The kingdom of the night; the headquarters of the a.s.sa.s.sins guild that was located at the abyss of Arkas. Although it wasn´t known how they were able to dig a place like that with the current engineering technology, nor was it known for how long such place existed, it was still a majestic place that wasn´t any inferior to the palace of Arcadia.

The kingdom of night that soared to underground. A lawless place the ones that lived in the darkness gathered.

“This is unbelievable. To think there was something like this under Arkas.”

“I also didn´t know about it. This is the first time I heard of it.”

The way not even Havella knew of this place could only mean that this place was one only people that were submerged even deeper in the darkness could reach. To know of this place basically meant that you reached where the darkness is. By the time you became aware of it, you couldn´t back out anymore.

“…Really amazing.”

What unfolded before Willian´s eyes was a kingdom colored in night. It was unorganized and dirty, and it was run-down because of the concentration of slums there was, but for some reason, it was a good point for this place. It was the pride of the people of this unfading darkness. For the people that lived in dark, this was paradise. At this world that lacked any illumination, there wasn´t any light that exposed the darkness.

“It is deeper in. Don´t lose sight of me. If you get lost, you won´t be able to leave this place for eternity. This is specially for people like you, residents of daylight.”

It was even deeper in. Even so, they had already gone down for quite a bit. The darkness of Arkas was deep to the point it made them speechless. It was the darkness that hid at the undersurface the of history. Compared to the size of the light, it was even bigger. That was Arcadia, the main among the seven kingdoms. If so, what sort of darkness lied in Garias, who was much bigger and had deeper history? With his current knowledge of it, Willian couldn´t even imagine.

“Hurry up. Mistress is waiting for you.”

Willian senses suddenly felt displaced. He felt he wasn´t going down, but going up. There was no way Kail or Havella could understand such feeling. Perhaps, not even that Bai Long could comprehend it. However, the ruler of the night that awaited for them up ahead definitely possessed that same feeling to her.

Heavens and earth were reversed. This was the abyss; the kingdom of the night. It was the world of darkness that soared to the underground.

“From this point, not even me am allowed to proceed. However, make no blunders. Do not hold onto worthless aspirations. That person´s strength is of another realm. No matter how strong you are, it is completely impossible that you can kill her. On the other hand… it is possible to kill people of the likes of you anytime. Do not forget that.”

Bai Long probably had a very high position even inside the a.s.sa.s.sins guild. Back then, it was clear that him by himself already amounted to a considerable fighting strength. It wasn´t to the level of Kail, but it would make a good fight against Willian, and he might have been able to even kill him if he got careless. This was how much powerful he was. They were heading to a place that not even a man of such caliber go in.

Bai Long moved to the side of the big door.

“There was one time I entered this place. At that time, I was foolish, ignorant and conceited. I used to misunderstand what strength meant. Once you see her, you will know. You will know that all your senses of value were only a fantasy when faced against that person….”

The door started to open by itself. That was even though n.o.body was touching it…

“…The ruler of night, Nyuks-sama.”

The door closed. Since they were already inside by the time they noticed it, it seemed that they had already gone through the door then. Kail and Havella were about to fall in despair. Everything was outside of common sense. Strength was useless. Everything they had built up until now became meaningless.

[I have no need for courtesies. What I desire is only one clever idea that can soft-land the matter. If you can satisfy me, then you may live and be free. If you cannot satisfy me, then it shall be your death.]

The curtains for the night were swiftly to opened. Behind of the curtains, hair of the color of night that reached the floor could be seen. It wasn´t possible to imagine for how much time one had to live in order to have the hair reach such length. Following the river of hair with the eyes and reaching at the upstream, the one that was there…

[Now then, Al the slave, Al the freed slave, Norman, Willian Rivius. You wanted to make a deal with me, right? I have the time. Let´s talk about it to our heart´s content.]

Everything was exposed. Willian and the others were surprised about that. There wasn´t supposed to be anyone that knew about that. They dealt with all the people that knew about it. This didn´t make sense. However…

“”Since she knows about it….””

…there was no way he could let her live.

Willian raised his eyes. With definite killing intent in those eyes, it pierced through her.

[Nice to meet you, my cute little boy.]

Rather, so was it supposed to happen….

[What are you being all surprised for? Kuku.]

The ruler of night. That face was one he was very familiar of. Kail and Havella were also surprised. It was the face of a person all the three remembered. It was none other than…

“Does my face look like someone you know? Hmn, Willian?”

Arlette. She was engraved in their memories. It was Willian´s most beloved elder sister that set up the beginning of all this. [Willian] was born from her loss, and so was the current [White Mask].

[I´ve been curious about this face recently. I´ve been using this face for about ten years now. The story between you brother and sister was too interesting. I hope you may forgive me.]

After hearing those words, the one trembling in anger wasn´t Willian, but the two people behind him.

“Don´t make fun of this guy´s past, woman. I will kill you.”

“I will skin your face.”

This was because they knew of Al´s despair. They were the ones closest to him, but they couldn´t even save him. The anger of themselves they had was deeply ingrained into them. This provoked them greatly. That anger was so profound and great that all their fear about Nyuks was blown away.

[You have wonderful friends. What is interesting about it is how your paths don´t interconnect despite you sharing a bound of such extent. The world is indeed complex and weird. It is because it is like that that it is interesting.]

Her unmoving figure despite receiving Kail´s and Havella´s killing intent; she could only think of them as amusing.

[So your fear of me has lessened? I would like to soon get into the main topic though. To me, time is infinite, but to people, time is finite. The nighttime is finite as well after all.]

Willian signalled to the two with one of his hands to tell them to calm down. In the end, that was a place for negotiation. Hence, from then on, it was Willian´s field.

“Now then…. Allow me to introduce myself to you, ruler of the night Nyuks-sama. My name is Willian Rivius. I am pleased to make your acquaintance.”

[You don´t need to put the sama in. There is no courtesy here. All there is is only gain and loss. Of course, this might change depending on my mood. Other than that, you should take off this unsightly mask and wig. While your usual white mask would have been fine, this you are using is a bit too shabby, don´t you think?]

Willian took off his mask and wig just as it had been told him. Nyuks already knew of everything. Thus, there was no need to hide anything.

[Hmph, what a nice face. It looks like mine in a way it doesn´t. Though, it doesn´t look like mine in a way it does. It is indeed very interesting. Now then, should we start the negotiations? What, I only have one demand. It used to be the disposal of the a.s.sa.s.sin that failed her mission. However, the situation changed. Do you know why is it?”

“Of course, it is because of our opposition to that.”

“That is right. There is the fighting force I lost and the payment for the a.s.sa.s.sin that has failed her mission. Prepare a compensation that settles the two. Well, you are here to present the to me, aren´t you?]

Willian was breaking in cold sweat due to Nyuks´ evaluating gaze.

The lives of the two were being held onto Willian´s shoulders. It had a different weight to the time he was by himself. It was completely different. Willian let out a deep breath. What he prepared her was…

“There is one point I have for why this cannot be done by this premise. The lost fighting force was the result of legitimate self-defence. I believe that the only point there is to settle is about Havella´s failure.”

He didn´t have anything. There was no way he could prepare something to compensate for all that. He didn´t have the time or the money. All he had that met the requirements was pretty much the ruby that was hanging on his neck, hidden under his clothes.

[Kuku, that is nonsense. Fine, continue. I will hear all you have to say, and if I don´t like what I hear, I will kill the three of you. If I like it, you will live. Simple, isn´t it?]

It was because it was simple. In case he makes a mistake in his choices, he dies.

Nyuks´ smile lacked any emotion.