Back a while ago in Pioneer City, there was a much smaller-scale situation that popped up and it all started with a pair causing a scene with their relationship.
“Stop resisting!” The man dragged the chain in his hands as a young girl tried desperately to resist. “Nue! You’re the one who wanted to go so why are you making it harder than it needs to be.”
“That was before I knew there you still had Harry’s share. I want it!” Nue tried to fight back against Cain dragging her yet couldn’t. Although she kept her abilities and skills while wearing these cuffs, it was extremely heavy.
This led to a very peculiar scene where Cain was trying his best to bring Nue out while Nue was fervently resisting, wanting to go back. Such an interesting sight eventually caught a few bystander’s eyes. This wouldn't have normally caught people's attention but Nue was just too beautiful for people to not take an interest in.
They weren’t foreign to the idea of slavery at all, in fact, some of them even engaged in it. Now that they were back on Earth where this practice wasn’t common at all, people decided against actively forcing people against their will.
Although they acted savagely in the otherworld, it didn’t mean that they had the right to do so here as well. The otherworld was the otherworld and their homeworld was their homeworld.
Though people thought of that there were still outliers who still wanted to enforce slavery. As much as people looked down on it, they didn’t actively disperse it. The reason was simple, there were a lot more problems than small-time slavery right now.
This included resource gathering, territory management, and livelihood. Everyone was looking out for themselves right now, they can’t go on a crusade on something that would put them behind.
That was the general consensus, though it all changes when there’s a pretty girl involved. Nue’s features appeared quite frail and feeble, letting a male have thoughts such as protecting her. Her mannerisms even looked adorable, something that many would consider as eye candy.
“What are you up to?” A man came up to Cain with obvious malicious thoughts. He hadn’t even looked at Cain even once, only having his preying eyes on Nue.
“Nue, just stop throwing a fit! I’ll make you something after if you behave.” Cain wasn’t even paying attention to the man at all. This was due to all his effort being used to try and bring Nue along.
“You will?” Nue’s will to stay behind immediately switched to one of complete obedience. Now that Cain had promised, she wasn’t all too worried about the future.
“I would’ve said that from the- who are you?” Cain took a few steps forward and hit the man in front of him. He looked up and saw that he just had a face that seemed like he would commit some kind of crime.
“I said… what were you planning on doing? Slavery isn’t allowed here.” His fake bravado was immediately caught by the bystanders. As obvious as it was, this was still an interesting scene.
Interesting, how? Simple, they were willing to make a scene in a place controlled by the Secret Pavilion. A place where problems just seem to keep going away. As peaceful and bright as everything seemed, the Secret Pavilion was definitely a terrifying organization.
A Higher Rank 2 solider seemed to have communicated with someone. Even though he did so, he didn’t seem to have any intentions of intervening at all. He even called in one of his buddies to watch the show.
“Oh, she’s not my slave, she’s my friend. There must be some kind of misunderstanding here.” Cain immediately tried to clarify the situation but with the chain in his hand, it wasn’t helping his case at all.
“So you cuffed your friend against her will and is dragging her, also against her will. Is that what you call friendship?” The man snickered and immediately pointed at Nue.
“Is he your, so-called ‘friend?’ I don’t believe so.” He could see him getting praised by her already.
Such an absolute beauty was definitely worth offending the Secret Pavilion. Even if she didn’t completely fall for him, as long as there was some kind of relationship that was formed, there was always hope.
“Am I…?” Nue tried to recall back then. “Helena called me a pet.”
“Hah, he’s not getting out of this one.” Another bystander listened on and laughed since it was obvious that Cain would be in trouble now.
“I never understood the appeal of slavery, disgusting.” A girl sighed, intently hoping that Cain would get beaten up for his crimes. Although there was no longer any law governing man, the people could always make the criminal pay the price.
“W-Wait! It’s not what you think. Nue, don’t make it worse. I’ll even unlock your cuffs.” Cain was immediately pressured into giving in. Although countless people much stronger than the man before him… even beyond his realm of understanding, had already kneeled before Cain, he somehow managed to force Cain’s hand.
