"Miss Mary, are you hesitating because of concerns about your Master, Elisabeth?"
Yuki's voice was smooth as jade as he gently asked Mary.
Hearing this, Mary gave a slight nod.
"Yes."
"For myself, it doesn't really matter. But regarding Lady Elisabeth... I'm not sure if she would accept such a condition."
Mary then voiced the point that troubled her.
Hearing this, Yuki simply shook his head with a light smile.
"Actually, your worry is unnecessary, because I have a way to make her unable to refuse."
"Huh?!"
Hearing Yuki's words, Mary looked somewhat stunned.
But seeing the confidence on Yuki's face, an inexplicable sense of trust and assurance arose in Mary's heart.
It felt as if Yuki's words carried undeniable certainty.
This left Mary somewhat bewildered, her mind filled with doubts.
'Where is Mr. Yuki's confidence coming from? Does he really have a way? What should I do? Should I agree? This might be only chance to rescue my Master!'
After an internal struggle, Mary finally gave a slight nod.
"Alright, I agree!"
"A wise choice."
A faint smile appeared on Yuki's face.
"Don't worry, you won't regret it!"
Yuki then stood up, ready to move.
Seeing this, Mary and Akane quickly followed, leaving the tavern with Yuki.
Ten minutes later, the three arrived before a tower located on the outskirts of the city.
The tower was cylindrical in design, constructed from stone materials.
However, due to its age, the top of the tower wasn't intact; a section was missing, giving it a sense of ruined beauty.
Within about fifty meters of the tower's entrance, a large crowd had gathered.
Judging by the weapons and armor they wore, these people were either mercenaries or adventurers.
They gathered here for one purpose: to challenge the tower.
And the vampires seemed to relish this game; they welcomed adventurers and the like to challenge them.
But the challenge came with risks. If they failed, the challengers would be captured by the vampires and turned into food.
Those with exceptional skill, however, would be enslaved by the vampires, becoming guard for the tower.
The person currently fighting adventurers before the tower's main gate was an adventurer who had failed a challenge in the past and been enslaved.
"Go on! 'Flower of Carnage,' aren't you the 'First Axe King of the West'? Defeat this ghoul, and everyone will acknowledge you!"
"Yeah! That's right!"
"Go on! Show us your ultimate move!"
Of course, such a scene wouldn't be complete without people stirring things up.
The surrounding crowd kept egging them on, making it impossible for the man fighting the tower's guardian to back down.
The sturdy man wielding twin axes already had cold sweat beading on his forehead.
The man before him was once a famous martial artist, with a staff technique so superb it was hard to withstand.
Yet even such a person had ultimately fallen during a challenge of this tower.
In the end, he became a slave controlled by vampires, turned into someone else's ghoul.
Even as a ghoul, his strength remained.
After several exchanges, the twin-axe man had already realized he was no match for his opponent.
He had secretly begun to think of retreating.
But he had boasted before the challenge, and with everyone around him egging him on, he was now completely trapped, caught in a dilemma.
"Damn it, I'll go all out!"
After much thought, he charged at the ghoul.
They continued to fight, locked in combat.
Clang—!
Bang—!!!
The sounds of weapons clashing rang out repeatedly.
Cheers and jeers from the surrounding crowd also rose—some cheering on the challenger, while others, not believing the challenger could win, simply sneered.
"Can that person succeed?"
Akane whispered beside Yuki.
Yuki didn't answer. Instead, Mary replied to Akane's question.
"Unlikely. That ghoul is clearly stronger."
"If I'm not mistaken, he'll be taken down within ten moves."
Mary answered calmly.
She had seen plenty of people who, too proud to back down, challenged opponents they knew they couldn't beat.
So she felt no sympathy whatsoever.
Yuki felt the same.
Sure enough, after just ten exchanges, the ghoul seized an opening. With a sweeping staff strike, he delivered a heavy blow to the twin-axe man's stomach.
After taking the hit, the twin-axe man instinctively flinched in pain, exposing even more openings.
What followed was a comprehensive barrage of staff strikes from his opponent.
Finally, with a heavy blow to the head, the challenger was knocked to the ground.
The outcome was decided. The ghoul then dragged the challenger up and began pulling him toward the tower.
"Let's go."
Seeing the fight was over, Yuki spoke to Akane and the others.
Hearing this, the two followed Yuki.
Yuki's group walked toward the tower's entrance, quickly attracting the attention of the other spectators.
"Hey! Another challenger? Who's this guy?"
"Good grief, he's even bringing two women? What's he planning? Handing extra food to the vampires?"
"Tch! This guy looks like a pretty boy. Doesn't seem like much of a fighter!"
"Come, come, place your bets! Who'll survive—the pretty boy or the ghoul?!"
Facing the noisy discussions of the onlookers, the three of them ignored them completely.
The ghoul dragging the previous challenger back into the tower also noticed the commotion.
He turned his head and saw Yuki, assuming another fool had come to die.
"Heh, never seen someone so eager to throw their life away."
"Didn't you see what happened to this guy in my hands?"
The ghoul sneered as he looked at Yuki.
However, Yuki's response to his mockery was unexpected.
"Oh? Are you sure you won?"
Yuki asked flatly in return.
Seeing Yuki's calm yet cold gaze, the ghoul was momentarily taken aback.
But soon, he realized his body was disintegrating like sand.
"No!"
"How is this happening?! What did you do to me?!"
The watchdog panicked, shouting at Yuki.
However, his body disintegrated faster than expected. Before he could finish speaking, his entire form crumbled into a pile of dust, scattering into the air with the wind.
Witnessing such a bizarre scene, the onlookers were utterly dumbfounded.
They never imagined that in the blink of an eye, the ghoul would die in such a strange manner.
This made everyone realize how terrifying the strength of Yuki, whom they had earlier dismissed as a "pretty boy," truly was.
Without even seeing him make a move, his opponent was gone.
Beside them, Mary was also shocked.
She had thought Yuki's palm strike causing such massive destruction was impressive enough.
But now, this surreal scene once again renewed her perception of Yuki.
This wasn't just being strong; this was strength on an absurd, outrageous level.
At this moment, Mary's heart was in turmoil, waves of shock crashing within her.