Duke Silvan could not speak the words he wanted to as, completely counter to his expectations, he soared and crashed into the wall with a resounding *THUD*.

He struggled to recover from the unexpected dizziness and intense pain coming from the high-impact collision, unable to comprehend how a puny Expert-level ant could possibly leave him in such a poor state!

'Could it be my carelessness...? Am I really in such a bad state??? I know I haven't fought seriously for a decade and... And... Missed out on any forms of combat training for more than 5 years... But... But... How can this be???' His mind worked overtime, racing through the various permutations, reasons and possibilities but he still could not accept what had just happened!

'There's no way that someone could dispel the slave seal! No way at all! Not in this world, not in the manifold worlds around in the known universe! And forget about what if he noticed it; even if he did, he completed the contract and formed the slave seal with me out of his own will! I saw it with my owns how the seal entered his heart and soul!'

Then just as he could stabilise himself and lurch to his feet, his eyes refocused as he reached the only conclusion he could accept.

'Unless...'

'Unless this has all been an illusion! Yes! That must be it! It's all an illusion... Set up by the Laughing Man in tandem with this kid...! Hahahah! So it was a trap all along, how ingenious of the Laughing Man... After finding out that I wanted to bring this boy in, he must have set up this trap! And now all I need to do is...'

Duke Silvan's eyelids narrowed and he burst forth with his full mental capacity in a bid to dispel the illusion...

But nothing happened!

'No...! No!!! It can't be, it can't be!!! I refuse to believe it, this cannot be true! Whether the slave seal not working or this 15-year-old child being able to injure me, being able to equal me in strength! Madness, this is insanity! Impossible, utterly impossible!!!' But even as Duke Silvan wondered if he were turning mad right now, he did not let his guard down nor did he slouch on his defences. He covered himself in what seemed like a thin, fragile layer of red-brown energy, covering him like in a chitinous exoskeleton of armour as he watched the boy before him slowly walk over, calm and at ease.

"...Boy!!! I don't care what tricks you have up your sleeve...! I'm giving you this one chance to expose the mastermind behind this trap and maybe, just maybe I'll forgive you by giving you a clean death!! Even if the seal has failed, do you really think that you will come out of this alive!?? Better to give up the dark hand behind the curtains while you're still able to, lest he abandon you and leave you to die as a sacrificial lamb!"

While Duke Silvan shot forth his words in a quick-fire manner, he continuous cast his spirit sense about to catch any hint of an ambush around him.

'Curses!!! I need to find a way to pierce the outer barrier as soon as possible and send a signal for rescue!!! Else I'll be lucky to escape with my life...! I can only hope that the boy in his immaturity caves in to the psychological pressure and switches sides...'

Based on the a.s.sumption that the Laughing Man had been party to this trap or perhaps even the lead planner of this snare, he was in literal deep sh*t right now - stranded in the depths of a proverbial lion's den! And because of that, he himself did not realise it but he had placed his hopes on the worst and lowest probability play of all - he had forgotten that the "kid" had just moments ago completely manipulated him and had him wrapped around his finger!

What were the odds of Lars then immediately turning into a weak-minded imbecile to switch allegiances all for the "reward" of a quick, clean death...? Even that was not guaranteed based on the past devilish dishonesty of Duke Silvan!

The situation quickly devolved into a stare-down; with Lars unflinching, unbudging and exerting countless pressure on Duke Silvan who was still in a muddled state. The blue-blooded royal was hesitant to make any move on Lars, fearful of a sneak attack being sprung on him the moment he let down his guard and focused on the boy.

At the same time, he had his full-powered mana channeled ceaselessly, covering his body in his ultimate defence mode - his signature battle mode, the Red-Earth Locust Transformation!

This mode made him strong in all three of speed, power and defence, with the only weakness being poor flexibility due to the extremely hardened and strengthened form.

But the other drawback of this mode was that it drained his mana - constantly! However, he had no choice, for as long as he was in the midst of enemies on all sides, he could be literally stabbed in the back at any moment! His only option was to constantly drain his mana to keep himself primed for combat!

On the contrary, Lars was relaxed and ready to trigger his mana and combat spells at the slightest notice. Despite allowing the slave seal to enter his 2nd mana core and having it rupture, the damage to him was negligible - merely a temporary crippling of his faux peak-Expert mana core; something that he could easily replace through the next Abyssal Exchange.

He had a theory to test and was 99% confident that his scheme had worked... But it wouldn't hurt to play it safe, would it...?

And so Lars' smirked wide as he continued to inch closer to Duke Silvan while smiling sinisterly; laying on the pressure onto the frantic man and draining his mana further.

But just at that tense moment, an amused voice chimed in from the side, coming from behind Lars' back.

"What's the matter here...?" The Laughing Man had sensed the disturbance and rushed over within 10 seconds from the clash between the duo, only to see a tense stand-off play out before his eyes! Needless to say, he was doubly surprised - firstly that the previously mock-amicable negotiations had so quickly devolved to this state, and secondly that the injured and defensive party was Duke Silvan!

