The Young Master in the Shadows

Chapter 293: Two Scions?

"FUCK That guy should have been me! Where the f*ck did he come from stealing the limelight!" Victor cursed inwardly. What sh*t luck was this to meet two scions at a place like this! When did these guys become so common?

Yes, not only Rain but Even Rea was a scion!

At first, when he came here, he was shocked to discover that the shrine maiden, Rea, was a scion, an unawakened one. 

Too bad, he couldn’t take his time subduing her as he was in a hurry. He needed to scam her and force her to open the Artifact's room for him, as decoding the protection array without her help would have taken him ages!

He also really wanted another scion servant like her as he planned for Tom to be sent away after the wedding.

After getting the stone, the girl lost her borrowed powers, so Victor planned to thoroughly defeat her then when she was most desperate, he planned to break the door with his real body and defeat the ‘demon’ to save her!

Too bad his plan was shattered when this other scion, Rain, suddenly appeared and took the place of a hero after nearly shooting him to death.

That ball of black fire had death energy in it and it would have hit his head spot on if he didn't dodge It in time thanks to a black fate thread appearing seconds earlier and warning him.

That's what he got for being overconfident. Victor kept reminding himself of that! But he couldn’t be blamed, for the past couple of days things were progressing smoothly after all.

But on the other hand, Meeting a scion was a given at some point.

Well, he should have expected that something would go wrong. He has been hunting for supreme treasures, The Edict Shards, after all. Those things involved many fates!

But he needed to get those things sooner or later. They were on the top of his list, building an array of those things was the swiftest way to make sure that nothing bad happens at the wedding.

Victor feigned being hurt as the Nutcracker and looked at the two scions using his inspection skill while considering his options.

Victor clicked his tongue. He really wanted this girl, Rea. Using her, he would be able to easily collect the rest of the stones, even the ones that were impossible to get. She had the fate for that after all!

Victor never heard of this guy in his previous life, but it was clear that he was bad news.

What should he do now? Fight Rain and get the chick? Not a chance, he does not have a death wish. Although he can easily overpower Rain with his skills and level. 

With that guy’s scary fate, Victor was not sure of the result… This was a risky business and Victor couldn’t take risks before the wedding! 

Damn it!

Wait… Reading Rea’s status Victor got an idea, This can still be managed. 

…

Rain and Rea looked at the ‘Nutcracker’ nervously as they prepared their weapons to attack.

The demon looked at them then suddenly it vanished… They prepared for the upcoming attack but it was too late. The Nutcracker attacked from an angle they didn’t expect as it appeared right behind them, slashing with a large jagged sword that looked extremely dangerous and targeting Rea’s head.

The attack did not land as it was parried by rain’s own broad two-handed sword.

“Die demon!” Rain yelled as he slid his blade against the Nutcracker's sword, and shot a wind blade from its end, targeting the demon's head.

The demon easily dodged as he vanished like a puff of smoke, appearing right behind Rea this time clearly intending to kill her. 

Rain, who was anticipating this, shot a fireball at him as Rea stabbed her dagger behind… The demon vanished again, failing to achieve its goal.

This time he appeared right beside Rain and kicked him in the ribs, sending him crashing toward the wall, then aimed at Rea again, but Rain, seemingly moving in midair, made an impossible backflip then threw a thunder talisman at the demon, making it back away.

For the next few minutes, the demon kept trying to attack Rain, who was forced to only defend, the moment he tried to attack, the nutcracker would aim for Rea, forcing him to defend again.

It was clear that no side could win this without going all out. And both of them were getting tired.

Suddenly there was a chance, the demon who was heading for Rea for another attack turned around and started heading to the gate!

“NO!” Rea yelled. “It’s Trying to escape!”

“...” Rain said nothing as he just smiled as an array suddenly activated, forcing the demon away from the gate, forcing it to frown and look at Rain to speak for the first time.

“A DUELING MARKER! HUMAN DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH?” the demon said angrily.

“...” Rain didn’t respond, he just looked at Rea, “You can escape here, I am locked with this demon, none can leave before one of us dies!” It could also be annulled if both parties agreed that it was a tie, but Rain didn’t say that.

“WHAT?” Rea asked in shock.

“CURSED CHOSEN ONE! THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!” The nutcracker yelled, feigning to be hurt. “I MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO DEFEAT YOU EASILY AFTER YOUR COWARDLY SNEAK ATTACK, BUT YOU WILL NOT SURVIVE A FIGHT WITH ME AND THE GIRL WILL SURELY DIE!”

“If it is Rea’s business, it is mine!” Rain said. He was wondering how the demon knew about his curse.

