The Young Master in the Shadows

Victor, who had nothing to do but wait and watch the other contestants after finishing early, really wanted to take his comfy seat from his storage ring and relax a bit on it. Sadly, he shouldn’t be able to use any system artifacts at the moment, so he had to do the next best thing.

He could only find a spot next to one of the columns to sit on, grabbed for his belt where he had a water canteen, he opened it, letting the thick wine smell fill the hall.

The female knight looked at him, raising one eyebrow.

“This is a fine wine from my hometown… Wanna try it?” he asked.

“No… I am on duty…” the female knight said with disgust as she looked away, still the smell of the wine was so good, she could even feel it on the back of her mouth.

COUGH COUGH...

She began coughing, something felt strange in her throat.

She turned and looked at Victor, but he was sitting in his place enjoying his wine…

“What, want some?” he asked again with a smirk.

“Suit yourself…” Victor said as he took a sip and then began to lay down, clearly intending to take a nap.

He flipped and turned a little, clearly trying to find a comfortable poison, but the armor he was wearing was not helping.

“Hey… Can I ask you something?” he asked the female knight as he sat up with a frown 3 minutes later.

“What now?” she asked, having difficulty keeping an eye on the contestants.

“Can I hug you to sleep?” he asked shamelessly. “I am not used to sleeping alone you see…” he paused as she glared at him intensely.

“...”

“Is that glare a yes or a no?” he asked.

“NO…” she hissed.

“No need to be angry I am just asking…” he said with a sigh. She scored 7 out of 10 on his old trusty Lily scale, so Victor was planning to give her a chance… she missed it. “You are probably not that soft anyway….” he added. Her armor had a lot of spiky corners.

She began gushing her teeth.

He ignored her as he, seemingly giving up on the nap, began to try and find a comfortable sitting position.

“...”

“Ah, right… Can I take off the mask now?” he suddenly asked, changing the subject.

“...”

“Woman… I really can’t understand this facial expression of yours?” he scolded. “Give me an answer, yes or no…”

DID THIS BASTARD JUST CALL HER ‘WOMAN’?

She really wanted to kill this shameless bastard for a moment there, but in the end, she just sighed. “You are officially considered to have finished successfully! So feel free to do so!” she finally spat as she looked at him, she really wanted to know what this perverted bastard looked like. “Just make sure to keep it with you and hand it at the gate upstairs!” she added.

Victor nodded and directly took the mask off, letting his silky purple hair swing with the wind as he did so.

“Hsss….” the female knight who was looking to see what this bastard looked like, blinked once then gasped. “Can a young man be this handsome?”

Maybe she should have…

She felt a very murderous glare on the nape of her neck, it was her boss who was glaring at her from inside the cage.

OOPS…

“Ehm…” she cleared her throat again and looked away. “DAMN IT! If I knew he was this hot from the start, I would have taken him on his offer earlier! Only if that man-hater Lyra was not here!”

“Is there a problem?” he asked.

“Ah… No…” she answered in a low voice.

“What a waste! Now this guy was going to become Princess Aeirth's puppet. Well… Maybe I will be able to borrow him sometime, for 'critical' missions of course… He would be obedient and I will make sure to put that filthy mouth of his to good use… HEHEHE…”

Of course, she thought she was thinking, but she was talking out loud, and laughing like the pervert she was, thanks to the wine Victor made her drink by shooting inside of her mouth with a syringe earlier. Why bother forcing people to drink if he could just pour it directly down their throats while stopping them from feeling anything!

Anyways...

So… A puppet ha? Some kind of soul slave technique? Did they want to enslave him? Dream on!

Slowly he began to ponder on his next course of action as he turned to watch the contestants.

The battle in the cage was getting more intense, as everyone began to discover that there were not enough flags for all of them!

Well… It was not his business…

…

“Finished!” someone shouted, making Victor who was pretending to be asleep open his eyes.

It was the second contestant to finish. That Rigar guy took 30 minutes to collect the rest of the flags he needed. He only had minor injuries.

