Despite the man’s accusatory tone, Red didn’t lose his composure.

“Is that so?” he asked. “What makes you say that?”

Nikon pointed at his neck. “Where is your symbol?”

‘My symbol...’

This was always the biggest weakness in the youth’s identity. Cultists all had their individual religious symbols, and the Chaos Dragon was no exception. In fact, Red even knew what the symbol for the cult of the Chaos Dragon looked like.

‘An obsidian pendant.’

He recalled what had happened when he stared at it in the past. It was a memory he deliberately did his best to forget, for his own safety. Even if he had that symbol with him, he would never carry it on his person.

However, how could Red not take that into account while figuring out his plan?

“I have no need of a symbol.” Red shook his head. “She lives within me.”

The man laughed. “That’s a very convenient excuse.”

“I assume that’s not all that led you to your conclusion.”

If it was just the lack of a symbol, then it was just too little to write the youth off as not being a part of a cult.

“Indeed.” Nikon nodded. “We have double checked the movements of the Chaos Dragon cult over the last few years. All their activity has been focused on Skycrown Mountain, and they have shown no interest in the kingdoms or mortal settlements in the East for a long time. Why would that change now?”

“… Is that all?” Red asked.

“No, it’s not all.” He pointed to the mask. “Why are you trying to hide your identity?”

Red didn’t respond.

Nikon smirked as if he had caught on to the heart of the matter. “I have never heard of any Chaos Dragon worshippers hiding their faces before. At the end of the day, the way you act doesn’t match up with what we know of their cult, but it would be a very nice cover for a demonic cultivator trying to hide within the capital.”

The man fell silent, staring intensely at the youth. He was probably expecting some kind of reaction or tell from this masked individual at having their identity revealed, yet Red didn’t even flinch from his position.

His composure put his identity at even greater doubt, but it also made Nikon frown slightly.

Finally, Red spoke up again. “That all seems to be a lot of circumstantial evidence.”

The man snorted. “Maybe, but you’re the one who needs to provide evidence about your identity. Besides, I’m certain we are right.”

“If you are so certain, why did you come here today?”

If they were absolutely sure about his identity, they didn’t need to meet him. They could have just sent cultivators and try to kill him before the situation could slip out of their control.

It was clear they had some reservations.

This question caused Nikon some pause. “… We are giving you a chance to live.”

Red sighed. “Let me guess - you want me to join your cult?”

“We do.” The man nodded. “Since you killed Cassemir, it’s only appropriate for you to take over his position and responsibilities.”

“And your organization doesn’t mind recruiting his killer?”

Nikon spat on the ground. “Do you think we let attachments and relationships get in the way of our goals? You are a demonic cultivator too, so you should know better. The only thing we value is loyalty and strength. Since Cassemir was weak enough to die to you, that only proves you could be more valuable for our cause.”

“… You mean I would have to swear loyalty to the Infernal Emperor?”

“That’s correct.” The man squinted at Red. “Of course, if you’re so attached to your freedom that you would put it above your own life, then I suppose there’s only one solution to this problem.”

Nikon let his words linger in the air. He didn’t circulate his Spiritual Energy, nor did he make any indications he was getting ready for combat, but his meaning was clear.

If you don’t submit, you die.

‘Since it doesn’t seem like he will try to kill me right here, I can only imagine they must have made plenty of preparations in case I try to leak their identity.’

The youth could imagine what awaited him if he tried to step foot out of his house. Maybe some horrible crime would be pinned on him and an army of guards would chase him down, or maybe he would be assaulted by some shadowy assassins in broad daylight that would slip away as soon as the job was done.

It wasn’t hard to think they would even involve a Greater Ring Realm cultivator to assure their success.

At the end of the day, Red’s threat of revealing their identities was just not enough to make them hesitant about dealing with him. Who knew in what parts of this city these cultists were in and how powerful they were? The youth, in the meantime, was just an outsider with no support or contacts. Maybe even if he tried to reveal the existence of this cult, it wouldn’t reach the ears of anyone important.

