"Urgh!" I groaned in pain.

"...If I hear a peep one more time coming from that flabby trash ya call a mouth, I'ma lose my shit, ya hear me?" Threatened a Shadow riding in front of me.

It's been almost a week since the day I met with Dagger Flower. After she left that day, they didn't even let me rest and put me on a horse while having me in a blindfold.

With my mana pool sealed by the damned anti-magic cuffs, I could only hang on for my dear life by grasping tightly to the body of the fucker that steered the horse.

What's worse, he kept making a goddamn fuss every time I bumped into him or when I groaned in pain.

Piece of shit! Why was he blaming me for his terrible riding skills?

'I will kill you fucker second after I'm done with that bitch! Very soon? Go fuck yourself, you poisonous whore!!'

I have lost count of how many times I pictured myself toying with them to death inside my mind. It brought about much comfort to me in this trying time.

Aside from him, three others were riding alongside us.

Along the way, we have changed horses to cut time, and each day, they would stop to eat a quick meal once, and that's it. That's the only time I got to rest in peace before being forced to get back on the fucking horse once again.

These sons of bitches were lunatics. There's no question about it. I didn't know whether they did it in secret or not, but I never heard any of them complain even once about being on the road like this.

As though we were being chased to death by something...

"How far along are we?" I asked. 'I'm about to lose my mind if this keeps up.'

"Hah! Look at this chap running his damn mouth. This cunt must've been too comfortable doing nothing but sitting all day." Cussed the one on the left merrily.

'Fuck you! Fuck all of you!!' I bit my lips, feeling the searing anger smothering me from the inside.

"We're there...Shadows. Mind your language from now on. We will be in the presence of our Lady and Paladin in a short while." Suddenly, abandoning his rough way of speaking, the man in front of me warned grimly.

'Lady? Is he talking about that bitch Dagger Flower? And who's this Paladin...?'

Creak!

The sound of a huge gate opening could be heard in the distance. A series of greetings and salutations came as our trope continued without stopping.

Minutes passed, and I could feel the change in the air.

It got colder and more humid, not to mention the echoes of people's voices that rang clearer the deeper we ventured.

'Is this...Are we going under the ground?'

I didn't have to keep wondering for much since, not too long after that, I eventually got my answer.

Amidst the suffocating darkness that had become the norm this past week, I could feel the horse gradually getting slower before we finally stopped.

'At long last...'

Someone reached out and threw me to the ground like a fucking sack of potatoes.

"May the Light shine brighter!"

The four assholes who were tasked to bring me suddenly shouted in unison.

"May the Dark grow deeper." And two voices replied back nonchalantly.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

One of them was the one I would never forget from now on until the day I took my dying breath. And the other one was the voice of a man, but not that bitch's Lord.

"Release him." Ordered the whore.

Swiftly, the lightless and colorless world I'd seen for days was no more, replaced by the almost blinding one instantly.

I propped my hands to cover my eyes in reflex, but I found that even the cuffs were no longer there. Unbeknownst to me, they have taken it off too.

"I see you're still in good health, Melkor." There's something hidden beneath those greenish hues in her eyes that said otherwise. Truly a sadistic devil if I know any better.

"I give my heartfelt thanks for your concern, Assassin."

'Yeah, keep your high horse for as long as you can, bitch!' I put on the best smile. 'I'll become your nightmare when the time comes.'

"Let's move." A strong and grounded voice broke the air.

The huge man turned around without even putting me in his eyes and started walking.

"Follow us." At the beckon of Dagger Flower's words, I quickly picked up my steps and chased after them, taking extra care in staying a couple of feet away from the two.

Just far enough where I could converse clearly without any problem and not close enough to tell them I was not trying to fuck with them.

Along the way, I took a subtle glance around the place whilst studying the two's movements. It seemed like they had no problem with it, but frankly, why should they?

'There's nothing to look at in the first place...'

A vast area spanning a distance away full of nothing but stalactites and dark corners. The makeshift pathing stretched deeper into the underground cave. It was made of flattened soil and rows of torches to lighten the way. It was crude, and the eerily silence was in jarring contrast to our steps that echoed back and forth along the expansive ceilings of the cave.

Minutes later, we arrived in front of a huge tent.

From within, sounds of banging, screaming, and hissing could be heard.

The man named Paladin walked in there, brushing the guards at the entrance away. Dagger Flower and I followed soon after.

There were ten slaves confined and separated in cages.

My eyes shone the moment I scanned these products. The tingling of my guts was screaming from the allure of money before me, and they have proven time and time again to be true.

"Speak. What do you need now?" Spat the man bluntly.

"...Most of them seem to be adults, with few of them still on the young side. I have to make sure about the Beastman since their appearance can sometimes fool the eyes, but I see no problem in their value." I stated my thoughts.

"That's it?" He harrumphed in annoyance, turning toward Dagger Flower. His greyish eyes, with a touch of blue, narrowed behind his pure white mask, which made for a creepy distinction with Dagger Flower. "You waste my time for something so useless?"

"Huft..." Her soft breath rang strained.

With a flick of her finger, the locks of the cages were cut in a blink of an eye. The growling and banging coming from the cages soon ceased into nothing.

Starting from the one in the middle, the bloodthirsty slaves stepped out of the cages one by one until every single one of them came out in the open. They then raced blindly to the weapons in front of their cages.

"We need to show the quality of the goods, don't you think so, Paladin?" Muttered the bitch with a taunting tone.

"Hm..." The man merely hummed low in reply.

His body creaked loud as he popped his joints, stepping forward leisurely to the enraged slaves.

Waves of hot aura blasted from within his body and out into the world, almost turning the once cold and humid tent into a living furnace.

'His Geast is so powerful!' Seeing such ferocious and harrowing Geast in such close proximity, I breathed out in relief that I wasn't the one standing on the other side to receive it.

Even the slaves faltered and cowered in fear as a result.

"Argh! Boring!"

He lashed out and barked at the cowering slaves. Then, as if insulting them with his words was not enough, he cut his own Geast down while holding nothing but a huge sword in his hand.

"Come! Waste my time any more than this, and I'll cut all of you in half!" Threatened the man crass.

The battle began in earnest after that. Although, calling it a battle couldn't be far from the truth.

The fucker was a monster. He was simply a monster...

Utilizing nothing but his raw physical strength, he pummeled down those with Geasts and Magic alike to smithereens.

He broke every weapon they swung and smashed any magic they threw at him.

In the middle of all the ongoing madness, I took a peek at Dagger Flower, wondering how she'd react after seeing the damn barbarian making a mess of the slaves they wanted me to sell.

'This freakshow is crazy. And the whore is crazy too. All of them are crazy!' I cussed inwardly at seeing the lack of response coming from her.

Boom!

The body of a slave plunges down, ramming the hard ground. With fresh blood still trickling down, the monster with the white mask walked away without bothering to look back even once.

His words reverberated deafeningly and stoutly following his exit.

"Fetch the healers!"