The female knight just nodded to him as he naturally took off his helmet, then took a seat next to another column opposite Victor and began to tend to his wounds.

The third to finish 15 minutes later was none other than Dario, he walked out and as if naturally, he took a seat next to Victor. He seemed fine.

“Thanks…” he said in a low voice. Earlier, Victor helped him by giving him a few flags on his way out.

“You are welcome, we are roommates after all… “ Victor responded with a nod. That guy gave him too much info, and he really hated to see him dead. He also wanted to see what would happen to him later as he would make an excellent test specimen since Victor knew him more than the others.

“Yeah…” Dario said as he licked his lip looking toward the door behind the female knight. He couldn’t hide his excitement and it was clear he couldn’t wait to meet the princess.

Victor sighed.

They didn’t have to wait for long as the fight within the cage came to a finish as 8 other participants finished one after another. Finally, Lyra was the last to walk out after making sure to steal all the flags from those who were left inside before stepping out.

She didn’t kill them, but just left them to fend off the swarms of demonic rats that were getting agitated by the second. If they wanted to live, they would have to keep fighting for an extra hour…

“Time is out…” the female knight said as she watched her mistress give a signal.

“What about the rest?” one guy asked.

“... Someone will collect their corpses!” she said. “Follow me…’ she added, giving the participants an examining look, especially Victor, before turning and heading to the gate behind her.

“What?” the participants were startled a little, wasn’t she being too honest there?

Still, seeing her leave, they quickly followed warily. At least it was not them who were still in there… Now they will go meet the princess! Hooray!

Victor who saw what happened, quickly jumped to his feet and followed.

“Hey! Aren't you going to remove your mask?” Rigar suddenly asked Lyra who was the last to finish and was walking slowly behind.

“... No…” she spat as she walked away.

He frowned, then hastily followed. He clearly just noticed that all the survivors here were nobles, and his very healthy survival instinct was telling him to get the fuck out of there!

Yup, he had Survival Instinct, A skill right there!

Victor sighed, only if this skill had been activated a day prior, this guy might have defected and escaped to some faraway place… It was too late now that he was in the mouth of the lion!

Crossing the gate led them into a long corridor that led to a gate and behind another long corridor, but this one looked very dissimilar to the grim ones they crossed to go down. Here the ground and the walls were covered with black marble, similar to some kind of palace.

As they moved through the eerie empty marble corridors, Victor could feel the demonic feeling he got from before getting stronger and stronger.

SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK.

The female knight stopped walking and turned to look at Victor whose armors’ squeaking sound reverberated in the halls as he walked.

“Can’t you stop that squeaking sound?” she asked.

“No… The oil I put in earlier had all worn off!”

“Then take off that armor…”

“I am naked underneath it… I might be a pervert, but I am not an exhibitionist. I don’t want to take it off before meeting the princess!” he started earning himself a glare from Lyra who was right behind him.

“...”

“I want her to take it off for me by herself…”

“... Do you wanna die?” the female knight who couldn’t take it anymore asked.

“No, why?” he frowned.

“... Nothing….” the female knight said, noticing Lyra giving her a signal. “Can you tune it down a bit then?” she asked.

“I will try…” he shrugged.

The female knight sighed, then turned and continued walking.

SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK.

After 5 minutes of walking, climbing up a few stairs, and squeaking, they finally reached a grand door where a few guards were stationed.

“Are those the survivors?” one guard asked.

“Yes… They are here to meet and maybe make a bet with Princess Aerith!” the female knight said.

“Please go in!” the guard said, opening the door. “The princess is getting restless…” he added.

“Oh… Follow me… And don’t make trouble!” the female knight told the 11 contestants behind her as she entered the room.

“Excuse me… Are any other contestants here yet?” Rigar who kept to the back asked the guard as he passed by him.

“... Ah… What… ah….” the gerd was startled by that question. “Not yet… You are the first to be here…” he quickly said.

“Oh…”

‘Go in…” the guard said, pushing Rigar in before closing the door.

They were now in some kind of a reception room, with all kinds of couches.