However, that was why this threat wasn’t the only thing he was relying on.

“I refuse.” Red said.

Nikon frowned. “You refuse?”

“I do.” The youth nodded.

“… Are you this keen to throw your life away?”

“Not at all, but at the end of the day, I already serve another.”

The man glared at him. “You still plan to rely on this false identity?”

Red ignored his words, his hand reaching towards his mask. “You said you wanted proof, right?”

Nikon’s expression became uncertain at this. “What do you-”

His words died in his throat.

Red lowered his mask ever so slightly, revealing the upper-right side of his face. At the same time, he made his bracelet’s disguise drop in that area.

A bright yellow lizard pupil stared back at Nikon, as crimson scales grew around his eye - the first signs of demonification.

Red was quick to pull his mask back up and reestablish his disguise. He didn’t want the man to look at his real face for longer than he needed to. Thankfully, though, this brief glimpse seemed to be enough.

Nikon looked stunned, losing his composure for the first time since entering this office. His mouth opened and closed, but the words didn’t seem to come out of his mouth.

It took almost ten seconds for the man to recover, upon which he made a single question.

“… How?”

Red shrugged. “I told you she lives within me.”

Nikon’s expression became ugly, and he fell silent once again.

It was clear that his entire plan had gone by wayside now that the youth revealed his demonification - a sign a foreign force was allowing him to keep his sanity despite his advanced corruption. Even if this outsider was not part of a cult, his background would definitely not be simple. At best, they could anger some powerful backers if they tried to kill him, and at worst, they could draw the anger of the Chaos Dragon herself.

Even if his superiors and the Infernal Emperor himself didn’t have an issue with this development, this wasn’t a decision Nikon could make by himself.

After a long period of thought, the man stared at Red with furrowed brows. “What do you want?”

“I told you the truth at the gate.” The youth shook his head. “I just want to use the environment of the capital to cultivate in peace now that there are Imperials crawling everywhere. I have no intentions to get involved with your plans.”

The man sneered. “A chosen of the Chaos Dragon appeared at the capital at such a time and you expect me to believe you?”

“The fact I came alone should be enough reason to believe me.” Red said. “I didn’t come carrying my cult with me, and I certainly didn’t expect to have the bad fortune of coming accross you lot as soon as I entered the capital. I do not rely on others to protect me, but I’m not stupid enough to challenge an entire cult on my own. If you threaten me this way, what other choice do you leave me with?”

Nikon pondered his words with a frown. Red’s words were somewhat reassuring to him, but which demonic cultivator would be silly enough to take their comrade’s words at face value?

“So, all you want is to cultivate in peace and you have no plans to get involved with our actions?” he asked.

Red nodded. “That is so.”

Nikon hesitated. “… This is not a decision I can make on my own.”

As he said that, he fished something out of his pocket. Another Nine-Star symbol, similar to the one Cassemir wore. The pendant began to glow, and Red assumed the man was communicating with his companions through a mental connection.

‘I wonder if there is a way to intercept this kind of communication.’

This was just a passing thought of his, as he had no plans of experimenting with it. At least not right now.

This mental conversation seemed to last for more than ten minutes, during which Nikon’s expression didn’t show many changes. Finally, the glow from the symbol dissipated, and the man stowed it away once more.

He looked at Red with a hesitant expression. “We have agreed to this deal, but we have some conditions.”

‘Here we go.’

The youth frowned. “What conditions?”

“For one, we need you to return the symbols of our Lord - including the one from the merchant.”

“That can be done.” Red nodded. “What else?”

“We need Cassemir’s body.”

The youth immediately shook his head. “You can’t have it.”

Nikon's expression worsened. “Why not?”

“You know why.”

A lot could be discerned from a corpse. Even if Red wasn’t worried about his blood magic, it would be unwise for him to provide this cult with the means to study his techniques.

The man gritted his teeth, but still nodded. “Fine, you can keep the body. However, there are other conditions.”

“As long as they aren’t absurd, I can accept them.”

