"I would like to be a part of this expedition, Wren Stasis, Athyst-class," Zeno said with a straight face.
Then, laughter from the crowd reverberated in the area, and so of the people started to throw harsh words at Zeno.
"Are you even listening earlier?" said a man a few distances away from the front of the line.
"He’s a freaking clown," another man comnted, adding fuel to the fire.
Though Zeno ignored them all and retained his sight on the knight in front of him.
"I very much admire your bravery, but we can’t let you join this expedition without eting the requirents. Next!" The knight yelled.
But Zeno stayed still, and a smile curled on his lips.
"Four hundred forty-three," he said.
"What?" The knight knitted his brows and exclaid.
"That’s the exact number of people inside this town right now, and one hundred seven of them are children," Zeno answered, still smiling.
"Don’t make us laugh. Are you telling us that you have the ability to have a complete grasp of the area, an athyst class?" The sa man from the line retorted, and the chatterings from the crowd followed.
"He’s right," the knight affird.
"How can you prove that your words are true? Everybody could say that, knowing that no one knew the exact numbers of people here," he added, anticipating that the man would face humiliation.
Their commotion had already gathered quite a bit of attention, and even the Diamond-class rcenary was now waiting for Zeno’s response.
However, contrary to the crowd’s expectations, the demon pulled out a black dice from his coat and fidgeted with it on his fingers before speaking.
"Exactly! But the four pieces of silver coins along with a bronze coin inside your left pocket and a handkerchief at the right can be counted to prove my claim," Zeno stated.
The next second, all eyes stared at the knight.
’How?’ He thought.
"Show him that he’s wrong; empty your pockets!" The man from earlier yelled, still roasting Zeno with his words.
"Then bet your life with ," Zeno replied without averting his eyes from the knight.
"If what I said is correct, I’ll kill you right here, right now, and of course, you can do the sa thing to if my guess is inaccurate," he added, which made the man gulp a few tis.
His eyes bulged upon hearing the words, and he felt cold sweat running down the back of his spine.
"Scared?" Zeno mocked him one more ti.
Then the man glared at the demon’s back and yelled.
"Don’t beg for your life later!" He said.
He wanted to accept the deal, but the man’s overwhelming confidence made him contemplate. However, as he felt pressured by the crowd’s stares, he thought no longer and gave in to what the demon wanted.
"Let’s do that then! Hey, man! Let us see your pockets!" He shouted.
Zeno smirked upon hearing the idiot’s declaration.
"Do it; he’s so eager to die," he said.
However, the knight shook his head, refusing to show his pockets.
"Don’t keep us hanging; reveal it," the Diamond-class rcenary said, aggravating the scene.
Upon hearing him, the knight had no choice but to obey, so he closed his eyes and put his hands in his pocket.
’Don’t bla for your foolishness,’ he thought.
The next second, he raised them and opened both of his palms containing the things that Zeno had identified earlier. A handkerchief on the right and several coins on the left.
The crowd was stunned upon realizing that the coins had the exact number of pieces, no more, no less, for silver and bronze, like what the silver-haired man ntioned.
"I think soone should wipe his neck clean right now," Zeno uttered as he turned around and looked at the man.
"I-Is that serious? We’re just joking, aren’t we?" The man said, stepping backward.
But Zeno ignored his question and kept tossing the dice in the air. Then, after taking a step forward, he flicked the small cube in the man’s direction.
In that instance, the man raised his hand and covered himself from the dice’s trajectory. However, with its powerful force, the object pierced his skin before passing through the back of his arm.
"Are you kid-" The man uttered gritting his teeth in pain but unable to finish his sentence, losing his ability to speak as the dice left a hole in his neck, killing him on the spot.
His body fell to the pavent while the dice flew back to the demon’s palm.
No one in the crowd managed to react; even the Diamond-class rcenary failed to anticipate Zeno’s course of action. Even Kizeler, who was watching the scenes from the sidelines, widened his eyes in shock.
’He took down a Ruby-class in a single flick; who is he?’ The people thought.
Then they averted their eyes from the man, afraid to be the next subject of his wrath.
Zeno glanced behind him and looked at the knight, who was drenched in sweat upon witnessing the brutal killing.
