Damien had absorbed the memory fragments from the souls of Tony and Rick while they were dying. He now need not place his palm on his victims to use Shackles Of Death as his mastery of the skill had increased. As long as they are near him and their souls are vulnerable, he would be able to easily use it on them.
He also found out that he could maintain Undying Wrath for a longer time before it could wear him out.
He was slightly surprised after knowing the location of the Dark Sky Guild's branch in the Rong Empire through their memories.
He also got to know about the mega auction going to be held by the Dark Sky Guild tomorrow and who the boss of the two men were.
'Hmph, seems like they didn't lie.' Damien could have just taken their memories first but just to be safe he questioned them anyway in case they had some kind of seal on their soul.
'I will make sure the Dark Sky Guild will never step their foot in this land ever again!'
The same night in the Dark Forest, Damien was surrounded by innumerous dead bodies of ethereal beasts at the Spirit Ethereal Realm.
'I guess this is the first time I would be trying something like this.'
The next day early morning, in the outskirts of the Rong Imperial City, Damien was meandering through the streets following the location of the Dark Sky Guild.
He noticed that the street he was walking on was a street of trade and business where merchant organizations of various sizes were running their business. Apart from the merchant guilds, there were also countless small stores and stalls selling all different kinds of oddities.
The entire street was like an enormous bazaar.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Damien's footsteps finally stopped at a certain location when he saw a tall building of an antique style. In this street, the building was definitely conspicuous, standing proud among countless other merchant guilds.
At a glance, he could see that this was a large merchant guild but not as big as the Rising Sun Trading Guild. Several tens of entrances could be seen at a glance and the stream of people going in and out was endless.
Their emblem had the outline of winds blowing past the sun which symbolized the whole continent. From its vast, ancient style of construction, Damien realized it definitely possessed a deep background and history.
Damien raised his head and read the few words that were on the tall building in a low voice, "Eternal Zephyr Merchant Guild."
'Heh...hiding like cowards behind such a noble name.' He scoffed inwardly.
It looked nothing like Damien pictured in his mind and in fact, the whole building seemed like a legitimate and prosperous merchant guild. He speculated that they must have a different entrance for their underground business which is reserved for certain customers only.
But he didn't care what kind of backing or background they had. Even if it was the Xeton Empire backing them, Damien wouldn't give a damn since he knew who the Xeton Empire would value more.
Even if that wasn't the case, that wouldn't stop him from rescuing Valentina. He had been blaming himself nonstop for Valentina getting kidnapped. He thought that he still hadn't learned his lesson. Even in his previous life, he wasn't able to save Sofie because he was too late in getting back.
Had he came back a few minutes earlier, he was sure he could have saved Sofie from her cruel death.
He knew it must have taken a great deal of courage for Valentina to step outside her territory in search of him. With how Damien portrayed the outside world was dangerous, he was sure that she was more apprehensive about venturing outside.
'When will I ever be able to truly protect the people I care about?' Damien sighed inwardly.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Damien didn't bother to think much more as he headed toward the Eternal Zephyr Merchant Guild's outermost hall. He saw a young girl standing inside the hall's entrance, welcoming every visitor with a smile.
Upon seeing Damien and the Alchemist Society's badge on his cloak, the girl's expression slightly changed.
She bowed even deeper than she would to usual customers and spoke in a respectful tone, "Esteemed guest, welcome to the Eternal Zephyr Merchant Guild. Please come in. If you need something, please feel free to say what you need at any time."
Damien said in a deep voice, "Take me to your manager."
The girl hesitated for a moment but then smiled and said, "Sure, esteemed guest. Please follow me."
Damien nodded and followed the girl.
After walking through many floors of staircases, the surroundings completely quieted down with not a single sound to be heard.
The girl stopped at a door to a room locked from the inside. As Damien surveyed his surroundings, he noticed that the hall was covered in many ethereal formations both defensive and offensive. He furrowed his brows and didn't dare to let his guard down.
"Elder Dan, an esteemed guest has arrived." The girl said respectfully before the door.
After a moment of silence, the door slowly opened.
"Esteemed guest, please enter. Elder Dan is waiting for you inside." The girl gently bowed and then turned to leave.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Damien didn't hesitate as he walked in with large strides. As soon as he entered, the door behind him closed.
The room was rather spacious and an old man sat before a wooden table.
'This old man ought to be Elder Dan.' Damien thought.
Seeing Damien, the old man rose and welcomed him with a smile, "I didn't expect a guest like your esteemed self to honor our humble guild with your presence. I am Elder Dan, may I ask what you have come to seek from our Eternal Zephyr Guild?"
"Take me to the Dark Sky Guild." Damien said straight to the point.
Elder Dan's brows wrinkled upon hearing Damien's words. He knew that today there was a huge auction going to take place in the Dark Sky Guild.
But most of the customers and VIPs participating in the auction would disguise themselves and use some other form of identity to gain entry. Or those that don't disguise were either too proud or quite infamous for the things they did that they don't care about disguising themselves.
But Damien was showcasing himself as Alchemist Azrael, the reputed Rank 4 Alchemist belonging to the Alchemist Society.
With his strange way of disguise and the Alchemist Society's badge, Elder Dan knew no one could or dare to impersonate Alchemist Azrael.
He wondered why would someone of such stature risk their reputation by visiting a black market auction where they would be auctioning things that common people would frown upon.
He thought that maybe Damien was the type to indulge in these kinds of things and didn't mind if people got to know about his interests.
However, he knew he had no reason to refuse Damien and didn't dare to. After all, it would only be more profitable for them if such a wealthy and reputed alchemist wishes to participate in their auction.
Elder Dan didn't think too much and said with a smile, "Sure, senior. Please follow me."
Damien followed him and after going through a few checkpoints, he finally reached the bottom-most level of the building where it was so dark that one could barely see their own feet.
After a few moments, the wall in front of them suddenly opened to reveal a beautiful woman in her mid-twenties. The girl walked over to them and bowed slightly, "Elder Dan, let me take care of our esteemed guest here." She said while looking at Elder Dan.
Elder Dan nodded, "Sure, make sure to arrange the best VIP box and—"
"No need." Damien interrupted as he continued, "I prefer a normal seat."
Elder Dan was momentarily perplexed but then he nodded with a smile, "Sure, senior, as you wish. Miss Di, let the arrangements be as Senior Azrael says."
Elder Dan then took out a token and offered it to Damien, "Here's also a token in case senior wants to visit again. Once you show this at the entrance, they would directly escort you here."
Damien accepted the token and nodded. Elder Dan politely bowed to Damien and then turned around to leave.
"If you will, esteemed guest." The woman gestured.
Damien walked through the door slowly following the woman. However the token in his hand had already been crushed to pieces.
