章節 9: Chapter 9

The crowd may not have seen it, but Akira who was closest to Kenzo saw exactly what had happened.

When this unknown man appeared, his aura alone evaporated Kenzo, to the point where not even Kenzo's clothes were left behind.

Cold sweat dripped down Akira's back as he felt immense pressure from the man in front of him. He knew that even 1,000 of him would not be enough to defeat this man.

'Luckily, I wasn't evaporated along with Kenzo, otherwise my death would be really sad.'

Akira was about to let out a sigh when he heard the man say, "You are Akira?"

Initially, he intended to deny that he was Akira, but the look in the man's eyes told him that he already knew he was Akira, and was just looking for confirmation.

With a pale face, Akira confirmed the man's question, "Yes."

"Very well, then let's go."

Without waiting for Akira to say a single word, Hypnos grabbed him by the arm and soon disappeared.

Akira could hardly believe what was happening. He felt as if he was floating in space, without any reference or point of support.

It was extremely frightening!

...

The crowd of people could not react to this rapid succession of events.

First, they thought Akira was dead and so they were all happy, but due to Kenzo's presence everyone pretended to be sad because they knew Kenzo had a great interest in Akira.

Then Akira who was supposed to be dead appeared safe and sound in the hiding place, even Akira's aura looked different, as if he had become stronger. Of course, the crowd knew that Akira would not have a bright future, as Kenzo would probably target him since he had been reported dead to the main faction.

Soon after some conversation between Akira and Kenzo, the latter seemed to want to make a move on Akira, but before he could do anything, he disappeared as if he was never there initially.

And in his place an unknown man appeared, and took Akira to who knows where.

"What the hell is going on here?"

A bearded man asked, puzzled by the situation.

No one knew how to answer the man's question, at least not until one walked towards where Kenzo was previously standing.

Arriving at the place where Kenzo was previously, he spotted traces of ashes on the ground, as if something had been cremated.

"Hey guys! Take a look, those ashes were not here previously."

With and exclamation from the man, the crowd approached the ashes on the ground.

"That?"

"Impossible! Look!"

Another man pointed to what appeared to be the ring Kenzo wore on his left ring finger.

"He was burned to ashes? But how?"

"Who was that man?"

"We should report this to the main faction!"

The crowd couldn't stop talking, as if they had discovered something shocking. And it really was, after all Kenzo was not just anyone, he had a certain status in the faction.

...

At that moment, Akira found himself being carried by Hypnos, unsure where he was being taken.

"Where are you taking me?" asked Akira, with a puzzled tone. He had never seen that man before and was worried about the fate that awaited him.

"To the Underworld," replied Hypnos briefly, as he waved his hand, causing a portal to appear in front of him.

'Underworld?'

'Damn, I knew it! Rias probably asked his brother to send people to look for me and take me back to the underworld!'

'Damn, just when I had already made plans to go on vacation after stealing some money from the terrorist faction.'

Even with these complaints in his head, he didn't dare complain to the man in front of him, he saw what the same man had done to Kenzo. And even if the man in front of him did not knowingly kill Kenzo, it only demonstrated the surreal strength the man possesses.

Since there was no way to resist, Akira just let the man take him.

Of course, his mind was already working at a rapid pace, on excuses he could use with Rias so she wouldn't kill him.

If Hypnos knew what was going on in Akira's mind, he would have a fit of laughter.

How could he turn him over to the underworld, when the Primordial Goddess of the Night herself, sent him to take him to her? Even if he didn't know what she would do to Akira, he knew it wouldn't be a bad thing, otherwise Akira would be long dead by now.

After going through the portal they both found themselves in the underworld.

Hypnos no longer had any divine traces on his body, if they looked at him now, they felt that he was just an ordinary person who ended up in the underworld by chance.

Of course, he wouldn't give other people a chance to see him.

"Very well."

Waving his hands, he hurled Akira into a nearby forest, but before he hurled him, he conjured what appeared to be a barrier in the forest to prevent Akira from running away.

"Aaaah!"

Akira had no time to react, and all he could see was the ground moving rapidly as he was thrown into the air.

Boom!

The noise caused by his fall into the forest was so loud that some nearby animals backed away thinking it was a predator that had awakened from its slumber.

"What's going on in that guy's head? First he brings me back to the underworld and then throws me into this forest.... I wonder what I did to deserve this kind of treatment?"

Akira muttered angrily.

Looking at the surroundings, he realized that it was an ordinary underworld forest, so there was no reason for him to be afraid of being attacked by a powerful being since normally this place was inhabited by underworld beasts that didn't have as much strength or intelligence.

'It seems that he is afraid that I will try to escape.'

Intrigued, he continued muttering, "I wonder, what this man wants with me, since we don't seem to be in the vicinity of the Gremory clan."

Looking at what appeared to be a barrier around the forest, Akira just shook his head as he began to walk aimlessly through the forest. He didn't know what Hypnos had in mind, but he knew he didn't have the strength to retaliate.

Hypnos seeing that Akira was safe and realizing that Akira didn't try to break the barrier, sighed with relief and soon disappeared from where he was.

Taking Akira was only due to Nyx's request, his main mission, was to find and take with him, Ingvild Leviathan.

From the information he had, Ingvild was being treated in a secret hospital in the underworld. He knew that breaking into that place was risky and could expose him. But since it was an order from Nyx, he could not refuse, even if it might cost him his life.

If Akira knew that Hypnos was here to kidnap Ingvild, he would probably have a heart attack, since this had never happened in the original story.

And that could only mean one thing, the plot had already started to change, and that might not be so good, since some beings that were only supposed to appear way ahead of the story are starting to show up before the original plot even starts.