“Thank you all for coming at such a short notice, I'm sure it caused you a lot of inconveniences to come all the way here.”

“Taurus, no need to beat around the bush. I've already lost my position as patriarch and I'm sure all of you are in similar situations so get straight to the point.” said the man with a deep voice. The others nodded in agreement.

There were exactly thirteen people sitting around a long table. Each of them representing their Zodiac Family. Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. A total of six women and seven men, each wearing clothes that hid their appearances since they were too embarrassed to appear in public after what happened to them.

Taurus, with the biggest stature also nodded in agreement. Only he didn't hide his appearance because one, this meeting was being held at his home and two, with how big he was, anyone could easily recognise him so he didn't bother to do so.

“You're right, my apologies. It seems that the matter of Nolan is much bigger than we anticipated. A person who is able to awaken the Red Star isn't much of a big deal but if it needs the ancestors to personally act in suppressing it, that's a completely different story. Which is why I propose we use all our resources to try and eliminate this threat before he becomes stronger. Even if it means throwing away our pride and jumping him.” said Taurus.

Everyone turned their heads to look at the man who had spoken for them just now, even Taurus was looking at him.

“Why are you looki… fine. When it's time to kill that brat, I'll swallow my pride and work with y'all.” he said in resignation.

“Now, we can say with 100% certainty that this Bloodbath is actually our target Nolan. From the videos circulating around, we've found out that he's proficient in the Killing Concept to a point where even we, are stumped by it, it just doesn't make sense.

He's also skilled in using short swords and according to the books, his also skilled in using a spear so we can safely assume that he's proficient in all kinds of weapons. Also, his combat experience is unlike anything we've ever seen before, able to adapt and strive in any crisis,identify one's weaknesses in mere seconds, this information is substantiated by the records. What else do we know about him?”

“We know that he eats people to grow stronger, we have evidence of this from what was shown in the trending videos.”

“Then we can conclude that he's still using the same Meditation Art he created a thousand years ago. He might have improved it in the course of three years that he was hiding but the method still provides a weak foundation.”

The group discussed Nolan's strengths and weaknesses, used reliable information to back up their claims and assumptions to ensure that they neither overestimated or underestimated their opponent because either one could prove fatal in a matter of life and death.

…

“Now, for the million dollar question. Why didn't the ancestors directly kill him after they managed to capture him? No matter how wounded they were, killing him wouldn't have taken much effort, especially when he was sealed.”

“I've been asking myself the same question since I heard about Nolan's escape. Killing him really should have been easy unless…”

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“Unless what?”

“I have three speculations regarding this matter. The first one is that he made a deal with the ancestors to ensure his survival which is highly unlikely due to how dangerous he is according to the records. Second speculation is that Nolan had something the ancestors wanted but that's also unlikely since they simply had to kill and obtain whatever they wanted.

If it was information then a Soul Search would have done the trick. And lastly, it's possible that after being captured, Nolan made it so that they literally couldn't kill him.” one of the ladies spoke. When she said the last sentence, she seemed to realise something.

“I remember there being a photo obtained after hacking all the Star Watches of the Natural Explorers group. It was a photo of a dreadlocks man submerged in a black liquid but the report said that they found nothing inside that cave except for hair and blood stains. There was no mention of the black liquid…”

“You mean…”

“Yes. I believe that the black liquid on the other is the key to solving the mystery of why Nolan wasn't killed. And I have a hunch that it's related to the weirdness of his Intent Concept.”

…

A few hours ago, Bloodbath who had just awoken his Red Star cursed the Zodiacs for suppressing it as soon as it appeared. As angry and unwilling as he was, with his current strength, there was nothing he could do about it so he quickly accepted his current circumstances.

It was then that he also noticed that his Killing Aura had engulfed the entire Freed Underground Arena and everyone in it as well as in Freed/Serpent Mall.

“Nightmare Illusion…” muttered Nolan after seeing everyone's expression.

He didn't immediately retract his Killing Aura and instead used it to his advantage. Manoeuvring his way through the arena, he found his way back to Angy's office. Nolan could also use his Killing Aura as another form of sight where he had no blind spots but it consumed too much energy.

“Wake up.” he said after seeing that even Angy hadn't escaped from his Nightmare Illusion.

Angy was jolted awake after the fog stopped working on her. She then tried to wake Troy up but no matter what she did, Troy remained dazed.

“Hey, I don't have much time. Open up.” said Nolan on the other side of the metallic door. Angy then opened the door for him without doubting the voice because she had known Nolan's identity as Bloodbath from the very beginning.

“It's time for you to complete your end of the deal.” said Nolan while holding himself back from drooling.

“It was a pleasure working with you MrNolan.” said Angy as she scanned Nolan's QRC with her own and received a message that Angy had transferred a certain amount of money to him. The number had so many zeros that Nolan didn't even bother to count. He was about to leave when Angy stopped him with her words.

“Mr Nolan, can you please spare me two minutes of your time. I promise I won't be long.” she said.

“Go ahead,” he answered.

“Are you interested in a long term contract with the Underground Arena Company as a whole, the benefits are quite good. We'll fully invest in you and provide you with all the resources you need and everything else which includes Meditation Arts, Capital, Weapons, Medicine, knowledge, Dungeons and Gates, etc. You just have to sign here and all of the things I mentioned will be yours, the only cost is that you'll be bound to the company.”

“I don't mind losing my freedom in exchange for resources and your offer is quite enticing that I'm tempted to accept. Let me ask you this, can the Underground Arena Company survive under the attack of the Zodiac Families?”

“One Zodiac Family is not a threat to…”

“Not one but all twelve Zodiac Families. Can Underground Arena Company protect me if all twelve of them are willing to go to a life and death battle to make sure that they leave with my head?”

“All twelve?! This…”

“Talk to your superiors and tell them exactly how I said it. In the meantime, I'm gonna need you to do me a favour. I want you to help my goblins obtain a Meditation Art custom made for goblins, doesn't matter the grade but it has to be specifically for goblins. Another thing, I want you to help take care of them for a short while. I'll owe you one.”

“S-Sure! I'll take good care of them.”

“Thanks and don't tell any outsiders about our interaction. The less people who know that I come into contact with you, the better.”

“I understand.”

[Good. Riri! Wake the fuck up and let's get the hell out of here!]