Hikari: Rise Of The Weapons Master

"So, what are we supposed to do here?" Emma asked as both of them stood over the warden's desk.

Many papers were lying on the desk and some of them caught Zack's eyes. However, he didn't say anything and looked at the drawers on the desk.

They were filled to the brim with papers too. Most of them were administrative or budget papers.

[ Don't tell me the warden actually takes care of such things instead of punishing the criminals. I had expected better than that. ]

[ Your better makes the warden seem worse. ] Zack replied as he once again turned his attention.

One of the papers that had caught his eye was titled 'the past of the rulers'. He then looked around the room once before picking up the paper.

Emma too noticed the title as she started reading the paper alongside Zack.

---

Today, another new ruler rose. This is the second ruler I have seen in my time and something about him doesn't feel right. But then, the previous ruler didn't feel right either.

---

Zack and Emma looked at each either as they realized that what they were reading was a diary of sorts.

They scrambled the papers on the desk and arranged them in order by the numbers written on the top right section.

They then sat down on one of the sofas before reading ahead.

---

I have traced back into the past of the rulers and I have found one thing common between them. Perhaps my obsession lead me to this or perhaps I am paranoid that something will happen.

Whatever the reason is, I now know that every single ruler after the first one has been a commoner, one who had appeared out of nowhere.

I will keep looking into their background while maintaining these records. After all, I need to make sure that someone else will read these in case I get caught

---

Looks like I was right. All of them were somehow roped into conducting a crime and were brought to prison.

A few days later, they became the rulers of the underworld. I think I am stuck too deep in this thing and there is no way out until and unless I reach the end…

---

Ha… I managed to obtain some information on this Hayden guy. His past is something that outshines the past of all other rulers.

He just appeared as an eighteen-year-old in the middle of Ezinjar. Not only that, there have been millions of such cases around the entire continent.

I am starting to wonder if something strange is about to happen.

---

Never could I have expected to see a darker side of the already darker black market. There is a secret town that runs solely on underworld stuff and it's connected to all four kingdoms as well as Lelisawol.

There, slave auctions are as common as selling food, and the things you can get there are shocking. It's the criminal head of the entire continent, led by the four kings of the underworld.

I will not dive further into this thing.

---

So, this is most probably my last recording and I have finally managed to reach the end of things.

But by doing so, I have made the ruler aware of me. Now, he will be taking over my body too just like he controls all of them.

The last thing I am doing is sealing my office and leaving my notes behind.

If you managed to get rid of the handcuffs and by some god fking miracle ended up here, I hope you read the entire thing.

Now, I can already feel him consuming so I will write the last thing here.

There are at least a hundred mind illusionists in the prison alongside who knows how many brain dead fighters. The entire prison is a way of finding future 'rulers' candidates as well as slaves.

The ones with longer sentences and extremely criminal or no background are also sold for other reasons. Overall, it's much sicker than anyone realizes.

In the end, there is only one way to defeat the ruler. You need to stab his heart and get every single drop of blood out of his body.

The person can survive if treated with healing pills and potions soon enough and the ruler will be gone.

May the odds be in your favor,

The last free warden of the Blackwater prison.

---

Zack and Emma slowly looked at each other before looking down at the papers once again. If what they had read was correct, then that meant one thing.

Since the start of the underworld after Night's Wrath, there had only been a single true king of the underworld.

That ruler was the one who had been there the entire time.

"He is more than just a normal NPC…" Emma muttered as she went over the papers mentioning the arrival of players in Hikari a second time. "I wonder if this is the same plot as a video game web novel. One where the game is real."

"Who knows, maybe it is," Zack replied with a poker face as he remembered Kai's words.

The warden had been very much of a human-like Zack and Emma. Now, he was a puppet controlled by the true ruler.

"But why did he uphold the oath every time except this time?"

Zack had no answer to Emma's question as he too was wondering about that. To him, it looked like a plot hole in the entire story.

'It's gotta have something to do with Hayden being from Earth.' Currently, that was the theory that made the most sense.

"So… we are safe as long as we stay inside this room?" Emma asked while looking around. She wasn't too convinced that the room was completely sealed from the people of the prison.

"According to him, everyone inside the prison is mind-controlled, the workers through a seal and the prisoners through their handcuffs."

"Then I guess you are a one-of-a-kind loophole creator." Emma smiled a little before she stood up from the sofa and stretched her body.

She had long since gotten rid of armor since that obstructed her hunter abilities. Currently, she was dressed in casual trousers and a shirt which definitely didn't make her look like a warrior.

Instead, she looked like eye candy for someone to stare at entire day.

(A/N: An eye candy is someone who is visually pleasing to look at.)

But if anyone referred to her as eye candy, Emma was sure that she would kick the hell out of the person.

If Zack heard her words, he would wholeheartedly agree with her.

"I guess it's time for us to but before that," Zack stood up from the sofa and approached Emma before raising his hands to her neck. "You don't have any need for this."

He then threw the slave collar on the ground and burned it. Emma stared at it for a few seconds before a smile appeared on her face.

"If the percentage was reversed and the obedience was at 85%, would you have kept it on my neck?" She asked while looking at Zack's expressions.

"That would have depended on how much I like you," He replied back with a smirk. We will talk more about this after we manage to clear this part and end this arc."

"I will remember that." With one last smile, the two of them decided to go back to the first floor.

They were going to end the true ruler's entire career.