That evening, within the study of the Arus Empire, Merlin stood supervising the creation of the Demon Addiction Stone.
"Lord Merlin, Pix is here," a young mage reported as he approached Merlin.
"Have him come in, and then you may leave," Merlin replied, his gaze fixed upon the enormous Demon Addiction Stone, still in the process of being forged.
"Yes, Lord Merlin." The young mage nodded and quietly exited the room.
Before long, heavy footsteps echoed from outside the study. Merlin knew it was Pix—only he would walk so loudly and with such bravado.
Pix made his way down the corridor to the study, his strides large, glancing about as he went. For him, the Arus Palace had once been an unreachable fortress, but now, thanks to Merlin, he was allowed entry.
"Lord Merlin, you called for me?" Pix swaggered into the study, flinging open the door.
"You are far too impertinent! Did you forget how to knock?" Merlin snapped, turning his head to glare at Pix.
The intensity of Merlin's gaze immediately struck fear into Pix. He quickly backed out of the room and gently closed the door behind him.
"Knock knock knock." Pix tapped lightly on the door.
"Come in," Merlin replied curtly. Pix cautiously pushed the door open again and, remembering this time, slowly shut it behind him. He approached Merlin and lowered his head, awaiting instructions.
"Pix, you are no longer a street thug, so your behavior must reflect that," Merlin said sternly.
"Ah, Lord Merlin, but I'm so used to this. If you want me to walk softly, I think I might suffocate from it," Pix answered, his head down and a look of feigned innocence.
"Very well," Merlin replied with a sigh. "Since you insist, I shall assign you a task that won't require you to tiptoe."
"Alright, what task?" Pix lifted his head, curiosity gleaming in his eyes.
"There is an inn in the slums, and within it, four individuals of great interest to me. I need you to bring them here," Merlin instructed.
"What are they like?" Pix asked.
"They all wear cloaks and hoods," Merlin responded.
"Got it, I'll go first thing tomorrow morning," Pix said.
"No, I want you to go right now," Merlin said, his tone leaving no room for argument.
"Right now? But it's almost time for me to sleep," Pix feigned a yawn.
"Sleep? If you want to sleep, I can ensure you sleep forever," Merlin said, extending a finger toward Pix. A faint black light flickered from his fingertip.
"No, no, no, I'll go now!" Pix immediately abandoned his act, panic overtaking him. He rushed toward the door and exited the study.
"Remember to bring more men. You won't survive without backup," Merlin's voice called after him.
Meanwhile, within the inn, Will and his companions were still discussing how to use Pix to incite chaos.
"My friends, I must go check on Captain Murphy, so I'll leave now," Jin stood up and bid farewell to Will, Lisa, and his brother, General Lei.
"Alright, see you tomorrow," Will smiled.
With that, Jin gently pushed open the door and departed.
"Who is Captain Murphy? What sort of organization is he with?" Once Jin had left, General Lei asked, his concern evident.
"We don't know much. We've only met him once. But Jin told us Captain Murphy and his subordinates are bounty hunters," Will explained.
"Bounty hunters? A group of people who kill for money?" General Lei's voice carried a hint of anger.
"No, no, it's not like that. They seem to capture wanted criminals for various countries," Will quickly clarified, sensing General Lei's frustration.
"Is that so?" General Lei seemed skeptical and turned to Lisa for confirmation.
"Yes, that's right. Pix is a prime example. He built a gladiatorial arena and abducted people to fight as gladiators. We met the three of us during that time," Lisa said.
"Later, Jin led us to eliminate the monsters in the arena and capture Pix," Will added, his tone full of admiration for Jin.
"You three destroyed the Bone-Crushing Arena?" General Lei asked in surprise.
"Yes," Will replied, confused, while Lisa nodded beside him.
"My word, I never imagined that the Bone-Crushing Arena, which caused us so much trouble, was destroyed by three children," General Lei said, his voice filled with excitement.
"Trouble?" Will and Lisa asked, puzzled.
"Yes. While I don't know much about Pix's origins, there have been numerous disappearances of young men in Arus recently. We sent people to investigate, but none of them returned. We even sent my elite assassins to look into it—two of you should be familiar with them," General Lei paused, his expression turning somewhat helpless as he looked at Will and Lisa.
Will and Lisa knew exactly what he meant by "elite assassins." They were the same assassins who had fought alongside the Holy Order in the outskirts of the Paralar Empire, killing dozens in a single strike and leaving Will and Lisa struggling to survive.
"Eventually, we discovered that Pix had set up an arena in the wild as his stronghold. But since it lies outside any nation's territory, we couldn't act against him. If we did, we'd bear the full cost," General Lei continued.
"I heard from Jin that Captain Murphy was attacked while escorting Pix. His subordinates were all killed, and only he survived," Will added.
"Is that so?" General Lei murmured, his earlier anger now replaced with a more subdued expression.
Meanwhile, Jin, having just left Will and the others, was heading toward the Arus city gates. In the slums, there were no torches along the road, and Jin had to rely on the moonlight to hasten his pace. If he arrived late, Captain Murphy would undoubtedly tease him.
Jin wore a hood and a cloak. As he hurried along, he noticed a faint glowing red light ahead, accompanied by the sound of footsteps.
It was Pix, holding a torch in his left hand and flanked by several burly men, all walking toward Jin.
'Pix?! What's he doing here at this hour? Have I been discovered?' Jin's mind raced with these thoughts as he caught a glimpse of Pix from the corner of his eye.
"Hey, you! Come here!" Pix called out, his voice loud and commanding, though he didn't recognize Jin in the shadows.
'Damn it!' Jin froze in place, unsure of what to do.
"You deaf? Come here, or I'll beat you!" Pix shouted, growing impatient.