A chortle came from within the dark space, which was fitting, because the atmosphere had turned dark too.
Murderous intent burned from Replicus as he stood a few paces from the door to the shoddy place, and as her master switched to hostile, Pherdanta did too.
"Come on, Bright Storm. It was just one mistake. Wait, it wasn't even my fault. I didn't know," the voice came, still quite playfully jovial, yet a tad bit anxious.
"Oh, is it? Let's say that's true. What is going to make me kill you, and everyone else you have ties to, is the fact that you have been avoiding me. An innocent man wouldn't run, would he?" Replicus said.
"He would! He would! Especially if he knows how terrifying a dissatisfied Bright Storm can be! I've seen it, you know? You are very hard to Divine, different from any other creature I've ever desired to look into, but... I can see flashes of how monstrous you are! You think I would just sit back after all I've seen?!" the voice again.
Replicus grew more enraged.
He raised his hand and pointed it to the darkness.
"Well... Thank you for the compliment, and the excuse... but it won't be saving you this time."
A fierce wind blew from Replicus.
It was expelled so rapidly and so viciously that everything within a 100 meter radius with the capacity to feel, became entranced in a faint sensation of lightness.
Even Pherdanta was affected.
However, unlike everyone else, she knew this was no wind.
It was Null Life Essence!
In smaller quantities, it couldn't even be detected, but when in terrible abundance, and with the fierce hostility coming from Replicus, it felt like an odd wind.
Pherdanta dreaded what her master was about to do.
Was he going to destroy the entirety of the Depraved Side just to get rid of the person in this run down building?
"WAIT! WAIT! WAIT!" a loud voice called, followed by the thumping of little feet.
Before long, the darkness clinging to the interior of the dilapidated building vanished, and a short man with extremely long, sky blue hair that hid his entire body emerged, racing towards Replicus.
Pherdanta flashed before the Penetrator, and she got into a dreadfully frightening stance that caused the short figure to squeal and kneel down abruptly, his face slamming into the carpeted floor.
"Please don't! I can't die yet! You win, alright?! Let's just talk about this!" the short man screamed with a cracking voice.
Pherdanta was surprised.
Replicus wasn't.
He withdrew his hand and his gaze fell on the shivering man bowing in such an unsightly fashion.
This man seemed to feel Replicus calm down, and he raised his head, revealing a deathly pale baby face with large silvery eyes and a thick, bun-like nose.
A look horror was plastered on this face.
Replicus didn't feel even an ounce of pity.
This face was very good at fooling fools.
He had almost been caught in it as well, admittedly.
"Well. Let's talk then," Replicus said.
*
A minute later, the Penetrator was seated on a lavish chair with Pherdanta standing behind him. The midget was seated on his own, custom made chair which was rather cute, not only because of its size, but because it had a watery texture that kept whoever sat on it wobbling in a funny way.
The little man twirled his long, flowing hair nervously while twiddling his feet which failed to reach the floor, waiting for Replicus to speak, but the Penetrator said nothing.
This made the atmosphere a lot more awkward.
Finally...
"I apologise, alright? I assumed all the four maps which I sold to you would lead to sites that held Hidden Classes. I was even sure of it. My Divining can be a little... inaccurate. You're a prime example. Somehow I can't—"
"You assured me, and swore by your dead mother that all of them had EXACTLY what I sought, Riba."
The short man, Riba, cowered when he was cut off.
Things weren't looking good.
"I know I did. But Bright Storm... we aren't really into honest work. Forgive me for being so rude, but a small deviation like that... I'd say you got your money's worth. Three Hidden Classes and a unique Advanced Class, right? That's not... too... bad..." Riba said, but his voice was quickly choked by the growing suffocating pressure.
"Interesting. You still have the gall to defend yourself after all that? Honest work? All I know is gave you 700,000 Plasma Coins as well as 15 Pseudo-Mythical grade treasures in exchange for that information. And I only devoted myself because a trusted source vouched for you," Replicus said.
He drew closer to Riba from his seat.
"You know what's more demeaning? This trusted source of mine claims that you have NEVER swindled them, but me... despite being a Faction leader like this source of mine, you saw it fit to drop your standard, huh?"
Riba sank deep into his chair in fright.
Indeed. Riba was an accomplished Diviner who supplied interested parties with the locations of ancient relics, and olden structures that held Hidden Classes.
Of course, no ordinary Diviner could do this, as most ruined constructs of the past were guarded by powerful beasts and seals – like the Labyrinth of the Yoke, and the Temple of Unlusted Tears.
Riba was only able to do this because he too held a Hidden Class.
His abilities had allowed him to gain a profound amount of wealth, but they were especially draining. It was also not that easy to find these odd places.
ραndαsΝοvεl ƈοm Ever since he began this venture, he had only managed to Divine fifteen old structures.
Riba scrambled to find the best words to say in this circumstance.
In truth, he had indeed attempted to swindle Replicus after seeing how much wealth he had, and the ravenous desire he had for information about Hidden Classes. Three genuine, and one that he knew was just a mysterious ruin which held something several degrees less enticing...
It was very rewarding at first.
Riba had assumed he could get away from Replicus by Divining each movement he took. He could prepare for the Faction leader's rage before he even found out he had been played.
But... it didn't happen as he planned.
"Well?" Replicus said, causing the short man to flinch.
"I, uh... I don't have any money at the moment. Not enough for a refund!" Riba said in a panic.
Almost immediately, a streak of grey lightning flashed from Replicus' body and smashed violently into air!
The ear-splitting noise that surged made Riba think that the world had shattered, and he howled in fear!
In the next moment, piles of glinting Plasma Coins that numbered in the hundreds of thousands filled the entire building, drowning Riba!
The short man turned pale.
At first he didn't understand what had just happened, but when he saw familiar artefacts he had procured in the past swimming in the sea of coin, his heart almost stopped.
All of this...
All of this was from his treasure caches!
But how...?!
"You want to hide your lies and coin behind such thin space? I'm afraid that won't work with me," Riba heard Replicus' voice.
He was too stunned to pay too much attention to the Penetrator. He couldn't even see him with all the sparkling wealth.
'What did he do?!' he screamed in his mind.
But more than that, how was all his treasure, with as much as it was, fitting inside his worn shop? It wasn't that big!
Unsettlingly, Riba soon found that indeed, his shop wouldn't have fit all his treasures.
They were no longer in his shop.
They were in a silent, dark void too vast to measure the dimensions of.
Riba pushed away the Plasma Coins burying him, and soon he emerged on top.
He looked up at a particularly tall hill of his unique artefacts and gold, and saw Replicus – his lone Unlimited at his side – seated over it, his armour sparkling with stars, and his abundant robe softly billowing as if peppered incessantly by the wind.
The Penetrator then spoke.
"I don't want a mere refund. I want something more substantial. Unfortunately for you, it may cost you your life, but well, it's not honest work, so who cares?"
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