In the middle of the room, there was another lavish gate that had two veiled women standing guard to its sides. They were wearing what seemed like priestesses' uniforms.

Oh… Those here too? What the fuck was that Zifr going to do to kill all those people?

“This place is?” Dario asked as he looked at the room’s lavish atmosphere.

“A waiting room… Sit down and wait for your turn!” the female knight said pointing to the lavish couches to the side. “We will start with the ones who finished last!” she said, giving Lyra a look. “You go!”

Lyra nodded and quickly headed toward the gate where the two demon hundred made a quick check before letting her in.

“What do you think will happen now?” Dario, who sat beside Victor, wondered nervously. “What if that masked guy or any of the other guys who go before us managed to make the princess fall for them before we got a chance?” he asked. He should have finished last… Damn it!

“Don’t worry, I don’t think it will be that easy…. Or someone would have done it in one of the previous competitions! “ Victor said, reassuring him.

“Ah.. yeah. I guess…” Dario nodded.

“And even if that were to happen, I like stealing other guys’ women the most!” Victor added with a confident smirk as he looked at the closed door.

“Ah… I see, well I don’t.. Wait… WHAT.... AH... ” Dario paused as he thought of something, Victor was supposed to go meet the princess after him… SHIT! He should have never befriended this piece of shit!

“What?” Victor asked innocently.

“Nothing!” Dario spat, getting a little far away from Victor as the other contestants who had the same idea as him began shooting them some very dangerous glares.

Rigar didn’t, he was looking around nervously, searching for an exit, realizing that he was Screwed with a capital S!

“Finished already?” the female night suddenly asked, making everyone look at the door where Lyra, who was still wearing her mask walked out with a golden sword in hand.

“MY GOD! Is that a storm sword?” one guy asked in shock.

“No comment…” Lyra said. “The princess told me I don’t have to tell you a thing!” she said in a proud tone.

“Right!” the female knight said. “Since you finished, you may leave!” she said. “Ask the knight outside to escort you to the results hall!”

Lyra nodded, then walked out completing the act.

“Ah… Can I go there too… I don’t really want to meet the princess at the moment…” Rigar suddenly said.

“But she wants to meet you…” the female knight spat. “So you will have to meet her!” she added, shattering his hopes of escaping this place.

“Lucky bastard!” Dario spat under his breath as he looked at Rigar. All the other contestants had similar feelings.

Victor sighed, ignoring those idiots.

After Lyra left, another guy was called, and he directly went in. All of his worries seemed to have evaporated after witnessing the stupid show from before.

Wait...

It felt strange…

Those guys here were not idiots by any means, but for some strange reason, they seemed to be acting like flies, being attracted to a carnivorous plant. Expert for Rigar that is, who seemed to have the right instinct but the worst luck.

Victor frowned and gave his system log a look, there was nothing about an effect or anything like that. Could this be something to do with that girl’s bloodline that he suspected to be demonic?

Probably some kind of a pheromone to attract prey…

Wait… Could it be that the demonic presence he had been following all along was this? That would mean…. Damn it!… He was not immune! It had been attracting him too, but out of curiosity!

“What?” Dario who noticed Victor getting agitated asked.

“Nothing… Just can’t wait to get my hand on the girl!” Victor replied casually, making everyone, including the priestesses on the door, secretly curse at him.

He ignored him as he considered his plans… Hopefully, he would not have to use that thing this early…

15 minutes later, the participants who went to see the princess finally returned with a sad face.

“Done?” Dario asked.

The guy ignored him.

“What happened?” a friend of his asked.

“Nothing… You will see for yourself… I need to go…” the guy said. He was a little proud and arrogant earlier, but now he felt a little humble… No, a more precise description would be a little empty. His face looked a little pale too.

Reading his status, Victor swallowed. SHIT! The previous curse that all the nobles had was gone, in its palace was this Soul Puppet thing.

And on top of that, he no longer had a fate.

Did that girl eat his soul or something?

Summing up all the info he had before, that was the conclusion Victor reached as he watched the guy refuse to speak anymore and just leave.

“Next…” the female knight said, sending another guy to be eaten.

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