Chapter 20: His Companion
"You, what exactly are you, and what do you want to do?"
Sylvia watched the burly man as he backed away, eyes fixed intently on her. The corners of her mouth curled up higher and higher.
At the same time, her gaze swept over the bulging quilt on the bed nearby and the slit that had been lifted due to the man's words.
Tsk.
With a silent click of her tongue in her heart, her gaze locked once again onto the man in front of her.
"Divoman Wood, leader of the Dork Party, am I right?"
"Ga!"
As her words fell, the crow perched on her shoulder opened its beak in sync, letting out a cry that seemed to come from the depths of the underworld.
At the same time, a cold and deathly aura began to spread from her body.
Though Sylvia was clearly short in stature, she stood in place, her gaze looking down at the man before her as if from a great height.
"It's you people?"
Sensing this familiar aura, the tension in Divoman’s face subtly relaxed.
Then, his brow furrowed little by little.
"Weren’t we told tomorrow? Why are you here now?"
"Tomorrow?"
Sylvia gave a noncommittal response.
"Yes, Macas told us..."
At this point, his expression suddenly froze, because the doll-like girl who had been standing in front of him had disappeared without a trace, and instead, her figure had quietly appeared in a corner on a lounge chair.
"Continue."
Though Sylvia wore a smile on her face, there was no emotion in her voice.
"You, you..."
Divoman’s face stiffened. He wanted to continue speaking, but clearly didn't know how.
Meanwhile, in the gray-haired girl’s line of sight, the bulge on the bed was trembling ever so slightly.
"Not going to speak?"
At that moment, Lakdevo, perched on her shoulder, suddenly spoke, making Divoman shudder.
"A... a talking bird?"
"Oh?"
Watching his reaction, Sylvia’s expression tightened slightly.
"What is your connection to the Full Moon Sect?"
This time, it was Lakdevo who spoke in her stead.
"Full Moon Sect?"
Divoman's expression turned blank in an instant.
"What is the Full Moon Sect?"
"You don’t know?"
At this moment, Sylvia finally spoke again.
"The faction Macas represents."
"Him?"
Divoman nodded slowly, as if deep in thought.
"He never mentioned that to me."
"Fine. Now, tell me everything you know."
The smile at the corners of Sylvia’s lips gradually faded, and she looked at the burly man in front of her with a scrutinizing gaze.
"Aren’t you two working together?"
At this point, Divoman finally asked with delayed realization.
"What do you think?"
Lakdevo let out a mocking caw.
Divoman remained silent for a moment, seemingly weighing whether to keep his client’s secrets.
A few seconds later, under Sylvia's gaze, he slowly spoke.
"Alright, I’ll talk."
"Macas is my client. He purchases large quantities of weapons and ammunition from me."
"But that’s not all. He also has certain connections with Ulpus, and uses me to send and receive some goods from there."
"Oh?"
Sylvia narrowed her eyes, the corners forming a slight arc.
"You're just a gang leader, and yet you're involved in international trade?"
Watching his clenched and then loosened fists, Sylvia nodded, gesturing for him to continue.
"I don’t personally engage in international trade, nor am I qualified to, but I have my own channels."
He didn’t seem willing to elaborate further, so he steered the topic back:
"Last month, he arranged with me to transport a shipment to Ulpus this Thursday."
"Very well. So where is he now?"
"No idea. I haven’t seen him in a month."
Sylvia nodded again, then raised another question.
"Why did you visibly relax after sensing the aura of death and mistake us for Macas’ people?"
Divoman was clearly stunned for a moment before explaining.
"Whether it’s Macas, his companions, or the contact from Ulpus, they all carry a similar aura."
"Companions?"
Sylvia immediately picked up on the key word in his sentence.
"Yes."
Divoman fell silent for a moment, then reluctantly said,
"Sometimes he appears with others."
"But I don’t know who they are. These people are shrouded in black robes—you can’t see their faces."
"Good."
Sylvia nodded, then looked at Divoman with a half-smile.
"If I could tell you a target, would you be interested?"
"Hmm?"
Seeing the confused expression on his face and hearing the puzzled grunt, Sylvia raised her right hand.
In the next second, the illusory sound of flowing water echoed in the room, and with it appeared several pale arms.
They reached out from the dark corners of the room, all grabbing toward the bulging quilt on the bed.
"Ah!!!"
As the quilt was yanked away, a high-pitched scream rang out.
At the same time, the thing hidden beneath the blanket came into view.
It was a naked woman, seemingly around thirty years old.
Seeing this, Sylvia nodded and locked her gaze onto Divoman’s face.
At this moment, a hint of embarrassment appeared on the gang leader's face, along with a deeply concealed fury.
But in the next moment, he recalled Sylvia’s earlier words, and his expression froze.
"You said... you would tell me about one of Macas’ companions?"
He asked cautiously, and Sylvia responded with only a half-smile and a nod.
Then, he turned his gaze to the woman on the bed.
"No, I'm not!"
The woman immediately cried out in protest, but the pale arms did not disappear. Instead, they reached for her as she lay on the bed—
In an instant, a cold and deathly aura began to seep from her body, though it was far more faint compared to Sylvia and Lakdevo.
She opened her mouth, but said nothing.
Sylvia, however, continued to wear a half-smile as she looked at Divoman.
"Well?"
Under her gaze, the man—frozen in place, whether from fear or shock—opened his mouth as if mimicking the woman.
"You... were you placed at my side by Macas and his people?"
"Of course."
Before the woman could speak, Lakdevo’s voice rang out.
"She’s a transcendent! Even if she’s only a first-time transformed Deathbringer, there’s no reason she would be your mistress—unless she had ulterior motives."
At this moment, although Divoman didn’t understand terms like "Deathbringer" or "first transformation," he knew one thing—he had been deceived!
Whore!
He wanted to shout that, but seeing Sylvia sitting there, he ultimately kept silent, instead glaring coldly at the woman.
"Alright, now that you’re sure, we’ll take her from here."
Sylvia waved her hand, and the pale arms immediately pulled the woman up.
Amid a series of desperate screams, the pale arms dragged her into the shadows of the room and vanished.
"What the—!"
Divoman’s eyes widened again.
Yet at that moment, Sylvia's voice followed calmly:
"Alright, now that she’s been dealt with, it’s time to deal with you."