Chapter 66: A Show of Strength
"Where's Lord Argus? Didn't you say he was waiting for me in the VIP room? Let's go see him now that I have some free time." The chairman said. Even though he was going to meet with Argus, he was completely invested in something else.
"Um, chairman, Lord Argus has left. His bodyguard said he wasn't feeling well, so she escorted him back. Right now, another customer is in the VIP area where lord Argus was in before he left."
"I see, it must be that man then, let me go meet him, I don't want him getting impatient." The chairman said before promptly leaving.
As the chairman walked off, the man who had given him the report suddenly remembered that Alvin had asked him to inform him first thing once the chairman was back, so he hurried to find Alvin.
…
'Hm? No maid or guard stationed here? Are these people mad? Who trained these fools??? Have I perhaps gone too soft?' the chairman complained in his mind as he found the door of the VIP room completely empty.
He hastened his steps as he approached the door, pushing it open and going inside… well, the sight within was quite shocking.
'Where did all these ones come from… wait, these collars…' the chairman's jaw almost dropped, but he swiftly controlled himself and maintained composure. 'Is this young man perhaps the illegitimate son the king has been hiding?!!' his shock was understandable, after all, one would have to be of a powerful and influential noble family to be able to spend like this.
Even though he didn't know how much had gone into purchasing these slaves, he could still draft a rough estimate, and the numbers had him shaking a little below.
'Who can stop my promotion to regional manager now?!' the chairman calmed himself again before speaking.
"Sir, you purchased some of our special slaves too…"
…
"How does someone from a lower world know of warworld?" The other man asked, furrowing his brows slightly while speaking in a deeper tone.
"Hm?" Aldritch was taken aback by his words, lower world? So he does know warworld?
These thoughts flashed in Aldritch's mind. Before he could answer though, the chairman make an entrance and caused the entire room to fall in silence.
After standing still for a few seconds while everyone looked at him, the chairman finally spoke, "Sir, you purchased some of our special slaves too…"
'This money loving…'
"Yes, I spent an additional 50 gold, and I'd say, it was worth it." Aldritch spoke with a mild smile on his face while his eyes shimmered faintly. Knowing clearly what the chairman was all about, he wouldn't hold back.
"I-I see, splendid! Ah- the rest will be arriving in less than an hour, I hope that wouldn't be too much of your time taken?"
"I can wait, besides, I still have things to do with these ones."
"I see, ok then, I won't interrupt." The chairman left as fast as he came and a strange awkwardness filled the room, though, only for some seconds.
"Will you answer me?" The man asked again.
Aldritch thought briefly of it, but there really was no way to explain it. Was he to tell the man that he was chosen by a god or something? Would he even believe him? As for Aldritch, he had no reason to fear mentioning that fact, though…
"You won't answer? I'll bring it out of you!" The man spoke agitatedly as the shackle around his neck shattered into several pieces, so did the shackles on his wrists and ankles.
Without a moment to process what had just happened, Aldritch only saw the man rush towards him, almost appearing to be a blur, then…
*VOOOM
Around the entire slave market, a wave of magical energy weighed everyone down, causing some to even go on their knees.
It was like pandemonium all around. Those who were adept at using mana, even just a little were able to tell where it came from. For the spies who were listening in on Aldritch before, they felt a strange relief that they had not stayed back trying to listen in on his conversations.
The only time most people had experienced or heard of such release of magical energy was always during battles where someone was certain to lose their life.
"What was that just now? I just left the room…" Not wanting to find out what was going on in particular, the chairman forced his legs and stood up, dragging himself away from that VIP room.
"Chairman… what just happened? That was from the VIP were that young lord is." Alvin asked with furrowed brows as he rushed forward making his way to the VIP room where Aldritch was.
"You know that and are going there? If you want to die feel free, I will live to get my promotion." Hearing the chairman say that gave Alvin a jolt, making him reevaluate his earlier decision. Not knowing what was going on within that room and preserving his life seemed like a better option.
Though a brief moment of chaos struck those outside the VIP room, those inside were in an even worse situation as they were still tense all over. Apart from the slaves, Ingrid was frozen rock solid as she could do nothing but watch the events unfolding before her eyes. From her perspective, the man had literarily disappeared and reappeared before Aldritch.
The fear of death had risen in her, and her instincts screamed for her to run away, but ironically, she was frozen solid and couldn't muster the strength nor courage to move even the slightest muscle.
The slaves shared a similar situation to her, though some looked to be recovering faster than the others, while a few fainted.
'He certainly has the strength alright?' Aldritch thought to himself seeing his current situation.
At the moment, his entire body was being suspended mid-air from his collar. The man was roughly of similar height to him and had a slightly bigger build, but in a fantasy world, that didn't really matter in the end, especially for someone who claims to have come from a higher world.
"I give you the last chance to talk or I kill you." The man said in a cold voice. His threat, even though not directed to the rest of the people there, cut through their minds like a sharp sword and they felt every word of it.
As for Aldritch, he also felt the same feeling as the rest, but being in front of people who were going to be under him, there was no way he could show weakness, it would never be forgotten, not to say, their respect for him would plummet down the drains.
The first thing that came to mind was to use hypnosis and minor compulsion, but that didn't result into anything good as the man resisted it right away, shocking Aldritch who also received a system notification.
[Target has resisted the effects of 'hypnosis' and 'minor compulsion']
"Did you just try to control me with a skill?" The man asked, his voice even colder.
Even though the others expected that to be the point where Aldritch was either beaten to rubbish or even killed, Aldritch didn't look the part in the slightest.
"No, I was just trying to end this painlessly…" He said, activating another skill.
Using blood manipulation, Aldritch disrupted the blood in the man's left hand which held him by the collar, causing his skin to churn in strange and unnatural manner. This very action caused the man extreme pain, so much that he retracted his hand immediately and jumped a few steps backwards with a painful expression etched on his face.
Aldritch's feet touched the ground as he landed lightly. The entire room fell deeper into silence after witnessing this. If Aldritch was able to make such a powerful man that had all of them suffocating and kneeling to retreat, didn't that mean he was just as powerful or even stronger?
Ingrid's expression got a bit more fearful after seeing this before relaxing more. At this moment, her cold heart was more active than someone who had just been scared by a clown. It is said that vampires have a heart that doesn't beat, while in reality, it only pulsates extremely slow with very wide intervals. In such events or during fights, this rate might increase.
Standing back on the ground, Aldritch withdrew what he was doing to the man, straightening his collar softly and adjusting his coat. He didn't pay the man any attention, baiting him for another attack, to which the man indulged, just as he expected.
Even though the man was way faster than him and would cleave off his head before he could even react, that wouldn't be the case if Aldritch was to predict his attack before it happened.
Just when his leg had pushed off the ground, Aldritch ceased the blood flow to the heart by holding all the blood close to his heart in place. This induced a sharp pain in the man's chest, causing him to crash face first into the ground. Before of his brief momentum, his body which was being propelled forward collapsed and slid towards Aldritch.
Before it could hit his legs, he stopped it using his foot.
The man tried to raise his head and look at Aldritch with pain in his eyes, managing to muster a few words before Aldritch ceased the blood flow to his brain, "vam-pire-"
*tud
His head hit the floor and he fainted from, majorly from lack of oxygen to the brain, narrowly escaping death.
"Ingrid, go get Alvin, will you? We'll need another set of those restricting pieces." Aldritch said to her, not quite knowing what to call the shackles the man had on.