“OH… THE GIRL IS FATED TO DIE NO MATTER WHAT! SHE IS THE STONE’S SLAVE, SHE WOULD PERISH IN SECONDS IF SHE GOT AWAY FROM THE STONE!” the Nutcracker said in the evilest tone he could muster.

“What?” Rain asked, looking at Rea with shock, he didn’t expect that. 

“It’s true…” she said with a downcast tone.

“Then we will just have to take the stone with us after killing him!” Rain said. He came here in the first place to steal the stone, but he couldn’t tell that to Rea.

“Who said I will go with you…” Rea complained.

“We will see about that…”

“HOW ABOUT WE MAKE A DEAL?” the Nutcracker suddenly said, it was clear he was getting sick hearing the conversation between them.

“I don’t make deals with demons!” Rain flatly rejected as he prepared his sword stance.

“I CAN BREAK YOUR CURSE, AND YOU WILL LEAVE HER AND LEAVE…” he intended to break them apart.

“I said No!” Rain flatly refused. He didn’t trust demons. The curse he got was because he trusted one a long time ago. 

“THEN HOW ABOUT I BREAK HER CURSE?” Victor said in an annoyed tone. Going for his second option.

“... Can you do that?” Rain asked.

“Don’t believe him!”

“Don’t worry…” Rain said then looked back at the Nutcracker waiting for his answer.

“I CAN, TO A CERTAIN DEGREE... THE STONE WILL BE GO WITH ME THOUGH!”

Rain paused and considered his options… 

“Then release Rea and I will let you go!” Rain finally said, he already realized that he had already lost his best shot at defeating this demon by himself after the first surprise attack didn’t finish him off. Illusion demons were always the trickiest!

Rea had a high chance of dying if the demon decided to go all out.

Rain knew quite well that the only reason the demon was negotiating was that it was hurt! 

And the demon was not the only one who could scheme!

“YOU? LETTING ME GO? HA HA HA…”

“Stop bull-shitting! what do you propose?” Rain asked flatly. 

“AN AGREEMENT!” Victor said as out of thin air a golden parchment materialized.

Rain frowned as he read it.

“What is this?” Rea, who was not sure what was going on, asked.

“It’s a binding deal!” Rain explained then Looked back at the Nutcracker. “I need you to revoke all of Rea’s bindings, not just her location!” he added with a hidden smirk.

“THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE, EVEN FOR ME! I CAN JUST MANIPULATE THE RESTRICTION TO LET HER LEAVE AND NOT BE BOUND BY THE STONE!” Victor lied, “THE BINDING CAN ONLY BE REMOVED BY SOMEONE WITH AN AUTHORITY OF 87 THE SAME AS THE STONE…” he gave them false hope.

“Oh… That’s a good excuse… It’s a deal then…,” Rain said after some thinking. “Add a condition that you will not attack me or Rea then!”

“THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE… YOU HURT ME AFTER ALL… THE NUTCRACKER ALWAYS TAKES HIS REVENGE! NUTS SHALL ROLL!” the demon said then thought for a moment, “I CAN GIVE YOU BOTH A YEAR THOUGH!”

“Make the time restriction one year for us too and it is a deal!” rain said confidently.

“OH...FINE!”

“No... The stone!” Rea complained.

“Is it more important than your life?” Rain held her.

“It is!”

“For me, you are the most important though!” Rain said, making Rea look away with a blush.

This guy was as good at scamming little girls as Victor. “We can get it later…” he whispered in Rea’s blushing ear.

If his plan today failed, He planned to use Rea to track the stone a year later using her connection to it, and he knew that the demon wanted to track them using that method too! That’s why none of them truly wanted Rea’s connection to the stone to be fully annulled. They were just acting in front of her.

“WE GET EACH OTHER…” the Nutcracker complemented, “SIGN WITH YOUR BLOOD!”

Rain nodded, he didn’t ask the demon about removing his own curse, because he didn’t trust that it would not play any tricks and because he was sure that he would solve it himself someday!

Who knew, maybe this demon would give him the method by himself as he begged for its life… This was not the first time things like this happened to him!

Rain smiled as he bit his finger and marked the contract. Making it vanish moments later in a flash of light.

The deal was sealed. Both the 'Nutcracker' and Rain got a system notification.

“Now, release her restrictions!” Rain said.

“I WILL!” The nutcracker said, flicking his finger and removing the location restriction that was placed by the stone. 

As the stone master now, Rea was also his slave. Although it was not as strong as blood slaves, he could easily kill her and find her location if he wanted to! He could also play some evil tricks.

“THE RESTRICTION HAD BEEN MODIFIED… REA SHALL BE FREE TO MOVE BUT IF SHE EVER COURTS A MAN, SHE SHALL DIE! THAT IS THE PRICE OF FREEDOM!” the Nutcracker said with a smug smile. He had already set his eyes on this one, and she was not escaping his grasp.

