"U-Ugh… h-help…!"
Mia suddenly heard the screams for help echoing from deeper within the alley. For a moment, she did not understand what was happening, but her instincts were screaming that Edsel was in danger.
She walked slowly deeper into the alley and her shoes brushed against something wet. She took another step and bumped into something solid.
She held her nose and looked up. It was Edsel standing right in front of her.
She shuddered immediately. The sheer amount of killing intent radiating from him and the blood stained across his clothes made her want to scream. She held it in and covered her mouth with both hands.
"Let's go," Edsel said calmly.
"Y-Young Master…" she whispered, trembling. "Are you injured? What happened…?"
She tried to look ahead and see what was behind him, but her eyesight was blocked by his bloody arm reaching toward her face.
"Ssh," he murmured. "Do not scream, don't ask questions. It is better if you don't remember what happened here."
His tone was not threatening.
"Let's go."
"Y-Yes Master…" she nodded quickly turning around. It was not a mistake, but she saw bodies lying on the ground behind him. She could not believe her eyes. Did the young master kill those men?
She wanted to ask him about it, but it felt like if she crossed that line, she might see something that she did not want to see.
Behind her, Edsel's gaze darkened.
While Mia approached earlier, he had finished absorbing the men's life force, his mana accumulation had finally reached its peak.
100%.
Yet strangely… he felt no immediate transformation. Perhaps he needed to properly circulate and refine it once he returned to the estate.
But something else had appeared.
A new notification.
[◇ Active Authority Unlocked: Chains of the Black Covenant (Dormant)]
Description: An ancient covenant power born from death-aligned mana. Manifests black chains capable of binding body and soul. Targets subdued beyond resistance may be marked with a Covenant Brand, permanently binding them as servants.
Edsel was trembling from excitement. This was something that he had wanted all along. An ability like this would make things much easier for him. But more words appeared on the screen as he noticed the limitations attached to this new power. Unlike the first authority of Gluttony, this new authority came with specific conditions that he would have to follow.
◈ Conditions:
– Target must be weaker than the user.
– Target must be mentally broken, defeated, or unable to resist.
– Cannot bind those of higher mana rank unless their spirit is shattered.
Edsel clicked his tongue.
So he could not simply enslave someone stronger than him without preparation.
"…That is fine," he muttered.
His eyes shifted toward Mia and she was still trembling, but he knew loyalty born from fear could easily turn into betrayal under pressure.
He needed certainty.
"Active Authority: Chains of the Black Covenant."
The moment he invoked it, Black chains burst from his shadow. They shot forward silently and pierced into Mia's back.
"Urk—!"
She gasped sharply, feeling something cold and invasive stab into her body. Her eyes widened as she slowly turned toward him and for a brief second, confusion filled her gaze.
Then Her pupils dilated, her irises shifted into a faint purple hue.
"My lord," she said softly, kneeling instinctively. "Greetings, my lord."
"Mmm, does it really work though?" he asked while studying her carefully. She did not have any expression on her face. It was completely blank and empty. "Jump," he commanded.
She jumped without hesitation.
"Kneel down," he ordered.
She quickly kneeled down with a loud thud that echoed in the alley.
"It does work," he confirmed while nodding to himself.
Edsel felt satisfied with the change. Using this skill on Mia was a better choice, he thought. After all, she might have reported this incident to his father, and things would not work well for him if that happened.
"From now on," Edsel said quietly, "you will act as my eyes. If Hans or my father questions you, you will say nothing unusual happened. And if you notice anything suspicious inside the estate, you report it directly to me."
"Yes, my lord." Mia bowed deeply, her purple-tinted eyes lowered in obedience.
With that settled, he decided that he should go back and train. He only had four more days to create the second circle. At least thanks to the system, he would not be scared to disappoint his father anymore. But before he could complete this mess, he would have to think of a way to send a gift to Fiora. He smiled while thinking of a plan.
But first, he needed to sharpen himself.
He could not rely on raw mana alone. His combat instincts were still shallow.
"Mia."
"Yes, my lord."
"Take me somewhere crowded, somewhere with people who know how to fight."
She did not hesitate. "Yes sir."
She guided him through twisting streets until they stopped before a worn wooden building. A crooked sign hung above the entrance, painted with a crude image of a frog.
"My lord, we have arrived. It looks like an ordinary inn. I used to come here for food."
Edsel studied the entrance. For a simple inn, the guard at the door felt out of place.
"Wait here."
"Yes sir."
A skinny man stood at the entrance, lazily cutting an apple with a dagger. He glanced at Edsel as he approached.
"What are you doing here, kid?"
The question was quite stupid, he thought. Edsel stopped a few steps away, examining him carefully, no mana fluctuations, not even aura but just an ordinary man with a blade.
"Are there strong people inside?" Edsel asked calmly.
The man frowned. "Don't ask stupid questions, Go home i'm sure your family's worried."
"So I cannot enter? Even if I am hungry? Isn't this an inn?"
The guard sighed impatiently. "Come back later. We're in the middle of a meeting."
A meeting, in broad daylight?
Edsel closed his eyes briefly and spread his perception. Mana rippled outward like a thin mist, brushing against the walls and seeping through cracks. Inside, he sensed multiple presences of Men and Women. Most without refined energy, but hardened by experience.
He smiled faintly.
Before he could move, the guard reached out and tapped his cheek with dirty, wet fingers.
"Oi. When your elders talk, you listen."
For a brief second, the man did not even realize his dagger was no longer in his hand.
Edsel had already taken it.
He weighed it lightly, ignoring the sticky apple juice coating the blade.
"Huh? When did you— Bastard, give that back!"
The man lunged to grab him by the collar, but Edsel swung the dagger with a fast motion that sliced through the air. The man was stunned when he saw something fall down and splash onto the ground. It was his own arm.
"GAAAAAAH!" he screamed, collapsing to his knees. "I'll kill you!"
He charged blindly.
Edsel sidestepped, letting the man's momentum carry him forward before kicking the back of his knee. The guard crashed face-first onto the dirt.
Edsel stepped on the back of his head, pressing him down. The man sobbed and writhed, trying to push himself up.
When he twisted his neck to look back, the last thing he saw was Edsel's calm gaze. The dagger descended with a clean, mana-enhanced slash, Edsel severed his head and lifted it by the hair.
Inside the inn, laughter and chatter filled the air. Tankards clinked and Waitresses moved between tables carrying drinks and plates.
The door burst open.
Edsel stood framed in the entrance, blood staining his sleeve, a severed head dangling from his hand.
He tossed it forward.
The head rolled across the surface and stopped, revealing the face of the guard who had been standing outside.
"W-what, is that not..." someone started to say.
"Kyaaa! Murder!" a woman screamed.
"Help!"
The whole place turned into chaos as the women tried to flee past Edsel and escape through the door.
"Running will not save you," he said calmly while slashing one woman across the back. She fell forward with a scream. He quickly slashed another woman who was trying to push past him. He charged up his body by enhancing all of his muscles with mana.
"Kill that kid!" the men shouted while charging forward towards him.
He smiled while grabbing a nearby table and throwing it directly at them with tremendous force.