Devin bowed deeply, clutching his hands together. "Thank you, sir. Thank you... I'll get the money. I will."
The doctor left.
Devin stood there a mont longer, then turned to walk out of the ward.
The man pointed a trembling finger at Baelgor, his face red with fury. "Do you keep your brain in your pocket?! Or like today, did you swallow it whole along with the forty bowls of noodles you just devoured? Common sense....can you not even afford that?! To spew such words....shaless! Shaless!"
Gasps spread through the restaurant like wildfire.
Even Cisco twitched at the outburst, his refined mask faltering for the briefest mont. His inner voice snarled, "Idiot! You actually dare bark at a person with probably a backing of S-grade hunter like this? I was sure you had the protection of a hunter, but with this kind of temper, it can't be more than a C-grade at best. Do you have a death wish?!"
Baelgor's lips curled into a cold smile, and the air shifted.
"Ohhh, ungrateful being…" The dungeon lord's voice dropped into a guttural growl that seed to vibrate against the very bones of the listeners. The temperature in the room plumted, breaths turned shallow, and several custors fell to their knees under the pressure.
"Today, you shall cease to feel the joy of existence. I will erase you so thoroughly that not even a shadow will remain. Every atom of your pathetic form will vanish. Even your so-called heroes would not dare speak so insolently to my servant."
The words were a death sentence, and the crushing aura surged outward like a wave. Plates cracked, glasses splintered, and the owner stumbled back, face blanching as his knees threatened to give out.
Cisco's mind raced. "Damn it, this is spiraling out of control! If I let him strike here, everyone will die and my golden fish along with them. Ti to step in before this fool brings the heavens down on himself!"
With a sharp clap of his hands, Cisco stepped forward, his voice cutting through the suffocating pressure.
"Okay....enough."
All eyes swung to him. He faced the trembling owner with a calm smile, as if the very air weren't collapsing around them.
"I have already paid," Cisco said smoothly. "Let it go."
The owner stiffened, jaw clenching. For a mont it looked like he might argue, but then he scoffed bitterly, turned on his heel, and stomped away, muttering curses under his breath.
The tension slowly lifted, the pressure easing as Baelgor retracted his aura. He looked at Cisco, his expression unreadable.
"Human," Baelgor intoned, his voice dripping with authority, "I have forgiven you for the favor you did earlier. But let this be known the next ti you dare interrupt , it will be the last sunrise you ever witness."
Cisco froze, then forced a smile to cover the irritation bubbling in his chest. "…I just saved you from making a ss, and you still threaten ? When will this lunatic climb down from his high horse?"
His eyes flicked to the spatial ring again, gleaming faintly on Baelgor's finger. The irritation vanished, replaced with cold calculation. "…No matter. As long as I can bleed riches from him, I'll endure it. Even if he owns nothing else, that ring alone will suffice. If I must kiss his boots to get close, then so be it."
He smoothed his expression into humility and bowed slightly, playing the part of the loyal servant.
He tried to think. Guild requests? No. Bounty missions? All taken by higher-ranked adventurers. Even escort gigs barely paid enough to cover his als.
As he turned the corner into an alley shortcut, caught between despair and panic, fate quite literally slapped him in the face.
FWAP!
"Gah!" Devin stumbled back as a paper fluttered directly onto his face like an overenthusiastic pigeon.
He yanked it off with a scowl. "What the hell...?"
His eyes scanned the crumpled sheet, and then widened.
It was a recruitnt poster dark-thed, edgy font, and sealed with a red wax mark shaped like a crescent moon wrapped in chains.
"JOIN THE SHADOW CLAN INITIATION RAID!"
Seeking low-rank hunters (D-rank and below). No prior experience necessary.
Guaranteed paynt: 100 Mana Crystals & 1 Middle-Tier Hunter Core (30% purity).
Estimated value: $30,000.
Sign up at Warehouse 17, Midnight.
No Questions Asked.
Devin stared at the numbers like they were the gates of heaven opening up just for him.
"Th-thirty thousand dollars?" he breathed, almost afraid to say it out loud. That kind of money could cover his mother's treatnts for months. It could wipe out his debts in one sweep. He might even have enough left over for new equipnt… or food that didn't taste like cardboard.
Of course, there were red flags.
Massive, blood-red flags waving and screaming DANGER with skull emojis.
Why would anyone pay that much to D-ranks and E-ranks like him? No questions asked? Midnight et-up? Shadow Clan?
It practically slled like black market dealings and illegal monster hunts.
But at that mont?
Devin didn't care.
Not even a little.
His world was collapsing, and he had one week left to save the only person who ever truly believed in him.
Devin wandered aimlessly through the bustling streets of Neonsvale, but his mind was anything but present.
The doctor's words echoed in his skull like war drums.
"One week."
Seven days.
That was all the ti he had to save his mother's life. To scrape together a sum of money that would take him months if not years to earn at his current rank. His breathing grew shallow, and his vision blurred, not from tears, but from the crushing pressure wrapping around his chest like iron chains.
How?
How am I supposed to get that kind of money?
Who would even hire an E-rank hunter for a job that pays enough to save a life?
As he stepped into the hallway, a nurse pushing a tray paused when she saw his puffy eyes and bowed head.
"Poor boy..." she murmured under her breath. "Life really isn't fair to so people."
Devin didn't hear her.
His mind was elsewhere.
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