Inside the underground hall, the battle had grown even fiercer. One winged serpent lay dead, leaving only one remaining. The guards and dealers had been reduced to seven, down from ten at the start of the fight. Yet the battered silver knight seemed unaffected by the chaos, wildly swinging his rusted greatsword as if the intensity around him meant nothing.
On the other side of the hall, Torbit and Arminius continued their clash. It was unclear when the number of beasts they had summoned had increased, but now more than six terrorbirds and three gigantic two headed bears filled the battlefield.
Seeing his terrorbirds steadily gaining momentum against the two headed bears, Arminius let out a slow, almost disappointed sigh and shook his head.
"Really? This is what you've got?" he said, voice smooth and dripping with mock sympathy. "You learn summoning from me, you stab me in the back."
He clicked his tongue, flashing a crooked grin.
" And yet no growth, no flair, no upgrade package. I mean, I've seen amateurs put on a better show."
Not far away, Torbit stared at him. "You don't sound like someone who's been enslaved for years. I expected… some kind of change."
Arminius chuckled. "Oh, that's rich. You had a front row seat and still missed the show."
"If you weren't too scared to look me in the eye while they were chaining me up, you'd know I never changed."
He spread his hands slightly.
"Years in chains, and you think that breaks me? Please. That barely qualifies as a bad week."
"I held on, I played it smart, and now here we are. Funny how that works out, right?" He took a step forward, eyes locked onto Torbit. "Because pretty soon, I'm collecting what I'm owed, and when I do, I'm taking your head clean off your shoulders."
And true to his words, the two headed bears were pushed back even further. One after another, they fell, their massive bodies crashing to the ground with heavy thuds as the floor cracked beneath them.
The reason Arminius held the advantage was simple. Not only did he possess his own Azure Soul Essence, but he also drew upon the additional Blue Soul Essence stored within the Ring of Storm.
Torbit, of course, was not a fool. The moment he realized the battle had turned against him, he began to form a plan. A simple one.
Run.
But as if fate itself were toying with him, the moment he tried to retreat, blood suddenly burst from his nose, eyes, and mouth.
And not only him. The same thing happened to everyone inside the building, except for the summoned creatures and four individuals: Augustus, Edmund, Arminius, and the female vampire who also wore a Ring of Storm on her finger.
Back at Edmund's battlefront against the bald dealer, Edmund smiled.
The moment he had entered the underground hall, he had released a poison from a small vial. It was not a magical substance, but a lethal biological weapon created by his uncle.
'I owe him five hundred gold coins for this… but I'll pay it back once I claim my share from the spoil of war of this operation.'
Edmund had prepared multiple layers for this operation. Using the vampire and cooperating with the Storm God had been only part of the plan. This biological poison was the third layer.
Unfortunately, he possessed only four vials of antidote, which he had given to Augustus, Arminius, the female vampire, and himself.
Not far in front of him, the bald dealer coughed up blood. But he was not the only one. The freed vampires who had come to help defeat him were also affected by the poison, collapsing to the ground one by one.
Of course, the poison was not strong enough to kill an Azure mage, nor even an Indigo mage. It had never been meant to kill. It was designed to wound, to weaken, and to disrupt.
In a fierce and relentless battle, even the slightest disruption or moment of weakness was enough to get someone killed.
But Edmund had no intention of killing the bald dealer. Instead, he commanded the ice golems to incapacitate him. They struck with precision, targeting the arms, the legs, and even the eyes.
Weakened, his body failing and his essence drained from battling multiple Indigo mages, including the vampires who were formidable in their own right, the bald dealer finally fell. Yet even then, he neither surrendered nor begged for mercy as the ice golems tore his limbs apart.
On the other side of the hall, the guards and dealers battling the winged serpent and the silver knight were also affected by the poison. In that single moment of weakness, they were cut down by the silver knight or devoured by the winged serpent.
And at that moment, a fragile peace finally returned to the underground hall as the summoned creatures slowly faded, returning to where they belonged.
At the center of the hall, the bald dealer lay staring upward. He had lost a great deal of blood, but he would not die just yet. His Azure Soul Essence would not allow such an easy end, not unless someone severed his head or stopped his breathing entirely.
Just as it had happened to Torbit.
Arminius approached, step by step. In his left hand, he carried Torbit's severed head, still dripping, swaying slightly with each movement as he drew closer to the bald dealer.
At that moment, the female vampire stepped closer, her gaze fixed on the bald dealer, burning with hatred.
Augustus noticed Arminius and tilted his head, a faint sneer forming despite his battered state.
"Um, excuse me?" he said. "Walking in with a dripping head? That's… really not cool."
Edmund in other hand, didn't really care.
Arminius barely spared Augustus a glance, his grip on the severed head loose, almost casual.
"Not cool?" he echoed, brows lifting in mild amusement. "We're standing in a hall full of corpses, and that's your concern?"
He gave the head a small, careless swing before letting it hang still again.
"Kid, this is what winning looks like. It's messy. It's unpleasant."
Augustus was about to open his mouth, but he was stopped by Edmund. "Enough. We don't have time."
He crouched beside the dealer, his voice calm but heavy. "Listen carefully."
"You're going to tell me who you work for… and who he is. Because right now, the only thing keeping you alive… is my patience."
The bald dealer suddenly laughed. He tilted his perfectly smooth, hairless head upward with theatrical disdain. "Look at you…"
His gaze drifted around the hall with exaggerated contempt over the survivors. "Every single one of you… is going to die."
A smug little grin twisted across his blood-stained face. "The boss will come. And when he does, he'll make sure your deaths are slow and painful."
"But not before he's had his fun toying with your pathetic little bodies. Ahahaha…"
A moment later, Augustus let out a short, disbelieving laugh. "Wow. Okay. Confident. I'll give you that," he said, glancing around at the ruined hall.
He shook his head, wincing slightly.
"But you're kind of… out of position to be making threats right now."
Arminius in the other hand, he didn't laugh. He didn't even blink. "Your boss," he said quietly. "sounds very impressive."
A faint smirk tugged at his lips.
"Pity you won't live long enough to see him try."
And suddendly, a deafening impact echoed from above. The ground trembled and Dust fell from the ceiling.
The bald dealer's laughter grew louder.
Arminius, Augustus, Edmund, and the female vampire all looked toward the stairway leading to the surface.
Slowly, their expressions darkened.