After stepping out of the tent, Flauros quickly hid in the dark alleys between the market stalls. Although it was called the Black Market, this place looked more like the inside of a castle. Each stall was inside a series of rooms.
'Maybe I should go find some clothes to disguise myself, because with this appearance, it would be easy to be discovered.'
Flauros thought to himself and looked at his appearance, no noble customer in the black market would be dressed in such tatters.
In a VIP room, a noble ordered his servant in a grumpy manner
"Why don't you hurry up and bring it up here?!"
The servant trembled, quickly bowed respectfully, and obeyed. He left, closed the door, and walked briskly down the red carpeted hallway. He quickly passed by without noticing a strange person covered in a full body, passing by him towards his master's room.
Flauros calmly walked into the newly closed room.
Seeing the door open again, the masked noble in the room angrily scolded.
"Why don't you hurry up and go? Why did you come back here?!"
...
'Wait! Why did he enter the room without knocking first?...'
The noble turned around and asked in panic.
"Who are you!? Why did you casually enter the room-?"
Before he could finish his sentence, he was speechless. Flauros had already silently chanted a spell to clear the air around him.
'Borraris'
He was terrified and held his throat, continuously hitting his chest, and the veins in his pupils were also red.
"Cough cough-!"
A few minutes later, he died of suffocation from foaming at the mouth, and the servant still hadn't returned. Flauros approached, quickly changing both of their clothes together. Immediately after putting on the mask, he quickly left the room.
At this time, the servant also returned, holding a box of something in his hand. The two of them passed each other, and he finally felt that something was wrong.
He turned around to find out who that person was, but unfortunately, Flauros had already blended into the crowded crowd below the main hall and left. The servant thought it was just his illusion, so he quickly brought the things and headed towards the room, the door.
But no one answered the door several times, so he had no choice but to arrogantly ask for permission and go in. But when he got there, his master had already suffocated to death, without a single piece of clothing on his body.
Panicked and scared, he frantically ran to find someone to help. But when he turned towards the door, it wouldn't open, no matter how much he banged or pushed, he couldn't leave. The inside was covered with a magic circle designed by Flauros, so he wouldn't be able to leave or make any sound outside.
'Sorry, but I don't want my plan to be in vain yet'
Flauros glanced around the main hall of this place. It looked very luxurious and spacious. The red carpet and the large candle chandelier glittered on the ceiling, this place looked like the main hall of a large villa.
That's right. Because only the rich can afford to cover up such a large black market.
'Only they can think of such a dirty way to get rich.'
'Let's go find an exit to the place where raw metals are sold.'
'Upgrading the storage ring is necessary for the future, it needs to expand its range and space to the point where it can contain living things.'
'So that later on, it's convenient to retrieve the corpse into space, and if someone happens to see it, just put it in. It saves the trouble of casting another forbidden spell, that spell just now cost too much Mana.'
Flauros quickly left the crowd, walking through a spacious corridor. He saw a gem sign in front of a room, opened the door. And inside was a whole market selling all gems, slipping through the crowded crowd of people standing to watch the goods.
Looking through the stalls, there was no stall selling raw metals, which was understandable because not many nobles here paid attention to that kind of item. They usually paid attention to precious stones and pure Mana stones, and were afraid that they wouldn't sell anything after going through this stall.
'Then wouldn't it be a waste of time?'
Flauros clicked his tongue, and suddenly he saw the end of the stall. There was a man covered in a cloak, standing there silently without soliciting his goods. The things that man was selling were raw metals and pure stones, and they were also strange items.
Flauros approached the stall with interest. The seller didn't say anything, just smiled, the cloak had hidden his face. But when he examined it, it was unusual.
'All these items are magical artifacts. Is he a wizard?'
'How strange. The people here don't seem to bother to come to his stall even a little bit, or rather, they can't see him.'
Flauros sharply noticed that there was a magical barrier around here, but this barrier only prevented outsiders from seeing and hearing. There was no negative effect on the people inside the spell, it seemed like he had no malicious intent.
'I don't want to cause any trouble anyway, and he sells raw metals after all'
"Master, how much are these raw metals?"
"These are not for sale, they are just gifts when buying things."
Flauros was quite surprised, these metals alone were still very valuable if processed. Moreover, the mineral mines were now occupied by nobles and gem merchants, and it would cost a lot of money to mine them.
'And this seller is just a gift when buying things? Does he have too much money?'
"So these artifacts of yours are all magical artifacts? I see inscriptions engraved on them."
"That's right, some of them are my creations and some are collected."
Flauros observed the items, items that contained magic and inscriptions from wizards were all called artifacts. Most of them were items that could be used by ordinary people without Mana.
'Oh, there are some artifacts that help replenish mana for wizards here. Indeed, they can only be found on the black market.'
