The night sky in the region was filled with heart-wrenching screams along with the stench of death. The camp rooms were rooted out of their spot and the land was marked with blood and gore.
"No way," Ruby looked at the scene ahead of her in utter shock.
Kyron was struck on a tree while Xander has fallen on the ground. Their bodies were filled with grave injuries and neither of them was in a condition to make a single movement.
Xander’s spine was broken while Kyron’s facial bones were shattered. The bone fragments protruded out of their bodies, giving them a hideous appearance.
Both Kyron and Xander didn’t register Kiba’s movements as he attacked them. His speed was far too fast and all they noticed was afterimages.
Before they could even judge what he planned to do, they were already defeated. Much less use their innate abilities to fight, they didn’t even get a chance to struggle.
Even the entire pack of Level 2 mutated wolves and Iron-scaled Fishes weren’t able to land any damage. Those beasts were under the control of Xander, Ruby, and Kyron from the very start.
This was the reason why they were able to successfully create the scene in which Ruby was put in a corner by the wolves. Kiba and Ruby killed those wolves but the trio didn’t mind the loss as they had the ability to control more wolves.
The same applied to the Iron-scaled Fish which Kiba encountered when he was fishing for lunch. The trio wanted to know the full scale of his strength and potential, so they created the situation.
When the trio noticed Kiba being forced by the fish, they interfered and helped. They thought the sensors they have planted in the vicinity has caught the accurate stats of Kiba, and accordingly, they planned their next move.
But now their entire plan was destroyed...
If Xander and Kyron knew they would be so helpless against Kiba, the two would have preferred to run away when Kiba was facing the beasts.
Alas, it was far too late to regret. All they now could do was scream in agony.
Kiba ignored their cries and waved his hand in the air. Waves of white light shot out of his palm.
Swoosh!
The items of jewelry and the giant box were wrapped by waves of white light.
"I already mentioned stealing is a bad manner," Kiba released out a heavy breath in disappointment, "But yet you didn’t return the items. So I had no choice but to use force to get what is mine."
Sss
The white light disappeared along with the jewelry and the box.
In ordinary times, Kyron would be shocked by this. He has assumed Kiba was carrying an advanced-tech item which provided storage space. But now, by the movement of the energy in the air, it was clear Kiba was not relying on any item to transfer the objects.
Alas, Kyron was not capable of seeing the scene with his broken face. Even if he knew the truth, he wouldn’t show any interest after witnessing the powers displayed by Kiba.
He has already realized the price one must pay for greed...
"The night is beautiful and it is a shame we ruined the beauty with unnecessary violence," Kiba took a step ahead and his body flickered.
Ruby felt the space in front of her blur and twist, and the next moment, Kiba was standing right in front of her. She was startled by his sudden arrival.
She backed away, her body drenched in cold sweat. A strand of hair stuck on her face but she was in no condition to think about her appearance.
All she wanted was to get away from this place as soon as possible.
"The night exists for special types of battle," Kiba said with a faint smile. He raised his hand and swiped away the strand of hair from her face.
Ruby was rooted on the spot, stunned into silence by his words. She didn’t need to contemplate to know what he meant by special battle.
Her cheeks flushed unconsciously as the memories of the intense battle flashed in her mind. The battle in which she was duped to participate.
"And Ruby, you might not wish to agree, but I didn’t dupe you. I only did what your scheme promised me in the first place."
Kiba wiped her cheeks with his hand before continuing.
"After all, your scheme was founded on the belief that a man would do anything as long as he has even the faintest hope of a sexual encounter. You might be keeping a carrot of love to lure your victims but you already know what they want. So in the end, I only played within the boundaries of the game you designed."
Ruby wanted to speak but she didn’t know how to retort. She knew everything he said so far was true.
He might have cheated when he made a fake background and acted like a naive & innocent man, but that was still within the realms of the setting she created.
How could she blame him, when all he did was respond to the situations she created for his own benefit?
He didn’t use force nor did he drugged her when he made love with her. Instead, the drugs she gave him actually affected her reasoning process and lead to a successful sexual encounter.
Not like this brought any relief to her. It only made her feel more aggrieved and incompetent. After all, now she could no longer blame him for everything that has occurred in the last few hours.