Cain took out a key from his hand and removed Nue’s cuffs. She rubbed her wrists, trying to feel it finally free after so long. “Much better.”
Cain held the cuffs in his hands about to bring them into his storage space when the man reached out his hand. His intent was obvious, he was going to throw Cain a sucker punch right into his gut.
The man could see it now, Cain reeling in pain as he delivered another attack, knocking him out. He would then escort Nue’s hand and they would finally-
His dreams were immediately crushed as he felt his hand twist in an odd direction, completely shattering his entire arm. Bone had broken out from within his skin. Screaming in agony, he tried to make sense of what just happened. Despite being a brute, he still had his senses.
Stepping back, he could see Nue standing there, holding out her hand. Looking at it, there were some blood splatters on them, showing that Nue was the person who acted. This completely baffled the man.
“Why?” Rage and confusion filled his mind. He was trying to save her so why did she do it?
“I’m doing my job.” Nue’s previously naive and innocent impression of them turned into one of cold merciless ruthlessness. No one in the audience could believe their eyes, Nue was a genuine peak monster.
Although they couldn’t see through her rank, one thing was for certain, she was undeniably terrifying. Their initial thoughts of wanting to save her quickly faded away in their minds. She wasn’t a person that needed to be saved. This had turned out to be some kind of play after all.
“Nue!” Cain had just finished putting the cuffs away when Nue had acted. “We didn’t mean for this to happen.” Cain felt wronged, everything just went in the worst possible way for him.
Nue put on a proud expression and confidently said, “I did.”
It was extremely awkward now. A person has had their arm broken while the perpetrator was the person who everyone had thought was the one who needed to be saved.
“What do we do now?” Cain was starting to panic. Helena wasn’t here… no. Cain had been relying on Helena far too much, even to the point that he religiously followed her for an entire ten years without as much as questioning her. It was time to grow a backbone.
“We’ll… see what the overlords of this place have to say.” Cain stood his ground. Although it wasn’t the smartest idea, it was the idea that he wanted to stand by. He wanted to face the consequences early on so that it wouldn’t blow up at all.
As for the so-called overlords, they were currently talking in a meeting with countless raised voices. They were in another isolated space where they were given free reign to speak. The matter at hand was so sudden yet since it involved a very menacing topic they all decided to discuss the matter.
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“Take them down?! What do you mean by ‘take them down?’ Haven’t you seen the records? Oisho was demolished without even being able to fight back!” A female in her early twenties slammed her hands down the desk, causing it to slightly crack from the force. It had to be noted this material was the same material that Sval's headquarters was made out of.
“If you wish to put them in their place then I will not participate.” Oisho wasn’t offended by the truth at all. He had seen just how vast the disparity was. The gap was so great that the version that he had faced was the closest time that he would ever get to being able to deal with Nue.
“Do you know what the Mistress of the Pavilion had decreed? All troublemakers will be made an example out of-” A stern-looking youth with a buzz cut stated the promise that their leader had made back when Pioneer City was built. His devotion to the rules was his strongest trait and at the same time the most troublesome.
“Does that also include someone that even the Mistress of the Pavilion couldn’t overpower? Have you all lost your minds? Where’s your sense of self-preservation!” The girl’s flowing blue hair started rising as her emotions raged in. Her eyes held a deep anger towards those stubborn fools who won’t change their minds.
“To pave the path for a better future, I wouldn’t hesitate to give my life.” The stern youth coldly said. He was mentally prepared for the casualties that they would take if they ever chose to apprehend them.
“Hihihi, the girl who infiltrated so deep into our base wants to be let off so easily. Then how would our Secret Pavilion look in the eyes of others?” An old woman with wrinkly skin eerily laughed as she fiddled around with her flute.
“You old coot! What does our reputation matter for? Leave that for those useless guilds! We need to consolidate our foundation before we do anything risky like taking on Nue.” The blue-haired girl was trying to convince these stubborn fools of their objectively wrong decision.
