A Demon's Journey

When Martin recognized Tiana, Azaroth had already made up his mind to deal with him.

He was merely wondering whether he should assassinate the man or wait for him to do something.

Martin didn't seem to be able to keep himself from causing some havoc. It spared Azaroth the time he would have spent looking for a cause.

"It seems you are quite unyielding. Then sure. I hope you are this persistent in the underworld."

Azaroth struck Martin in the chest hard before Martin could fully comprehend what he was saying. His arm punctured his chest and burst out the other side due to the force of the strike.

Martin's death bewildered the guards who observed it.

Even the two vice-guard captains who actually wanted Azaroth to deal with Martin were utterly shaken.

Azaroth turned towards one of them and spoke, "Rampo, you are going to be the new guard captain. You have the same order as I gave to Martin. Also, clean up this body and dump him with the rest."

Rampo gulped down some saliva nervously and nodded his head.

Azaroth didn't even stay on the scene any longer and began moving towards Ralph and others.

He was sure that this new Vice-Guard Captain knew what he was getting into. At the very least, he wouldn't have to worry about the loyalty of these guards for some time.

~~

Nearly 3 weeks ago, since Azaroth departed from the Rhodes Mansion, there was another incident that occurred that triggered Jonas Rhodes's anger. Tiana Rhodes, his newlywed wife had been kidnapped!

Not only that, but the kidnappers had left a note saying, "This woman is ideal for our cultivation process, thus we, the Snow Ice Palace, are taking her away."

The Great Qin Empire's Snow Ice Palace was a vast sect in the east. The palace mistress of the Snow Ice Palace was reputed to be a Seven Star Expert, far more powerful than Jonas.

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The fact that he could do nothing further intensified Jonas' anger.

The anger clouded his reasoning and prevented him from thinking calmly.

"Lord, the manager of the Merchant Union has come and is requesting for your presence." A maid soon appeared and informed Jonas of this information.

Jonas kicked a chair nearby and easily smashed it to bits. He clenched his fists but soon began to move towards the meeting room where Sir Ashton was waiting for him.

Before departing, Azaroth revealed something to Jonas, and Jonas recalled it. In broad daylight, the Merchant Union and the Silent Death Organization's troops appeared to be wreaking devastation in Wrihull City.

'He had better have an excellent cause, or else...'

Jonas' eyes had a tinge of murder in them as if he was ready to vent his rage on anybody who irritated him even slightly.

Such show of anger was perfectly normal from a man of his stature. In the Sinyalian Kingdom, there were only a couple of people who would dare to do something to utterly enrage Jonas.

As a result, Jonas wasn't used to taking such a hit.

Sir Ashton waited for Jonas, ready to unleash his fury on him and tell him how the Merchant Union had suffered a major loss. When Jonas entered the chamber, though, he felt as if he were being smothered by pure aura.

'What happened?! Is he that angered by our actions in Wrihull City?! Since when did he become so impulsive?!'

"W-What is the meaning of this, J-Jon-" There was another burst of aura from Jonas, and Sir Ashton was pinned to the ground.

It was a tremendous amount of aura that even prevented him from speaking.

Jonas gave a menacing glare to Sir Ashton and spoke coldly, "Is my name something you can call casually? It seems you forget your position."

Sir Ashton was absolutely stunned because this was the first time Jonas had spoken such arrogant words and this tone with him.

"Just because I was all comfortable with you, did you think you were actually me equal. Don't make me laugh. Now, tell me what I need to know or even I don't know what I will do to you."

When Sir Ashton looked into Jonas' eyes, he felt as if he was staring into an abyss. Jonas lifted the suppression just slightly enough so Sir Ashton could move his mouth and talk.

"...The Beast Emperor Egg, which was supposed to be handed to the Royal Family, was stolen."

"What?!"Jonas' astonishment was so strong that it overwhelmed his rage.

The suppression lowered significantly and Sir Ashton could atleast stand now and take his seat.

"You talk about forgetting your position again," Jonas hissed at Sir Ashton, "Do you have any idea how rare a Beast Emperor's egg is? You're lying to make that egg more valuable."

But Sir Ashton replied in all seriousness, "This is most definitely a Beast Emperor's egg. It was something I saw in an auction and bought it on a whim. However, the lightning released from that egg was something that burnt the hand of the leader of our branch. The lightning had been so potent that even after 3 weeks, he hasn't completely neutralized it."

"The Lightning King injured by lightning? Hahaha… This will be the joke for ages!" Jonas laughed at the information. Even if Sir Ashton was serious, he was more than happy to know that the Lightning King was injured.

"We were aware of our abilities. We couldn't have hidden its facts and kept it for ourselves, no matter how hard we tried. As a result, we alerted the Royal Family and were ready to send it off."

Jonas took a seat and still wasn't impressed by Sir Ashton's words, "Then why did you not send it sooner?"