If these items were sold openly, he would be a publicly executed seller, but to be able to make such highly finished artifacts, he must be a wizard of royal rank or below.
Then Flauros's eyes fell on a magic stone pendant, which seemed very different from the other items. The inscription on it was very strange, he had never seen such an inscription before.
"How much is this item?"
"What is it? How can I make you understand that this item is not for sale?"
"?"
'If it's not for sale, then why did he display it?'
"Indeed, this item isn't for sale, but it's an antique I found. It's a rare item. I tried my best, but still couldn't connect with it. It's a pity to throw it away, so I just put it on the counter to see if anyone is lucky enough to connect with it, and I'll give it away."
"An antique?"
"That's right, it's probably very old. I tried to decode the spell on it to see what it does, or where it used to belong. But I couldn't decode it either."
"Try connecting with it, maybe it will work?"
"Is it a scam?"
"Hey... What did I trick you for?"
"Okay, thank you for letting me try."
"Thank you for what? Hurry up and try it, I've been wanting to get rid of this thing for a long time. It's already taking up too much space on the counter."
'It's an antique, and yet he wants to throw it away as soon as possible to save space on the counter. This shop owner is really strange.'
Flauros took the pendant, gradually pouring Mana into it. A red aura gradually swirled around his arm, it were emitted from the pendant.
'!?'
'What!? This thing seems to be trying to cut off the thread of consciousness that I'm trying to transmit inside, some kind of barrier to protect it?'
Just as he was confused, the red aura suddenly disappeared, and the magic stone in the middle of the pendant gradually changed from black to red.
Flauros' arm suddenly felt a sharp pain, followed by a series of burning sensations. It wasn't too intense, but it was enough to make someone with a good pain tolerance like him grimace.
"Oh, could it be that you successfully connected to it? Lucky~"
"..."
"Maybe it was successfully connected."
'But there has never been a case of connecting to a magical item leaving a tattoo like this.'
Flauros frowned, looking at the red flame-like tattoo patterns stretching across the arm that held the pendant. It had been burning just now, but now it seemed like he no longer felt anything.
'This item is really strange, its red pendant seems to have a hint of amber gold in it. It looks very familiar, I wonder where I've seen it before.'
Flauros walked out of the goods area with nearly a ton of raw minerals in his storage ring and an ancient magic item. The shopkeeper seemed to have a lot of money. He decided to give him nearly a ton of raw minerals for free, citing the lack of storage space.
'Just a pendant is already out of storage, nearly a ton of raw minerals, and the same reason. This shopkeeper is strange.'
Call it strange if not crazy.
The goal has been achieved, now let's clean up the trash. After all, a mountain of trash like this will only stink more and more the longer it stays.
Just burn down this entire black market and bury all the trashy nobles here.
'But before that, the guardian of this place and those slaves need to be dealt with first.'
"Libro"
A jet-black book with a huge purple eye-shaped stone inlaid in the center appeared and floated in Flauros' hand as he chanted the spell.
'Transport me to the location of the former slave camp, now.'
A purple-black aura appeared and enveloped Flauros' body, and he immediately disappeared on the spot.
The slave camp was in a terrifying silence. Inside the tent were two headless corpses, and blood splattered everywhere. But no one said anything, they both wanted to believe in Flauros' promise, but also worried about their fate and doubted him. It was too absurd for someone who could easily melt steel, kill people so quickly and simply, to be captured in a slave camp.
'!'
The elves were very sensitive to Mana, so immediately, some of them realized that there was a magic circle cast right in front of the tent, not pure but somewhat older than the magic circle used by mages of this era. Only one dark elf had previously sensed this type of Mana in Flauros, and was not as tense as before.
'He is a man of his word, he came back.'
The tent's door flap opened, and the faint light from the torch in the stone corridor of the slave trading area shone into the dark tent. A face with pale white skin stepped in, and the luxurious clothes were completely different from those who had been with them before. But Flauros's strange aura was still the same, gloomy and dark.
He walked to each cage, touching his ear to each iron door, then walked to the end of the room - where the power sealing spell was set up to control the slaves with inhuman power here, spread one hand in front of him, black aura began to appear and then rapidly oozed out from the line of words containing the spell he had just separated①, they surrounded the Mana flows branching off from the main spell and immediately froze and crushed them like glass.
'What the hell!'
'How did he freeze the flow ofMana②?!'
The dark elf boy from earlier looked at Flauros in horror, who had an expressionless face throughout the entire process, and some of the slaves who had also seen this scene were equally shocked. It was known that this action was no different from destroying the entire concept that had been passed down for millennia.
*Method
When all the black auras broke through the complex branching Mana flows that covered the entire tent, the slaves immediately regained their strength. The spell in the center also shattered, and that evil black aura instantly evaporated like smoke.
