Warlock of War: My Ares System

"I wouldn't drink that if I were you. Who knows what diseases these rats have," the man smirked before helping me up onto my feet and then suddenly changing into the appearance of the guard that had brought me here.

"I don't really care… what about the corpses?" I softly whispered before taking a look at the illusion wrapping the man right behind me, acting like a guard as he occasionally pushed me through the halls.

"Mother ordered me to leave an ominous sign for the owner of this place to know we are here…. And those husks are more than enough of a sign,"

"That's right… I forgot to ask your mother, but what are you even doing here?"

As these words slipped from my lips, I activated [Heroic Persuasion], which took a while to kick in as the man seemed hesitant to answer, but eventually, he cracked open his lips and informed me of their plan.

"Our original intention was to absorb this money-making factory into our own company. You have no idea just how much money this place racks in, and neither does the audience or betters. They all sign a contract that says they'll take 70% of their winning bet money, but in reality, it's more like… 10%. Maybe even lower,"

"But they signed a contract? Was it not activated or something?"

"There are some loopholes in the contract that most betting junkies don't see. And the ones that do see it… well, they obviously get killed. Though that is beside the fact that they are raking in so much money that they make up about twenty percent of this kingdom's economy,"

"Do you have any idea who might be ruling this place personally? Or is just the demon lord himself?"

"It's the demon lord in name, but in reality, he doesn't do anything besides have a fearful name. The ones who really rule it are the Duke of Bones and the Duchess of Flesh. One is a skeleton, while the other is a zombie… in retrospect. They've evolved and such to become so powerful that they are the right and left-hand personnel of the demon lord himself,"

"Is there anything else I should know about this plan?" The influence of the skill still traveled through my words, but it seemed it's run out as the man just squinted and shrugged off my question.

It seems there's a limit… maybe I need the mark that I placed on the duchess? That could be a possibility, but I don't think he'll let me kiss his hand.

The walk back was quiet and long, but I decided to just make my move since I'd probably have no other chance to do this than right now.

"Sir, allow me to promise my loyalty to you. I have sworn an oath with your mother to be loyal to her, but I desire to also assist you in this plan of yours. If you ever need me, please come to me," I smiled, getting down on one knee just as he opened the door to my cell.

A bit of lying doesn't hurt to achieve what I want…

This time, the influential speaking skill soothed his ears and allowed me to grab him by the end, kissing the very back of it.

"Then I will hold you to that," He muttered before allowing me to walk into my cell and lock it, poofing away into a bat and flying off, nowhere to be felt within my range of senses.

Hm… It didn't work… I guess there are certain conditions… but what's the difference? Their level of power?

I mulled over this strange occurrence the rest of the night, all the way until my next match the very following morning.

…

[Side Quest: Colosseum Match Four]

[Description: Utterly destroy your opponent in this next match in order to reveal to the opposing settlers that you didn't come here to play around. Strike fear into the hearts of everybody watching and make sure your opponent doesn't come back with his sanity intact.]

[Reward: [Skill Book - Tarot: War Resonance]

[Penalty Upon Failure: Death]

[Time Left: 30 Minutes]

.

"Get up," The guard ordered, and as he dragged me away by the chains binding my wrists and ankles, I looked up at him, seeing if he had any complaints about last night… but it seems the vampires did a good job at cleaning it up.

And since the guards were so thorough, there were no witnesses to even attest to what had happened.

Soon, I had met face-to-face with my next opponent, who was a big and burly man covered with scars and littered with tattoos ranging from his neck to the very tips of his toes.

"Small fry," He attempted to spit in my face, but I quickly dodged it just as the announcer had started the match.

His large greatsword swung downward, trying to clip me as I was already dodging his spit, but I just followed through with the movement and swiveled around him, summoning my spear, which he easily blocked with his greatsword.

There was a significant crack in the weapon, but seeing how it didn't immediately shatter, it had to be a weapon of great value.

"[Stop],"

As he was in this defensive position, I made him freeze for just a moment before I grabbed the end of my spear and twirled it around, cracking him in the ribs, only barely making a bruise and a small cut.

"What the fuck are you," I lightly chuckled under my breath, taking a few quick steps back to avoid the massive sword now being wildly swung towards me.

He had an all-out attack backed by the almost impenetrable skin that I had, which must've been a passive skill since he shouldn't have been able to use a skill.

"I'm your worst nightmare! AHAHAAHAHAHAAHA!" He smiled viciously.

"Gross…" I muttered, deflecting his greatsword to the side by using his own sideways momentum and then dashing in, covering my spear with all of its buffs.