"Recently, there had been a bunch of bandits who would intercept all our deliveries," Sir Ashton said, his hands clenched firmly, "It's as though they knew our path and the best technique to assault and then flee along with the shipment."

Jonas sneered and spoke, "A bandit group making even deliveries hard for you? Maybe it's time for you to go into retirement."

Sir Ashton had no choice but to ignore Jonas' taunts and continue, "A few days ago, the egg along with many other things were actually stolen from our warehouse. And tracking the location of those things led us to the Silent Death Organizations' base."

This time, Jonas didn't insult Sir Ashton. He now realized this had become a lot more serious.

"The Silent Death Organization, huh? So you must have investigated them by now. What were the results?" Even though Jonas wasn't insulting Sir Ashton, he was still talking in a casual tone.

Even though the matter was more serious than he initially anticipated, it was still something he could handle.

"There were some things scattered in their members' rooms but those seemed to be planted by someone. If the Silent Death Organization really wanted to raid us, they would have stored the things in a better and safe location." Sir Ashton replied while clicking his tongue in annoyance.

Jonas looked at Sir Ashton in amusement and spoke, "Someone made a fool out of you? Interesting."

This time, Sir Ashton had no reply. He had no excuses.

"I guess I can understand why your men are getting a bit too rowdy for their own good. But what is the case with the Silent Death Organization? Why are their men on the move as well?" Jonas asked as his eyes narrowed while staring at Sir Ashton.

Sir Ashton was quite hesitant to reply to this question. This was a matter that didn't concern his own organization and he also didn't know all the details.

But Jonas was irritated by the silence, and the tension in the room began to rise. "It appears you enjoy the taste of the ground," he threatened.

"Just as we have lost a precious treasure, the Silent Death Organization appeared to have a precious treasure that they lost," Sir Ashton said as his mouth moved quickly.

Jonas raised his brow once he heard those words.

'If what this man has said is true then does that mean someone devised a plan to fool both these organizations? It seemed that unknown to me, someone troublesome has entered the city.'

Jonas angrily thought 'First those Snow Ice Palace people and then this…'

As he was thinking of these answers, a thought struck him like a bolt of lightning 'Why did I not think of this earlier?!'

'If the Snow Ice Palace had indeed taken Tiana away, they wouldn't have left behind a message. They would have rather taken her away quietly, leaving no traces. It must have been someone else who took Tiana away whilst putting the blame on Snow Ice Palace.'

Now that he somewhat understood what had happened, Jonas was slightly delighted. He was confident in his ability to find Tiana if she was in the Sinyalian Kingdom.

With a new burst of confidence around him, Jonas looked at Sir Ashton and ordered him, "Tell your Lightning King that I am willing to hand over Supreme Rejuvenation Pill to him on one condition."

Sir Ashton had a bad feeling about this condition but he still mustered the courage and asked him, "What is the condition, Marquis Jonas?"

A scheming smile appeared on his lips as he answered, "Exterminate the Silent Death Organization."

"Wait, what?! " Sir Ashton exclaimed, no longer caring about manners.

Jonas remained calm and repeated, "Exactly as you heard. Exterminate the Silent Death Organization."

"This is Silent Death Organization. Its base is set up in Lamhilian Theocracy. How will we destroy them from here?! Also, do you want the Sinyalian Kingdom and Lamhilian Theocracy to be at odds with each other?!" Sir Ashton exploded out in rage.

This outburst was expected by Jonas so he let it continue for some while. He then spoke, "I merely meant the branch in Wrihull City. Exterminate it. Why would you think that I would ask you to destroy their main base? You are mere dogs of the Royal Family, you don't have the guts or the power to destroy their main base."

"You-!" exclaimed Sir Ashton. He came to a halt in the middle of his speech, his jaws gritted and his gaze fixed on Jonas.

He realized the man was attempting to agitate him. Perhaps he had a different goal in mind. Could it be true that he wanted to deal with the Merchant Union? If that's the case, using it as an excuse would be excessive, but this man is powerful enough to do so. It's best not to play right into his hands.

Unknownst to Sir Ashton though, he was thinking exactly as Jonas wanted him to think.

Jonas left, leaving those words behind for Sir Ashton, "I await the good news, Merchant Union."

Soon, Sir Ashton took his leave from the Rhodes Estate and returned back to their headquarters.

Around this time, Jonas organized his guards to go and check up every part of the city. Their task was to find anyone suspicious and bring back Tiana who had been abducted from the Rhodes Mansion.

He knew that in the eyes of other leaders, it might seem foolish to ask his guards to search the city. Through this, the rumor would spread even more quickly and people might look down on the Rhodes Family and make jokes about their incompetence.

However, Jonas wasn't one to trouble himself to care about the thoughts of some lowly beings.

The only thing he was curious about was the identity of the perpetrator.

Even Azaroth hadn't expected that Jonas would get so far so quickly. He had underestimated this man quite a lot.

And in the next couple of days, Jonas found a lead regarding the disappearance of a cart driver and a couple of guards.