novelraw Chapter 25
Chapter 25
Chapter 25. Alvaro and Montoya
Five hundred kilometers away from Coral Thorn City lay a black swamp that was shrouded in poisonous mist all year round.
Isos’ figure slowly emerged from the shadows of the dense forest, his strip-like body rotating in the air as it looked around.
“Where is the entrance?”
His hollow voice echoed across the swamp. In his memory, the ancient tomb entrance engraved with runes had vanished without a trace, leaving only a few bone frogs poking their heads out of the putrid water before quickly diving back into the depths.
The shadowy tendrils swayed irritably.
“Don’t tell me those two guys swallowed the entire tomb?”
Isos did not bother thinking further. Dark aura surged around him as his oppressive power spread outward. As long as those two were still within this region, they would definitely sense his presence.
Sure enough, after only a moment, a metal gate dozens of meters tall shifted from illusion into reality and appeared out of thin air before Isos.
“Rumble… rumble…”
As the metal gate slowly opened, two ‘people’ walked out from the eerie tomb passage behind it.
On the left stood a tall figure completely encased in ancient metal armor, with strands of black mist and baleful aura seeping from the gaps of the armor.
On the right floated a mass of thick black-red blood mist, with golden runes occasionally flashing within it.
“Isos?” Alvaro’s voice came from beneath the visor, carrying a metallic reverberation. “Does the lord have a task?”
Montoya’s blood-mist body suddenly churned violently. A thought like a sharp needle stabbed into both their minds:
“The smell of flesh! Isos! Did you bring something delicious? Give it to me, quickly!”
As he spoke, the blood mist transformed into a giant serpent and lunged toward Isos, only to be instantly trapped by a golden rune cage condensed in Alvaro’s palm.
“Zzz~”
Montoya smoked as the golden runes scorched him, and the blood mist violently churned before shrinking into a tight mass.
“Sorry, Isos. He still can’t control his desires very well.”
“Huff… huff…”
After struggling for a while, Montoya finally regained his sanity and complained, “Isos! Did you come here on purpose just to watch me make a fool of myself? Bringing so much blood food to tempt me!”
Isos’ pitch-black head split open again with an exaggerated crack.
“Definitely not on purpose. But seeing you embarrass yourself still makes me very happy~”
As he spoke, Isos dumped those gang members—who had basically become vegetative—onto the ground in front of Montoya, almost causing him to lose control again.
“Damn it! You XXXX!”
Montoya sent out a thought filled with contempt and a large amount of foul language before slowly expanding his body and swallowing all of them.
“Isos, it seems you can already effectively control your emotions and will. You shouldn’t be far from breaking through to Intent, right?” Alvaro’s metallic voice echoed within the tomb passage.
Isos’ torn strip-like body trembled slightly, and a hint of suppressed excitement appeared in his hollow voice.
“Just a little more… but after this mission, it might be enough.”
He turned toward Montoya, his shadowy tendrils swaying provocatively.
“Once I advance, among the three of us you’ll be the only one who hasn’t reached Intent~”
“Tsk~ What are you so proud of? Even if you break through, you’re still just a runner~ hehehe~” Montoya mocked mercilessly.
Isos suddenly froze, as if his throat had been caught.
He truly could not refute that. His abilities mainly lay in stealth, strangeness, and speed. Dealing with opponents at the same level was fine, but compared to freaks like the two of them who could fight above their level, he was far inferior.
“Alright, enough. Tell us—what mission does the lord have?” Alvaro interrupted the conversation before it drifted even further off-topic.
“The lord plans to take us to explore a newly appeared secret realm in three days. We’re to prepare in advance.”
“A secret realm? Did the lord say what kind of secret realm it is?”
“No.”
“Alright. I understand. I’ll prepare, and then you can take us away.”
After speaking, Alvaro placed his arm on the metal gate. The massive gate and the dark tomb passage behind it slowly vanished together.
“You really swallowed this ancient tomb?” Isos asked in surprise.
“Yes. It has basically been refined and merged into my domain.”
“Hiss—! Then your current strength shouldn’t be weaker than the lord’s, right?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen the lord’s true strength.”
After the metal gate completely disappeared, Alvaro’s metal helmet turned toward Isos.
“Let’s go.”
Isos nodded. Shadows wrapped around the three of them, and they disappeared into the swamp forest.
***
“Hah?! These idiots really want to attack the Greenfield Trade Route?”
Mills’ eyes widened as he stared in disbelief at the formal letter sent by the president of the Silver Moon Chamber of Commerce headquarters.
“What benefits did they offer to make the president agree to this?”
Originally, he had planned to see what conclusion those people would reach. But when he went there, he discovered that everyone had already left. Then the next day, he received this letter—transmitted through an expensive communication magic array—telling him not to interfere with those people.
Mills grabbed a crystal cup and gulped down a mouthful of chilled grape wine.
“So they’re not even pretending anymore—didn’t even bother asking for my opinion.”
He stared at the flamboyant signature at the end of the letter, anger rising in his chest.
“So it seems that in the eyes of the headquarters, my royal collateral bloodline and years of hard work carry less weight than the money bags of slave traders.”
“Since you insist on jumping into the fire pit, don’t blame me for pouring oil on the flames.”
Once you smash your heads bloody against the wall, let’s see how you, Mr. President, explain it to the Council of Elders!
“Someone!”
“President!” The secretary, who had been waiting for a long time, pushed open the door and entered.
“Immediately issue an announcement in my name. Starting today, the Coral Thorn branch of the Silver Moon Chamber of Commerce will suspend all cooperation with the Duke’s Mansion of Coral Thorn City and the local nobles led by the Blackthorn family. All of their actions and intentions have nothing to do with us!”
The secretary’s hand holding the feather pen trembled slightly.
“M–My lord… will the headquarters hold us accountable for this?”
“Hmph! This is nothing.”
Mills did not care at all. This was something he had planned to do anyway—only now the separation would be more thorough.
He grabbed a quill pen and swiftly wrote several lines on parchment. Then he sneered at the secretary.
“Go purchase all types of healing potions and related medicinal materials circulating on the market. Buy as much as possible. Remove all of our own from the shelves!”
“Yes, my lord!”
“And those bits of dirt about the Duke’s Mansion and the nobles—send some of it to their opposing forces through the Shadow Guild’s channels.”
“Yes, my lord!”
The secretary looked at the president as if wanting to say something but ultimately swallowed the words. With a head full of questions, he quickly left to carry out the orders.
After the secretary left, Mills interlocked his fingers and began thinking about the issues he needed to pay attention to after completely falling out with them.
He was not worried about his personal safety. No matter what, he still possessed royal blood, and his mother, Princess Elena, was still alive.
Of course, if someone truly went mad and tried to take revenge on him, there was nothing he could do about it. But swallowing this humiliation quietly was absolutely impossible.
What he was most worried about now was that if the Greenfield Trade Route were truly destroyed, the contract between the Treant clan and the Silver Moon Chamber of Commerce would completely collapse.
Coral Thorn City would also lose an important trade route, leading to economic decline, and the commercial network he had painstakingly built would crumble along with it.
It seemed he would have to consult with that intelligence merchant again. Perhaps that person could provide a more reliable solution.