“Serena, you seem to be downplaying our abilities. Do you have no trust in our leader’s mana cultivation technique? Surely being a Peak Rank 9 is more than enough of a statement to showcase the terrifying power of this technique.” Another female girl interjected into the argument with another solid argument.
“So what if I’m Peak Rank 9? Who cares? Oisho’s as strong as me despite being Peak Rank 7! I don’t know why the Mistress of the Pavilion decided to take on such useless bastards…” Serena leaned back on her chair. As the vice-master of the Secret Pavilion, she fully knew the ins and outs of their entire organization.
She had shown off her prowess as a cautious yet bold strategist. Despite being a little less talented than the rest, her wits more than made up for it.
“Let me remind you, Ascension isn’t as easy as you might think. We might not even be qualified to Ascend with how little our achievements are. Go undergo Awakening then I’ll consider taking on Nue but for now, shut your mouths before I shut them for you.” As the person who has the current highest rank among the Secret Pavilion except for the Mistress of the Pavilion, she had the right to do so.
“Tch, leave. If you make a move on Nue or Cain, or anyone from that store, I’ll tear you apart myself.” Serena’s crystalline blue eyes showed immense fury. “There’s a reason why positions keeps getting freed up so frequently. Meanwhile, I've been here since the beginning.”
Seeing that everyone finally decided to listen, Serena ended the meeting, “Tch, leave. Except for Oisho and Maro.”
Most of the participants of the meeting stood up from their seats and walked off to the door. They didn’t talk or complain along the way, simply letting things be for now. They had already voiced their opinion, saying anything else was useless.
“Maro, what are your thoughts on this?” Serena talked to a similarly aged boy as her. He seemed nervous but had the determination to see things through.
“I think… we should test Nue out even more.” Maro honestly said. When he realized how it came off, he immediately looked toward Oisho, “I didn’t mean to offend you Sir Oisho. I just meant that we don’t have a complete understanding of her powers yet.”
“I know you mean well, Maro. It’s just that I think we should stay our hands off this time.” Oisho sighed, feeling as if their organization was on the brink of destruction. “You are all far too focused on Nue, ignoring her master, Cain.”
“From what we’ve seen so far, Cain’s as spineless as they can be. I don’t see what he has to do anything with it.” Serena looked over the recordings that she had set up over the fight that had happened. “See here, her master didn’t even react to his punch. He’s less of a threat.”
“You are ignoring Cain… that is… quite unexpected.” Oisho had initially tried to steer the direction of the conversion towards the clear owner of the store yet no one seemed to have batted an eye towards him.
“It’s clear that he’s a puppet leader. There’s no way that someone like that could be an expert.” Serene stated with such a bold claim.
“If you are referring to the Lower Rank 9 sword that turned Lower Rank 10, we have deduced that it initially wasn’t finished resulting in it rising an entire rank. Although quite rare, still possible.”
“Then what about my statement.” Oisho narrowed his eyes, finalizing his guess.
“You saw it happen before your eyes. Harry, Cain’s disciple, named the sword which caused it to undergo even stronger reformation. We have all heard your testimonies and noted them down.” Serena was getting odd vibes from Oisho, he was getting too keen on taking note of Cain.
“I see… I’ll be taking my leave now.” Oisho finally understood. Why did everything feel so off, why did everything just seem… wrong, he needed to consult the Mistress of the Pavilion. For their head strategist to just ignore Cain was a strange thing.
“Ah! Wait, we still haven’t discussed… and he’s gone.” Serena sighed. Left with only Maro left, she decided to delve into more important private matters.
“Maro, how has your attempt at Awakening been going?”
“Failed. As it turns out, defying your fate is harder than it looked, haha.” Maro laughed at himself, he was mocking his continued failures.
“It’s fine, Awakening is just far too difficult without having the right circumstances. Even so, cheer up. You have the greatest chance of defying your fate.” Serena offered Maro some words of encouragement.
