Chapter 842: Down To Business
'Oh boy. Is this Kuzon? He looks funny in that emperor attire.' I nearly burst out laughing when we finally got transported into the palace by Ciel's Magic.
He had this large golden robe, with tons of ornaments on it. It looked extremely funny. Too funny to even describe— as it looked to be wearing him instead of the other way around.
'Z'ark looks pretty much the same, though. Could it be that this is how Midas Emperors dressed back in my world? I have to ask Kuzon. Honestly...'
Fortunately, I was able to establish enough self-control to stop myself from laughing out loud.
"Pfft..." I ended up chuckling a little, though.
Fortunately, it didn't seem like anyone heard.
"Kido... what are you doing here? No, how did you get here, to begin with?" Kuzon's tone was harsh and his eyes were ablaze with fury.
He glanced at the rest of us, donning a gaze of arrogance and conceit. It almost felt like he saw us as animals—no, maybe even worse.
"You even brought your filthy comrades with you. How did you Outers manage to get in here? Could this be the work of a mole? Tch, those—"
"Who are you calling filthy? Don't forget the land that you now claim as your own belonged to the Demon Race. Why don't you evacuate from here since it's so filthy!" Karlia burst out in anger, her violet eyes turning crimson with animosity.
"Tch. Our Race has purified this place. It is no longer filthy because we exist here. Do not seek to sully our pure utopia with your presence."
"That's enough, Kuzon. Karlia, please calm yourself. This isn't worth it." Kido finally spoke, raising his voice as he pleaded for silence.
Even though he wasn't using the effects of his Arcana Spell, both parties fell silent.
'Impressive. Such good charisma. See, Kido? You can do it if you try.' To be honest, Kido seemed like he would make a better emperor than Kuzon.
At least, according to what I've seen and heard about both of them.
'Also... judging by their exchange, it seemed that this wasn't the first time the Outgroup had interacted with Kuzon. Maybe they bumped into each other a few times during missions? Yeah, that makes sense...'
Since they shared a common enemy, it was more probable that Kuzon and the Outgroup had a history. Unfortunately, based on the drivel that just came out of Kuzon's mouth, I could already deduce that their few interactions hadn't been pleasant.
"That's enough fooling around. Let's get down to business." Neron sighed, stepping forward as the leader of our little squad.
"I agree. Finding out how you managed to make it this far can wait. For now, though... I'll simply capture you." Kuzon's grin grew wide instantly. "Get them, Z'ark."
>VWUUUUUUSSSSHHHHHH<
Without hesitation, the Dragon King lunged at our group, heading on a direct collision course with Neron, who was currently in front of everyone.
In a flash, the Dragon King assumed his massive form, ready to crush Neron and everyone else with his massive power. Considering Neron was Inept, he was mostly right to assume he was fodder.
"Haa..."
Even faster than it took the Dragon King to reach him, a sudden pulse surged from Neron's body.
His hair turned white, and flashes that appeared to look like electricity covered his body. His eyes glowed a brilliant blue and his skin brightened.
He stretched out a hand, easily stopping the powerful charge of the Dragon King at that moment. Without even moving an inch, he caught Z'ark by the head, holding him in place.
"W-wha—?!" The Dragon King could only bark in shock, feeling his body become completely paralyzed by a foreign influence of... Mana!
Yes... Mana.
The Dragon King and Kuzon must have already known of Neron's status as an Inept. They must have assumed he could be easily taken care of, thereby striking a deadly first strike on the Outgroup.
How wrong they were to assume that.
"I said, enough fooling around." Neron whispered, before crushing the thick scales that covered Z'ark's head.
The poor Dragon King seemed like he was going to scream judging by how bloodshot his eyes became, but his jaws were forcefully shut tight by Neron's pure exertion of force.
"MMMPPPHHHHH!!!"
For a few seconds, Neron remained in this state, his intense gaze properly accentuating his signature deadpan expression.
A mix of fear and pain seemed to rise from the depths of the Dragon King's heart, and I could even see Kuzon become petrified by pure shock. None of them had expected our dear leader to possess so much power.
As casually as Neron stopped Z'ark, he finally flung him away, causing him to land right at the feet of Kuzon—with a heavy thud, of course.
>BOOOOMMMM!!!<
Fortunately, none of the fancy stuff was damaged.
Neron remained right in front of us, and Kuzon appeared flustered with the defeated Z'ark groaning at his feet. That made Neron's statement abundantly clear.
"Let's get down to business instead."
*
*
*
It only took a brief moment of silence before Kuzon called for the guards, but it was useless.
"I cast a Displacement Spell the moment we got here. No one is going to hear you." Ciel replied, smiling triumphantly.
By using [The Tower] to a degree of mastery, you could make something beyond spatial perception. It was the whole logic behind my [Unknowable] Spell.
"Y-you... you think you scare me? I am the Midas Emperor! I can take you all down, no sweat." Kuzon yelled, still flexing his superiority like the idiot that he was.
'I can't tell if he's doing this intentionally, maybe to let our guards down, or if he's really this stupid.'
Watching this imbecile speak just desecrated the 'cool' image of Kuzon I had in my head. It was pure sacrilege.
"It seems you are yet to listen to reason. Then, why don't we allow our newest member to teach you some manners?" Neron spoke calmly, now glancing in my direction.
'E-eh?'
This wasn't part of the plan, but that didn't mean it was against it as well. Still, to think Neron was going with this. It was totally...
'... AWESOME!'
Words could not describe the kind of emotions that currently swirled in my heart. To think Neron was giving this round to me... how could I ask for any more?
'Kuzon and I have fought twice before and he beat me both times.' It was embarrassing now that I thought of it.
A young kid like that kicking the ass of an old man.
However, I already learnt my lesson from those two fights. I used those losses to learn new things, and thanks to the humiliation I suffered, I was able to grow even further.
"Are you looking down on me, filthy Outers? Sending your weakest to—"
"Then it shouldn't be a problem. Since you're going to deal with all of us eventually, there's no problem starting with our newest member." Neron seemed to be enjoying himself as he spoke.
I took his queue and stepped forward, resting a calm gaze on Kuzon.
"Tch. You filthy barbarians. I'll show you..." He murmured, finally returning my gaze. "I'll make sure you regret that chuckle you gave."
'Ah! So he did hear me back then...' I nearly flinched in surprise.
In any case, a Midas was still a Midas. Just because this Kuzon was an absolute brat compared to the one I knew didn't change their lineage.
'He's the Emperor. I have to treat him as such...' My gaze narrowed as I caught his prideful smile.
'Will I need to go all-out?'
*
*
*
[A/N]
Now this should be fun. Jared versus Kuzon, for the third time.
Here's the link.