My Uncle is the Strongest Dark Mage

Chapter 33

Pride of the Seven Deadly Sins.

One of the few 8-star superhumans on the entire continent.

With an attitude as arrogant as his name suggests, he dominated the atmosphere and looked King Raymond straight in the face as he spoke.

"First of all..."

He leads the negotiation.

He is swayed by no one.

Clad in black from head to toe, standing like a statue without the slightest tremor, Pride faced the room.

Naturally, everyone's eyes focused on him as he spoke.

"As you might have expected, our objective is to obtain permission for the Dark District to assemble within the Elemental Kingdom."

From the start, he began the conversation by throwing a small stone to create ripples in the water.

His voice conveyed certainty that they would have predicted this much.

Beneath that, there was also a silence that implied disappointment in their abilities if they hadn't anticipated even this.

"As far as I know, the Dark District is currently operating in this country as a necessary evil."

Here, it was better to show competence rather than feign ignorance.

King Raymond accepted what Pride naturally brought up as if it were obvious, and in turn, asked him a question.

"Are you suggesting a more active role than what is currently being done?"

"Exactly."

In response to the confirming question, Pride did not deny it but answered honestly.

"However, we are not planning to come out into the open or commit blatant evil deeds. We simply need more personnel to investigate something."

"Can you tell me what that is?"

"I apologize."

Without hesitation, Pride firmly rejected King Raymond's request.

In the past, when investigating Cayenne Nasara's... no, Cayenne Grant's death, Cain, who had examined all the circumstances, was convinced.

That his sister's death had no involvement from the continent's current absolutes.

However, the emergence of a new suspect who might have escaped from the Underworld overturned the fundamental assumptions of that hypothesis.

"There might be collaborators among the absolutes."

Just as the Death King is now seeking cooperation from the Demon Lord's forces.

Negotiations have always existed, and whenever there is a common interest and mutual desire, they can easily develop into alliances.

Of course, given the Demon Lord's character and actions, the possibility of their involvement was rare, but one cannot decide everything based solely on possibilities.

Especially in the case of Pride, who was given full authority over the Dark District by the Death King.

"We will ensure strict control. Just like before, all activities in the underworld will be concluded there. The Seven Deadly Sins will personally intervene to prevent any rumors from spreading or causing public unrest."

Pride, preemptively assuring what they wanted.

A one-sided conversation style that gave the other side no room to speak.

In a situation where it felt like he was running circles around their minds, King Raymond's eyes subtly trembled.

"Of course, even with this, you cannot completely ignore or overlook our presence."

No fool would allow a dangerous individual to roam freely within their country.

Wasn't it for such reasons that the Demon Lord was using the Intelligence Agency to track the Death King's location?

Especially since the Dark District's vast size would require astronomical amounts of manpower and funds for surveillance and security.

"We will pay a compensation that exceeds your expectations. In case of any issues or changes, we will report to you in advance."

"..."

"Here is the compensation plan we have prepared."

The servant waiting beside him took the document that Pride handed over.

After the Demon Lord confirmed there were no suspicious marks on it, the paper finally reached King Raymond.

"...!"

King Raymond's eyes widened as he read the amount written on the paper.

It was more than the amount they had decided to demand from them after consulting with the ministers.

And as if he had anticipated this, Pride's face remained composed as he looked at King Raymond.

"The amount should be sufficient. We've shown you the maximum we can offer."

Don't think about testing us with this.

We already know we've given you more money than you expected.

From start to finish, he had been running circles around them.

This was no longer a negotiation.

It was merely a unilateral declaration by Pride.

'Is this the wisdom of the Death King?'

He does not go against the Master's will.

He does not guide or command the path the Master takes.

Everything is as the Master desires.

The wrong path remains wrong, and the right path remains right.

He completely excludes his own thoughts and values from the path the Death King takes, respecting only the Death King's will.

Yet, he will achieve what the Death King desires, by any means necessary.

That is Pride, the second-in-command of the Dark District.

He was a capable individual with abilities sufficient, or even excessive, for his arrogant nature.

The Demon Lord would have wanted to scout him and put him under his command if they hadn't met under these circumstances.

'This too must be a testament to the Death King's capabilities.'

Even in murky waters, pearls exist.

The Dark District, where criminals and those at the bottom of life are filtered and gathered.

Naturally, talented and skilled individuals exist within it.

However, controlling them completely is another matter.

The Dark District, a place where the toughest individuals from the harshest parts of the world gather, where the weak cannot survive in a world of survival of the fittest.

Those who live there can only be divided into two types.

Those who, lacking strength, cling to others and survive subserviently.

Or those who, possessing strength, survive more tenaciously than anyone else.

Pearls like Pride, found in murky waters, usually belong to the latter.

Their nature is as rough as it can get, and thus, they would rather be the head of a snake than easily become the tail of a dragon.

How great must the Death King be to earn such loyalty and respect from him?

The quality of a subordinate reflects the leader's abilities.

Seeing Pride, the Demon Lord's evaluation of the Death King rose another level.

As did his perception of the Death King's danger.

