Of course, Aurelius was not the first to step forward. Not because he was afraid, but because he wanted to measure the strength of those present. Judging by the situation, he was not the only one thinking along those lines. As the man waited in anticipation and realized that no one else was coming out after him, he let out a disappointed sigh.
"Didn't you want this armor?" the man said. "Or are you scared now that you know who I am?"
He made no hurry to remove his mask.
When the heavy mask fell to the ground with a metallic clang, the man's face was revealed. Sharp features, weathered hair, and pitch-black eyes gave him a striking appearance. The two figures hiding in the shadows tensed the moment they saw his face. They knew exactly who he was.
Aurelius, however, did not so much as twitch. Most likely because he did not know the man's identity. In fact, that ignorance put him at ease. When the man removed his mask with such confidence, Aurelius had expected to be facing someone important. But he had to admit that he was disappointed because the man looked like a random jerk.
One of the figures in the shadows began to retreat, as if silently admitting that this was beyond him.
"I am David," the man said with excessive confidence. "And this city answers to me."
Aurelius finally stepped forward.
"I have never heard a worse villain monologue," he said. "What was that supposed to be? The city answers to you? What are you, some shitty governor?"
The confident expression on David's face froze for a brief moment. It was not the reaction of someone insulted, but of someone caught off guard by the unexpected. The two guards beside him stepped forward on instinct. Their shoulders tightened, hands drifting toward their weapon hilts. Years of conditioning. When a threat appeared, their bodies responded before their minds.
Aurelius noticed and smiled. A relaxed smile, almost amused.
"Look at that," he said, spreading his hands. "They took position before the sentence even ended. Loyal. Well trained. But here's the problem. You are not threatening me. You are just cluttering the stage."
David frowned. His jet-black eyes scanned Aurelius from head to toe, as if trying to decide whether the man before him was truly stupid or dangerously overconfident. He could not remember the last time someone spoke like this in a situation like this.
"Watch your tongue," David said. His voice was harsh, but not fully out of control. "You may not know who I am, but-"
"Oh, that much is obvious," Aurelius cut in. "Because if I did know, this conversation would already be over. Or it would never have started. Probably the second one."
One of the guards clenched his teeth. "Enough," he hissed. "You cannot speak to Lord David like that."
"Lord?" Aurelius raised an eyebrow. "That somehow makes it worse. At least if you had said governor, we could have blamed bureaucracy and moved on."
David raised a hand, silencing his guard. This time, he was genuinely angry, but he refused to show it. Men like this grew bolder when they sensed fear. David knew that.
"Who are you?" he asked. "And why are you here?"
Aurelius shrugged. "Me? Nobody. At least, not for you. Why am I here? For the armor. Though, I'm starting to get a bit bored."
"Are you threatening me?"
Aurelius let out a short laugh. "No. Threats are made when the other party still has options. I am just… commenting on the situation."
A thin silence settled over the courtyard. In that fragile tension, everyone felt the same thing. This man was either insane or truly had nothing to fear. The second possibility was far more unsettling.
David gave no signal. He did not need to. The guard on his right had already made his decision. Aurelius's relaxed posture, his tone, the indifference in his eyes. He interpreted it all as a threat. People like this usually fell with the first strike. Experience had taught him that.
The sword slid halfway out of its scabbard.
Aurelius moved before the sound of metal could echo through the courtyard.
Silence was the first thing to break.
This was not a reflex. Predator's Awareness had already reached its conclusion. The contraction of muscle in the guard's shoulder, the micro-acceleration of his breathing, the shift of his center of gravity onto his right foot. All of it registered in Aurelius's perception a breath before the attack began. The sword was not fully drawn yet, but the outcome was already decided.
Aurelius's hand did not move to his sword.
There was no need.
The air split along an invisible line.
Calamity Cut.
There was no light. No sound. Only a brief, deeply unsettling sensation of absence. As if the world itself had taken the wrong breath for a moment.
The guard did not understand what had happened. The sword stopped before it could leave the scabbard. Then his body separated from shoulder to hip at a perfect angle. Blood did not erupt immediately. First, the body parted. Then gravity took over. Only after that did blood surge upward like a violent spray.
When the pieces hit the stone floor, sound returned.
The other guard recoiled instinctively. The expression on his face was no longer that of a trained soldier. It was raw, unfiltered fear. He had not witnessed an attack. He had witnessed something without rules.
David's pupils shrank.
This was not magic. At least, not any kind he was familiar with. He had felt no mana fluctuation, no activation delay. His guard was dead, yet David still did not know where the attack had come from.
Aurelius sighed.
"See," he said calmly. "Things escalated unnecessarily. I still thought we could talk."
The surviving guard fully drew his sword, but did not advance. Nor did he retreat. He stood frozen. His instincts were screaming, but his mind refused to respond.
Aurelius looked at him.
Just one glance.
Cold sweat ran down the back of the man's neck. His eyes drifted involuntarily to the ground, to his bisected companion. There was no threat in that look. Something worse.
Indifference.
David finally spoke.
"What… was that?" he asked. His voice was still controlled, but it was no longer the same. The balance of power had shifted, and both of them knew it.
Aurelius shrugged. "A warning. I usually charge for those."
David thought for a brief moment. He weighed the option of running. He weighed the option of attacking. He saw, with absolute clarity, that both ended in death. That kind of clarity either calmed a man or broke him completely.
"The clothing," he said slowly. "You want the armor…"
"Yes," Aurelius replied. "At least, that was the only thing I wanted a few minutes ago. But now… hmm, let's think. Is an armor really enough reason for me not to kill you? I could always take it after killing you anyway, right?"
There was no human expression on his face as he spoke. Only a chilling smile. As if Aurelius himself were the true villain.
David's throat went dry.
This was not a line spoken at a bargaining table. It was not a threat.
It was an assessment.
Aurelius had placed the man's life on the same mental shelf as a list of objects.
--------------------------
One Hour Later -- First Person POV
"It was a nice night," I murmured to myself. My voice was low, but the satisfaction inside me was impossible to hide. "More productive than I expected."
David.
Even his name felt meaningless now. A man who claimed to own the city. In reality, he had only managed to scare the right people in the wrong places. Men like him all shared the same flaw. They mistook other people's silence for their own strength.
He was wrong.
I thought about the storage pouches. There was quite a bit of gold inside. Was David actually important? I wish I had asked before killing him. I am not exactly regretful, considering the hilarious look on his face when he realized I was going to kill him even after taking everything he owned.
Still, I could have let him talk a bit more. To be fair, he did put up a few tricks, healing himself and casting some spells. If someone like David had risen to power, then the city's underworld was truly pathetic. Even Luciene, in her current miserable state, would have had a chance.
"Aurelius… are you here?" Luciene called out, her voice hoarse, almost pitiful.
Speak of the devil.