Supreme Magus

Chapter 3418 Who I Am (Part 1)

Only information could reassure Vinca's corrupted upper echelons there was no world-ending Divine Beast on their tail and only one man who could give it to them. Alinor was used to making his own prices but never with so many people at once and all about the same mark.

Like most people, he rarely looked up at the sky. Even if he did, Trouble was no bigger than a seagull and thanks to Locrias' hologram no different from a real one. The scavenger birds were ubiquitous in Vinea and locals would only notice one if hit by its droppings.

"That's four exchanges already.' Locrias used six of his seven eyes to study the couriers from different angles while keeping the seventh fixed on his target.

After Alinor was done with the deliveries, he walked into a pub just to exit from the service entrance. He used different establishments every time to alter his route and backtrack, making it impossible to follow him without being noticed.

On his way home he even escaped through the window of the bathrooms on the second floor of an hotel and jumped into the abandoned opposite building whose locks he had picked in advance and kept ready to be closed once he was inside.

Alas, Locrias had no need to be smarter or faster than the professional informant. As long as Trouble kept itself within the range of Life Vision, no matter what clothes Alinor changed into or what detour he took, his energy signature was always the same.

***

Once he reached his small apartment, closed all the locks, and activated all the traps, Alinor of Vinea could finally sigh in relief.

'Another job well done, even if I have to say it myself.' He thought while looking at the squalor of the flophouse he called home. Just one more haul like this and I can finally retire.'

Despite his second-hand worn-out clothes and humble abode, Alinor was a very wealthy man. The kind of wealthy man who could have lived in a mansion surrounded by beautiful maids until the end of his days.

Too bad that if he did that, he would be arrested before he could sit down in the luxurious armchair he always dreamed about.

That kind of purchase triggered flags which in turn would start an investigation that would end with him wearing a pair of metal bracelets once he failed to explain how he had earned that kind of money.

On top of that, even renting a mansion would have been a waste. Alinor was one of the best in his field, but far from perfect. He had been made out and followed more than once, forcing him to a precipitous escape.

Flophouses were easy to find, cheap, and he lost nothing whenever he was forced to move out. Everything he really cared about was stored inside his dimensional ring, where no one could steal it.

'One job. Just one more and I'll have enough to pay the money launderer and still have enough left to retire.' Alinor thought. Maybe I'll open a pub to keep earning a few coins. I like beer and gossip so it's the perfect hobby for me.'

He checked under the bed, inside the wardrobe, and in the bathroom. There was no other place where an intruder could hide.

Even though they were empty, once Alinor finished the delicious hot meal he had bought and stored during the morning, he placed wax seals and sticks in the frame of every door before going to bed.

This way, even if someone Warped inside and opened any door, the noise would wake him up. Alionor double-checked everything one last time and fell asleep like an obscenely rich baby.

He was having one of those sordid dreams typical of hormonal teenagers or adults who had avoided intimacy for a long time when a gentle hand shook him.

"Wake up. We need to talk." The voice was calm and soothing, reminding Alinor of his father.

Except his father was dead and Alinor was supposed to be alone.

Fear and years of training made Alinor react before a thought could form in his mind muddied by sleep. His hand slipped under the cushion while his foot struck the intruder right on the windpipe, crushing it.

Great was his surprise when his hand only grasped air and his foot broke into three points.

"Are you looking for this?" Pain and his fear turning into terror that snapped Alias fully awake.

Verhen was sitting on the bed beside him, holding the Orichalcum knife coated in Doomberry poison that was supposed to be under his pillow.

"Doomberry poison. Lith said while licking the blade. "Excellent choice. It's transparent, colorless, odorless, and can kill a man in seconds at this concentration."

It was an assassin's favorite since it could be slipped into food and drinks. Just a few drops entering an open mouth or wound would cause multiple organ failure even in the strongest, healthiest man.

An Awakened at the bright violet, however, wouldn't even notice it. Every organ, cell, and drop of blood in their bodies was filled to the brim with mana, and weren't afraid to use it.

The immune system attacked with extreme prejudice everything with the wrong or no energy signature while the powerful acids of the stomach and the digestive system would break down into nutrients even things that weren't supposed to be nutrients. Violet cores could easily digest small stones and dust, let alone something organic. If highly refined Doomberry poison ravaged a body akin to the assault of heavy cavalry followed by squadrons of bowmen and infantry, Lith's metabolism responded to the attack with giant mechs and squadrons of soldiers wearing flying exo-suits and armed

with plasma rifles.

In one word: a massacre.

"Nice blade." Lith studied it calmly. "Refined Orichalcum with a piercing main enchantment and secondary spells to support it. One stab and even if you miss a vital organ, the poison would do the rest.

"Yet I don't think this would be of any help to you here. Watch." He plunged the knife into his open palm.

A normal man would have felt like hitting a boulder, but the blow carried the strength of a Divine Beast. When the blade hit the palm and the kinetic energy was unable to advance, it turned inward and the knife exploded into countless poisonous shards.

If not for a thin protective barrier Lith had placed around Alinor, it would have been enough to kill him. Lith, however, had other plans.

"Stay back!" Alinor scurried off the bed and ran to a trapdoor on the floor.

It was supposed to be triggered by his weight and bring him to the safety of the ground floor. Yet nothing happened.

Lith remained still while Alinor tried the door and the window, but neither budged. The desperate man tried to shatter the glass with an elbow strike, but ended up shattering

his elbow.

Spirit Magic coated every surface of the room, making it as hard as Damascus steel.

"Did you know who I am before accepting the job to spy on me?" Lith asked while the man cried in pain and held his injured arm and foot near his body.