184 Another Way
Hiro and Noah used the services of an NPC’s teleportation to go to the Underworld City. As usual, only in the Underworld City that the NPC could teleport the player outside of the city area. Precisely, in front of an intimidating giant gate.
“Thank you, Traveler. I’m sorry, I couldn’t bring the two of you in.”
After saying that, the NPC disappeared again and left Hiro and Noah alone in front of a giant gate that was tightly closed.
“Well, now what?”
Hiro had told Noah that he had an idea that could be useful for sneaking into the Underworld City. However, until now, he still hadn’t explained it yet.
“Let’s go!”
The two of them walked towards the gate. And, at the same time, twelve NPC guards nearly twice their height were lined up to block the way.
“Only demons can pass through this gate,” snapped a male demon whose form reminded Hiro of the Hellboy movie. He had two horns in front of its very long forehead and the expression on his face was fierce and full of hatred. His body was red. Out of the twelve male demons, only he had a pair of large horns.
“He came with me.” Hiro muttered, trying his luck. It would be good if he could use the normal way.
However, from the way the two dark red eyes stared at him with disdain, Hiro knew that his attempt was unsuccessful.
“Leave,” the male demon hissed in an echoing voice.
“Do you plan to beat them up like I did to the elve guards?” Noah couldn’t wait to get through the gate.
Hiro shook his head.
“No. They are different. I’ve heard of someone trying to beat them and force their way inside.”
“But that someone isn’t us, NightFall. We can win against the twelve of them.” Noah never lost his confidence in his strength.
“Wait— that would be the third way. I still have a second way.”
Hiro lifted his face slightly to meet the two demon eyes in front of him. He didn’t smile at all. His gaze was serious, as cynical as the demon’s.
“I brought a potential buyer, Hellfire Tavern, the underground floor,” said Hiro in a low voice. But loud enough for the chief guard to hear it.
Hearing what Hiro had just said, the demon arched his brows. He looked at Noah with a questioning look, as if he was confirming that Noah was wealthy enough to be called a potential buyer. However, because Hiro knew that there was a special agreement between the owner of the illegal market and the guards of the Underworld City, the demon nodded. Even so, his hand reached out in front of Noah.
“10,000 LSC,” he said while clenching his jaws.
Noah looked at Hiro in disbelief. He preferred the third idea, which was to beat the 12 demons rather than pay for the entrance. But, Hiro nodded his head, signalling Noah to do what the demon wanted.
Thus, Noah gave 10,000 LSC to the guard with a forceful heart.
“Follow me,” said the guard after receiving the money he had asked.
“What the hell, Nightfall?” Noah protested in Hiro’s ear with a low voice.
“Didn’t you see the NPC name bars on them?” Hiro asked casually. He knew that 10,000 LSC for Noah wasn’t the slightest problem. So he didn’t feel guilty at all. Again, there was no other choice.
“I didn’t see anything. They don’t have the NPC name bars.” Noah frowned in disappointment.
“Yes, that means we can’t beat them. It was clear that they are an NPC, but there are no NPC name bars indicating that they are immortal objects. And that’s very clear. You better start taking notes and don’t beat anyone up without observing them first.”
Hiro’s explanation made Noah reflexively stop his footsteps to carefully observe the twelve demon guards one by one. They didn’t have the name bar. Unlike other NPCs he had seen before.
“What are you doing, Buyer? Did you change your mind?” The demon leading the way turned around to confirm that his two guests followed him.
Noah ran after Hiro.
And since their destination was the Hellfire Tavern underground floor, the giant gate was not opened. And the demons led them through another door hidden by the wall of the gate.
They had to go down dozens of stairs until they arrived in a very dark and long hallway. Hiro saw that all the demons were using their demon’s eyes. They didn’t need a torch to walk without hitting a wall.
“Noah, the fire torch.”
Blarr!
The flames that shot out of Noah’s palm had changed its colour once again. It was getting darker, and Hiro didn’t know what had happened to the man for the flames to change like that. Even so, the fire was quite calm, unlike the last time Hiro saw it. It seemed that Noah had already been able to control his newfound power, which was too great for him to control it at first.
The NPC demons looked at the two of them with astonished expressions. The red light from their eyes went out when Noah had created a fire for them.
“You should pay me back 20,000 LSC for my fire.” Noah snarled at the lead guard. However, because the demon guard was set to be emotionless, he just focused on walking down the long passage.
After walking for more than ten minutes, they finally arrived at the illegal market Hiro had last visited.
“Happy Shopping!”
The demons who brought them both finally left them.
Hiro was relieved to not have to think of a way to escape from them, since his true aim was not the Hellfire Tavern.
But first, he had to hide the elve identity that was very prominent in Noah’s physical appearance before they left the place.
“What place is this?” Noah looked uncomfortable seeing the condition of the merchant who were in that place. They did not even hesitate to cough in the air.
“This is a place where you can find unexpected things like the information about The Forbidden One.” Hiro muttered, then walked through the sellers. He saw that several people had gone, including the woman who sold the book.
“What are we doing here? Come on, we have to go to Sathanas quickly.” Noah still didn’t understand why Hiro was just pacing back and forth, as if he was really serious about buying something from that place.
“I found one.”
Hiro stopped in front of an old man, a bald-headed player who sold various kinds of accessories in his stall.
As usual, Hiro would exchange them for items he didn’t use anymore, but they were definitely useful for them. And he managed to convince the seller with one try, until Noah was stunned to see it.
Ding!
[you have obtained Mythical Unicorn horn]
[you have obtained Pixie’s sunglasses]
[you have obtained Baroque Wig]
“What is that for?” Noah didn’t know what Hiro was thinking by buying such quirky accessories. But, instead of answering, Hiro just smiled evilly.