Isabella and the other chosen slave were checked by the Apothecary then taken to another room where a maid helped them quickly shower and change into a fresh and revealing set of clothes.

However, just as she was being taken to Espero’s room by the gloomy Knight, Isabella experienced that familiar yet strange sensation.

She saw an illusory creature walk alongside her. She immediately recognized it as the man who had saved her.

In fact, Isabella wasn’t that scared of what was going to happen. Admittedly, it was a cruel and unwanted outcome, especially after she had been given a second chance, but it was still better than starving or getting chased by assassins.

‘I’m here to get you. Hold on for a little bit.’

The man’s voice rang in her ears as the connection was cut-off as abruptly as it had appeared. None of the two knew how to activate it, but it seemed to become more consistent when they were in close proximity to each other.

Thus, Isablla and the other female slave arrived in Espero's room.

“Good! You’re free to rest now.”

The moustached aristocrat grinned and waved his hand at the knight.

Just as the door was closed, Espero sat on the bed and ogled the two of them with a nasty smile.

“Come here and strip.”

The Enslaving Spell took effect and the two slaves’ bodies acted against their will.

…

A couple of minutes later

The knight didn’t go to his room and sleep, instead, he returned to the slaves and dragged the sick one away.

“Hm?”

The Apothecary, who was given a nearby room to rest, heard a soft noise, which made him stand up and open the door. As he surveyed the corridor, he saw the knight and the slave right behind him, both approximately 30 meters away.

When they made a turn and disappeared from view, he hastily and worriedly chased after them.

The Parasite, using the invisible lizard as a host, rapidly crawled on the wall and also went after the knight.

Barely a minute later, the knight pushed the slave into an underground and unilluminated room.

“Please…mercy!”

The slave knew what the man’s intentions were so she got on her knees and profusely begged with tears on her eyes. Unfortunately, her executor showcased no hesitation or mercy as he unsheathed his sword.

“This isn’t personal. May you rest in pea-”

“Stop!”

Hearing a cry from behind, the knight half-turned his body and saw the Apothecary rushing in.

“Why are you doing this? This is too extreme!”

“...”

“Every life is precious! You can’t do this!”

The young man stood between the knight and the slave while raising his hands.

“This doesn’t concern you.”

This time, the knight extended his hand and shoved the Apothecary with enough force to make him stagger and fall down.

“No!”

Still, the youth clung onto the knight’s leg and desperately tried to pull him away.

Having had enough, the Knight swept his leg and kicked the apothecary, blowing him to the side and against the wall.

‘Wait for it…’

Arthur was a short distance away, his eyes fixated on the Knight. He had to succeed with one strike or else things would get complicated.

The knight was strong, and his armor made it difficult to target vital spots. Nevertheless, there were some openings small enough to pierce through.

Just one accurate and deadly hit, that was all the parasite needed.

“S-stop… this is…”

The Apothecary touched his forehead and saw some blood, but he didn’t give up. He struggled to get up as the Knight stopped in front of the slave and got ready to behead her.

“I…”

The Apothecary took out a small leaf from his pocket and weakly threw it toward the slave.

A couple of thick vines appeared from the leaf and resisted the incoming blade.

Just when the knight, clearly angry, looked at the Apothecary, Arthur made his move.

[Law of Resilience]

[Law of Perception]

[First Attack]

[Poison]

[Miscellaneous Skills: Blood Bite | Swift Leap]

The lizard broke out of its invisibility and, with lightning-fast velocity, lunged at the knight’s neck.

Everything happened so fast, so much so that the knight reacted to the danger a second too late.

As the lizard’s open mouth closed down, denting and crushing part of the armor and even pierce his neck, his blade was swung upwards, cutting the enemy’s short tail.

“Agh…ghh…”

The force of the impact and the intensity of the bite were too much, causing the Knight to stumble backward and then fall.

Arthur didn’t let go of the neck, biting deeper as more blood gushed out. For a very short bit, the Knight flailed his arms and tried to attack with the blade, but to no avail.

When he ascertained the target’s death, Arthur immediately possessed him.

“I… won’t let you!”

When he ‘awakened’ in the host, Arthur felt the Apothecary jump at him and pull the sword from his hand.

With relative ease, he pushed the distressed and pale-faced youth to the side, used [Wither Touch] on the lizard, which sucked all the lingering energy from it, thus turning it into ash.

“...”

The Parasite swiftly stood up, turned around, and sped away. Now that he had killed Espero’s protector, he had very little time to act before he was discovered.

The real danger was the Hashashin monitoring Espero. If they were capable enough, maybe they had heard or noticed the brief ‘commotion’ that occurred in that underground room.

…

“Relax. This is an honor for you.”

Espero, half-naked, stared down at the two naked women on the bed. He was sitting on his four limbs, like a dog, and enjoying the view.

He showcased no hesitation or shame as his hands, like slithering snakes, found their way to the slaves’ bodies, groping and caressing them.

