503 White Death [1]

"How's the situation?" 

A grating voice echoed throughout a small room that was dimly lit by a couple of candles that sat atop an old wooden table. 

The voice belonged to Count Nukutan, the leader of the Avidity branch. One of the largest sub-branches of the greed clan residing in the demon world. 

There were in total seven clans residing in the demon world, and they were all covered by a Duke-ranked demon. Only a select few could be members of the main clan. The rest would be thrown into different branches governed by the clan. 

Each branch differed in strength, and in general, a clan had over twenty branches with two or three being their main branches. 

The Avidity branch, being one of those three for the Greed clan. 

A tense and somber atmosphere enveloped the room as Count Nukutan scanned the room.

Sitting beside him were multiple figures who looked back at him with respectful and subservient gazes. 

"How is it possible that after all this time, you've still not caught him?" 

His voice couldn't help but raise. There was visible frustration in his voice as he glared at everyone in the room. 

About four months ago, out of nowhere, a figure appeared out of nowhere and started hunting different sub-branches. 

Most shockingly was the fact that no one knew who the figure was. 

The reason for this was because wherever he went, he would leave as fast as he came. 

No. 

This wasn't exactly right.

'The white death.'

Count Nukutan muttered underneath his breath. 

That was his nickname. This was the nickname of the individual responsible for destroying several demon sub-branches. 

No one knew exactly what he looked like, but to those that have managed to survive, they all said the same thing. 

'Before everything happened, a bright white flash of light covered our vision and by the time we regained our vision, all we saw were the dead bodies of our comrades.' 

Count Nukutan quite frankly did not believe these recounts at all. 

They were most likely exaggerations made by those that survived in order to create an excuse for their failure and preserve that little pride of theirs. 

Just the thought made Count Nukutan scoff. 

"As if anyone would believe in your lies.." 

That said. 

The commotion that was created due to this was loud enough to alert the main clans. This was quite frankly terrible news for Count Nukutan. 

If he was unable to get rid of this so-called 'White death,' and the main clan was forced to act, Count Nukutan may find his position be put in jeopardy. 

And simply put, he didn't want that. 

Just the thought caused his face to twist. Raising his head to meet the eyes of everyone present, a heavy pressure bore down on the room. 

"I'll ask again, how is the situation regarding the white death?"

"Everything seems to be going just as planned." 

Replying to him was another figure sitting next to him. There were hints of ridicule in his voice, but despite that, he still made sure to be respectful when addressing Count Nukutan. 

"According to our predictions, 'he' should be here anytime soon. We've already sent out a unit to get rid of him. We won't make the same mistake as the other branches." 

"That's good." 

Count Nukutan nodded his head in satisfaction. 

"This situation has been going on for too long. Let's get rid of this pest and get this over with." 

Secretly he smiled. 

Although the whole situation was annoying, it was also a great opportunity for him. If he managed to get rid of the 'White death' some unknown that had been terrorizing the demon realm for quite a while, he might even be able to get promoted to the main branch. 

Just the thought made Count Nekutan salivate. 

Reaching this conclusion, he stood up and started barking orders. 

"Whatever you do, make sure you spend all—" 

Bang—! 

But before he could even finish his sentence, they heard the sound of a loud explosion echo from outside of the room they were in. 

Everyone instantly became alarmed. 

"He's already here." 

That was a bit faster than Count Nukutan had expected. Nevertheless, it was still within the reasonable estimation. 

Crossing his arms together, he smiled. 

"Let's see how strong you are..." 

Bang—! Bang—! 

In a matter of seconds, the sound of explosions became closer and closer. Everyone in the room had stood up by now, and thick demonic energy lingered in the air. 

"What's going on?" 

Count Nukutan wondered as he stepped forward with a solemn look on his face. His eyes never left the entrance of the room. 

The rate at which the explosions were getting closer was a lot faster than he anticipated. Did something go wrong? 

It was then that...

Booom—!

With another explosion, the door burst apart, and smoke filled the air. 

"The audacity!" 

Count Nukutan became enraged. 

"Attack!" 

Without waiting to see who broke the door, Count Nukutan ordered everyone to attack. 

He wasn't naive enough to just wait for the enemy to appear. From the moment the door opened, he had already ordered everyone to attack. 

At his orders, everyone inside of the room woke up from their stupor and did as he asked. Raising their hands, or dashing toward the door, everyone attacked at the same time. 

