1096 A City Of Heaven And Hell



"I didn't find him. No one with his face or any unknown face has visited the Infinity store so far."

Inside a private room of a cafe across from a magnificent store built of pure pink sand, a man spoke into a crystal band on his wrist.

The image of a middle-aged woman in a purple suit flashed on the band. She looked normal, except that each eye carried multiple pupils of irregular sizes.

It was Helga, one of the two deputy directors of Proxima.

"Hex, don't attack him prematurely. I and Hagen couldn't kill him together." Helga said calmly.

Hex's expression grew serious.

The triplets knew each other well. If two of them together couldn't kill him, there's no way he alone could achieve a different result.

"He's in the inner areas of the Duchy. We can kill him without lifting a finger." Helga said with a little smile.

"Un." Hex nodded slightly before asking with a hesitant expression. "But we'll have to pay up a big price for this. Is it really needed to finish him? It's possible he's not trying to be our enemy and everything was just a misunderstanding."

"I'm fully aware of that possibility. But he must die because…" Helga's eyes flashed and her dozens of pupils shook hideously. "He saved two strangers from the Havocs and despite his power, behaved amicably with them. Even against Tiger Chief Typhon, he tried not to escalate the situation.

Such a man is destined to stand against our goal simply because of his values. So, we must get rid of him. One less enemy, one step closer. You haven't forgotten your vows, have you?"

"…I didn't. But thank you for reminding me, sister. It seems like I've been softened by living in the city. Don't worry, I'll make sure he and anyone in our path disappears." Hex cut off the call with a solemn expression.

Then, he covered his face and shut his eyes tight.

The horrible sights of that night many years ago surfaced in his mind once again. The triplets were happy, once. Their parents were soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the Duchy. They too wanted to grow up and protect their motherland.

But something changed that day.

Their parents were accused of treason for killing a gangster close to a big military officer. Then, they were hanged in the public in the most humiliating way possible. Even their corpses were whipped for seven full days.

The triplets were driven away from the military housing into Ubiq's slums. But it didn't stop there. Some twisted men and women related to the gangster from the military kidnapped and tortured them for months. They were thrown out only because those monsters lost interest.

But the triplets were twisted forever.

Helga's eyes were plucked out and placed again. Then plucked out again and inserted again. Again and again and again.

So, she became a monster who'd pluck out others' eyes and insert their pupils into her own.

Hagen was forced to choose between starving or feeding on the flesh of young children, infants even. It broke him irreversibly. He now eats children.

Hex…

Hex took a deep breath and smoothened out the wrinkles on his arm's skin. Then, he tightened the skin covering his face and checked himself one last time in the mirror.

"Perfect."

No one would know. No one could know. He's been doing this for decades now. Everyone would have only one face. He had many.

Hex looked at the holographic projection of the 'target' and licked his lips. "What a handsome face you have…it'll soon be mine."

— — —

"Master, the Infinity store! You just passed by the Infinity store!" Boo's hologram, now disguised as a little cat, circled around Varian and waved its hands in anxiety.

"If someone is looking for me, they'll keep watch of the Infinity store." Varian gave it a glance and looked around.

People weren't paying any special attention to him.

So far, he had seen people carrying many 'pets' in these commercial streets. Dogs, cats, and the like were common. What was new was the tiny humanoid species that these rich men and women were taking with them. There were also countless robotic pets.

Varian even saw a few…people posing as pets.

'That's a humanoid dog race or something? More like a man with a tail. But why the hell is he willing to be a pet?'

It's an area he didn't want to delve into.

Ubiq had prosperity that Earth never saw. And depravity that was never imagined.

"B-But…"

"I'm here to buy things, not make enemies." Varian moved into a large luxury store a few blocks away from Infinity.

Unicorn Enterprises, managed by the most talented princess of Centaurus Duchy, this was the most famous brand before the unexpected opening of the Infinity store a year ago.

Now, due to Infinity store's presence as well as the princess' apparent disinterest in management, they're losing their ground fast and were desperate to regain their position.

It's just the right place for him.

The lounge was filled with customers in extravagant dresses moving around, attended to by young and beautiful maids and butlers of different but aesthetic races.

When he stepped in, the doors scanned his 'registered' identity and informed a maid.

A young cat lady in an elegant dress stepped forward and greeted him. "Dear guest Kyle, it's your first time here. What would you like to buy? Potions, pills, weapons, treasures, land, titles, anything you want to buy will be available here."

Varian smiled at the little beauty. "I want to sell some…interesting stuff. Something I'm confident you can auction off to gain some limelight you're losing."

