“No, wait, friend!”
Luke’s head twisted frantically within Guss’s massive, plier-like hand.
He struggled with everything he had, barely managing to free half his mouth from the gaps between the demon’s fingers.
“How am I an evil spirit?”
Even at death's door, this Wayland mole didn't miss a beat in his own defense.
“At most, we just have different stances...”
“Heh.”
This stubbornness in the face of death actually made Elias laugh in spite of himself.
“I’ll grant you that point.”
“But the reason I call you an evil spirit is mostly because your mouth is even more foul than mine.”
“I rarely meet someone who talks more shit than I do.”
Enduring the sharp pain in his soul, Elias walked up to Luke one step at a time.
He cut off the man’s rambling.
“Now, I’m asking you.”
Elias looked down at him, his gaze as cold as an ice cellar.
“Where is Cecil?”
Upon hearing that name, Luke actually grinned and burst into a wild, reckless laugh.
“I’ll take that as a compliment!”
“As for that female investigator?”
“She’s probably still fighting my puppets!”
“Maybe she’s already dead!”
“Add Finn to the list.”
“Taking out two pillars of the Seventh Agency in one night—it was worth it!”
Elias watched him expressionlessly.
Then, he delivered his judgment in a flat tone.
“That is exactly what an evil spirit does.”
He didn't even bother to debate humanity or moral lines with this madman.
While the man still had a breath left, he had to squeeze every bit of intel out of him.
“What does Wayland want with the pendulum?”
“And what do those cultists from the Mist Veil Society want with it?”
Since they were in bed together, there was bound to be a common interest.
The upper half of Luke’s face was currently being crushed by Guss.
His facial muscles were squeezed out of shape, leaving only his mouth exposed.
Yet, Elias could still see a glimmer of hope in the man’s eyes.
It was the desperate desire to live.
“If I answer, will you let me go?”
Luke was like a drowning man, clutching desperately at this single straw.
“No.”
Elias’s answer was cold and final, leaving no room for negotiation.
He sneered as if looking at a corpse.
“Your only choice is to die right now.”
“Or, go enjoy a torture package in the Inferno before you die.”
At the mention of the word “Inferno,” Luke shuddered violently.
Looking at his current situation, he finally resigned himself to his fate.
“It has something to do with Moon Bay anyway.”
Luke sighed, his voice turning despondent.
“The only thing I can think of is the ‘Fifth Element’ in the center of Moon Bay.”
“The Fifth Element?”
Elias paused, turning a confused look toward Guss.
Guss understood the silent prompt immediately.
“I’ve heard that it’s a supernatural item that only a Saint among alchemical craftsmen can create,” the demon explained to his employer in his booming voice.
“That thing has long since transcended the conventional definition of a ‘supernatural item.’”
Luke cut in from the side, adding, “It’s basically a wishing stone!”
A wishing stone?!
Elias’s heart skipped a beat in spite of himself.
But quickly, his clear-headed modern rationality reclaimed the high ground.
He calmed down instantly.
In this world, how could there be miracles without a price?
Wishes? Pies falling from the sky usually just ended up crushing people to death.
“So...”
Elias organized his thoughts.
“Both Wayland and the Mist Veil Society want to get their hands on that Fifth Element?”
“Probably,” Luke admitted vaguely.
“What do you mean ‘probably’?”
Elias frowned, deeply dissatisfied with such an ambiguous answer.
“If both sides want this so-called wishing stone, why are you cooperating?”
Competitors were natural enemies, especially when fighting over such a tool. It was a wonder they hadn't torn each other's throats out, let alone worked hand-in-hand to cause trouble.
“Big brother! I don't know that much either!”
Luke sounded like he was on the verge of tears.
“A cooperation like that isn't something a small fry like me could facilitate!”
Seeing Elias’s gaze turn increasingly dangerous, Luke hurried to spill his woes.
“Look at me, I’m just a Scale Two!”
“Do you really think they’d tell me core secrets beyond the dirty work they want me to do?”
Elias found the logic damnably sound.
“Different question.”
He stopped dwelling on that and went straight for another vital point.
“How many Wayland moles are there in the Seventh Agency?”
