Chapter 204: He Just Wanted A Hand

Being aware of the sound of the bell does not mean that the bell belongs to you. Likewise, being aware of thoughts does not mean the thoughts belong to you.

But Zane’s thoughts and the sound of the bell on his weapon, both of them belonged to him.

Many things happened in a few seconds.

Zane convinced the leader to search Horum’s quarters and that was what Zane was thinking at least.

He didn’t know since when the leader began doubting him.

He had done everything perfectly but then again how perfect could a slum rat be? Some leaks were bound to happen one way or the other.

The biggest leak was revealed by the leader itself.

The mask.

Zane and the others overlooked such a simple detail.

They wore expensive, shining clothes and yet, they didn’t change their normal masks of red color.

It didn’t match their look and it screamed something was wrong.

The leader simply said that out loud and was smart enough to reach a conclusion.

The leader acted like he accepted Zane’s idea or words and would go to search the quarters but it was highly likely that the leader had suspected Zane the moment he laid eyes on him.

After all, the mask was on him all the time and it was very eye-catching as well.

The leader stayed outside the door all the time to talk more and more just to see how far the impostor in front of him could go in lying.

And Zane went very far in that.

The leader heard everything Zane and Hena lied about and he held back from grinning all this time.

There was no better feeling than listening to lies when you know the truth.

The leader played with them for a while but he had yet to confirm one thing.

Whether the impostor was Zane Atlas or not.

He was almost sure about it but he needed confirmation.

So he chose to test the masked man’s patience.

The leader took out the crystal and when he mentioned he would contact Leon, he sensed the slight change in everyone’s faces and muscles.

The two people who came with the leader also affirmed the changes in the people and now the leader was even more sure of the masked man being Zane Atlas.

But one final nail was left.

So first, the leader gave them hope and relief that he was leaving the house to search in the quarters and then instead of leaving, he fully opened the door and entered inside.

He saw all their faces but he focused more on the masked man. The main masked man.

He pointed out the normal mask and expensive clothes conundrum and as he talked he sensed the rising anxiety, fear, anger in the masked man.

The leader couldn’t help but grin, playing with his new puppet and to seal the deal, the leader threw the last card.

He extended his hand towards the masked man.

Grinning.

The masked man did the same but slowly.

With his hand extended, the leader decided to do the final praise as well.

"You are really one smart man..."

And since it was the final phrase, the leader hammered the hot iron by straight out addressing the masked man as...

"Zane Atlas."

The leader sensed the immediate fear and shivers in Zane and because of that he was completely sure now.

The masked man was really Zane Atlas and since he found the filth, the leader’s grin widened.

He wondered how he should start playing with his new special prey.

Then he remembered that this prey was resilient and stubborn so before playing, he had to subdue it first.

So the leader opened his mouth wide and summoned fire from his lungs.

Zane Atlas was dead.

However...

It wasn’t only the leader who sensed the change of things.

Living in the Ashen slum had taught Zane things no Citadel could teach.

Instinct.

The moment the leader entered the room to praise, Zane’s senses had picked up disturbance.

He had turned vigilant right away.

And when the leader mentioned the mask, it became clear to him.

Zane’s eyes stopped seeing left and right as they only glued to the leader now.

One careless blink and he would lose his life.

Still, in the end Zane showed no fear, no evident fear and tried to handle the matter with talking.

The leader’s grin kept getting wider and things turned extremely serious when the leader extended his hand.

Either the leader found nothing about Zane or he wanted to do something else under the pretense of shaking Zane’s hands.

Zane was sure no Scepter would like to touch a gutterborn. If the leader had really found out about Zane then the extended hand wasn’t by a goodwill or for friendship.

That hand was bad news.

Still he extended his hand.

But his left hand.

The leader had his right hand extended and Zane had his left.

He extended it slowly and the leader showed no hurry and no frown when Zane extended his left.

And the leader showing no hurry only confirmed Zane’s thoughts. The man had no intention of shaking Zane’s hand. Otherwise, he wouldn’t wait for Zane’s slowly extending hand to reach his hand. And since he also said nothing about Zane reaching out with his left hand it meant that the leader couldn’t care less which hand Zane would use to shake hands.

He just wanted a hand.

After analyzing everything, Zane made up his mind.

His left hand would never be shaken with the leader.

His left hand would go somewhere else.

While Zane’s left hand reached the leader, the man praised the gutterborn for one last time.

"You are really one smart man..."

He paused and the next words, the next words made Zane sure of his plan.

"Zane Atlas."

The leader figured it out.

His grin had turned wicked.

Zane recognized those eyes.

They had murder in them.

The System had chimed in but Zane didn’t need a window to know he was near death.

Zane was prepared for it but his heart couldn’t help but fear and tremble.

And as if the wicked smile wasn’t enough, the leader opened his mouth wide.

Zane didn’t understand but the next second, he saw a bright yellow hotness ready to come out of the leader’s mouth.

It would fall right on Zane’s face and to save himself, he had to carry out his plan.

His left hand that was being extended went to its rightful place.

It was never going to shake the leader’s hand, it was meant to go inside Zane’s ring.

Zane shoved his left hand inside his Key of Oblivion and in no time, he took out his weapon.

He held it in his right hand and before the fire could come out of the leader’s mouth...

SHRILL!

Zane swung it.

And since he had used it from the blade side...

THUD!

The leader’s head fell down on the floor with no effort.

Zane watched it with wide eyes and heavy breaths as the leader’s head had the same expressions.

And since Zane’s weapon had a bell on it with a purpose, it did its work.

Depicting Zane’s first kill in Dwarkam...

TUNG!

The Last Toll rang for the first time.