Chapter 136: He’s far too dangerous
Chapter 136:
Beside him, Pale Smoke’s expression had gone carefully blank, though Yeon could still sense the faint, restrained tension radiating off him, the same unmistakable unease he’d carried since first mentioning the summons back at the branch office.
The attendant finally stopped before a set of tall double doors near the end of the hallway, reaching out to push them open with practiced ease.
"He’s waiting inside," the attendant said simply, stepping aside to let them through.
Yeon hesitated for only a moment before stepping forward, squaring his shoulders as he crossed the threshold, Pale Smoke following silently just a half step behind him.
The room beyond opened into a wide, softly lit space, minimally furnished, save for a single high-backed chair positioned near the center, facing away from the entrance toward a tall window overlooking the estate’s quiet, manicured grounds.
A figure sat in the chair, unmoving, his presence somehow filling the entire room despite his stillness.
"You’ve kept me waiting," the man said, his voice calm and even, carrying an unmistakable weight beneath its deceptively casual tone.
Yeon’s breath caught slightly as the chair slowly turned to face them.
The man’s features came into view gradually, a middle-aged face marked by a curious mix of black and white hair, streaked unevenly across his head in a pattern that seemed almost deliberate rather than natural.
His eyes settled on them next, pitch black, utterly devoid of any visible pupil or iris, swallowing the light around them entirely.
His lips looked slightly dry, cracked faintly at the edges, an oddly human imperfection set against an otherwise unsettling, almost inhuman presence.
Yeon forced himself to hold the man’s gaze, though every instinct screaming beneath his composure urged him to look away entirely.
"My apologies," Yeon said carefully, keeping his voice as steady as he could manage. "We came as quickly as possible."
The man studied him for a long, silent moment, his expression unreadable, before the faintest suggestion of a smile tugged briefly at the corner of his cracked lips.
"Yeon Allistar," he said slowly, testing the name aloud. "The new guild master of Roaring Lions."
"Yes," Yeon said.
"Good," the man said simply. "Then we have quite a lot to discuss."
The man’s dark eyes lingered on Yeon a moment longer before shifting briefly toward Pale Smoke, sweeping over him with the same unhurried, assessing gaze.
"Forgive my lack of manners," he said finally, his tone carrying the faintest hint of dry amusement. "I am Thokas. One of the ten heads of the Player Guild Association."
Yeon’s stomach tightened slightly at the confirmation. He’d suspected as much already, given everything Pale Smoke had told him, but hearing it stated so plainly, so casually, settled the weight of it more heavily across his shoulders.
"It’s an honor," Yeon said carefully, bowing his head slightly.
Thokas waved the gesture off with a small, indifferent motion of his hand. "Spare me the formalities. I have questions, and I expect useful answers. That will earn far more of my goodwill than empty courtesy."
Yeon straightened, forcing himself to meet the man’s unsettling, pupil-less gaze directly. "Of course."
"Your brother," Thokas said, cutting straight to the point without further preamble. "Leon Allistar. I want to understand exactly how a D-rank talent, discarded and dismissed by his own family, became capable of the strength I witnessed personally that day."
Yeon hesitated slightly at the phrasing.
"You were there," he said. "You saw more of it than either of us did."
"I saw the end of it," Thokas said. "What I didn’t see was... whatever transformed a failed talent into someone capable of surviving that confrontation at all."
Yeon absorbed that carefully, adjusting his understanding of exactly what this meeting was actually about.
"I don’t fully understand it myself," Yeon admitted. "The last time I saw him before that day, he was exactly what he used to be... usel—I mean, weak."
"And then?" Thokas pressed.
"And then he returned," Yeon said. "Stronger than any of us could have imagined."
Thokas’s gaze shifted toward Pale Smoke next, settling on him directly.
"You witnessed the fight itself, before I arrived. Tell me what you saw. Every detail."
Pale Smoke straightened, some of his earlier composure tightening under the sudden weight of direct attention.
"I stayed hidden through most of it," he admitted. " I didn’t want to risk being caught in the middle of an S-rank confrontation."
"Understandable," Thokas said. "Continue."
"He used a sword at one point," Pale Smoke said, piecing the memory back together carefully.
"It didn’t feel like a weapon a D-rank talent should have been capable of wielding at all."
Thokas’s expression remained largely unreadable, though something behind his dark, empty eyes sharpened slightly with interest.
"A sword," he repeated quietly, more to himself than to either of them. "What did it look like?"
Pale Smoke frowned slightly, trying to recall. "Bright... and golden in colour. It happened fast, and I was more focused on staying hidden than studying the details."
Thokas fell silent for a moment, clearly turning the information over carefully.
"A golden blade... wielded by someone who shouldn’t have had access to anything beyond the most basic D-rank equipment," he murmured. "Talent alone doesn’t explain a weapon like that.
He glanced toward Yeon again. "Has your family ever had contact with anything like that? Any history, any rumor, anything at all that might explain where such a weapon could have originated?"
Yeon shook his head slowly, a bit surprised by that question.
He felt like Thokas should know that he was just as confused as every other person about how Leon got his strange powers, so why was he asking him these questions?
Nonetheless, he answered. "Nothing that I know of. My father never mentioned anything like that."
Thokas’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly, clearly not the answer he’d hoped for.
"Then the sword’s origin remains unclear," he said. "Which only makes this matter more pressing. He’s far too dangerous..."
Yeon shifted slightly, sensing an opening in the shift of conversation.
"Then you understand why Roaring Lions needs support," he said carefully. "If Leon truly poses that level of threat, rebuilding the guild properly, strengthening it enough to eventually stand against him, benefits the Association as much as it benefits me."