Frightening attacks shot toward the door one after another as the room started to quake, and the dust in the air thickened. 

"Die you bastard!" 

Count Nukutan screamed as he watched his subordinate's relentless attacks head toward the door. He, of course, didn't simply just watch. 

Raising his hand, he sent out multiple attacks. He did not hold back in any of his attacks as powerful blasts of energy shot to the door. 

Rumble—! Rumble—! 

The combined attacks of multiple powerful demons caused the whole room to shake uncontrollably, and it wasn't long before the structure they were in started to crumble apart. 

But none of the demons cared as they continued to attack. 

This persisted for quite a bit before Count Nekutus raised his hand and shouted.

"Stop." 

Almost simultaneously, everyone stopped attacking. Although he couldn't see as the raised dust was covering his vision, a satisfied smile emerged on Count Nukutan's face. 

"This should do it." 

He let out a long breath and finally relaxed his shoulders, but it was then that he heard a voice from behind him. 

"You guys done?" 

"Huh?" 

By the time Count Nukutan realized what had happened, it was already too late as the last thing he heard was a subtle clicking sound. 

Click—!

What came after the clicking sound was a white flash, and his vision turned upside down. 

'Ah, I get it now...' 

It was during the last moments of his life that he finally understood the meaning behind the nickname. But it was already too late for him as a hand reached out for his core, and crushed it into bits. 

Crack—! 

*** 

"Not bad, you're a lot faster than when you first arrived here." 

"Right..." 

Putting my sword away, I brushed my hair back. 

The other me asked as he sat on one of the chairs in the room. 

"How do you like your name?" 

"Don't bother." 

Just thinking about the ridiculous nickname the demons attached to me made me want to kill them even more. 

I sort of got where they came from, but I would've rather have had a better nickname. 

"Oh well, I can't have everything." 

I was already pleased with my rate of growth. 

Thinking back about the four months that I had spent here, I realized that I had indeed grown a lot. My rank may have not grown during the time that I was here, but everything other than that did. 

Be it my mastery over my arts, or my experience, my growth had been quite frankly, terrifying. 

I had never experienced such fast growth before, and this was none other thanks to, me. 

Well, the future version of me. 

As he knew me the best, he was probably the best teacher that I have ever had. His explanations were pretty much tailor-made for me, and during these short months, I found myself soaking up knowledge like never before. 

It was quite frankly euphoric. 

The feeling of vividly seeing your strength rise in such a short amount of time. 

Crack—! 

Clenching my fists, I broke the last demon core into bits. I did want to keep the cores with me, but that was actually quite dangerous since the demons could use them to track me. Even if they were stored in dimensional spaces. 

Left with no choice, I could only break them. 

Staring at my hand which was filled with remains of the core, I opened my mouth and asked. 

"What next?" 

"...Nothing." 

The other me replied. 

"Hm?" 

I paused for a moment. I had a hard time processing what he was trying to say. 

Did he just say nothing? I'm sure I didn't hear incorrectly. For someone that had been overworking me to the bone ever since I've been staying here, his words made no sense. 

My head snapped in his direction. 

"What do you mean nothing? Weren't you the one that told me that we would spend all of our time training and hunting down demons?" 

"I did?" 

"...Yeah." 

My mouth twitched. 

I didn't take myself for being someone that would forget something like that. He was definitely plotting something. 

This did not go unnoticed by him, as he asked. 

"What's with that look?" 

"Spit it out. What are you planning me to do next?" 

"Nothing." 

Ren replied once more. 

I tilted my head and questioningly looked at him. 

"Really?" 

I quite frankly couldn't bring myself to trust his words. 

"Really. 

Ren replied. He then paused and added. 

"...At least for now." 

"Heh, I knew it." 

A laugh escaped from my lips.

There it was, the catch. 

Caressing my chin for a bit, I thought for a moment before coming up with a conclusion. 

"For the past few months, you've been having me attack a lot of demon Sub-branches with the excuse of it being training, but I know for a fact that the branches we've been attacking were not randomly chosen." 

Pausing, my eyes squinted. 

"You're aiming for something." 

"Tsk."

It was then that the other me clicked his tongue. 

"You're deduction is correct. The branches you've been targeting have been selected on purpose, and that's why I'm telling you that you should rest for the next couple of days."

A smile crept up on his face.

I instantly had an ominous premonition. 

"After that, I'm not sure you'll be able to rest again for quite a bit."