"Do I qualify now, or will you still decline my application?" He asked.
"K-kindly proceed to the next area to assess your strength," the knight replied.
However, the Diamond-class rcenary chid in on their conversation while he walked closer to Zeno.
"There’s no need for that; what I’ve seen is plenty enough," he said, smiling.
Then he extended his hand and offered a handshake, even though Zeno was facing the opposite direction and just his head was the one looking at him.
"The na is Royle, and I’m excited to work with you," he said, smiling.
However, Zeno remained silent and retracted his gaze in front of him the next second. He ignored the rcenary and just left without uttering a single word.
Upon seeing this, the people thought that Royle would be offended, but they were wrong. The smile on the man’s lips never faded, and it even beca wider.
"The expedition will begin in two days; don’t go anywhere far," he yelled.
’With the addition of a promising individual, maybe conquering that place is not that impossible; Jez will be glad,’ he articulated inside his mind.
Then he looked up into the sky, and his thoughts drifted into the wind as he rembered what happened inside the dungeon.
. . . . .
"Let’s try first! We’ll fall back if it’s really beyond our strength," Jez said after recovering from getting dazed due to the monster’s appearance.
"And I don’t want to waste this buff that Rye prepared for us," he added.
The group nodded upon hearing their leader while Allesanah stood up and slamd her scepter against the ground.
"Fine! Let’s give it a shot!" She said.
Then, as she let go of the scepter, it crumbled into red dust and flew towards her, sticking to her brown hair and giving her a red complexion. Afterward, her eyes turned fiery red little by little.
"Going all out from the start, huh?" Royle comnted.
"I’m too afraid to die, and besides, that creature spelled danger from every angle," Allesanah retorted.
Then they stared at the humanoid monster in front of them; its size was not that huge, and its posture was hunched back. Its fingernails were so long that they were scraping the ground beneath them.
In addition to its ugly appearance, its body had several eyes staring at the group of rcenaries, while on its face, two snakes were protruding from its eye sockets, hissing.
"To think that even a monster like that knows how to hide its private part. I’m impressed." Royle cracked a joke, hoping to lighten up the mood.
However, his team’s expression was so serious that they ignored him.
"I’ll be going first," Allesanah uttered and dashed with the aim of testing the water.
She left embers of fla on her trail, and upon closing in on the monster, she perford a high kick, aiming for its head.
"Gross," she said as she saw the monster’s face up close.
The creature raised its right hand to block the attack, but a small magic circle appeared over the woman’s foot, and fire stread in a continuous manner, directly hitting the monster.
Allesanah’s attack didn’t end there; the next second, she spun in midair and gave the creature another kick on the head.
"Burst!" She uttered, and another magic circle materialized beneath her foot, and flas ca out backward, giving her attack an extra force that sent the monster flying several ters away before slamming into the dungeon’s wall. It caused the ground to shake.
"Phew! That’s easy; I got scared for no reason," she imparted.
anwhile, the rest of her team watched her blazing performance. She only perford two consecutive attacks, but she managed to take down the unknown creature.
"Close combat mage is really sothing," Jez comnted, and the others nodded.
"It’s not my first ti seeing her fight, but she always makes srized by her fighting style," he added.
Then he glanced at Royle and teased him.
"Are you not getting scared that Allesanah might fight you one day after getting bullied by you all day long?" He asked, and he let out a short laugh afterward.
Royle shook his head and laughed as soon as he heard their leader’s statent.
"Not by chance," he replied, but deep inside of him.
He was thinking about it; the two of them were on the sa level, a Diamond-class yet Allesanah was always a step ahead of him in terms of power.
’She’s really a genius,’ he thought.
Then he looked at their leader, standing beside him.
’And this one here is a monster hiding in human flesh,’ he added.
The clouds of dust rising in the air slowly vanished, but before they disappeared, ten pointed, sharp objects extended towards Allesanah.
Upon seeing this, she stomped her right foot, and flaming chains erged from the ground, creating a solid wall that blocked the incoming attack.
"I’m going to pulverize your ugly body into ashes," Allesanah declared as she dashed one more ti in the monster’s direction.
. . . . .
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