CHAPTER 80: CHAPTER 0081: DEATH OF THE SHADOW SERVANTS!

Modret sensed the connection to his shadow servant being destroyed, causing his expression to change drastically.

’Activate shadow senses.’

[Activating shadow senses...]

Modret felt his vision shift instantly. From the bustling marketplace, he appeared in a place surrounded by trees.

He snapped his gaze around to see what was happening. However, as he turned, his eyes met a lady dressed in black fur, dark glasses covering her eyes.

The lady stared at Ruka intensely, as though she could sense something.

Modret, in possession of Ruka, could feel the man’s heart palpitating in terror.

Subconsciously, he sensed a dreadful pressure — tremendously stronger than the one he had felt from the Celestial back at the Endless Abyss.

Modret widened the eyes of the shadow servant abruptly.

The lady, holding a cigarette between her fingers, took a drag and let out a puff.

"Scum of the Illuminati!"

The moment her lazy voice faded, she appeared in front of the shadow servant, her slender fingers already gripping Ruka’s head.

She raised him up gently, forcing him to look at her.

"Tell me, where can I find your master?"

Modret could feel her intense gaze on him, and he couldn’t help but sense that the eyes hidden behind those glasses were pulling him in.

He frowned for a long moment, then muttered within his mind without hesitation,

’System, disconnect my connection to the shadow servant!’

Immediately after he spoke, Modret felt his connection with Ruka sever.

Then gradually, his link to the remaining shadow servants also faded away.

Modret’s expression darkened.

Axel noticed the sudden change on his face and asked curiously, "Master, is everything alright?"

He could tell it wasn’t related to the blind lady from before.

"I’ve lost the bandits."

"What?" Axel widened his eyes in shock.

"Yeah, actually..." Modret let out a breath, "someone from the Axarel family. A really strong lady..."

He recalled something and shifted his gaze toward a particular location in the black market.

’The blind girl, huh...’

He remembered her mentioning a group of five belonging to the Axarel family who remained hidden. When he’d asked about the strength of the lady, the blind girl had said she was far stronger than him.

’I guess she was right. There’s no way I can beat such a monster, at least not now. I didn’t even see her move...’

Modret’s thoughts trailed off as he shook away the image of the lady with glasses.

"Should we leave the city?"

"There’s no need for that. Since the blind girl says everything will be alright, then it will."

Of course, Modret didn’t actually trust the blind girl — his confidence came from the monthly remark from the system.

"Alright..." Axel nodded in agreement.

"Come, it’s been a while since we explored a Celestial Gate... I want to stretch my limbs for a bit. After a relaxing meal at home, we’ll head into one nearby."

"Huh? Young master, you’re still not traumatized by Celestial Gates after the Endless Abyss??"

"Speaking of which... I should be..." Modret laughed but didn’t seem to mind.

As long as he entered a safe Celestial Gate, there would be no problem.

With that, the duo strode out of the black market, encountering no one who tried to stop them.

...

Meanwhile, a few minutes earlier in the forest—

The lady with glasses had suddenly sensed a drastic change in the aura of the bandit leader, Ruka.

Subconsciously, she attacked, feeling it had something to do with the master of the Illuminati.

Aside from coming to capture Modret, she had also heard of the Illuminati’s recent movements concerning this vassal city — hence her reason for coming.

"It seems the order from the head was right. To think so many dead people were being controlled by the Illuminati," she muttered in a low voice.

Unknowingly, she had already concluded that the Illuminati were responsible for turning those people into puppets.

"I can’t believe they’d go as far as to enslave more than a hundred and twenty people against their will," said a slightly younger man from the group of five, shaking his head.

The lady nodded, then walked casually toward the group’s location.

"Yeah, we need to stay here longer. Aside from catching the Illuminati, it’d be nice to check up on what Modret’s been up to... Let’s go visit him. I also have to relay that information from the family head to him."

She chuckled darkly at the thought, and the others couldn’t help but let out nervous laughs.

...

Modret and Axel settled into their rooms as they waited for their order.

A few minutes had already passed since they returned to the inn and made their request.

Just when Modret was starting to get bored of waiting, a little girl stepped into the room, holding a tray of steaming dishes.

A joyful smile spread across her lips the moment her gaze landed on Modret.

During the past week — aside from the time they’d flown into the sky — Modret had also taken her on rides a couple of other times. It had become their little thing, a moment they used to bond.

"Young mister... here’s your meal..." she said, placing the dish on the table before suddenly jumping onto the bed, startling Modret.

He smiled wryly at her antics as she ran her hand through his silvery-blue hair.

Axel shook his head and stood to eat, but froze the moment Celine entered the room.

Modret watched them curiously, noticing that the moment Celine arrived, Axel’s movements became stiff as he walked to the table.

"Miss Celine, thank you for the meal... care to join us?" Modret teased, noticing Axel’s hand tremble slightly as soon as he made the offer.

"Yeah, sure. No problem."

Axel’s eyes widened slightly the moment she agreed.

He cleared his throat and readjusted himself as Celine casually walked over and sat beside him.

She turned to stare at him.

"What’s up, young man? You don’t like my food?"

"I... it’s not that."

This was the first time Modret had seen Axel so flustered, and he couldn’t help letting out an uncontrolled fit of laughter.

...

A/N: this Chapter is to make the readers relate more with Axel. he is one of my favorite characters so far in this novel, and he isn’t just a casual side character that will be dumped along the way but he is actually important to the plot!