Chapter 87: Journey Through the Dark Lands
Throughout the journey, the group encountered and eliminated several more Nightmare Carapaces. The terrain seemed to be crawling with them, perhaps drawn by something or driven by a singular purpose. Regardless, it was only a minor setback at best.
The process remained more or less the same: upon spotting a group of monsters, the others would take cover in the shadows while Adrian served as bait and lured away one or two monsters. Meanwhile, Klaus and Seraphim would engage the remaining enemies. When the situation grew difficult, Briar would send in the tamed Stalker as reinforcement.
Fortunately, having an Awakened Hollow on their side proved to be an invaluable advantage.
Considering that both the Blackmane Stalker and Nightmare Carapaces were of the same Awakened rank, one would expect them to be equal. However, this was completely wrong. The fights were so one-sided that he began to question the Blackmane was actually an Awakened Hollow. Of course, he would question this especially when the tamed creature would beat monsters of the same rank as it was to their deaths with nothing but its fists and body alone.
Thinking about it, that was definitely insane! How had the succubus even managed to tame that creature?!
The more he witnessed the Stalker’s prowess, the more he doubted Briar’s story. There was definitely something she wasn’t telling him. The part about her taming the creature with her blood was true. He knew that much due to the nature of the Master and Servant Contract binding their souls together. One of its benefits was that his status as her "Master" allowed him to discern whether she was lying. However, that ability was completely useless if she simply omitted crucial details unless he forced her to speak using his Command Seal.
Certainly, having a demoness under his command was useful. However, he disliked the notion of owning a "slave," so he was making an effort to build a genuine relationship with her. This meant minimizing the use of the Command Seal, if not avoiding it at all.
With a tired sigh, Klaus summoned the chaos runes.
[Aether Fragments: 194 / 1000]
’Hmm. My fragments increased from 114 to 194. At this rate, it won’t be long before I can form my Baptismous Slate.’
A satisfied smile tugged at the corners of his lips.