In a dingy hall lit up by a dozen torches on the walls, there were a dozen black robed men kneeling before a black cloaked figure, who was standing on a circular wooden platform, with strange symbols written around the circumference of the platform.

Rays of moonlight shone through the windows, illuminating the figure's black cloak, revealing symbols and letters that the men kneeling before him could not comprehend. Strangely though, the moonlight could not illuminate the face hidden under the hood, as if there was an invisible barrier that was blocking out the light.

"Master, the four men we had sent after the boy have been reported to be missing. They were last seen running out of the city gates three hours ago." A black robed man was kneeling right in front of the platform. The aura he emanated was not inferior to most sixth level experts, but he could not help but cower before the man on the platform, as cold sweat poured down his face, afraid that he would incur the fury of the figure standing before him.

Standing at 2.5 metres with a seemingly muscular frame,, the black figure made the men kneeling before him appear like dwarves in comparison. With a husky voice, he said, "Ho'Vah... I've already warned you to be extremely cautious. And yet, you did not listen and let some incompetent mongrels go after him, causing a ruckus at the Warrior's Guild. Now, we have no idea what happened to them, and we don't even know the whereabouts of the boy. What is your excuse?"

Instantly, Ho'Vah knew that if did not give a satisfactory answer, there was an extremely high possibility that he would die. Fearing for his life, he quickly said, "Master, according to my sources, I was informed that the boy is only currently a third level magus and a fourth level warrior, so I had sent three magi of the fifth level and a sixth level warrior. I had expected them to be able to capture the boy in a minute, and did not expect this to happen..."

"Hmph, those are some reliable sources you have!" The cloaked figure's demeanor changed, causing the men kneeling before him to tremble slightly, afraid that the cloaked figure would kill them out of anger.

"Forget it. Deploy some men to keep a close watch at the city gates, and let me know when the boy appears. In the meantime, I suggest you take a search party to look for the four incompetent fools that could not even capture the boy within the city. If you fail again, I shall personally grant you a slow and painful death!" The cloaked figure snarled. "Now, all of you, get lost!"

"Yes, master!" All the black robed men, including Ho'Vah, chanted in unison, before turning into twelve black streaks, each of them flying out from the gloomy hall and went their separate ways.

"Hmph, this Choronzon, now that he is free from my curse, he will definitely have told the boy about me. Now, it will be even harder to obtain the 'Thousand Essence Absorption' scroll!" A pair of red eyes gleamed in the shrouded darkness of the hood. Suddenly, the symbols around the platform started to glow, and in an instant, the cloaked figure disappeared.

Two hours earlier...

Riding on the 'Demon's Avatar: Left Arm of the Devil', Asura had healed his burnt arms with 'Healing Water', and stealthily flew over the city walls without the guards noticing, before disengaging the Demon's Avatar and ran the whole way back to the orphanage, barely managing to arrive at the orphanage in time for curfew.

As Asura stepped into the mansion, some of the children who were loitering around the hall immediately noticed the state that Asura was in, and were looking at him curiously. One of the older children stepped forward, with a look of concern on his face.

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"Hey new kid, are you alright? What happened to your clothes?"

Not understanding what the older boy was talking about, Asura looked down onto his robe and was shocked to see some scorch marks on his robe, and realized instantly that they were caused by the fight earlier. Remembering that some of the houses had been caught on fire thanks to the fire magus when Asura was ambushed at the Warrior's Guild, he quickly thought up of an excuse.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I went to take a look at one of the shops at District 4, but a fire broke out! Luckily only my clothes were burnt, so I'm fine!"

"Ah, I see. You're lucky, kid. I heard from some of the adults outside that there was a fight there, and there were some people that died in the houses that were on fire. Luckily you aren't hurt." The older kid smiled at Asura, patting his shoulder as he was relieved. He had originally thought that the new kid was being bullied by the more fortunate children, as it was a common occurrence.

Asura smiled at the older boy and then excused himself, being hurrying off to his room.

Finally having arrived at his room, Asura quickly locked the door, and reached into his robe, taking out the scrolls he had kept on him at all times.

"I hope they aren't damaged, I haven't even finished learning the 'Thousand Essences Absorption' skill." Asura's heart started to beat rapidly at the thought of losing the precious Secret Arts scrolls that Shane had given him. as he closely examined the scrolls, before letting out a sigh of relief. None of the scrolls had a single mark on them.

As the adrenaline rush from the earlier slaughter wore off, Asura's mind was starting to clear up and he now felt like slapping himself. He realized that he had forgotten to ask the warrior what Ho'Vah looks like, and how they knew about his scrolls.

Choronzon's low voice rang out in Asura's head pulling him out from his thoughts. "Master, I think this Ho'Vah works for Nilfim. After all, Nilfim has been here for over 500 years, and it wouldn't be weird if he has some men working for him. From what I know about him during our fight from 500 years ago, I believe that he is the type to work in the shadows."

Asura's eyes jerked upwards when he heard what Choronzon had said. "Oh? That makes sense. Otherwise, how could Ho'Vah's men have known where I was, and ambush me at the Warrior's Guild?" Asura's eyes then narrowed, as he realized something. "If Nilfim could find out where I was during the time when you were under his control, then now that you are no longer under his control, he won't be able to track me down, right?" Asura asked.

"I suppose so. While I was under Nilfim's control, he could only control my actions, not possess me, such as seeing through my eyes. Nilfim knew your whereabouts only through the curse that he cast on me. Master, for the time being, you should just lay low and train, as you're still unable to utilize all the techniques of the Demon Force." Choronzon's low voice was raised ever so slightly, inwardly anticipating the heights that Asura could achieve once he mastered the techniques of the Demon Force.

"Lay low and train?"

Asura took out the circular token he had 'borrowed' from the warrior, feeling the logo of Blackfire that was carved into the token, while considering his next course of action.

"Very well. For now, I'll stay here to mingle with the orphans, and train with the scrolls and the Demon Force. And then I'll bring hell upon the bastards who couldn't even fucking say 'please'."

Chapter 29: Nightmare