The moment the Laughing Man spoke, Lars inadvertently turned back slightly, diverting his attention for just the shortest moment and taking his eyes off Duke Silvan.

And the moment he turned back, in just that 0.05 split second, Duke Silvan was upon him, turned into a rocketing torpedo of crus.h.i.+ng red power!

'Chance!!!!! DIE!!!!!' Duke Silvan roared out in his mind as he bore down on Lars!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!

And Lars looked in hilarity as Duke Silvan suddenly found his soul and will forcefully dragging him aside to veer away from Lars, smack dab into the reinforced concrete walls!!

A human-shaped hole was left in his wake as his solidly empowered body was embedded a full metre into the wall! However, the fact that he had not burst through to the other side was testament to the Laughing Man implementing the highest standards of defence in his base of operations!

Nonetheless, the ceiling produced complaining, groaning and creaking sounds before collapsing down onto a dazed and confused Duke Silvan... While the Laughing Man looked on, equally stunned by the unlikeliness of the situation!

What the f*** was going on??? How could a Legendary expert.... MISS his target?!? Especially when that true powerhouse, the undisputed master of combat was one that stood at the apex of the entire kingdom!

The Laughing Man felt a chill run up his spine as he slowly turned to lay his eyes on the boy who was behind it, Lars who seemed to be not surprised at the outcome!

*Clap clap clap!*

The Laughing Man could not help but express his awe for the kid. Even if he had to perform a clean-up after this - both of his hidden base and eliminating the people involved - he just had to give it to him!

Had anyone ever heard of a child toying with a Legendary monster before...? No f***ing way!

Lars was a bit surprised at the crime lord's actions and smiled sheepishly before he asked with a serious look in his eyes, "Mr Joker, I hope you'll give Duke Silvan a chance to explain himself. I'm sure he will have something that will be of great... Interest to you. And to me, of course..."

The sound of the stones clattering to the ground was heard as a person moved underneath the rubble. The wreckage slid aside and parted to show a disheveled, bloodied and injured Duke Silvan, albeit one with his Red-Earth Locust Transformation still intact except for two broken feelers of the red-brown summoned helmet on his head.

Shakily, Duke Silvan blurted out the words, "W-w-...Why...? Why is this happening...? I-I-I... I can't muster the will to harm y-you, b-b-boy...!"

And Lars smiled before he said, "...Isn't that obvious...?"

And he walked over towards Duke Silvan who raised his arm up, trying to force himself to strike a life-reaping punch and blow Lars' head off. He shot his fist forward full-powered against the defenceless, unprepared Lars, but just before his knuckles could touch Lars' face, a deep-blue pulse of light shone from Duke Silvan's chest before his entire body convulsed and he wrenched his arm away, narily slipping past Lars' head and not even harming a hair on his scalp!

"GUHHHH!!!!!! What... W-what... What's wrong... What's WRONG WITH MEEEEE??!?!?!?" Duke Silvan hollered uncontrollably as he collapsed onto the ground, his eyes darting here and there erratically as his state of mind began to collapse. He was pulling at his hair as he broke out in cold sweat and the veins on his forehead bulged out.

Lars then kept his arms folded before his chest and calmly explained what had happened, his behaviour completely at odds with the frenetic and nigh-insane actions of his opponent.

"...Looks like it turned out just as I expected. Too bad for you, Silvan. The seal and contract didn't fail..."

"It worked perfectly, exactly as intended! Which means you will never, ever be able to harbour any ill-will towards me nor make any decision whatsoever which you know will harm me, whether now in a hundred years to come!"

And Duke Silvan cried out in despair and frustration as he roared, "NO!!!!!! NO NO NO NO!!!!!!! THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING TO MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! REEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! THERE'S NO WAY!!! THE SLAVE SEAL FAILED, THE CONTRACT FAILED, SO HOW??? HOW????!?!?!?"

He began to weep and bawl, rolling on the floor like a man who had lost his mind, causing the Laughing Man's scalp to grow numb at the sight.

And the crime lord looked on in pity and sympathy as Duke Silvan thrashed about on the ground, before he cast a glance with raised brows at Lars - a glance that was filled with fear and apprehension at the dreadful and threatening boy who could reduce a grand royal n.o.ble to such a sorry state...!

And he also came to an instantaneous decision...

He needed to eliminate the boy immediately before he too fell victim to his wiles, while the boy was still weak and frail!

The Laughing Man triggered his trump card and brought to bear his full powers, plunging everything around Lars and Duke Silvan into a pitch-black swallowing void that was dark beyond darkness!

"!!!!!!" Lars cried out wordlessly as he burst for with his own abilities to clash against the leader of the Underworld, smiling with delight as he could now rid the world of the scourge that was the Laughing Man, relis.h.i.+ng the moment as he set forth on the challenge of slaying a dragon on it's own lair!