At this, Luke finally snapped.
“You keep asking me these high-level questions! How should I know?!”
He rolled his eyes in exasperation.
“I’m not the HR Director!”
However, he quickly calmed down again.
He looked at Elias, a mocking, cold sneer curling his lips.
“But.”
“Even if you take the pendulum back to the Seventh Agency...”
“There’s a very high chance it will eventually find its way back into Wayland’s hands without a sound.”
Luke’s voice carried a chilling confidence.
“Never doubt the penetration power of Wayland Capital.”
Having said all this, Luke seemed to shed all his disguises and defenses, his entire body relaxing completely.
“Alright.”
He looked like a man offering his neck to the blade.
“Can you send me on my way now?”
Elias raised an eyebrow.
“Why do I get the feeling you’re actually looking forward to it?”
“Am I?”
Luke’s voice no longer held the slightest hint of panic regarding death.
Instead, it was a state of total release.
“There’s no other way. I’ve reached this point.”
“All my trump cards are gone. I lost the pendulum and seven puppets.”
“I just thought about it.”
“Even if you let me go, the company would skin me alive.”
He let out a long sigh.
“Dead end. It’s a total dead end!”
“Better to die once and for all than to go back and suffer.”
At this, his mouth twisted bitterly.
“I just can’t figure it out, even in death.”
“How the hell did I lose to an informant like you?!”
“Come on!” he roared.
Elias turned his head away coldly, showing no mercy.
Crack!
A crisp, explosive sound rang out.
Guss’s massive hand suddenly exerted force.
He crushed Luke’s head like a dried-up soda can.
Red and white matter sprayed out.
The headless corpse twitched twice before slumping limply into the pile of fallen leaves.
The world was finally quiet.
Luke’s noisy voice was cut short.
Elias rubbed the blood that had splattered near his feet against the ground with his sole.
Having seen it so often, it seemed his threshold for such things was rising.
Inwardly, he couldn't help but feel a bit of sentiment.
“Sir.”
Guss casually flicked the brain matter from his fingertips and turned to Elias.
“This Rift-render Beast...”
The demon pointed to the side.
“What?”
Elias frowned, following Guss’s finger.
“A Rift-render Beast.”
Guss patiently repeated the name while looking at the little clown spirit, which was still holding its claws up and shaking violently in mid-air.
Only then did Elias remember this bizarre “bonus.”
“What exactly is this thing?”
He looked at the spirit world creature with a face full of disdain.
“It’s a predatory creature from the Spirit World.”
“It can travel between the curtains of reality and the Spirit World.”
“As long as you let it feed on souls regularly, you can command it to do your bidding, sir.”
It sounded like a decent summon.
“The downside?” Elias asked, catching the key point.
“The downside is that its appetite is a bit large.”
Guss rubbed his hands together.
“Do you want to keep it, sir?”
Elias felt an ominous premonition.
“How large?”
Guss held up two thick fingers.
“It needs to eat about two soul coins a day.”
“...?”
Elias’s eyes widened, and he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.
Too expensive!
This was daylight robbery!
Two soul coins a day?!
Wasn't that the equivalent of paying Guss to come out for a high-stakes match every single day?!
Keeping such a useless, trembling piece of junk—wasn't that just looking for trouble?
In terms of combat power, this thing was leagues behind Guss.
Yet in terms of price, it dared to ask for the same as a Scale Five demon lord!
The cost-performance ratio was atrocious!
“Take it with you!”
Elias waved his hand dismissively, as if shooing away a fly.
He wouldn't take it even for free.
However, he suddenly remembered his earlier confusion and asked curiously, “By the way.”
“Why didn't it attack me earlier? Why was it scared shitless?”
Guss rubbed his red, infernal chin, looking thoughtful.
“Perhaps your connection with the Moon Lord is too close, sir!”
The demon came up with a guess that seemed perfectly reasonable to him.
Great.
The answer was as good as nothing.
All based on speculation.
Elias was just about to find a place to sit and recover from the intense pain in his soul.
At that moment, Guss leaned in.
“So, sir, shall we settle the tab?”
Rate on N.U.