"And..."

As Pride was about to close the negotiation by manipulating the Elemental Kingdom, he continued speaking as if adding a note.

"Aside from the negotiation, we have prepared a gift and an additional compensation plan."

Having shown what they could offer, it was now time to demonstrate their capabilities.

To completely eliminate any hint of underestimation from the other side.

"Were you aware that the Twin Ghosts Guardians have begun to move in the Hwan Empire?"

They probably didn't know.

Within their own country, the Elemental Kingdom's intelligence network might have the upper hand, but on a continental scale, no information organization surpassed the Dark District.

Even they could not obtain information faster than Pride from another country.

"I've heard they are preparing to infiltrate the Elemental Kingdom."

"Is that true?"

As Pride had anticipated, they seemed completely unaware, showing a visibly shocked expression.

It was a natural reaction.

Considering the nature of the Twin Ghosts Guardians that Pride mentioned.

"If you know what kind of beings they are, you'll understand how valuable this information is."

Twin Ghosts Guardians.

Hearing that name, one might easily think of the Twin Ghosts, the absolute ruler of the eastern Hwan Empire.

But strictly speaking, they were related to the Twin Ghosts yet also unrelated.

To describe them precisely, they were extreme fanatics following the Twin Ghosts.

In the context of the Dark District, they were a self-proclaimed elite group similar to Pride, but gathered in the name of the Twin Ghosts.

The difference between them and Pride was that while Pride followed only the Death King's orders, they acted and rampaged according to their own interpretation of the Twin Ghosts' will.

The Twin Ghosts desire endless battle and combat.

Thus, they commit acts of terror, plunging the world into a whirlpool of war.

That was their most fundamental ideology and mindset, and they put it into action as it was.

Mainly targeting the Elemental Kingdom or Great Nature Yggdrasil.

The problem was that the Hwan Empire firmly stated their intentions were completely different from ours.

Even within the Hwan Empire, they were identified as transnational criminals, and the Twin Ghosts, who received their full support, openly expressed irritation on the official stage, saying not to use their name carelessly for such despicable trash.

Whether that was true or false, no one knows except for themselves.

However, based on those words, it seems that the Twin Ghosts Guardians are ultimately an uncontrollable terror organization that no one can reign in.

Their movement from the Hwan Empire to the Elemental Kingdom was certainly valuable information that couldn't be quantified in monetary terms.

"We will stop them on your behalf. That's the gift I've prepared."

If that information is true, how should we prepare for it?

As the nobles were pondering this, they were startled by Oman's next words and looked at him in unison.

'I was planning to deal with them anyway.'

The entrance to the Underworld opened somewhere in the Elemental Kingdom.

Most of those who returned to the Mortal World through there and crossed over to the Hwan Empire were members of the Twin Ghosts Guardians.

More precisely, those who came to the Elemental Kingdom for terror, died, and then were resurrected and returned to their homeland.

They were heading here to fulfill the intentions they couldn't achieve in their lifetime.

'There must be some connection.'

The numbers don't add up.

Certainly, if it had been open for several years, more villains would have appeared in the world.

Because in the hell created with the world, there were countless villains lying around as much as its history.

Even if only a very small fraction of them escaped, it would have caused more social issues than now, yet currently, the only ones causing problems among them are petty criminals like Dekken Nasara and Freddy.

The big shots have not yet revealed themselves.

But there was no way they were living peacefully without doing anything.

Because the evidence was the airship accident involving Cayenne Grant, which left no clues even under the Dark District's pursuit.

In other words, they are forming their own groups.

And just as the Death King unified the Dark District, there was someone controlling the villains from hell.

An absurd being who committed the unprecedented act of piercing a hole in the Underworld ruled by the King of the Underworld.

That was the hypothesis Oman had put forward, and if that hypothesis was correct, there would certainly be a connection with the members of the Twin Ghosts Guardians.

Because among those belonging to it, there were also many big shots from 6th to 7th rank.

Even one superhuman of the 8th rank was mixed in.

It would be more strange if there was no contact.

In other words, what Oman was saying now was just boasting about doing what he was going to do anyway in front of them.

"If not through normal routes, the only way to cross into another country is to defect through the Dark District. We can find their location more easily and quickly than the Elemental Kingdom's Intelligence Agency."

While it might be problematic for them to solve it, we have the ability to resolve it easily.

We will take care of that troublesome task for you.

So, grant us what we desire.

"Using the enemy to defeat the enemy. A famous saying from the Hwan Empire and the most effective strategic tool in all wars."

There is no reason for the Elemental Kingdom to refuse.

Just by allowing them to investigate something, a huge reward rolls in.

A deal full of honey with no visible poison.

"This is all I can say. Now, Your Majesty, what will you do? Will you accept our request? Or will you reject it?"

And Oman forced King Raymond to make a choice.

This concludes it.

Like a conductor who led the orchestra.

A maestro who, following the predetermined score, handled all the instruments and announced the end of the music, asking for feedback on his performance.

With a truly arrogant smile and gaze befitting the name Oman, he looked at King Raymond.