Morgan tried his best to suppress the man standing in front of him. But all his efforts were in vain.
"Tch. Your weakness stinks." The mystery man snorted.
And with that, he released his own aura.
His aura was much stronger than Morgan's—it snuffed out his aura like a candle blown by a gust of wind.
Morgan stiffened, his instincts screaming, muscles coiling with strength. His body and mind went on high alert. The man standing in front of him was a grandmaster just like him.
But he was 'stronger'. The gap in their strength was abysmal.
But the man wasn't done. He unleashed his aura completely, not holding back at all. Morgan's knees buckled, and he hit the ground with a resounding 'thud'.
Morgan's face twisted in pure horror. He couldn't believe it. The man standing in front of him was absurdly strong despite having the same rank.
His aura was stronger, wilder. 'Suffocating'.
"W-who are you? What do you want from me?" Morgan asked in panic.
He knew that he didn't stand a chance in front of this man. Even if he called all the other table members, they wouldn't win.
They were like bugs in front of this man. Bugs that he could squash easily if he so wished.
So he decided to do whatever it took to survive.
"Hmm... Now acting all weak, huh? Pathetic."
The man spat with disgust.
Morgan knew it—he looked pathetic. But looking pathetic was better than looking dead.
"P-please have m-mercy!!"
"Hmph. Just do the work that you've been given, and remember that if you fail... your life would be the least of your worries."
With that, the man disappeared from the building, and so did the suffocating aura.
Morgan finally took a shaky breath of relief. His end had been just inches away. He'd been stupid to act up without knowing the identity of the person.
He took out a communication artifact from his storage ring and activated it.
"Kent, I have a mission for you."
---
Coming back to the present, Morgan came out of his thoughts and spoke.
"Keep an eye on their every move, and remember—under no circumstances should the couple know about your identity or your mission."
"We don't know anything about that couple. They could have some hidden background that might put us in a tough situation if we're caught."
Morgan ordered in a very serious and strict tone. He couldn't afford to make any mistakes here.
A single mishap could lead to their annihilation. He still felt goosebumps thinking about that man who'd treated him like a dirt rag.
"Y-yes, sir! I'll stay alert all the time and ensure the mission's completion."
"Good. If you fail this mission, I'll feed you to my dogs."
Kent was covered in cold sweat by the end of their talk. When the communication device turned off, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and slumped on the bed.
He felt utterly exhausted despite doing no hard labor. Just the sheer pressure of Morgan's voice had him trembling.
Now he had to work much harder to ensure his identity remained hidden—or else his end might be miserable.
But what Kent didn't know was that from the very beginning of their conversation, Daren had been in the room, listening from start to end.
He was invisible to others, but he was there, standing by the wall, 'eyes closed'.
After their conversation ended, he opened his eyes and took one last glance at Kent before disappearing from the room completely—like a ghost.
---
Back at the Red Lilly base, Morgan took out another communication device from his ring.
This artifact was different from the one he'd used to talk to Kent. This one had more runes on it, and the design was slightly different. It was a higher-rank communication artifact given to him by the mysterious man to submit his reports.
Morgan looked at the artifact for quite some time before breathing a heavy breath and pouring his mana into it to activate it.
The moment his mana entered the device, he heard a voice—deep, devoid of warmth, and cold as ice. It sent chills down his spine.
"Report."
Morgan couldn't even begin to fathom the extent of this monster's power. Despite being the same rank as him, the man had 'rugged' him down.
He knew that within the same rank, there could still be a huge gap between cultivators due to battle experience, progress toward the next rank, and—most importantly—one's foundation.
A person with a stronger foundation always had the upper hand against someone with a weaker one.
But Morgan never knew the difference could be so vast. He was like a cat standing in front of a tiger.
Coming out of his thoughts, he started to report everything he knew from Kent without leaving out any specifics.
When the report ended, the man just gave a small "hmm" and ordered him to keep reporting daily without delay or mistakes.
When the light of the artifact died down—indicating the link had been severed—Morgan visibly slumped in his chair.
He felt like he'd aged a hundred years just from talking to this person.
---
Back at the inn, Daren reappeared in his bedroom after disappearing from Kent's room.
What greeted him there was a scene straight out of a fantasy story.
There, sitting on the bed, was Aria. Her long black hair—untied—sprawled behind her. Her black eyes, shining in the moonlight from the window, flickered with mischief and promised pleasure.
Her head rested on the palm of her left hand, slightly tilted as if deep in thought. One leg crossed over the other giving a view that would have many drooling.
She was just sitting there waiting for him. 'Naked'.
"Hiss." Daren hissed upon seeing such a view.
Heat rushed through his body, his little brother twitched in his pants now fully erect making a dent on the pants, waiting to be unleashed.
Daren couldn't believe his wife. She was just too much, she never failed to amaze him with this tricks of her making things always spicy and heated.
"You little succubus." He growled, walking to the bed.
Seeing him approaching the bed a slow, sultry, teasing smile formed on aria's face.
"Aren't you too desperate, darling."
Aria teased playing with a flock of her hair.
"Who's the desperate one is very clear here you naughty succbus."
Daren reached the bed and grabbed her by waist and pulled her to her legs, holding her tight in his handshands with force enough to shatter mountains.
Aria yelped because of the sudden pull but didn't fight back still keeping the same smile on her face.
Her soft body crashed against his. Her soft milky white squishy breast pressed again his toned cheaseled chest. Her nipple hardening in an instant.
"What can I do, you turn me on so much that I couldn't handle myself." Aria whispered in a low teasing voice.
Daren's breathing was ragged, his raging boner trying to dig a hole in her belly.
It wasn't first time for him seeing her naked like this but, he has a really low self control when it comes to her.
He moved in a swift motion holding the back of aria's head and pulling her towards him.
Aria's lips crashed against daren's. Now locked in a heated battle of tongues, savoring the taste of each others mouth.
Mixing their saliva sucking on each other's lips.