Chapter 386 Interrogation
'Shadow Puppet,' Lyrian said in his head, as his shadow came out of his body and swiftly latched onto the man.
With his Shadow Jade Pendant allowing him to take control of the bald man's body, he turned around and began walking further into the crevice between the two marquees.
After this, he ordered Ounis to stand in the alley behind Lyrian and the bald man to provide a block.
As the shadow control over the bald man was finally released, he was even more fired up than before.
"You're dead! Give me those swords!" He rushed toward Lyrian, taking out a dagger from his waist belt.
Lyrian didn't move, allowing the man to come closer. Just when he was at Lyrian's feet, lunging over to stab him, Lyrian jumped up and wrapped his arm around the bald man's neck.
Using his other hand, he flicked the knife away. Dropping back down to the ground, Lyrian went down to one knee as the man was forced to sit with his legs straightened in front of him.
He immediately tried to squirm his way out of Lyrian's clutch, "Let go of me, you bastard!"
"Alright... that's enough," Lyrian said, tightening his grip on the man's neck enough to make him not be able to speak longer.
The man's face quickly turned red, as veins began bulging out of his forehead.
He attempted to speak, straining his vocal cords in shock, but nothing came out.
He couldn't breathe, and at this point, nor could he even give in to what Lyrian wanted.
No, he was going to die at this rate. As this reality began to hit him, he also felt a horrifying bloodlust loom over him out of nowhere.
He looked up at that moment to see Lyrian's demonic eyes staring at him.
It was enough to send shivers down his spine. The spiritual aura that Lyrian seemed to be so good at hiding was chaotic.
It was stronger than almost anything the man had ever faced prior in his life.
'I'm going to die! Fuck!' The man thought to himself, fighting for his life for over ten seconds.
Just as he was about to lose consciousness he felt the hold on his neck loosen up. He gasped for air, panting heavily right afterward.
At that moment Lyrian calmly said, "Don't squirm. Don't move. Don't talk unless you are answering one of my questions or have been spoken to. If you do, I'll kill you right here. Is that clear?" His eyes were wide open, conveying truth.
The bald man fearfully stared into those eyes, gulping as he spoke, "Y-yes..."
'What do I do? I can't escape, there's no way.' He attempted to look around, trying to find a way to exit. In the end, he didn't find anything.
"What is your name?" Lyrian asked.
After a short pause, the bald man answered, "Kuroal Ukar."
"Who do you work for? The one who gave you these swords."
This time, the bald man, Kuroal, paused for a while longer.
'I... can't possibly tell him. No, I have too much to owe that man. On top of that, without him, I don't have a life any longer. My work, my family, they will all be destro--' He wasn't even finished with his own thought when he felt a blood-curdling aura seep into his spine once again.
It forced him to stop thinking and widen his eyes at once, "I don't know his real name!" He blurted out.
At that moment, Lyrian suddenly tightened his grip on the man just a little.
"Don't lie."
"Wait! Stop! I promise I'm telling you the truth! Please!"
Lyrian didn't stop, prompting Kuroal to go further as his face began turning red once again, "I can tell you his alias! That is all he has ever shared with us! Please!"
Lyrian loosened his grip, allowing the man to continue, "Third Head. That is what we have all known him as for as long as we can remember."
"And how long is that?"
"How long? Well... I could say over 5 years for sure."
'Five? Only five years?' Lyrian thought to himself, finding this period to be far too short.
'Then he might have been sent by the Black Petal Sect.'
"Where can I find him? This Third Head?"
"I-" Kuroal paused, thinking to himself, 'I can't tell him I don't know again, or else he was seriously killing me this time!'
"The truth is, just like his name, he likes to not show himself for any business. He uses messengers to talk with us. I mean... it makes sense. He runs multiple businesses smuggling illegal things into the black market. He is a man who wants to be safe."
"Do you know anything more about him?"
"Do I know--? Well... yes. There is one thing. I heard that he sometimes joins the recent monthly meetings at the adventurers guild. It's for some random case going on right now... a kidnapping case across the city, or so I hear."
'He seems clueless to the fact that this is going on.' Lyrian mused on hearing this.
"Good. That's all I needed to know from you." As Lyrian said this, Kuroal's face lit up slightly.
"Th--that's it? I can go now!?" He said in slight excitement.
At that moment, Lyrian grabbed the man's head with his other arm and twisted it forcefully.
It ended in one abrupt crack. Lyrian let go of the man's dead body, allowing it to flop onto the floor.
He stood up, walking toward Ounis. The fat young man quickly moved out of the way as Lyrian moved past him.
He was shocked, his breath shaking slightly. As he slowly followed after Lyrian, who had such a heartless and cold gaze after just murdering a man, Ounis couldn't help but feel scared.
'I got too close and felt too safe with a person like him. At any moment he could snap and kill me in the same way...' As he thought this to himself, his hair stood on end.
Lyrian on the other hand mused, 'I had to kill him. If he were to have alerted that Third Head of what I'm doing, then there's no telling where the bastard would have run off to.'
After this, he returned to the bald man's shop from before.
"What are we doing back here?" Ounis questioned, now far more wary of how he spoke to Lyrian.
"I can't have someone telling their higher-ups that specifically, Dark Ore swords were stolen from here on the same day that the bald guy was killed."
Lyrian said as he entered the marquee with Ounis waiting outside.
It took him less than 1 minute to kill every single worker there that day, and before he left, he also took a few random things out from under the stall.
This was because he didn't want the only thing to be taken the Dark Ore swords.
With this, he and Ounis began making their way out of the black market the same way they came.
As they made their way out, however, a sudden figure
bumped into him once again.
It was a kid that Lyrian recognized to be the pickpocket from before.
'He's trying again?' Lyrian mused, but soon realized that the kid wasn't paying attention to him at all.
The pickpocket hadn't even realized who he had bumped into again. He was staring at the ground, scanning it with all his brain.
Lyrian quickly understood why he was doing this. 'Now he knows how those who he robbed felt.' He chuckled inwardly before walking forward.
At that moment, the kid walked a few feet forward... and then turned around.
"Wait a second... you!" He yelled out, coming to a sudden realization.
"It must have been you! You're the last one I bumped into before my wallet was stolen!"
Lyrian turned around, as did Ounis. Ounis had a nervous expression on his face, 'I wouldn't try to anger him...' He thought to himself.
At that moment, some random passer-by who heard the kid's screams commented, "Hey little thief, don't get so brazen with your robbing strategies. Take a lesson out of my book... if you're gonna start falsely accusing people to rob them now, you better learn how to fight as well." He laughed as he continued walking.
"What!? I'm not falsely accusing anyone to rob them! He's the damn thief! And I do know how to fight, I'll prove it to you right now!"
As he yelled this, he faced Lyrian, who had a stoic expression on his face.
"You! Fight me! A fair duel! If you lose, you have to give me back my wallet!"
Ounis' eyes widened as he heard this. 'You're attempting to fight him!? You must have lost your mind if you think he's going to take you seriously!'
At that moment, Lyrian smirked, "Fine. A duel it is then. However, If I win, then you have to never steal from anyone ever again. Fair?"
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