"Y-You must be joking. What can a few items…"

"Call the appraiser and we'll talk."

The cat lady looked at him with suspicion but took him to a private room on the second floor and left with a professional smile.

Just a while later, an old man in a red suit walked in with confident strides and sat in front of Varian.

"Please." He gestured, not willing to even waste time in introduction.

"Here."

Four items appeared on the tea table.

The appraiser gave Varian a skeptical gaze before unloading the test kit on the table, consisting of

A red fruit from mercury ruins, grown in the care of Blood race.

The appraiser scraped out a small piece of the fruit and run it through some tests.

"I-It can double the vitality in the body for a while. It's of no use to most races but for the types that can store a part of their vitality, it's priceless!"

Centaurus race remains the dominant race in the Duchy. They could store a good chunk of vitality and aura in their horns for emergency use. For them, this fruit could indeed be a second life.

'The blood race only uses it on the children who can't control their blood and end up losing a lot of it.'

Next was a small potion with an icy-blue liquid.

"T-This delays the aging factor and extends lifespan by at least ten years. The upper limit could be twenty!"

Mermaids were surprisingly good alchemists. Trying to make potions to retain their beauty forever, they ended up making an anti-aging drug.

But it's not that Centaurus doesn't have any such potions. There were plenty in the market. The specialty of this particular potion was that—

"It works even on people on the verge of death, suffering from an internal injury, aura injuries, vitality losses...the celestial rankers would sell an arm and leg for this."

The third item was a precious four-petaled pink flower growing on top of the elves' world tree.

The appraiser tried to test it but failed to identify any specialties. But he didn't act aloof anymore and humbly asked Varian for guidance. "Mister Kyle, what effect does the flower have? Even with my experience of a hundred years, I am clueless."

"Restrain the elementals."

"Yes?"

"If an elemental is hit with an extract from this flower, their aura will be destabilized for a short while. It works even for rank 2 celestial ranks."

"W-Woah, that's incredib—b-but we don't have any enmity with elementals, we're all part of the alliance." The appraiser looked around the room instinctually and spoke in a soft voice.

Varian stared at him silently.

An uncomfortable silence ensued in the room until the appraiser finally lowered his head and started a verification test.

"It'll be a bit controversial to sell this item, but the profits will indeed be high." After verifying its restraining effect, the old man admitted.

Even though they're all in the alliance, there were definitely small fights between them. Centaurus could sell this piece for a handsome price to one of the Duchies fighting elementals.

Or better, they could use it against the pirates, thieves, and the like who typically come from the Nexus Empire.

The fourth item was a red ring.

"T-This contains the power of an unknown entity, it's overflowing with vitality but it's not going to heal…so, what is it?"

"I need a test piece to demonstrate."

"Please specify."

"A living thing."

The cat lady who welcomed him was quickly called in. She entered with an excited expression and bowed lightly.

Since Varian was able to keep the appraiser here so far, it proves he got some really good stuff to sell. And someone who could sell such stuff was a person she wanted to make a better impression on.

Even though he was a unicorn race, he's pretty handsome. Perhaps…

"Do you have any pets? That'd be sufficient. I don't need a person to demonstrate."

"I'd like to be of help." The cat lady insisted.

"No, it'll hurt a bit." Varian looked at the appraiser.

The cat lady stood between them and insisted strongly. "Mister Kyle, a bit of pain is nothing compared to customer satisfaction."

"You've been warned." Varian shrugged and appeared in front of her in a flash.

"Ye—Eh?"

The cat lady's senses blanked out and a stinging pain struck her neck. Then, she collapsed on the floor, breathless, with a large hold drilled into her neck and blood spurting out uncontrollably.

She's dying. Unless there's some good medicine, she wouldn't last three more seconds.

"Y-You! What are you doing?!" The appraiser jumped out of his seat and looked at Varian with apprehension.

"Demonstration." Varian put the ring on the cat lady's finger.

Her bleeding immediately stopped and her falling body functions resumed. She wasn't dying anymore. But to recover back, she still needed treatment.

"She's now frozen in a state between life and death. If you have to save someone but can't because of various reasons, this ring will be your boon." Varian explained calmly.

This item was created from Hortus' forbidden region where life and death were experimented on.

The Primordial Gods left a few their powers to keep the experiment running. Varian based this ring on their power.

After checking that she was indeed not dead, the appraiser sat back gulping down his saliva.

After five full minutes, Varian poured a healing potion. The wounds on the cat lady healed and she stood up with a dazed expression.

"I-I apologize for passing ou—blood! Why is there blood here?"

It's better if she never found out.