CHAPTER 31: CHAPTER 30 - SHADOW VILLAIN?!

"What are you doing, Princess?"

"Oh, you’ve come. I’m doing what I usually do, hehe."

"Do you still like having random people as part of the organization?"

Coming from behind the shadows of the slum house, an old man with a thick, shabby-looking beard spoke to Harlequeen.

As if not surprised by the person’s arrival, Harlequeen only responded with an innocent smile. "Hehe, I just recruited someone quite interesting, you know. Unlike you who likes to wear a torn cloak, he wears a neat cloak."

Similar to what Harlequeen said, the old man who came to her was also wearing a cloak. It was just that, if Harlequeen wasn’t someone who knew him, then he would look like the old man across the street.

One thing that distinguished him from the usual old man on the side of the road was the staff in his hand which indicated that he was a magician. "Then, where is that person?" He asked Harlequeen.

When Harlequeen wanted to tell that old man, she was confused when she realized that Lev was no longer in front of her. "Uh, he was still here earlier, you know."

"Interesting," the old man muttered softly. "Did he notice the killing Aura that I intentionally released?"

***

Haa~ Haa~ HAaa~

The sound of the breathing of the people pulling the hay cart sounded very heavy.

The people who were pulling the hay cart were Gallios’ minions.

Their faces looked curious as to what goods they were carrying on the hay cart. Because the items they were carrying were completely covered in burlap, they didn’t know what they were carrying and when they asked, Gallios didn’t respond at all.

There was something that made Gallios’ minions gape even more. Normally, Gallios would not pull the hay cart.

Gallios, who was used to giving orders without doing much field work, could only keep swearing to himself when his men looked at him strangely.

He was even sweating profusely from the physical and mental exhaustion he was experiencing.

"Boss, is this really the place?"

Gallios still ignored his minions and moved like a robot.

"You can leave!" He shooed all his minions away instead.

Without much argument, they all just left.

Knowing that the place he was heading to was a brothel, Gallios thought that he would find a place where customers were bustling in and out even at night. However, what he found was a closed sign in front of the brothel.

Gallios knocked on the brothel’s door and then a woman wearing a secretive outfit opened the door... that’s right, it was Madam Fleur. Only, she was no longer wearing revealing clothes like before. She was wearing more modest clothes, in a way.

When he saw Madam Fleur, the first thing Gallios did—his body did—was to kneel down. "I am the new slave of young master Lev. I am here to deliver people who need shelter." He knelt until his forehead reached the ground and cried out loudly.

"Ah," As if she understood what had just happened, Madam Fleur calmly ordered several women from inside the Dreamhouse brothel building to come out.

Then Madam Fleur told the women to move the pile of unconscious people on the hay cart into the building.

Not long after, everything returned to normal. The doors of the Dreamhouse brothel closed again.

When Gallios’ body, which had been kneeling for a long time, woke up, he found a potion in front of him. He wanted to take the potion to heal his wound, but he doubted whether his body would follow his will.

As if Lev had anticipated what would happen, his body moved on its own to take the potion and poured the healing potion over his wound.

Gallios suddenly remembered Madam Fleur’s face.

Not only did he recognize Madam Fleur’s face because the Dreamhouse brothel was a former place that provided information for the Nightfall Organization, but he also recognized Madam Fleur’s face because he remembered the message that she had sent to him about a week ago.

The message that he had received was, "If you want your child to survive, you should let the Dreamhouse brothel stand."

When Gallios received the message, he intended to ignore it and still carry out the original order from his master to burn down the Dreamhouse brothel. However, the message he received was suddenly taken by his master because he happened to read the message while together with his master.

Unlike Gallios who intended to ignore the message, his master immediately looked panicked. Immediately, his master gave the order to cancel the order to burn down the Dreamhouse brothel.

’What does the message mean? Whose child is the message referring to?’

Gallios wondered to himself.

If he had control over his body, he would have already interrogated Madam Fleur by force.

’Shit!’

Unfortunately, he could only swear silently. He could not even grit his teeth.

