Chapter 209: Magical instrument
Lady Slave gritted her teeth as her eyes flashed with anger. She took an unsteady, deep breath. "What are you? You are not a Magus! Who sent you here? Are you here to stop me?"
Vacuse frowned. "That’s a lot of questions."
He did not answer right away either; his hand went to his back and traced his scars while he kept his eyes on Lady Slave and her remaining stubbornness.
His fingers pried into the scars until they started to bleed and tear through the first layer. Then, one by one, he began to remove the needles he had stored in his flesh.
He breathed a sigh when he finished removing them. He raised the five needles. "This is truly a great discomfort for me. I’m glad to finally get it out."
The needles had been put there over time as the only source of weapon that he had, and putting them in his flesh had been the simplest way to hide them from view.
Lady Slave did not think much of it because she looked at him as if he were the one who was actually mad.
Vacuse coated the five needles with his purple draconic energy and his smile widened. Truly, it was nice to finally feel powerful again; even in his past life he had never felt so powerless and vulnerable.
It was quite a disgusting feeling.
"Now to answer your questions. What am I? Why, I am only a human! Of course I am not a Magus! Who sent me? Nobody, I am here of my own free will! Stop you? Well, I do not know. I would rather kill you than anything. You are an annoying bitch, you know."
Lady Slave’s face turned ugly and different emotions spun in her eyes. Everyone was after their own life, so she shoved her emotions out of her mind and forced herself to smile. A strained smile. "I’m glad that nobody sent you. And while we might hate each other, we can still help each other."
Vacuse raised his head and tilted it. "Why should I help you? What’s in it for you?"
Her eyes gleamed. "There is a lot in that room that I want to open. But above all, we can see the instrument to unseal ourselves."
’...well, that certainly changes things...’
Vacuse shrugged. "How do I know you are telling the truth? In fact, I should say you have spoken more lies than truth. With your personality, you would want to kill me. So in there must be something to help you kill me."
She shifted impatiently but did not immediately deny it. "We have to get out of here quickly. Although most of the powerful Magus left with their lord, there are still some left."
Vacuse snorted. "You just do not want me to kill you before we open the door. But I cannot deny that I am tempted by the offer of what is inside that place."
She raised her brows. "So?"
Vacuse shrugged, his body relaxed. "Then you will do it on my terms."
The next moment he exploded forward.
Two of his needles flew before him, slamming into the foreheads of the two remaining Magus. And although it did not immediately kill them, Vacuse was already there; his hand slammed into their throats, crushing them in one go.
And just like that, Vacuse had killed all the Magus.
Lady Slave trembled as Vacuse came toward her. "You... you said you were going to accept my offer..."
But Vacuse ignored her and went past her to stand in front of Supervisor Kim.
The thin slave master trembled and tried to move backwards, but Vacuse caught him by the shoulder. "I promised to kill you with my own hands."
And so he did.
Vacuse drew him closer and began to rain punches on him. It was swift because Kim was already a thin man and his bones could not even stand a bit against Vacuse. When his face was bloody pulp with his brains mixing with his flesh, he finally stopped.
He took the man’s whip and coated it with draconic energy. Then he straightened, turned around, and flicked it toward Lady Slave.
The whip flashed through the air, cracking and whistling, only to warp around Lady Slave’s trembling neck like a rope.
Vacuse’s eyes were hard. "This is my condition. This is going to stay on you throughout. Make one mistake and I will take your head off."
She swallowed and gritted her teeth, her eyes flashing with the light of retaliation. "All right."
Vacuse commanded all the workers to herd the slaves forward, and then he stood there beside Lady Slave at the circle.
Although one of the fingers was removed, the circle was still glowing and shining, even if it was not as bright as when it was complete with three fingers.
"It would still open, but the amount of time it could remain so is cut short." Lady Slave could not keep the accusation out of her voice, but Vacuse gave no reply; he only gestured for her to hurry.
The method of killing the slaves had changed.
This time, two workers had to hold the slave down above the circle while they struggled frantically to free themselves. But they were slaves; they had no real strength in their feeble bodies, so it was easy for Lady Slave to slit their throats.
Vacuse stood there with an expressionless face as all of them were killed, crying and wailing.
Lady Slave said that with the fingers gone, they needed as much blood as they could. They even brought all the Magus corpses over to drain over the circle.
And the light grew brighter and brighter still, until it filled the hallway.
Lady Slave straightened and smiled brightly for the first time since Vacuse had thrown her plan askew. "This is my greatest work. Magic that was created specifically to counter this prison."
Vacuse looked at her in curiosity. "You created this type of magic?"
"Not created, but I am the only leading expert in blood magic in the whole world. And this door is not just a gate. It is a doorway."
Vacuse tensed. "...of course..."
"What does the doorway lead to?"