Flauros withdrew his hand, and the nearby doors gradually melted due to the magic circle Flauros had formed above the doors when he touched them earlier.
After finishing, Flauros left. Stepping over the pools of molten steel that were so hot that they were half red, Flauros gradually disappeared behind the entrance to the other street of the night market. The slaves were also busy leaving and looking for a way out.
Some of them looked at him with grateful eyes, but the Dark Elf just looked at him with a doubtful gaze and then disappeared, hiding in the darkness.
This place was like a maze divided into many floors with each floor having different goods of trade and hospitality, connected by strange, dark corridor systems, extremely easy to get lost in.
'And on top of that, there were no windows here, and the damp smell of earth was easily noticeable everywhere, so this must be an underground maze.
Anyway, when I observed the entrance to the upper floor just now, I didn't see many people going up the upper floor, only going down. And that's the top floor of this place.'
'So that means the exit is somewhere else, and wanting to let those people, the people from that slave trading area, leave before burning this place down is...very difficult.'
"Sigh..."
'How troublesome, wouldn't it have been better if I had prepared a teleportation spell beforehand?'
'But with this underground structure, it would be easier to kill everyone. Just burn down one or two floors, then close the exit with a spell. They'll all be burned to death in this place.'
A crazy thought appeared in Flauros's mind again.
'It was originally just to buy illegal goods, Flauros. You should rethink your plan, one less thing is always better than one more thing.'
'Moreover... If they, the beastmen and other tribesmen, are harmed by the fire, wouldn't we be pushing those who can't die into hell with those beasts?'
"Let's just give up that idea..."
While walking along the stone corridor, he didn't realize that he had wandered down to the third floor. This was an auction house for rare items, often obtained illegally and auctioned anonymously. Of course, all information on the black market was kept confidential.
Looking at the masked customers trying to bargain with the salesman below, Flauros turned away in annoyance. The item being sold was the heart of a slain snake. Passing by the crowd sitting on the luxurious red chairs, Flauros walked to the end of the dark corridor.
The candle in the glass lamp holder illuminated the figure of another man wearing a cloak, who appeared opposite Flauros.
"...."
"Can I talk to you for a moment?"
"Is it you? Is there something you want to see me about?"
"It's nothing too important, I just really need to ask you something."
"Alright."
'He's not leaving? Why did he come looking for me?'
Flauros thought to himself, confused, and followed behind. The two of them walked down the long, dark stone corridor, the lights along the way only making the atmosphere more eerie and ghostly. Each of them had their thoughts.
'Or did he realize something through the forbidden magic I used?'
The fiery eyes suddenly darkened, and the sudden coldness that came made the sharp intuition of a Dark Elf rise. He didn't turn back and continued walking, saying to Flauros, who was behind him.
"Don't be murderous towards me, okay? I'm just asking you a few questions, I won't do anything to you."
"..."
"If you don't want to answer, that's fine too."
'Alright, if he has other intentions. I'll just kill him and dispose of him with fire.'
The red eyes gradually softened at his conciliatory words, and no one spoke anymore. The atmosphere returned to normal, the two continued to leave, and the location seemed to be another alley on the third floor.
'Phew, I escaped with my life. What kind of person is he that he would get murderous at the slightest thing, and would come back to save everyone just because of a promise? What a strange person..'
The path gradually became wider and brighter, it seemed like they had arrived at their destination.
A large wine cellar was hidden behind a rotten wooden door, the moss on the door swaying as he pushed it open and stepped inside. Flauros followed him inside, glancing around the place for a moment.
'Impressive, huh? The size is comparable to a wine cellar of a wealthy duke. The owner of this black market must be royalty to be able to build something like this.'
'Please go this way, there are no people here.'
'How do you know that for sure?'
'This place must be some kind of secret chamber that someone left in this black market, the guards or managers of the market passing by didn't notice it. Moreover, it seems like that person rarely comes here, you see.'
The dust was thin, but everywhere, the lights with the notes flickered due to not having received Mana for a long time. But the barrels of old grapes and pears still had a distinct scent in the air.
The crates were lined up, and Flauros followed the steps into a small, dimly lit side room behind a wooden wall. The dark elf stopped, Flauros understood and stopped as well, and turned back in the opposite direction.
A probing gaze
"Okay, so what do you want to ask me?"
"Then let me get straight to the point, the magic you used was forbidden magic, right?"
"Yes"
"...."
"I'm quite surprised, a magic that was lost is now seen again. What an honor, and your necklace is an antique?"
"How do you know? And what is an honor? Meeting a forbidden magic user like me, but you feel honored?"
"If it were someone else, forbidden magic would be a kind of evil that spreads evil, but for us elves, it is the power of our mother bestowed upon the living beings of the world. I see that the forbidden magic you used seems to be the forbidden magic of the Valkhar lineage, the lineage that belongs to chaos and darkness."