Isabella was stiff and relatively unresponsive, looking slightly anxious and scared. However, the other slave had tears in her eyes and was shaking non-stop.

Things progressively got worse as the perverted man touched the two of them in inappropriate places before finally removing his pants.

It was then that the door of the room was opened and a rapid silhouette dashed toward the bed.

“What? I clearly told you not to disturb-”

Espero was interrupted by a powerful blast of fire that spread across the room. The Knight followed up with a fast swing of his sword, which unleashed a shock wave that destroyed the furniture and forced the Hashashin out of stealth.

[Berserk]

[Power Attack]

Like an unstoppable bull, Arthur shot toward the startled Hashashin and thrust his blade forward.

The enemy used a blade of their own to defend, however, they found themselves being blown to the back by a monstrous force.

In fact, the force of the hit was so strong that the Hashashin was sent flying, crashing and destroying the wall, and then falling downwards, into the dimly-lit garden of the villa.

Arthur didn’t continue his assault, he rushed toward Isabella, picked her body and darted away, not sparing a glance to Espero.

The aristocrat had been injured by the flames and the subsequent shockwave, but he didn’t die.

Arthur could have spared an extra second to kill him, but he decided otherwise. Killing the knight and killing Espero Garcia were two different things. The latter was an influential figure of the Despot Collective and, as his murderer, he would possibly face a series of disastrous consequences.

Isabella didn’t struggle as the Knight picked her up and sprinted away with a ludicrous speed. He jumped off the window and shot toward the alley.

“Stay here.”

Barely a minute had passed before Arthur hid the girl in an inconspicuous backstreet. He looked around, expecting the Hashashin to give chase, but no such thing happened.

Still, he spent the next five minutes rushing from one alley to the other and then went to a spot where he had his belongings, including the storage artifact.

He switched to a middle-aged female host and wore casual clothes before exiting to the main street and pretending to be a normal civilian.

‘The Enslaving Spell only works when the Master is in close proximity. Isabella should be safe for now.’

Arthur only returned to the girl after half an hour, when he was absolutely sure no one was on his tail.

He was in another host, that of a young man, a slim, almost bony body, and beige short hair.

“...”

The girl was sitting on the ground and hugging her knees. She had listened to Arthur and didn’t move an inch from that hiding spot.

Arthur couldn’t factor all possibilities when he decided to rescue Isabella. Espero’s slaves could have been branded by an extra spell that allowed their Master to detect them. However, as Isabella was bought only recently, Espero might not have resorted to that measure yet.

Alternatively, he could have simply not cared about that. After all, he only used the newly-bought slaves to satisfy his twisted desires.

As he was notorious for always buying slaves, he might usually discard the old ones.

“Are you okay?”

Isabella raised her head and silently looked back at him. She still had that deadpan expression, though one could notice a rivulet of dread in her eyes.

“I’m not going to harm you. Here, wear this.”

He extended his hand towards her and she responded in kind, albeit in a hesitant manner.

He gave her a hooded-cloak, which should make her less recognisable. Espero might send people to look for her, though -by now- he would probably be more concerned and enraged by his Knight’s actions.

“Argh!!! It hurts! It fucking hurts!”

Espero Garcia was urgently taken to the Sultan’s residence, where the finest of healers tended to his wounds. His left arm and part of his face were burned, three ribs were broken, and left leg was cut and pierced by glass shards.

As he had been ‘on top’ of the two slaves, he had sustained the most damage by the knight’s first attack.

“Make him sleep.”

“Yes.”

The Sultan looked at the state of Espero with a frown.

The healer obeyed and put his hand on the victim’s head, making his cursing and shouting come to a stop as his eyes closed.

“Spare no resources to heal all of his wounds.”

The Sultan spat those words and then left the room.

“Explain.”

Outside, the Sultan looked down on the black-clothed man kneeling in front of him.

“He was attacked by his own Knight, Master.”

“That is neither a good nor reasonable answer.”

The Hashashin, whose broken right arm was dangling due to the broken bones, kept his head lowered as he responded again,

“I wasn’t able to stop him, Master. The Knight could… could have been mind-controlled. Please let me go back to the Villa and investigate.”

“...”

The Sultan stared at his own servant for a bit before walking to the window and staring at the city.

“Alright. Go and thoroughly investigate, however…” He paused and glanced at the Hashashin,

“Do not act. If you encounter or find the perpetrator, don’t confront them. To avoid your detection and pull such a stunt. If it’s the work of a single individual, then I’ll be pleasantly impressed.”

The Hashashin nodded and quickly disappeared, though another appeared a second later.

“What about Mister Garcia, Master?”

“What about him? While it is true that any aristocratic guests that visit my city are guaranteed absolute safety and the best accommodations, I’m not somesort of a God that can protect them from everything. He’ll cry about it for a while and then move on.”

“...”

The Sultan softly smiled as his eyes were gazing at the starless night sky.

“One of the slaves was taken… return to me with all available details we have on her. From the fire at the Slave Market to this… it truly is a productive and entertaining night.”