Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

"What's going on? Did you not find anything useful after interrogating him?" Annette looked at them and questioned.

"It's not like that, we did find out lots of useful information from him. However, we also found out many bad news" Cynthia answered. Given how pale her face was, the news she got from that person was definitely not good.

And it was just as Annette had thought, the next words that came out from Cynthia, proved her right.

"The Kingdom has fallen, Blackthorn declared a war against Ellesmere three months ago and the kingdom Lost. Its capital city now occupied".

"This…"

Annette wore a complicated face. If it was before, the fate of a single kingdom and what happened to it wouldn't have mattered to them. However, it was different now. Their lord and master had plans for the kingdom and as such, it couldn't be allowed to be invaded by the other countries.

"I see… but Princess you are not thinking about directly charging to the capital city are you?"

With their home gone, one's reasoning and thinking ability can become narrowed and irrational. Annette cannot have the person their lord had entrusted this mission with to seek their own death.

"Thank you for your concern Miss Annette, but I'm fine. Thinking about it now, it might be a good thing for us. Since the Blackthorn managed to occupy the capital, it must mean that my brothers lost. With them gone, it means one less enemy for us. It would also be easier to persuade the surviving nobles and bring them to my side that way"

Cynthia analysed. Even though the news should have been devastating to her, losing her home and all, she still managed to keep a rational mind and observe everything from a third person's perspective.

'As expected of master, he chose the perfect person for this mission' Annette was a little impressed.

"Did you find anything else from that person?" The person she was referring to was of course Marcel.

"Yeah, we did manage to find many useful information from him. As expected he was one of the double agents working for the criminal syndicates of the Tower Town. From what we managed to learn from him, the problem in this town seem to stem from the two powerful organisation known as the Viper and the Chaos Order"

"Both of which are foreign organisations who took root in this town more than a year ago. They slowly laid their traps and grabbed the weaknesses of the adventurers and guilds before taking over the town completely. Although it might not look like that from the surface but the town is now completely under their control"…

"So we just have to take those two organisations out right?" Theodore muttered.

Cynthia and her subordinates looked at the two children besides Annette. It was quite unusual to see children on a mission such as this. However, they did not voice out their thoughts, after all, they were people who were sent by that demon, how could they be ordinary?

They didn't know what it was, but whenever they glanced at the deep blood red eyes of the two children, an unsettling feeling would run down their spine and a chill that they never experienced before, would grab hold of their bodies.

Warriors like Alvara and the old assassin Bert felt that sensation even more clearly. As such, they were aware that even though these two looked like children they did not make the mistake of treating them as such.

Cynthia shook her head and answered "I am afraid, it would not be that easy. The two criminal organisations ruling the town are very smart, all their plans are very meticulous and they make sure to cover all their tracks"

"Even Marcel who works as a double agent for those two organisations, does not know where their base is. What's more, it is very hard to know who their top members are. If we rashly make a move, it would have an adverse effect and might make all the criminal organisations in the town wary of us. If that happens, we won't be able to find the mastermind of this whole thing"…

"What she said is right, this is a big problem for our dungeon, we can't go about it half-heartedly. If we want to clean the town, we have to do it thoroughly"

Annette added, "Is there anything else you were able to find out?".

Although Annette and the others were only ordered to aid Cynthia and her group in every way possible to clean all the criminals plaguing the tower town, she knew that her master's plans were much deeper than that.

Even if they managed to clean the criminal organisation and find the mastermind behind this, who is to say that the tower town will not face a similar predicament again? If it can happen once, surely it can happen again in the future.

The best way to remove this problem would be to take control of the town entirely. However, therein lies the problem.

The perception of the people against demons was already extremely negative and it was hard to change it. If their master tried to control the town, it would only end up having an adverse effect. There is no way the humans would accept it.

Then what should be done?

Their master had already found the answer and it was right in front of Annette. The Violet haired woman, she was the key to solving the problem plaguing their dungeon.

If he cannot control the town openly, then why not rule it from the shadows by placing a puppet leader who would do his bidding?

That way not only would he be able to control the Tower Town, but the humans would also accept it since it was another human who was ruling over them.

That said, not just any human can be placed for that job. They would only accept someone who they recognised and believed could lead them. The only person who could do that was Cynthia and even she would need to be recognised by the adventurers.

Is that why the master told us to aid her in reclaiming her kingdom in every way possible? Is he trying to make the adventurers of the tower town recognise her by giving her all the achievements?

As expected of the master, he had already planned so far ahead.

"From the information we were able to pull out from him, it seems that he is supposed to meet with a high ranking member of the Chaos Order today. If we can capture that person, we will be able to know more about these criminal organisations. But…"

But sparing Marcel would be too dangerous especially when he had already betrayed her once. There is no way they can trust this guy. However, it was also true that they needed his help if they wanted to catch that high ranking member of the criminal organisation.

This was also the reason why they didn't finish off Marcel.

"I understand, so what you are saying is that we need to make him completely subservient to us right?"…

"That's right" Cynthia nodded at Annette's query.

"Hehe, that's not a problem, leave it to me" Theodore stepped forward "It's your turn, Ariel".

At his command, the shadow beneath him expanded and a figure slowly came out of it.

"You know what to do right?"

The figure nodded and walked towards the bound Marcel.

"An Elf?" Over at Cynthia's side, Burg and the others arched their brows as the figure came out of the boy's shadow.

Long ears, regal and ethereal appearance, flowing hair shimmering like silver that was locked into a braid and adorned with delicate jewelled pins. Her sharp and elegant feature, exuded a grace that was different from humans.

There was only a few races in this world that had that kind of appearance. Cynthia and the others were sure that she was an Elf. Although very rarely seen around this part of the subcontinent, they are a race that inhabit the Demi Human Continent.

It was as they thought, the woman named Ariel was indeed an Elf. She was one of the six demi human slaves who had survived the Trials of the Shadows and turned into a High Ranking Vampire, a Vecna.

After becoming a vampire, her initial appearance was restored and her shimmering silver hair grew back once again. She became a breathtaking beauty that one cannot take their eyes off from.

She wore a robe crafted from exquisite, enchanted fabrics with intricate patterns of runes and symbols embroidered with silver threads. The robe was both practical and stylish and was made with ease of movement in mind.

Around her waist, she donned a belt designed for utility and had various pouches. Leather boots that reached to her knees provided protection while not hindering her agility.

Ariel's attire suggested that she was a mage, unlike Drow who was a close combatant. After approaching Marcel, she nonchalantly extended her hands and made a small cut on her finger.

A small droplet of blood leaked out and fell on the ground. In that very instant, it was as if the ground had changed colour. From a brownish red colour, it instantly changed into a dark black shade.

Cynthia and the others observing from not far away, all had a surprised expression in their faces.

The changes did not stop there, after the ground was turned into a dark black colour, complex dark red lines and symbols started appearing around the man bound by the pillar.