Chapter 355: How did you know?
After Aiden spoke, the silence was absolute. Not a single soul dared to twitch a muscle. Even Magicaa, who thrived on mouthing off at the worst possible times, found himself narrowing his eyes and biting his tongue.
Madman was visibly trembling with rage, the strain of restraint twisting his shoulders, but he too did not move. No one truly knew the depths of Aiden’s background, his true origins, his purpose, or the limits of his abilities, but they all understood one unshakable fact.
He was not someone to be trifled with. A mage feared and respected by the strongest leaders of the world did not earn that reputation by mere bluff. When Aiden spoke, even the most violent maniacs obeyed.
But this stillness was no peace. It was only a leash, a thread-thin tether keeping the chaos at bay. They were wolves in chains, waiting for the leash to slip. Beneath those cloaks, beneath their smothered breaths and tightened grips, bloodlust boiled like magma.
One way or another, a fight would break out today. When it did, every ounce of patience and restraint they showed now would snap like brittle wood, and then the true storm would begin. All the rage they were swallowing now would explode into carnage.
On the opposite side of the plains, Damon strolled toward them utterly unbothered by the suffocating tension. His movements were leisurely, almost mocking, as if he were arriving late to a dinner party.
He chuckled, pointing to their cloaks. "Heh. Look at this. We all have the same dressing sense. Very fashionable, don’t you think?" He either didn’t recognize the threat before him or didn’t care in the slightest.
When he finally stopped before them, his crimson gaze flicked across each hidden figure with wicked amusement. He wondered whom each one were, the answers to which he was no doubt going to find soon enough.
Aiden smiled back. He was the only one without a hood, the only one who dared to show his face out in the open. Unlike the rest, he wore no hood, no mask, no veil of secrecy. His expression was gentle and warm.
He looked like the neighbor you’d borrow sugar from, the kind soul who carried groceries for the elderly, who waved at children on their way to school. His harmless, boy-next-door smile radiated the exact opposite of everything he was.
It was disarming. It was terrifying because Damon now knew exactly how much of an asshole he was. It made him wonder all the more who the guy really was. Damon’s eyes flickered to the nickname he had seen countless times now.
TotallyNotAGod
Suddenly, a thought flashed in his mind. Something he had never thought about before. Could this person in front of him actually be a God?
He had laughed at it many times in his last life but he had never thought much about it. Standing here now, confronted by that same disarming smile and fake politeness, Damon couldn’t help but wonder.
Could it be possible? Was the name not a joke at all, but a fucking, balls on your face truth?
A god hiding among men.
The thought chilled him. Because if it were true, then all his victories, all his clawed progress, might have been nothing more than a gamepiece moved along a board designed by the smiling figure standing in front of him. Just how much was he aware and just how powerful was he?
Damon did not allow any of his doubts to show on his face. Instead, he calmly returned the smile of the conniving bastard. Unlike before when he had lost control, this time he was a lot calmer and stable.
"Hello, Blood God. I am glad you reached out to me. I truly am," Aiden said with that infuriating neighborly smile. "I’ve been meaning to talk to you in person for days now. Someone of your caliber shouldn’t be running around on your own. How do you feel about joining our guild?"
Damon tilted his head, his crimson eyes arrogantly gleaming. "A guild, huh? I genuinely don’t have any plans to join one. But..." his grin widened, "I’ll keep this offer in mind. What’s the name of your guild, by the way?" He asked it casually, knowing full well that Aiden was too slippery to give a straight answer. Still, he wanted to hear what excuse the snake would come up with.
To his surprise, Aiden didn’t dodge, didn’t dance around the truth. To Damon’s surprise, he simply smiled. "It is a secret."
"Well then," Aiden continued smoothly, brushing past the moment, "since you don’t want to join any group for now, let’s not waste any more time. I’m guessing you’re in a rush. You probably need money, right?"
Damon raised a brow. He let his face show a little surprise. He had already guessed this snake would bring it up eventually after finding out what he had been upto lately. After all, he had contacted a lot of new folks. It was bound to slip out one way or the other.
"How did you know?" Damon asked with a light chuckle, as if he was trying to not act surprised when he was in reality definitely not surprised.
"Because I know we’re not the first people you contacted to sell your venom." Aiden shrugged. "It’s fine. It’s not a big deal. I understand that you had to meet people you are more familiar with first before coming to me. Not many people even know I exist. In fact, I am quite curious as to how you know my nick name. You see.. I don’t usually display it."
Damon knew that the guy was now fishing for something but he did not plan on giving him anything today. "You have your ways. I have mine. How could I not know about the person who had almost got the legendary item that was up for auction? Its only been a couple of days since then. I hope you still have those funds ready with you."
Damon tried his best to make it look as if it was only because of the auction house exposure that he had arranged this whole meeting.