Chapter 368: I Did Not Just Get Played By My Summon

The sweetness of what I felt — the liberation, the relief of who this man was... I didn’t care about his personal identity or what he was doing here in the Waterlands aiding the Crystal Deep Clan. I didn’t really care.

All I cared about, everything that gave me joy, was the fact that he was here.

The snake had two horns that extended backward and looked more like tree branches than actual horns. Its eyes were a deep, vast turquoise, sucking in the air like colossal vacuums.

For a moment, my entire body trembled, and fear ran its course through my veins. Staring into the creature’s eyes felt like daring to look into the gaze of a corrupted, demented god.

’Oh hell naahh.’

The serpent slowly opened its mouth, and as it did, lightning sparkled across its body, as if it were charging something within those vicious maws that held pillars of cold, razor fangs.

I lunged Frostfang backward, positioning it like a javelin. White flames rolled across its blade, and my eyes radiated savage white flames before I whipped my hand forward and sent the sword straight into its open maws at the same moment it released that lightning atomic bomb from its mouth.

The sword moved faster, colliding with the breath just before it left its mouth and detonating with a vast and devastating shockwave. The shockwave rippled across the sky, tearing through great distances, even beyond the sky above the edge of the harbor. It met the dome that protected the island and was absorbed with utter silence.

The serpent’s mouth was all haggard and torn from the explosion.

I grinned maniacally.

"Ah shoot... I guess that didn’t go well for you?"

The man sitting calmly on top of his summon wasn’t so calm anymore. He flared up, staring with wide and unbelieving eyes as his summon’s mouth looked like it had gone and bitten more than it could chew—in the literal sense of the word.

He shot me a scathing glare.

"You bastard! Who is your summoner?"

A puzzled expression quickly twisted my features.

"Uh? What is he saying?"

He jabbed his finger at me, vibrating with rage.

"I said! Who is your summoner that dares to deal this disrespectful damage to a Sovereign-tier summon personally gifted to me by the Grand Inquisitor himself!"

I tilted my head sideways, floating in the air with my arms folded.

’So there’s a Grand Inquisitor this time too? And summons can be gifted? I didn’t know that.’

"You bastard, I’m talking to—"

A whirlwind of blades tore upward in one smooth motion, erupting above into a demonic woman clad in sinister armor, wielding a diabolical greatsword.

The summoner stared with wide eyes as his summon’s head separated from its body, both slowly vanishing into a sea of essence.

And he himself began falling.

He couldn’t even grieve and he seemed too shocked, too broken to do so. Before he fell any further, I caught him by the collar of his black cuirass.

’This one will be very useful for extracting as much information as possible.’

I shifted my attention down below and smiled.

’Of course, he didn’t need my help.’

A terrifying blow sounded, and something burst through several walls of the building. Tristan was nowhere in sight, but his beast was — and it seemed to have torn the summon to shreds before barreling straight into the summoner itself.

’Looks like this finished quickly. I wonder if we were too strong for jobs like this...’

Of course, this was merely the opening of the mission. We pulled this off in order to gather information and find out where the Crystal Deep Clan were keeping their spoils of war.

I glanced down at the soul-shattered man in my hand.

’I surely wouldn’t have expected to find this kind of rabbit in this hole.’

What did the Church have to do with the Crystal Deep Clan? Of course, this could easily be dismissed as anything. It could even be personal. But my gut told me that it sure as hell was not.

There was something fishy going on here.

I dismissed the flames a few meters above the ground to prevent my landing spot from caving in from the intense heat. Then I appeared on the ground, dragging the collapsed man with me, head downward.

Kassie landed beside me. She dismissed her helmet and followed closely.

"What now?"

I stared ahead as I walked forward.

"I’m just thinking... since we ended up doing more damage than intended, how about we just raid the entire island?"

Kassie gave me a look. She smiled and turned away.

"Your growth is beginning to concern me. Were you naturally made to be a thief?"

I almost smiled, but then thought about the latter part of her statement and shot her a glare.

"Take that back. I’m anything but a thief."

Kassie nodded.

"Indeed, you’re not a thief. Just a collector of unattended treasures."

I scowled.

"That’s just the same thing. Are you one to talk? You don’t mind plundering innocent nations to gather war funds. To me, you’re the thief here."

"You dare call the Red Commander a thief? I united thousands of men under the Red Banner."

"Yeah, sure — and made them slaughter nobles and plunder their belongings. Shameless plunderer."

"You will not speak to me in such a manner."

I rolled my eyes, and we continued walking deeper into the halls.

We opened every door and gathered every chest and every bag of coins we could find. There were, of course, more crystals in this place. Dusk came and dawn rose. It was only then that our raid ended.

The survivors of the Crystal Deep Clan were all gathered in their main hall—every maid, every elder, the matriarch and patriarch. All of them were bound and made to kneel in the hall.

This looked more like daylight robbery than a simple raid for information.

’Who would have thought this was how things would turn out?’

Kassie.

I paused as the answer came to me naturally.

’Oh hell no... have I been mentally played?’