Legacy of the Betelgeuse

Aspen dashes towards the NPC that is guarding the door, but his path is blocked by the other NPCs. He dodges all their attacks, instead of getting past them, he's getting pushed back and the bartender takes the opportunity to grab him from behind. Aspen is just standing there and smirks at the bartender. Suddenly Aspen switches his position with the bartender using a skill called [Replace]. Now he's standing behind the bartender and kicks him away.

Aspen looks at me while taking a breath.

"Any tips for me?"

I shrug while smiling.

"Are you sure you want to fight against a bunch of level 300 and 400 NPCs? Your chance of getting out of this place is almost 0 unless you have something under your sleeves."

Aspen scoffs and readying his stances.

"Is that so? I guess I have to use everything I got to leave this place."

When Aspen is about to use his skill, a dagger stabs him on the back. He's surprised and thought that I'm the one who stabs him, but then a figure appears behind him. It's Jariel with his blank expression. Aspen falls on his knees and I notice the dagger is coated in some kind of liquid and I believe it's a poison. That's one of Jariel's unique skills called [Poison Touch]. Anything that he touches will be coated in poison, if it's a person that he touches, then that person will be poisoned instantly. Since Jariel is the original owner of that skill, that poison is as deadly as the poison that Queen Arachne has.

Aspen falls to the ground and he's paralyzed by the poison. He looks at Jariel and I can tell that he's surprised when he sees him by the looks on his eyes. Jariel sits beside me and lights his cigar.

Jariel is crossing his arms and legs.

"So, who is this kid? He dares to make a mess in my place."

The bartender is looking at Aspen who's laying on the ground.

"Just some kid acting tough and playing with a blazing flame."

Jariel is chuckling mischievously.

"Is that so? What should I do with him..."

Aspen is clenching his fist and he seems to try to grab something from his inventory. We all are looking at him with confusion. Then a small scroll appears in his hand. Aspen is trying so hard to roll over and then he lifts his hand with the scroll in it to Jariel. Jariel raises his eyebrow and then grabs it. He opens the scroll and reads it thoroughly.

Jariel laughs so hard and we all are startled because of it. Jariel is flipping the letter and slams it on the counter. Jariel exhales deeply and chuckles.

"I never thought that my partner is trying to help me even though he's already in a grave."

Jariel throws a small bottle that looks like an antidote for the poison to Aspen. Aspen grabs it and trying so hard to unplug the cork but he gives up and just laying on the ground while exhaling deeply. I scoff and approach him to open the cork for him.

"Open your mouth."

Aspen opens his mouth and I pour the antidote inside his mouth. He coughs and immediately jolts from the ground and sits up. Aspen looks at me and sighs.

"Thanks."

I tilt my head and raise my eyebrow.

"No need to mention it."

Jariel slaps his thighs and leans forward while looking at Aspen.

"So you're working for the Headless."

Headless is more like a cult. They are the same as the shadow of the moon from the Eluna Empire, but they're not working for anyone. Whoever paid them high enough, they will do their job flawlessly. Jariel's relationship with the Headless cult is very close. Close enough to not betray each other no matter how much they got paid to exterminate each other. The reason why it's called headless is that there's no leader or someone who commands them. They all are an individual who works for nobody but money and they would never stab each other on the back since they shared the same oath when they entered the cult.

Aspen is wiping his clothes from the dust. Aspen nods.

"I am. They gave me that letter and told me to find you. They have a hunch that you would be hiding in this town and told me to be cautious even if someone claimed to be working under you. My task is to give this letter to you and only you."

I'm surprised that Aspen found the Headless cult and not just that, they also gave him the hidden quest. The reason why I didn't get that quest is that I will be given a different story scenario from what I'm having right now and the restrictions from getting that quest are quite high. I can't join any faction and that's one of the restrictions. If I joined a faction, the Headless cult will hunt me down since I will break the oath, and it will be a pain in the ass. The reward for the quest is not even that great either compared to what I got from Avriel and Jariel. That's what Becker said to me.

Jariel nods and humming with understanding.

"How much for this?"

Aspen puts down a huge barrel in front of him.

"This much."

Jariel is laughing so hard and shaking his head.

"You guys really love it, huh?"

Jariel stands up and grabs the inside of the barrel and fills the barrel with his poison. Jariel's poison is worth a fortune. Back then, when Becker and I need deadly poison, we went to the Headless cult headquarter and bought a small bottle of Jariel's poison for 5.000 Gold. We could just ask Jariel but we were too lazy to go there and since we were close to the Headless headquarter back then.