"The fault is mine for thinking I am undefeatable just because I created the game," Ruby bit her lips.
She realized only she was to be blamed for falling for his Vena Amoris story and giving him something she could never give to anyone else. She didn’t have the right to label herself as a victim and this brought another set of tears in her eyes.
Kiba smiled and allowed her to think as she pleases. He didn’t bother telling the fault was not truly hers since she was facing someone who was an expert in such games.
He might not have designed her game, but his experience allowed him to defeat the creator of such games.
It was like a child was unknowingly facing an adult. The playing ground was not fair, to begin with.
SNAP
Kiba snapped his fingers to awaken Ruby from her thoughts.
"It is late in the night," Kiba glanced at the night sky before continuing, "And there are only a few hours before the sunrise."
"?" Ruby looked at him with a blank face.
"What I mean is that I wish to rest before I begin my second day of the journey," Kiba let out a small yawn, "I’m dead tired and I want to end this as soon as possible."
"End?!" Ruby’s heart palpitated.
"Yeap," Kiba nodded his head, "Now you have two choices,"
"Choices? For what?" Ruby’s brows creased up.
She thought he was going to kill when he said he wanted to end. But yet his tone and words denoted no murderous intent.
"Whether you want to join your companions or not," Kiba pointed towards Xander and Kyron, "I’m sending them to underworld shortly, and I wanted to know if you wish to accompany them."
Xander and Kyron shuddered in dread. They wanted to beg for forgiveness, but neither of them was in a condition to speak.
Ruby, on the other hand, swept a glance towards them and then at the body parts of the deceased wolves. Her hairs stood up in fright as her eyes arrived on the dry corpses of Iron-scaled Fishes.
She has witnessed how the wolves and fishes died, and she was sure she didn’t want to die in such a painful fashion.
Ruby has already made her choice even though she didn’t know what it was. As long as her fate was not like her companions, she was ready for any anything.
Kiba raised a finger in front of her.
"The first choice is a free trip to the underworld," Kiba explained in a sweet tone, "You would be getting an audience with His Highness, The King of Underworld. In your honor, there would even be a celebratory feast of blood."
"....." Ruby was speechless by his words.
Instead of acting as a true merchant of death, he was instead pretending to be a salesman offering royal trip packages. Even his tone and body language denoted he was truly a salesman.
"Do you wish to grab on this wonderful opportunity?" Kiba enquired in a polite tone. His eyes sparkled, waiting for her to grab this amazing chance.
"No," Ruby shook her head without the least bit of hesitation.
Who in their right state of mind would agree to die?! There were times she might even choose death, but definitely not a dreadful death like that of those beasts.
"Are you sure, my lady?" Kiba continued to pitch for this package, "If you refuse, then your companions would be missing your company in the afterlife. Surely you don’t wish for them to be homesick in a foreign land, right?"
"...No."
"Think once again, my lady. They would never be able to return back, and you wouldn’t know when you would get the chance to meet them again."
"...My answer is still no," Ruby answered after a few moments of silence.
"Haah," Kiba released a heavy sigh, "So you truly wish for them to go without your company."
Kiba opened his palm and then clenched it fiercely.
"URGHHH!" Xander and Kyron cried loudly.
"Ruby, you are truly cold-hearted to be so adamant," Kiba twisted his fist.
Ruby quickly turned her head towards her companions.
"What on earth..." An intense feeling of dreadness swelled up within her heart.
She didn’t know what occurred when she heard the screams, but now there were no more signs of her companions. Instead, in their place, all she could see was a bloody paste.
She felt her insides churning at the sight and she hurriedly turned her head away.
"You didn’t even bid them a farewell," Kiba placed a hand on her shoulder, "That’s really disheartening."
Ruby was terrified by his touch but she didn’t dare utter a single word. She looked at his face and her sense of dreadness further increased
His lips were curled up into a sweet and innocent smile. One couldn’t even imagine he was the same person who just violently murdered two humans.
Instead, his tone resembled of a kind man who was disappointed by her behavior for not saying goodbye to her companions.
But Ruby has witnessed the entire event and she knew the truth. She was alarmed and afraid like never before.
"Now, the second choice," Kiba continued in the same tone, "You will become my slave."
"Slave?!"