“You need to give the merchant to us.”

Red fell silent. He was expecting something like this.

“I can’t give him to you.” He shook his head. “He has seen sensitive information.”

“He has plenty of sensitive information about us, too.” Nikon said. “We don’t need you to give him to us, but he can’t be allowed to live.”

“I have already extracted all the important information from him. Why worry about it now?”

“He’s a liability. Even if he has revealed this information to you already, it doesn’t mean he can’t reveal it to anyone else. If you don’t intend to give him back to us, then you need to kill him.”

Red hesitated. “I was intent on using him for personal matters.”

The man snorted. “Too bad for you. I’m sure you can manage it on your own.”

The youth sighed. “Is this negotiable?”

“It’s one of the few things we settled as not negotiable.”

Red could understand why. Even if the merchant didn’t know about the identity of the important cult members, he was too far involved with a lot of their subordinates. Now that Cassemir was dead, his oath was no longer in place, so he became a big liability for the cult.

“Fine.” Red said.

Although he was hesitant to agree, it wasn’t because he wanted to protect this demonic servant of his that he knew for less than a day. It was just that he would lose a useful guide in the city matters.

“I assume you will take care of drawing away suspicion about this, right?” The youth asked.

“You don’t need to worry.” Nikon nodded. “In official records, he will be leaving today on another trip that he will never return from.”

“I see. Are there any other conditions?”

“No, these are all.” the man said. “As long as you don’t get involved with our business, the sect has agreed to leave you alone.”

“Good.” Red nodded. “I will keep the house and the maid, then. I’m sure you can pretend that Cassemir is still alive and using the place.”

Nikon frowned, but he didn’t refute the youth. An investigation into the disappearance of Cassemir would not benefit either of them.

Red got up from his chair, walking around the tall man with a wide berth before opening the door to the office.

He saw Emer waiting at the end of the corridor with a nervous expression. His eyes lit up when he saw the youth open the door.

“M-My lord! Is the meeting over?”

“It is.” Red nodded. “Do you have Cassemir’s symbol on you?”

“I-I do, my lord.”

“Come into the office, then.” Red stepped aside, revealing Nikon’s image. “Give him that symbol and the one you carry, too.”

Emer seemed hesitant, but he still walked ahead, taking out the two symbols from a pocket in his robes. He approached the tall man with shivering hands, offering the items to him.

“H-Here it is, lord Nikon.”

The man smiled. “Thank you.”

He grabbed the merchant’s wrists, crushing down with his powerful grip. The bones in Emer’s arms twisted and broke like twigs with a sickening crunch sound.

The two symbols dropped to the floor, and before the old man could even let out a scream, Nikon moved again. His free hand formed into a fist, flying towards the merchant’s head like an enormous boulder.

There was no Spiritual Energy or technique behind the punch, only pure strength.

The fist struck against Emer’s head, and the old man’s skull exploded like a balloon. Pieces of bone and gore flew against the wall behind the merchant, smearing even the ceiling.

Red also got some blood on him, and he couldn’t help but frown as he looked at Emer’s headless body. Nikon just smiled in satisfaction, letting the merchant drop to the ground as he picked up the two symbols.

He looked back at Red, noticing the youth’s stony gaze beneath his mask. “What? Are you not used to seeing blood?”

He sighed. “You’ve made a mess. Please, just leave.”

The man laughed. “Fine! I hope you can figure out how to dispose of the two corpses, though.”

Nikon walked past Red, not even sparing a second glance at him as he walked downstairs. Soon enough, the youth felt the man’s fluctuation exit the building and return to his carriage as they drove away.

The youth didn’t move from his spot at the door, though, looking back at the merchant’s corpse on the ground. The gore didn’t bother him.

It was something else.

He replayed the image of Nikon’s punch in his mind multiple times, how the old man’s skull exploded under that power, and how there was not a bit of Spiritual Energy behind the blow. It all led Red to a startling discovery.

If it was him on the receiving end of that punch, he wasn’t sure he would survive.