***

"That was close."

Lev rubbed his chest when he reached his bedroom inside the mansion.

He removed the black cloak and closed the window through which he had come in secretly.

When sitting on the bed mattress, only then could he breathe calmly.

Just because he went back to the past and possessed the Hero’s System and Black Magic Authority, he was not a fool who felt that he was invincible.

’In front of the important characters in this world, I was just an ant... At least for now.’

He had caught a glimpse of Harlequeen’s power.

Although it was still early in the story of the Hero’s Destiny novel, it was undeniable that Harlequeen was much stronger than Lev.

Would it be okay if he said that even Hansen was still weaker than Harlequeen now?

Just like in any fiction, the main villain will be stronger at the beginning of the story.

Then as the story progressed, the main character would become more and more powerful than anybody else.

’What if I try to use Harlequeen to kill Hansen?’

He suddenly thought of a pretty interesting idea.

If following the plot of the novel, Harlequeen would lose to Hansen, and Lev’s own future would be bleak.

But, the problem lay in that, if he relied on others, not necessarily his own future would be much better. Even if Harlequeen kills Hansen early, he will not necessarily have a nice future where the world is peaceful.

Indeed, the right thing to do to secure his own future was to increase his personal power.

While putting on his pajamas and preparing to sleep, he suddenly thought about the figure of the person who had come to Harlequeen earlier.

’If I’m just a little late, that person would have already detected me.’

Fortunately, he quickly used the One with the Shadow skill.

Given the difference in strength between Lev and Harlequeen, Lev should not have been able to escape even after using the One with the Shadow skill. If Harlequeen realized that he could use a mysterious skill like One with the Shadow, he was sure that Harlequeen would madly hold himself there—just like a child who found something fun.

Although the power gap between Lev and Harlequeen was huge, there was one characteristic of the One with the Shadow skill that managed to make Lev go unnoticed by Harlequeen.

The reason for this was because One with the Shadow’s skill would be stronger when it only focused on one individual.

[The fewer targets affected by One with the Shadow’s skill, the more effective One with the Shadow’s skill will be.]

You must be wondering why Lev felt an eerie air from the person who came to Harlequeen.

Although he didn’t see the face of the person who came to Harlequeen, he had caught a glimpse of the person’s appearance. He could guess who it was from the stick the person was holding.

The staff held by the person had a skull motif—similar to the arrangement of the human spine. At the top of the stick was the head of a demon with horns protruding upwards.

He had once seen an apparition of that person while trying to escape the chaos happening on the Avalon Continent.

On one of the battlefields he was forced to participate in, that person opened numerous portals that spewed demons with just a wave of his staff.

Aside from his terrifying power, the man’s identity was equally terrifying.

Did you think the Nightfall Organization would perish when Hansen defeated Harlequeen? You would be wrong to think so.

The skull-patterned staff holder was the person who would become the Nightfall Organization’s boss when Harlequeen had lost to Hansen.

Since that person was not in the Hero’s Destiny novel, he did not have much information about that person.

’Is he the same person as the one who will be the leader of the Nightfall Organization later? Then, what is Harlequeen’s relationship with that person now?’

He had no idea. Even in his previous life, he had never actually met that person, let alone interacted. In conclusion, nothing good would happen if he met that person now. There was a possibility that he would attract that person’s attention. So Lev decided to run away first.

Lev thought about all that while crossing his hands behind his head while lying on the bed.

He wanted to close his eyes and enjoy his sleep while he could.

However, there was one more thing that surprised Lev when he met Harlequeen earlier.

[The Black Lotus Crest detected signs of the existence of one of the Deadly Sins.]

[You get the main quest.]

[Quest Name: True Hero.

Description: In the midst of the peaceful Avalon Continent, the threat of destruction lurks. The Seven Deadly Sins, the demon lord’s main subordinates, are waiting for the gates of hell to open. Thwart the plans of the demon lord’s main henchmen and become the true hero of the continent of Avalon.

Reward: Not Available.]