Aspen closes the barrel and puts it in his inventory. Jariel then staring at Aspen.

"It seems that they favored you. If so, then this is for you."

Aspen's eyes are wide open. Even though I can't see it, but I know what it is. It's a reward quest from Jariel. He gives Aspen a piece of information about where his partner left his infamous dagger is at. It's a legendary rank 46 dagger called [Manhunt's Dagger].

Aspen scoffs and nods.

"Thank you. Well then, I will take my leave. I will come back here to have a nice beer that you have."

Jariel nods.

"You can come here whenever you want."

Aspen nods and then he looks at me.

"We might be seeing each other more often from now on."

I smirk and nod.

"It seems like it."

Aspen then leaves the pub.

Jariel sits down and staring at the letter. He's not saying anything and keeps staring at it. The bartender is walk back to behind the counter and makes a drink for Jariel. I yawn and stretch my body, then Jariel looks at me from the corner of his eyes.

"You're leaving?"

I shake my head and rest my head on my hand.

"I'm waiting for Avriel. Is she here?"

Jariel shakes his head.

"Haven't seen her for a week now. Maybe she's doing something."

Jariel turns his head and looking at the hatch.

"Come with me. I have something for you to see."

I raise my eyebrows and follow him to the basement.

Jariel sits on his chair and then he puts a scroll on the table. He's pointing at the scroll and looks at me.

"Read it. You have the right to read it."

I raise my eyebrows.

"Is this the document that Avriel stole from the Eluna Empire?"

Jariel nods. I grab it and open it.

[Secret Records of the Eluna Empire]

[1. Emperor Lerst Eogura successfully obtained the [Heart of Alucard]]

[2. Emperor Lerst Eogura successfully implanted the [Heart of Alucard] to the [Subject].]

[3. Emperor Lerst Eogura sent the [Subject] to the Alliance Kingdoms and now is currently the aide of King of the Croniel Kingdom.]

[4. [Subject] showed significant progress and can no longer hide the [Subject] identity.

[5. [Subject] successfully assassinated the King of Croniel Kingdom and fled from the Alliance Kingdoms territory.]

[6. [Subject] is now secured in the Blue Lighthouse.]

[7. [Subject] went missing, killed all the units who guarded the Blue Lighthouse.]

[8. [Subject] is found dead with holes on the chest. [Heart of Alucard] is missing.]

[9. [Heart of Alucard] is nowhere to be found.]

[10. Besanrault Town is stricken by a plague. The symptoms are similar to the [Subject] after the implantation.]

[11. All the townspeople are infected by the plague. All the townspeople are having the same abilities and strength as the [Subject] with a black vein in the middle of their chest as the [Subject] had.]

[12. All the townspeople of a total of 102.857 people have been evacuated and secured. [Heart of Alucard] is still nowhere to be found.]

[13. All the townspeople have been subdued and ready to serve Emperor Lerst Eogura after intense training and brainwashing.]

[14. [95.592 Subjects] are deployed to the Alliance Kingdoms and the Aarus Empire.]

[15. [32.000 Subjects] Already infiltrated the Alliance Kingdoms and the Aarus Empire and currently hold a high position in the armies of the Alliance Kingdoms and the Aarus Empire. The rest are also ready in their position and ready to take orders from Emperor Lerst Eogura to annihilate the two sovereignties.]

[16. The assassination of Jariel Scarletblood failed. 24 Subjects are dead and Jariel Scarletblood is nowhere to be found.]

[17. Avriel Scarletblood is under surveillance with 61 Subjects pretending to be her subordinates and ready to take her down when ordered.]

I look at Jariel and he smirks. I lift the document and point at the records.

"When is this happening?"

Jariel leans on the chair and puffing his cigar.

"That happens a few years ago. To be exact, it happens a year before Krestan brings chaos to the three sovereignties."

I'm humming with understanding. I have no idea about this at all since I was not interested in this back then, and Becker didn't say anything at all about it because I said that I was not interested. Turns out this is something really important, especially the [Heart of Alucard]. I heard about that item and it's the quest to make a goldy item [Alucard's Wings]. Sadly I stopped playing before I manage to get that item since Becker was dying when I was looking for it.

I look at the document to read the rest of it. But the first thing I see makes my mouth and eyes wide open with disbelief.

[18. [16.436 Subjects] died from subjugating Krestan. Two of the subjects have now become high-ranked officers in the Aarus Empire and gotten themselves a title of a Hero. Two of the subject names are, Ardalec and Diadre.]