-Unknown Location-
SHOO! CRASH! Huge bolts of lightning trailed the sky, leaving an image akin to a lightning dragon high above and crashed hard onto the sandy ground. As the dust settled, a masked man wearing a white robe could be seen standing tall.
His gaze lifted to see the huge castle made of what seemed to be crimson gems at first glance, but from the chills that radiated from the structure, one could deduce that it was actually made of red ice instead.
It shone brightly under the bright sun, not melting even a little bit. It guarded against the sun as its crimson shadow, tinted in red, fell upon the Masked Duke.
As if sensing his arrival, the tall gates of the crimson castle opened, letting out chill air that covered his entire being in morbid freeze. A voice reverberated through the surroundings as if the words were spoken directly to his mind, "Seems like you have failed your duty."
"I have indeed failed you and my duties, Priestess," he kneeled on one foot as his gaze fell upon the ground in shame.
"Don't you worry, my child. Gods are supreme; they do not require our pity," a seemingly seductive chuckle was heard. The simple chuckle caused the very clouds high above to swirl. "But it's still our duty to make sure they are worshipped, so they welcome us to their Divine Kingdom."
"Raise your head in faith, don't let shame bring it down, as you are a servant of the Eight Gods," her voice boomed through the sandy plane. The air itself shook, causing the sand dunes surrounding them to collapse; only the crimson castle stood tall.
The Masked Duke lifted his gaze as it fell upon the tall entrance of the castle. Inside, on a throne-like bed, laid a woman whose beauty could not be described by words alone. Her body, in contrast to her position as the Priestess, was covered in a thin layer of fabric, letting her sinful curves be seen. She shone akin to the only light source within the dimly lit castle as red shadows fell upon her.
...
Isaiah didn't want to bother carrying all this cash since he was going to use this place in the future either way, so he decided to just plant formations in front of it as a security measure.
He took out a few mana gems from his pockets, which he always kept on him, just in case they would come in handy, which proved to be the right decision right now.
While mana gems were expensive, the contents of the vault were even more valuable, so it didn't sting to burn 4k GC on the mana gems to power the formations.
He put up four mine formations in total, each costing 1k GC to employ and would last roughly two days.
Mine formations were one of the formations he had been working on in the past weeks during his free time running the casino. It was essentially a branch of explosive formation. It activated only when someone triggered the mana within its range. It mixed both mana detection formation and explosive formation to achieve this effect.
He, however, did decide to take the black and purple metal with him. As he made his way out of the building, the floors were covered in the blood of all the guards he had to get through to ascend the towers. He looked at the floors in pity as he sighed, "It will cost at least 8-10k GC to get this building cleaned and fixed." He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. While a pity, it was a needed sacrifice.
After he exited the scene, he was met with Alice clad in her monstrous-inspired armor, but this time with her helmet off. "Mr. Isaiah, could you please explain yourself?" she asked with a stern tone, but it was evident that she was asking only for formalities.
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Isaiah chuckled, "Miss Alice, how much of a luxury to see you visit me." His words caused Alice to raise her eyebrow slightly. She inquired, "Last time I checked, this building was the property of the Gold Liquor."
Isaiah adorned a clearly sarcastic and over-exaggerated sad expression, with a seemingly quaking voice replied, "The gang's leader, Dave, has unfortunately passed away." He shook his head, then lifted his head up at the clear sky, "Let his soul reach heaven, since I helped him so much during his rise, before his death he told me that he wanted me to inherit all his properties after his death." His sad expression vanished as he burst into laughter, "I'm sure you get what I mean, right, Miss Alice?"
Alice sighed. While she didn't like Isaiah one bit, she knew that he was a necessary evil within the district, as he cleaned the district and turned all the gangs into legitimate businesses. It would benefit both him and the royal guards. All the royal guards had to do was lean back, relax, and give him a few perks that normal citizens wouldn't be able to benefit from, just like what was happening right now.
She knew very well that the murder of Dave Gold was Isaiah's doing. However, it was more beneficial toward both parties involved if she and the royal guards reigned in ignorance instead. She nodded her head, then replied to his demand, "Sure, I can't promise anything as I first have to discuss this with Captain Jax first." While Jax Indra was her father during work hours, she referred to him as Captain Jax, just like every other royal guard.
Isaiah nodded. He wasn't worried about what Jax's response would be, so he just said, "Well then, send my regards to Captain Jax. I'm waiting for the papers soon." With that, he winked at her and started heading his way.
Alice's gaze fell on his back as he walked through the streets, soon disappearing into the crowd, "Sigh, I never had to deal with a man like this in my professional life before."
Dealing with Isaiah was truly tiresome, as she could only get a few days of peace before he caused havoc and destroyed an entire street under the name of cleaning the streets. What was worse, in her view, was that this man's actions were supported by her father. If it was up to her, she would have dealt with Isaiah by now.
Just as she was lost in thoughts, the smell of heavy blood started to leak from the building, causing her already bad day to get even worse. She immediately left the street, going back to her father's office to deliver Isaiah's request.
She was draped in winds as she leaped onto the nearby building top with grace. Despite her being only a Rank 1 mage, her movement techniques were truly impressive.
It was as if she was guided from rooftop to rooftop through the wind currents in a mellow dance. Her technique was just that; she let her body loose and be carried by the wind naturally, resulting in a mesmerizing display of aesthetic movement.
As she leaped and sometimes glided from building to building, she pressed her feet down firmly and kicked her legs for one last giant leap. As she reached a high altitude, she started to slowly float instead of directly falling. Her high-heels landed on the guardrail as she landed gracefully.
Her descent into the balcony caused winds to pick up inside the office as Jax lifted his gaze with a gentle smile on his face, "Welcome, my dear. Tell me, why did you come to visit me, your father?" While Alice liked keeping professionalism during work hours, Jax was the opposite, only when it came to Alice. He had had a soft spot for her since the first time he received her from the midwife into his hands.
She placed the paper that Isaiah gave her, which showed that the building belonged to Dave Gold, onto his father's desk, "Mr. Isaiah wants this property under his name." Hearing her words caused his expression to turn weird, "Well, it would be hard to do so since it's under Dave Gold right now. Tell him that we can't just transfer property like that."
Alice shook her head, explaining further, "It seems like Isaiah killed Dave Gold and wants us to transfer the property under his name as a perk for 'cleaning the streets.'" She said the last part with a sarcastic tone, which caused Jax to chuckle and shake his head. Her daughter's image of Isaiah was clear to him; he attributed this to her lack of experience.
Isaiah was, in his eyes, a heaven-sent opportunity to finally get the Second Emperor District, which was let to run loose for far too long, into order. Also, having him be the head of the area would be better than having a Rank 2 individual whose identity was shrouded in mystery.
Jax nodded his head, "Tell Mr. Isaiah that we can arrange what he wants, also write him a letter to congratulate him." Hearing him wanting her to write a letter to Isaiah put a pout on Alice's face, but she obeyed the order and proceeded to exit the office room.