Monster Summoning Stones had appeared in the novel before.
In the monster-ridden north, they weren’t uncommon.
However, in the capital and southern regions, it was rare to encounter a monster.
Wealthy nobles or thrill-seekers would sometimes trade these summoning stones for entertainment.
Instead of dealing with the dangers of buying and selling real monsters, they used summoning stones to call forth the creatures.
The illegal auction houses and gladiatorial arenas were the primary buyers of these summoning stones.
Particularly in the illegal arenas, monsters summoned with these stones were pitted against enslaved gladiators or desperate mercenaries in need of money.
There was even an episode in the novel where Maximilian shut down such operations.
But summoning monsters in the middle of a plaza like this?
Even the notorious “Devil Duke,” the real Isaac, had never done something so reckless.
Isaac stared nervously at the summoning stone in his hand.
[Destroying the Monster Summoning Stone (A) will stop the monster summoning.
Do you wish to destroy it?
Yes / No]
“…!”
So it could be destroyed to stop the summoning?
Unlike low-tier stones that crumbled into rocks after summoning, high-grade stones like this could summon monsters repeatedly.
But destroying the stone would end the summoning entirely.
Isaac glanced at Luinael and the knights battling the high-tier monsters and didn’t hesitate for a second.
He nodded.
[You have destroyed the Monster Summoning Stone (A).]
With a sharp crack, the summoning stone shattered.
The crimson light it emitted faded, the jewel turned into a dull rock, and then crumbled into ash.
“Ugh, the monsters….”
“What in the world…?”
The knights who had been fighting were bewildered as the monsters suddenly vanished.
But Isaac remained on edge.
He had a feeling the monsters weren’t the only problem.
The explosion he heard earlier, both before and during his dash to the plaza—those sounds couldn’t have been made by the monsters.
Perhaps the creatures were merely a distraction.
“Isaac!”
“…?”
A desperate voice called out to him, and Isaac turned his head.
And then, his vision was flooded with white light.
“Ugh…!”
Instinctively, Isaac raised his hand to shield his eyes.
The light was so blinding he couldn’t keep them open.
Gradually, the light dimmed.
Isaac let out a shaky breath, lowered his hand, and cautiously opened his eyes.
“What…?”
The scene before him had completely changed.
A moment ago, he had been in the middle of a plaza where knights fought monsters.
Now, he wasn’t. He wasn’t even outdoors anymore but inside a small, modest room.
The wooden furniture looked worn, and the wallpaper had clearly aged.
As he glanced around the humble space, Isaac tilted his head in confusion.
‘Where in the world am I? And how did I end up here…?’
Before he could figure it out, a cheerful voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Master!”
“Gah!”
“Oh, right.”
There was no one in sight, but a voice suddenly came from somewhere.
Startled, Isaac took a step back, looking toward the source of the sound.
Moments later, someone finally appeared.
“Apologies, I have a habit of using invisibility magic….”
“You are…?”
A man wearing a black hood smiled slightly at Isaac.
Only his pink lips and neat teeth were visible.
But his voice was familiar.
“…Vicious.”
“It’s been a while, Master.”
The man, called Vicious, took off his hood, revealing his pale face.
A face so white and thin that his blue veins were visible. His dull gray hair. And his sharp yellow eyes. Isaac knew him well.
Vicious. A dark wizard from a commoner background. One of the important figure of the novel.
However, he was not on the side of the protagonists, and as suggested by his role as a dark wizard, he was one of the villains.
In fact, he was someone who had helped Isaac with sincere effort.
He wasn’t truly human.
He had been described as a quarter-blooded demon.
It wasn’t certain, though, since the novel didn’t delve into the backstories of secondary villains in detail.
But Isaac was half-convinced that he had demon blood.
Otherwise, there was no way he could be so talented in dark magic.
Vicious was an incredibly skilled dark wizard.
“Was the incident in the plaza… your doing?”
“Yes, it was me.”
“Why did you do that?”
Isaac furrowed his brows and asked.
Vicious answered with a wide grin.
“Of course, I did it to save you, Master!”
“Save me…?”
“Yes!”
“…”
Isaac was speechless at the unexpected answer, closing his mouth.
He looked at Vicious, who seemed to wag his tail like a dog waiting for praise.
In the Kingdom of Jepeed, Vicious had been Isaac’s loyal servant.
He obeyed his commands, believing Isaac to be the center of his world.
The real Isaac had taken Vicious, a homeless orphan from a filthy harem district, and taught him how to live like a person.
Of course, the real Isaac had only brought him in because he had seen Vicious’s potential and intended to use him, but Vicious likely didn’t care about that.
All he cared about was repaying the favor, no matter how he was treated.
Anyway, with such a capable and obedient subordinate, the real Isaac grew even more arrogant, committing all sorts of misdeeds.
However, unlike this time, he hadn’t blown up the capital or unleashed monsters in the middle of the city.
“You’ve gone too far. You’ve messed up the plaza! The imperial palace won’t stay silent about this!”
“But… if I hadn’t done it, I wouldn’t have been able to save you, Master.”
“When did I ask you to save me!”
“Ha, but…”
“Sigh…”
At Isaac’s scolding, Vicious started to tear up.
Despite looking youthful, his true age was probably much older.
It seemed his childhood had been prolonged due to his demon blood.
He still had a fresh, almost youthful face, but Isaac reminded himself not to be fooled by it.
He had to stay resolute.
In the original story, Vicious was nothing more than a tool to help the real Isaac with his evil deeds.
That’s why Isaac found Vicious so burdensome.
It was also thanks to Vicious’s help that the real Isaac had been able to kidnap the heroine, who would soon become the empress.
Isaac had felt uneasy about the heroine’s kidnapping, so he had purposely refrained from giving Vicious the order and had left him waiting.
He had promised to call on him later, but after the original story ended, Isaac had planned to exile himself to another country and never think about Vicious again.
But now, this insane mess was unfolding.
Isaac pressed his palm to his forehead, a headache coming on.
“That duke’s mansion has too many wards… the palace has the same issue… it was only when you went outside that an opportunity came, so…”
“…”
“I… I waited for you. I waited for you, Master…”
Vicious sobbed, tears streaming down his face.
Isaac couldn’t bring himself to say anything more, watching him act so desperately.
Vicious had always been particularly blind to Isaac.
It was because of this obsessive loyalty that Isaac had tried to distance himself from him.
No matter how much Vicious had saved his life, this kind of obsession wasn’t normal.
Moreover, with the genre having shifted, Isaac had no idea how Vicious might change.
Feeling uneasy, Isaac decided to put some distance between them for now.
“Calm down for now.”
“W-wait… Master…”
“Sigh…”
Tears continued to flow from Vicious’s eyes, clear and transparent.
Isaac, knowing it was all crocodile tears, still felt taken aback.
Vicious’s crying face seemed so pitiful, though.
“Let’s run away together, okay? I’ll figure something out.”
“No, that’s…”
Run away?
Of course, Isaac planned to do that someday, but not now.
And to go with Vicious?
That was absurd.
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