"You know a lot?"
"You even know the nature of the forbidden magic I used."
"You're strange. I can see that the remnants of the original Mana in your soul are extremely pure and passionate. Why did you choose to use forbidden magic, and especially this type of magic?"
"...."
"Now I'm surprised, you can even feel the fact that I replaced all the Mana in your body? Even if you're a Dark Elf, you don't have enough ability, right?"
Flauros was silent, then spoke, his eyes like burning fire, looking at him with pressure and doubt.
"That's because I'm a pure-blooded elf of royal lineage."
"Oh? A pure-blooded prince of the Dark elf race. So your surname must be Nyctarion, right?"
"You guessed right, you know about the elf race too?"
"Hmm? I wonder, maybe"
"..."
He kept feeling that this Flauros had something dangerous and an invisible intimidation, especially that sinister smile and those eyes.
He kept feeling that there was something familiar about him, but he didn't know what it was, so he could only return to the conversation. There was one more thing he wanted to confirm.
"Can I ask you one last question?"
"Quickly ask, I have to go soon."
"Okay, so is that necklace someone's keepsake? Or did you find it somewhere?"
"Is there anything special about this necklace?"
'Not answering but asking me back like this, he's trying to get information from me instead of providing any information.'
"Sigh, do you not know what the thing you're wearing is?"
"I don't know, so I'm asking you, so you must know something, right?"
"If you're its owner, then it's fine if I tell you, the necklace you're wearing is the eye of the flame god, a mythical artifact that doesn't have much reputation among humans, but it's a famous treasure among beastmen, the species that live with Mana like us - the elves. Some human gods also know about it, but most of them don't believe it exists."
"Oh, is it that famous? I don't know either. Anyway, I just got it by accident. Flame God? Which Flame God are you referring to? After all, throughout the history of the Heavenly Continent, there have been countless different Flame Gods."
"Are you also curious about religion?"
"No, I'm curious about the origin of the necklace. You said it was a mythical artifact, so it must have been created by that flame god."
"That flame god is Fuegocular, or commonly referred to as the guide in the sea of fire - a rather famous god. He is the protector of the cat race, yet you don't know?"
"I have my reasons."
"Then your reasons must be very strange, after all, for the ***eye of the flame god*** to accept you as its master, you must have some kind of connection with the flame god, yet you say you don't know?"
"You noticed?"
"Yeah, maybe because it's a mythical artifact, the amount of Mana emitted is also very different. I'm a species that is sensitive to Mana, so it's natural for me to notice, and other strong people can also easily notice."
"And the fact that you're connected to it means you're not just an ordinary cat-man. At least a pure-blooded person would be able to connect to the family's protective mythical artifact..."
'How would I know? Everything is so vague. I originally came to this world through that strange gate. I'm not someone who belongs to this place, so what did he say... in the end?'
Flauros was extremely confused, but he still showed no emotion on his face.
"I don't want to talk about my identity anymore. I hope you understand."
The young man laughed when he heard that, looking at him with a much sharper gaze.
"Anyway, everyone has their secrets, right? It's not a big deal, but I want to exchange names to get to know you, okay?"
"What?"
"Come on, I said I didn't mean anything by it, right? I just knew that in the future, I would stay away from you when I heard your name. I saw that your temperamental nature could kill me at any time, so I just wanted to know for future prevention."
"I'm not that bad of a person..."
"My name is Flauros anyway."
"No name? My name is Zaylaroth Nyctarion, nice to meet you this time, son of Chaos."
Flauros responded to the outstretched hand, shaking it politely.
"Oh, by the way, may I ask what is a son of Chaos....?"
"Secret"
The two said goodbye and left, each taking their path. Flauros walked out of the room, leaving only Zaylaroth standing in the old storage room. His blue-gray eyes followed the figure in the red cloak as he left, his heart in turmoil.
He had a bad feeling since he met him, and that doubt was finally cleared up when he heard his name.
'The child of Chaos... He is'
'He is the one in the prophecy, everything matches. From the name, the forbidden spell, to the artifact he carries...'
'I don't know if it's a good or bad omen...'
Zaylaroth sighed, clasping his hands together as if praying. Closing his eyes.
"Oh, mother, please. The child of Chaos has appeared. Is this a blessing or a curse?"
Mother didn't answer, and the quiet space didn't have anything to respond except for the light beating of her heart in her chest.
But he knew one thing clearly: Mother would never tell him the future so easily. He stopped praying, he wanted to return to the main house to inform the high priest as soon as possible.
The magic circle gradually appeared, a green magical stream gradually appeared surrounding Zaylaroth's body, and he disappeared immediately after.