Maro currently has the cultivation level of a Peak Rank 2. He was initially fated to be a complete nobody but due to the Secret Pavilion’s own plans, he was taken under their wing to serve as an early powerhouse that would tide them through the upcoming wave of monsters. They were experimenting on using promising talents and putting them through dangerous events to try and stimulate their abilties.
As one would expect, this kind of Awakening would be the weakest one, a completely subpar payout as their power was artificially constructed without the active will of the very person undergoing Awakening wishing for it. Compared to Sval's Awakening which was a genuine fate defying method, it wouldn't be able to hold up at all.
“I have to ask though, Cain seems like a pretty big shot. Why aren’t you paying attention to him?” Maro was also confused, Serena was oddly inclined to not drag Cain into it.
Serena’s clear eyes stared into Maro’s and said, “People of unbelievable prowess don’t hang around people who aren’t of their level. That’s a common fact. In this case, they are using Cain as their cover while they enact their own plans. Do not be fooled.”
“I understand.” Maro looked at the recordings again, trying to verify that one instance that made him question everything. At the moment when he threw that punch, Cain looked at the man’s attack before Nue appeared in front of him, he then focused on storing his cuffs again. “It must’ve been a coincidence.”
Meanwhile, on the streets, Cain and Nue have been waiting for quite a long time already. It was so long that the spectators decided that it wasn’t even worth waiting for them to be dragged away anymore.
Other than a few medics from the Secret Pavilion that had been sent, no other force came in to detain them. Even the stationed guards in the area turned a blind eye to it.
“Cain, I’m hungry.” Nue was sitting down with her knees up. She laid her head on her knees and grumbled.
“We have to face the consequences of our actions. If we don’t then we might not be able to stay here any longer.” Cain said.
“So, as long as they say we’re free to go then we can go?” Nue narrowed her eyes, hunger was starting to take over.
“That… yeah.” Cain had a feeling about this. A really bad feeling about this.
Nue held Cain’s arm and tried to drag him away, right into their den. She was initially really excited as they could finally get this over with but to her dismay, Cain caught her neck and prevented her from moving any further.
“Behave yourself, as long as we aren’t allowed to go then we won’t go. That’s final.” Cain put his foot down and awaited their punishment. At the very least, Cain would try to persuade them to lower the price that they would have to pay.
“Fine. If we can’t go to them then I’ll make them come to me. Hmph!” Nue scoffed and immediately started looking around, trying to lock down on one certain person. “Got you.”
Within an unknown area, sealed away from any outside interference, Oisho was personally meeting the most prominent person in Pioneer City, the Mistress of the Pavilion.
“Using one of your rights so early on, what’s plaguing your mind?” The Mistress of the Pavilion still has not publicly shown her face, not even to her closest subordinates. For she had vowed that the first man that would see her face would become her husband. It was a simple condition she had set for herself.
“It’s about Cain. There is something about him, something I can’t pinpoint. I just know that there’s something inherently wrong about him.” Oisho lowered his head, not even daring to take a glimpse under her veil.
“As expected from you, yes, Cain truly is the leader of the store. Even more, I can tell you that their store hasn’t disappeared at all, merely hiding under an illusionary space. Even Serena was fooled, though that doesn’t matter much. All you need to understand is that as long as you don’t provoke them you won’t need to worry about… oh. An unexpected visitor.” The Mistress of the Pavilion smiled from behind the veil.
“It’s her… she’s calling for me. I apologize, Mistress of the Pavilion but I feel as though I would meet my demise if I reject her call.” Oisho prostrated himself even more.
“I understand, you may leave. As for your keen observation, I will not waive one of your rights. I hope you resolve this matter favorably.” She let the space that connected this reality and the other together, letting Oisho leave. "Those upcoming lunatics are bound to make trouble for me. At the very least I'll be able to survive a few waves. If I can't then I have a trump card to use. Cain, I didn't expect you to come from 'his' world. With you here, Pioneer City will keep on surviving."