Chapter 71: 71: The Underground Rule II
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One was a thick-necked beastkin with a shaved head and iron rings in his ears. The other was a slender human with a tattoo running up his neck like a snake.
They blocked the door with bored posture.
Sekht approached.
The tattooed man lifted a lantern and squinted at him.
"What do you want," he asked.
Sekht’s voice was calm.
"Underground market."
The beastkin snorted.
"Everyone wants the underground," he said. "Question is, do you belong."
Sekht did not answer with words.
He let a fraction of his chaos pressure slip out.
Just a fraction.
Not enough to crush.
Enough to warn.
The air around him tightened.
The lantern fla flickered.
Fzz...
The beastkin’s face shifted.
His bravado hesitated.
He was strong enough to bully normal people, but he could feel the difference between a bully and a predator.
The tattooed man swallowed.
He forced a grin.
"Alright, alright," he said quickly. "No need to glare like that, friend. Rules are rules."
He stepped aside and knocked on the stone door in a specific rhythm.
Knock-knock... knock... knock-knock.
The stone door trembled.
A hidden chanism clicked.
Click.
It opened inward, revealing a staircase descending into darkness.
Warm air rose from below, carrying slls that did not belong to clean city streets.
Smoke.
tal.
Blood.
Perfu.
Spices.
And sothing else.
Sothing like greed.
Bat Bat whispered, "Sll like trouble."
Sekht muttered, "That is the point."
He descended.
Step... step... step...
The staircase was narrow and old. The walls were carved with runes that absorbed sound, making the world above fade quickly. By the ti Sekht reached the bottom, it felt like he had stepped into a different city entirely.
The underground market spread out like a hidden kingdom under Slik.
Lanterns hung from chains.
Drip Drip Drip...
Water fell from the ceiling in so places, collected into shallow gutters that ran between stalls. The floor was stone, worn smooth by centuries of illegal footsteps.
The crowd was thick.
Not only humans.
Beastkin, goblins, lizardfolk, insectoid humanoids with glimring eyes, even a floating jelly-like creature in a glass tank carried by a rchant who kept yelling, "Do not tap the tank!" at everyone who walked past.
Vendors shouted deals.
"Nightmare-grade steel! Real steel! Not fake city garbage!"
"Chaos stones cheap! Cheap! Just don’t ask where they ca from!"
"Love potion! Guaranteed! Side effects include obsession, crying, and biting—!"
A woman slapped the vendor.
"Do not sell that to teenagers," she snapped.
The vendor shrugged.
"Teenagers are my best custors," he said.
A fight almost started near a weapon stall, but it stopped before it began, because a man with a black armband stepped between them and spoke quietly.
The two fighters backed off instantly.
Sekht’s eyes narrowed.
Rules.
The underground had its own law.
And it was not polite.
Bat Bat’s head moved constantly, scanning everything.
"Many face," it whispered. "Many sharp teeth."
Sekht did not reply.
He was listening.
He could feel the underground’s rule without anyone explaining it.
Here, everything was permitted.
But only here.
If you started trouble above ground, the city would crush you.
Below ground, you were allowed to be a monster — as long as you kept your monster inside the cage of this place.
Sekht moved through the crowd like he belonged, because now he did.
His blood eyes flickered on, quietly appraising the environnt.
People’s battle power danced across his vision.
[Overall Battle Power: 2100]
[Overall Battle Power: 4600]
[Overall Battle Power: 7900]
[Overall Battle Power: 11200]
He saw thieves and killers and smugglers wearing smiles like masks.
He saw a rchant selling "holy water" that was clearly just tap water with glitter in it.
He saw a demonkin woman selling cursed rings while flirting with every custor, her voice sweet and dangerous.
He saw a group of hooded n arguing over a crate of shadow beast bones like it was gold.
Sekht kept moving.
He was not here to shop.
Not yet.
He needed two things.
A test of his power.
And blood.
He found the quiet place he wanted near the edge of the market, where the lantern light dimd and the crowd thinned. A narrow passage led into a shadowed corner where broken crates ford a half-wall. Most people avoided it.
That ant it was exactly the kind of place predators used.
Sekht waited. He did not have to wait long.
A cry broke soon, the low hum of the market.
"Please—! I already paid!"
Sekht turned slightly.
A young man, maybe eighteen, was pressed against the wall by two thugs. One held a knife. The other held the man’s wrist, twisting it painfully.
"Pay again," the knife thug said, smiling. "Underground tax."
"That’s not a real tax," the victim stamred.
"It is," the other thug said. "We invented it. Congratulations."
They laughed.
Sekht’s expression remained calm.
Bat Bat whispered, "Bad guy."
Sekht muttered, "Yes."
He moved. Not fast. Just... suddenly.
One mont he was leaning against a crate.
The next mont he was standing behind the knife thug.
The thug did not even realize it until Sekht spoke.
"Let him go."
The thug flinched and spun. His knife slashed instinctively.
Sekht caught the wrist.
Crack!
The knife fell.
Clink!
The thug’s face twisted in pain.
"What the—"
Sekht slamd him into the wall.
THUD!
The second thug lunged toward Sekht’s side, fist glowing with chaos energy.
Sekht turned and blocked casually with his forearm.
BAM!
The impact echoed.
The second thug staggered backward, eyes widening.
He had expected a weak target. Instead he t a wall.
Sekht’s blood eyes flickered over them.
[Thug 1: Overall Battle Power 4300]
[Thug 2: Overall Battle Power 4700]
Bat Bat humd approvingly.
"Good snack," it whispered.
Sekht did not answer. He looked at the young victim.
"Leave, Run!" Sekht said.
The victim stared at him, trembling.
"But—"
"Leave," Sekht repeated, voice sharper.
The victim did not argue again. He ran.
TapTapTap!
Sekht turned back to the two thugs. They were recovering.
The one he slamd against the wall spat blood and snarled.
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