Chapter 176: Kost’s Calculations

“Strangle me in the cradle?”

Who exactly was this guy? From his tone, he sounded even more arrogant than Archduke Demont. If he wasn’t a complete fraud, then he had to be a top-tier expert—either way, he was bad news. But how could there be so many top-tier experts?

Vivi’s patience had run out. She had no intention of exchanging another word with this pretentious man. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She lightly nudged her horse, which obediently shifted its body, giving her a clearer line of sight toward Kost.

“Now. Immediately. Kneel. Hands behind your head. Don’t move until I approach you.” After reciting Nolan’s pre-battle, self-invented “subdue the prisoner” lines, Vivi added her own harsh twist. “Otherwise, I’ll shoot you.”

She raised the Night Owl, the crossbow aimed squarely at Kost’s forehead.

“Three…”

The countdown began.

Yet the smile on Kost’s face did not waver in the slightest. He even calmly adjusted the collar of his noble attire, as though he were not the one being threatened. “Don’t be in such a hurry, my lady.” His gaze drifted from Vivi’s face downward, finally settling on the crossbow in her hands. “You say you don’t know what I’m talking about? But that crossbow you’re pointing at me—wasn’t it taken as spoils from my colleague?”

Vivi’s heart skipped a beat.

“Bullshit!” she snapped. “This was a gift from my lord!”

There was no way something Nolan had given her could have anything to do with this man.

“Is that so?” Kost’s smile grew gentler—and more unsettling. “Then take a look beneath the mechanism, near the trigger guard. Is there a very small… serpent-shaped mark?”

A serpent mark?

Almost reflexively, Vivi’s gaze followed his words, shifting to the crossbow in her hands. Beneath the housing, near the trigger guard…

Smooth as new. Not a serpent mark, not even a scratch. Nothing at all.

Vivi suddenly jolted, realizing her attention had been led astray. She immediately refocused, raising Night Owl steadily back at Kost, while her left hand moved to the black dagger hidden at her thigh.

But it turned out she had been overly cautious. Kost had not taken advantage of that brief lapse. He hadn’t even changed his posture.

Instead, seeing her reaction, a victor’s smile appeared on his face.

“Stop playing tricks!” Vivi snapped, anger flaring at his smug expression. The absence of any mark on the crossbow gave her confidence. “There’s nothing there! Now kneel!”

“But you checked, didn’t you?” Kost’s soft question instantly blocked all her rebuttals. “If you were completely certain of its origin, you wouldn’t have done something so unnecessary, would you?” He shook his head with feigned regret. “It seems your lord hasn’t told you everything.”

Vivi realized it then—a simple mental trap. Whether the mark existed was irrelevant; what mattered was that he got her to check.

However, Kost had misjudged her feelings toward Nolan and underestimated how much she despised this kind of aristocratic manipulation.

“Shut up!” She glared at him with contempt. “Don’t try to sow discord! I hate people like you the most—nobles who toy with others’ minds!”

She loathed that type. Polite on the surface, but full of schemes underneath, every word hiding a hook.

“Tsk tsk, such unwavering loyalty. I’m almost moved.”

Kost showed no frustration at his failed provocation, even patting his chest in exaggerated admiration.

“But I must tell you, my beautiful lady—this crossbow truly did come from my colleague. Because…”

He paused, his smile turning strange.

“I was the one who originally made it, and then gave it to my poor little brother, Koss.”

Koss? Vivi had never heard the name. Nolan had given her this crossbow when she joined the team. If Kost was telling the truth, then Nolan’s group must have clashed with this “Koss” long before they arrived in Veli City.

“What, then?” Vivi’s voice turned cold. “You want revenge?”

“Revenge?” Kost suddenly burst into laughter, bending over with genuine amusement. “No, no, my dear lady—you misunderstand. I have no interest in something so boring.” He wiped away tears of laughter, speaking as if sharing a secret. “My younger brother was adored since childhood. From the day our father gave him the little wooden horse that should have been mine, I’ve wished for his death every single day… Now that he’s dead, I couldn’t be happier.”

So this was the kind of person he was—nothing to do with goodness or humanity. Vivi understood instantly. An utterly selfish, inhuman bastard, likely serving some organization called a “sect.” If Nolan had fought people like him before, then that made him an enemy.

And Nolan’s enemy… was her enemy. No more words were needed.

“The ring he wore is very important to the sect,” Kost said, spreading his hands. “Return it to us, and we promise not to trouble you again. A fair deal, wouldn’t you say?”

Vivi’s reply was a single word, “Get lost.”

The moment the words fell, she pulled the trigger.

Whoosh!

The bolt became a deadly black streak, shooting straight for Kost’s throat. Her aim was perfect. At this distance, even a fly wouldn’t escape her shot.

And yet, something strange happened. The bolt, which should not have missed, grazed past his neck and embedded itself in a distant tree trunk, its fletching trembling.

She… missed?

Vivi trusted her own skill, but the result was undeniable, leaving her momentarily uncertain.

Kost, still smiling after the attack, now showed a hint of regret. “What a pity. Things never seem to be resolved peacefully. You’re so loyal to your lord… you must be very important to him. In that case, I’ll have to trouble you to come with us.”

Us?

After breaking into the Gold tier, Vivi’s sense of danger had sharpened immensely. Now, a powerful warning surged through her, every hair on her body standing on end.

A massive shadow appeared above her, engulfing her completely.

There was no time to think—only instinct. Create distance.

She spurred her horse forward in a sudden burst.

Boom!

A deafening crash rang out the moment she left her position. The ground where she had been standing was smashed into a deep crater by a massive greatsword, dirt and grass flying everywhere.

Vivi turned to look back. There shouldn’t have been any other enemies nearby.

Yet the one wielding that giant sword was the very same burly man she had shot dead with three bolts moments ago.

No… He could no longer be called a man. What stood before her was something utterly grotesque—unlike any race or creature she had ever seen. It was over three meters tall, its massive body still vaguely human in shape, heaving with heavy breaths. But its original human head was gone. In its place was a gigantic pig’s head. Not just any pig—a grotesque fusion. The head resembled that of a domestic pig, yet from its mouth jutted two long, curved tusks like scimitars, gleaming with a chilling light.

The human head had not vanished entirely—it was now lodged at the neck, but only the portion above the nose remained. Vivi’s three bolts were still embedded in its forehead, yet it seemed completely unaffected.

The creature’s strike had missed.

Then, all four of its eyes lifted at once, locking onto Vivi.