that time, Aris appeared from the shadows.

“Asura!”

“What is it?”

“There is a Demon in Sebastian’s manor!”

She couldn’t get close enough to confirm its identity, otherwise she might have been spotted, but from what she had gathered this demon was quite strong.

After hearing Aris’ report, Woohyuk had a troubled expression.

“Things are getting more and more complicated.”

“Isn’t Woohyuk related to demons as well? Are you in a bind because of me….”

Erica thought Woohyuk had been a human that had somehow turned demon for some reason.

Seeing her worry for him, Woohyuk just shook his head.

“It isn’t a problem. Just like humans do, demons also fight one another.”

It was indeed true that Solomon’s 72 Demon Kings would often butt heads when their interests and values conflicted.

There was a hawkish faction within the demons that advocated that all living beings on the Eeth continent had to be ruled harshly with an iron fist. On the other side was the more moderate faction that felt that they only needed to obtain the minimum amount of souls to develop their strength.

Most of them were centrists, but even they didn’t get along because they still competed for their ranking. It led to the distrust and conflicts between them being worse than even the other races.

“With you permission, Asura, I can go ahead and take care of her. She seems to be of a lower rank than me.”

“No, don’t engage.”

Aris was still severely weakened and was lacking a lot of her Demonic Energy. This was because she was held in captivity for so long, suffering under the Judgement Flames. It would still take her a long time to recover her full strength.

For now, the better option was to lay low and wait for Blackbeard to arrive, so as to not startle their opponents.

“Okay, but so as to not be caught off guard, I’ll continue to surveil them.”

“If anything happens, contact me right away.”

“Yes,”

As Aris melded into the shadows, Erica, who was still being held by Woohyuk, spoke up.

“Uhm, Woohyuk….”

“What is it?”

“Could you release me now?”

Her face was burning red, having been held by this male stranger for so long.

She had completed many business transactions, but had little to no experience with men.

After letting go of her, Woohyuk walked up to the mercenaries that had attacked them.

“Are you guys going to keep quiet about this?”

“....”

“Looks like there is no other way.”

There was no point in delaying the inevitable, as he swung Grandia that was covered in a light aura, causing heads to go flying.

* * *

In a room filled with extravagant artwork, Sebastian was having a conversation with a woman who had a mix of black and light purple wings.

“I’ve done as you said and sent out some men to assassinate her, but I have this nagging feeling.”

“There’s nothing to worry about Sebastian, even if this attempt fails, we can always aim for the next one.”

Humans were cautious by nature, which was quite annoying.

Lady Amanda stared out the window, window with a bored expression.

“If Erica survives this attempt, she will go back and gather a lot more guards. That means that we will suffer more casualties.

“Stop with all the negativity, it was a decision you made based on the highest percentage of success. By the way, I have something to show you.”

As Amanda clapped her hands, two succubi dragged a man inside.

It was the Gray Wolf, Darius.

Seeing who it was, Sebastian’s mouth opened in surprise.

“How did you manage to capture him? Was the assassination successful?”

“No, for some reason he wasn’t by Erica’s side. We found him in a tavern, so I sent over a succubus to seduce him, and he was easily kidnapped.”

Now that Erica wasn’t being guarded by Darius, she was far less likely to survive the attempt on her life.