"There's no rush." Frank waved off Silverbell, chuckling. "I'm waiting for the other party to make contact anyway. Since I have the time, I can go with you.""Okay." Silverbell did not reject Frank, since she knew the depth of his abilities.If anything, she felt more confident with his involvement.With that, Frank booked the room beside Silverbell so that they could stay close, while Mickus stayed in the room opposite Silverbell's.-Late into the night, a blond foreign businessman was seated in his room, sipping wine as if waiting.A cool breeze suddenly gusted into the room, and the window unwittingly opened.By the time the foreign businessman turned to look, a towering shadow had arrived.He sat opposite the foreign businessman, snatching the bottle of wine from the table and chugging it before snorting in displeasure.Naturally, the foreign businessman was none other than Mobius, who smiled at the shadow and spoke in crude Draconian. "So you kept true to your word, Mr.
Mr. Shrode was left taken aback, seeing how determined the foreign businessman was."This much is nothing for the sake of my master."Mobius flashed an eerie smile, staring at his bleeding hand without even flinching from the pain.And just as Mr. Shrode said, as Mobius held on firmly to the spiritron vein for just five minutes, his little finger started to regrow visibly.It took another two minutes before he had a functioning little finger again.Mr. Shrode was blinking as he looked on, though he soon forced a smile. "See? I wasn't lying, was I?""No, you weren't," Mobius replied, chuckling after studying his finger and confirming the effect of the spiritron vein. "Well, how much do you want for it?""Five hundred billion. Take it or leave it."Mr. Shrode wiped his forehead, a greedy smile showing on his lips. "The Lionhearts offered me 400 billion, but I just didn't know that they weren't going to pay. Moreover, you're not Draconian, so you should pay me more to overcome my
"Such a shame."Mobius sneered under the moon's glow, wiping the blood off his lips.Then, searching and taking the spiritron vein from Mr. Shrode's body, he nodded in satisfaction. "Along with the Bloodcrane Spiritbloom that Huub Droitner mentioned, my master will transcend mortality.""Guh…"Mr. Shrode was glaring from the floor even as he watched the spiritron vein being taken away. He raised a shaking hand to snatch it from Mobius' grasp…That was when it happened.Feeling a numbing sensation in his neck, Mr. Shrode strained himself to lower his gaze and found a swarm of black bugs crawling out of his chest.It was a harrowing sight, and when Mr. Shrode saw it, he realized that they had entered his body when he drank Mobius' wine."Guh…"Nonetheless, Mr. Shrode could not speak as his throat was chewed through. He could only watch helplessly as more of those bugs crawled out of his body, eventually devouring him.In less than ten minutes, nothing was left of the living, br
Mobius then unwrapped the red cloth to reveal the stark white phalange—the same one that Mr. Shrode had brought in last night."This is the spiritron vein I would trade with you, Mr. Lawrence," Mobius then said nonchalantly. "I can even tell you how it works—it can regenerate any wound and any missing body parts."Frank narrowed his eyes at Mobius, words, his fingers touching the card Vicky gave him before he came.There was no mistaking it now, as the card had both the address of this hotel and a photo of what the Turnbulls' lost spiritron vein looked like.It was the one Mobius was showing them right now!Vicky had also mentioned that it was unparalleled in regenerating physical wounds. However, since the Turnbulls were not a martial clan, they did not care much even after acquiring the spiritual vein, instead consecrating it at their ancestral shrine."Frank…?"Silverbell was shocked too, as she did not expect Frank's business in Bralog to involve a spiritron vein.If word g
Silverbell reasoned, "We should just stay out of this, or you will be tried for treason if the deal goes south and the spitron vein really falls into foreign hands.""Me, tried for treason?"Mickus stared at Silverbell in disbelief, but he soon reared his head and laughed. "Lady Silverbell, oh mighty chief of the Martial Alliance… you're really getting smarter with words now. Isn't that man your fiance? Aren't you just trying to protect him by lying to me? And do you think I'm some clueless toddler?"Even as they argued, Mobius frowned. "Silverbell? Chief of the Martial Alliance?"Frank cursed Mickus under his breath—there would be unnecessary trouble if Silverbell's position as the chief of the Martial Alliance was exposed. Not only would Mobius get suspicious, but they would also have trouble tracking down the heretical geomancer!To no surprise, Mobius smiled and shook his head at Frank. "I think you should really sort out your domestic issues before coming to me, Mr. Lawrenc
"Hah!" Mickus snorted. "This is just a perfectly normal deal. Also, you're only the chief of the Martial Alliance because you used your body to pleasure many bigwigs, no? Why else would someone like you get to be the chief of the Martial Alliance?"While Mickus' mockery left Silverbell bristling, Frank remained impassive as he held up three fingers and counted. "Three.""What, are you for real?"Mickus was actually surprised that Frank was counting down but soon snorted in contempt. "I pity you, having a whore as a fiancee. Who knows how many men she's had to spread her legs for—"Smack! Frank had suddenly slapped Mickus across the face so quickly he could barely see it, shutting him up."One." He counted at the same time amid the ensuing silence."What…"Touching his burning cheek, Mickus' expression alternated from disbelief to flushed fury. "You… hit me?! With that dirty paw of yours?! Don't you know who I am?! Even my father has never slapped me!"He bellowed as if craz
Watching as Frank slowly walked toward himself, terror struck Mickus' heart."Stop! Don't move!" he shrieked. "I-I'm warning you… I'm the heir to Clear Winds Pavilion! If you lay a finger on me, my father will make you pay, you hear?! He's Ascendant rank, and he—"Smack!Naturally, Mickus' threat was pointless as Frank slapped him viciously across the face again once he got near, knocking out almost every tooth."On your knees. Apologize," he growled, impassive.Mickus was left clutching his cheek and staring at Frank in disbelief.Although there was no emotion on his face, the coldness in Frank's eyes left Mickus shivering.He realized that Frank might be some novice who did not care about his threats and would keep hitting him if he threatened him again.After fighting with himself inwardly, Mickus turned with a conflicted look toward Silverbell, mumbling through his lips, "I-I'm sorry, Lady Silverbell—""On your knees!" Frank snapped coldly behind him."What…" Mickus fel
"What?!"Azar was left stunned by his son's complaint.He was naturally aware of Mickus' hedonistic lifestyle. And since the boy did not take his training seriously, he had to send over a dozen Clear Winds Pavilion elites as his escort.However, those elites were still the best among Birthright ranks! They did not even last a blow against some outsider and were instead left completely incapacitated?!While Azar was spacing out, however, the youth beside him strode up just then."Heh. Long time no see, Frank," he greeted.Beside him, Azar did a double take when he realized that the youth was acquisitioned with the rogue who hurt his son and finally turned to look at Frank."Titus."Frank remained impassive as he mentioned the youth's name.After all, it was none other than the eldest son in the Lionheart family, Titus Lionheart.And it was surprising that he would show up here… or perhaps not.If anything, Frank was just surprised that Titus was here personally, whereas the L