“Oh… I see… Then I declare the duel a tie!" said Rain as he cursed inwardly. Taming a girl like Rea without banging her was hard. This demon was a bastard! But dealing with demons always involved some trick. And this was good, it meant that the demon had some other plan for Rea.

“TIE IT IS!” the demon said, making the array around them blink and then vanish, “GOODBYE THEN! UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN In YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE!” The demon said as it began to disappear. “I WILL… FUCK!….. AHHHHHHH”

BANG!

A big explosion suddenly sounded where the demon was moments ago, throwing Rea and Rain to the ground.

“Stupid Rain, Did you die yet?” A girl suddenly said with a haughty voice.

“TULIP you bitch! You are late! You almost killed us?” Rain, who was on the ground with a mouth full of dirt asked as he looked at the newcomer, a short girl with long curly hair and noble air. She was dressed in a black lace frilled luxurious gown that didn’t suit the current environment. She was also holding a blue umbrella, which didn’t suit the current weather.

“Why should I care about the life of a commoner like you? If you died under my attack, that would have been your honor!” she said as she twirled her umbrella with a frown while looking around. “And I am never late! Don’t you dare say such words ever again!”

“Honer my ass!” Rain said as he stood up and then helped Rea who was warily looking at Tulip. 

Rain was not afraid that the Nutcracker would attack him as he had already signed a deal with it. 

As for the demon attacking Tulip… He wouldn’t mind that bitch suffering a little bit. “Then couldn't you have waited until the demon left this place before attacking it?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

In fact, he was counting on Tulip getting the demon and the stone when he signed the deal with it!

“This young mistress never waits!” she said. “And that thing seemed to have escaped…” she said as she closed her umbrella.

“What? Damn it…. Illusion demons are always tricky… Can you track it?”

“Are you ordering me?” Tulip frowned.

“No, just inquiring…” Rain said as he cursed inwardly. Dealing with this bitch was a pain in the ass. “That thing escaped with the artifact!”

“Oh… Let’s see...” Tulip said as she took out a strange copper compass from her storage ring and activated it.

“What is…” Rea wanted to ask, but Rain held her hand and shook his head. Tulip didn’t like to be interrupted.

“I see no signs… strange… We lost it…” Tulip said coldly after a few minutes as she put the compass away, making sure not to reveal her astonishment. For a second there, she could swear that the demon felt her as she attacked him. But she was not sure… How could it sense her? What was its rank?

“Oh… No matter. We will meet with it again, sooner or later!” Rain said, totally unaware of his colleague's thoughts.  "Now, can you make Rea a player?"

"Are you ordering me?"

"Ah...."

…

In his cell, Yulian was casually watching a family drama movie with a few other inmates when another annoying advertisement began to play… He dismissively glanced at it after hearing the catchy song and then gasped when he saw what was on screen. He jumped from his seat and pushed his face into the old CRT TV to make sure he was seeing right.

“Yulian? What’s wrong?” an old man asked. “Did you lose your mind over those girls in the commercial? Are they your type?”

“He is just jealous… I heard you needed a title of nobility to marry that many wives…” another mate said.

“Weren’t they only two?” another new one said. He got out of solitary today and didn’t catch up with the latest news.

“I heard that the groom decided to marry all of his maids after that… those rich people…” an old man said as he shook his head.

“Yulian… what do you think?”

“That girl is my sister!” Yulian said in shock as he sat down. Earlier they displayed a photo of Victor von Wiese surrounded by pretty girls, one of them was Lily with her veil standing behind him respectfully!

“Oh… Is she one of the brides?”

“I am not sure….” Yulian said nervously as he began to bite his fingernails.

“You got lucky! Your sister will be rich now… Maybe your brother-in-law would help you a little after fucking her…”

“...” Yulian glared at that man. He really wanted to hit his smug face, but he held himself as he calculated. He would be released on the morning of the wedding date… Was this a coincidence?

“How many siblings do you have, Yulian?” an old man asked, trying to ease the tense atmosphere.

“I have one elder brother …and two little sisters… Lily and Tulip…” he said with a complex expression as he sat down… He had never got the chance to meet Tulip as she was born after he was sent away. He couldn’t wait to reunite with her! He was sure she would welcome him with open arms and call him ‘big brother’ with a sweet smile!

“Which one of the girls was your sister?” a burly guy asked, waking Yulian up from his fantasy. “The red-headed one?” he added as he licked his lips.

“None... I will return to my cell to get some sleep….” Yulian said as he stood up. In his heart, he swore to kill that guy after he regained his status. Now, he needed to find a way to get to the wedding in time! He should be able to make it there before they take their vows if he hurried. He just had to stay out of trouble!