Claude suddenly realized that he had been oversimplifying things. Now that he was in a predicament, he couldn't advance or retreat.
First of all, his current attire was the same as the time when he went to the fat old man Hurian's underground shop. He was wearing a mask.
He didn't want to reveal his identity. That way, he could use the identity of a mysterious magus and not have to worry about anything. It wouldn't matter even if he got into a fight.
When he went to look for Arbeit that night, he thought that the casino Arbeit was at would be a simple one with only a dozen or so gamblers there.
He could totally destroy the casino in the name of robbery and use the opportunity to teach Arbeit a lesson, making him suffer a little.
That way, others would only think that Arbeit was unlucky and wouldn't suspect him.
What he didn't expect, however, was that Blacksnake would set up such a high-class casino in the slums. He rashly entered and ended up in a predicament before he could even find Arbeit.
No wonder the maid in front of him repeatedly asked him to take off his coat and scarf. After all, this wasn't the old street. All the gamblers present had revealed their true faces without their coats. Some gamblers were so angry that they were sweating all over. Even the maids were wearing summer dresses. Their bodies were exposed from time to time as they walked.
Thanks to the copper pipes used for heating, the temperature was at least ten degrees higher than outside. It didn't feel cold at all.
Claude's disguise made him stand out like a sore thumb as he looked around. There were a few burly men in black leather vests watching his every move. Sending a maid to test him was already quite polite of them.
Claude only had two choices. First, refuse the maid's request and not take off his coat and scarf. That way, he would have to face the burly men.
There was no way they would allow him to continue strolling around the casino without revealing his identity. It was obvious that they saw him as someone with ill intentions.
The second choice was for him to take off his coat and reveal his identity. He believed that there would definitely be people there who would recognize him.
However, if they knew that he was Claude, they would be even more restrained. He wouldn't be able to use magic and he wouldn't be able to kill everyone there to silence them.
But that way, even if he found Arbeit in the casino, the guards wouldn't let him do anything to him.
The reason was simple. Arbeit was a guest there and he had the money to gamble there. Claude, on the other hand, wasn't. He had given the last silver thale to the two gang members who led him there.
If he didn't have the money to go to the casino and teach him a lesson, he would be going against Blacksnake. Without using magic, he wasn't confident in winning against the guards.
If Morssen hadn't been captured and was still the chief executive, perhaps Blacksnake would have given him some face and wouldn't treat Claude too harshly.
But now that Morssen was a prisoner, Blacksnake wouldn't have anything to worry about and might even take care of Claude. After all, Morssen was one of the bigwigs who had suppressed the gang before he was captured.
Claude's biggest worry was that his actions would implicate his mother, sister, and brother. Having transmigrated to this world for nearly two years, he had come to see them as his real family and didn't want them to be hurt because of him.
That was also the reason he dressed up like that when he went out at night. It was to prevent others from discovering his true identity.
But while he was still considering what he should do, the maidservant in front of him had already made the decision for him. She grabbed his scarf and he subconsciously pushed it away, causing her to fall to the ground with a yelp. However, her hand was still holding onto the scarf tightly and she managed to pull it down.
But the maidservant's goal of seeing Claude's true face was foiled. He was still wearing a black mask that covered most of his face.
Claude had been wearing a mask before wrapping a scarf around his neck.
Now, he didn't have to think about what he should choose anymore. The black-armored men had already surrounded him. One, two, three, four, five, six. There were six of them in total.
The leader was a bald man who was at least a head taller than Claude. The muscles on his body bulged and one could tell that he was extraordinarily strong just by looking at his muscles.
The bald man rubbed his nose and gestured to the two men beside him with his chin, gesturing for them to capture Claude.
"Ask him what he's here for," the bald man said as he looked at Claude with disdain.
The bald man looked at Claude with disdain. Even though Claude was dressed so mysteriously and had his face covered, no one took him seriously.
Compared to the six muscular men, Claude's 1.8m frame seemed rather frail.
Claude's weakness was that he always had to think before he did anything.
His boss had criticized him for that in his previous life. There was no such thing as a foolproof strategy. No matter how well prepared you were, it could still be foiled by unexpected circumstances.
Once we set a goal, we have to do our best to succeed.
The result doesn't matter. It's just a matter of earning more or less.
So long as we try our best, failure isn't our fault.
The transmigrator wasn't as open-minded as his boss in his previous life. But as long as he made a choice, he would always put his heart and soul into his work to achieve the greatest results.
Just like now, since he didn't have to think about his choice anymore, he decided to make the first move. While the six men around him weren't vigilant, he fired six Magic Missiles at them.
"Ahhh …" Miserable howls sounded out as the six Magic Arrows pierced through the lower abdomens of the six men. The six men fell to the ground, clutching their stomachs as they twitched on the ground. Fresh blood quickly flowed on the ash-grey ground … …
"Ah … Ah … Murder …" The maid who was still holding onto Claude's scarf was shocked by what happened. It took her a while to snap out of her daze and let out a shrill scream that gave Claude quite a fright.
The people who were gambling in the underground hall heard the maid's scream and turned around to look. They were so frightened that they threw away the gambling tools and chips in their hands and scattered in all directions. From time to time, there were even maids and gamblers who slipped and fell to the ground. Then, they screamed in fear and crawled under the table.
Claude ignored the screaming maidservant and strode towards the corridor in the hall. There was a staircase leading to the second floor. The maidservant mentioned that there were private rooms there and he wanted to see if Arbeit was gambling in those rooms.
However, he quickly stopped and patted himself on the back. He looked up at the group of burly men in black leather vests that appeared on the second floor.
There were five burly men on the second floor. It seemed like the black leather vests were the uniforms of the burly men from the Black Snake Gang.
Unlike the six from before, the five on the second floor each held a ballista in their hands. The sharp bolts on the ballista were all aimed at Claude.
"Who are you?
Take off your mask. Let me see who's so bold as to cause trouble in Blacksnake's territory. "
Two people stepped out from behind the five ballista-wielding men. The one in front was a middle-aged man dressed in a dark grey evening suit. His face was flushed and his tawny hair was combed neatly. He seemed to have just returned from a banquet.
He gracefully placed his hands on the railing of the platform and looked down at Claude with interest.
Beside him was a tall and skinny man in a dark brown jacket. His arms were crossed in front of his chest and his waist was bulging as if he had two short swords in it. He stood guard by the middle-aged man's side.
Ten or so men in black leather vests appeared in the two passageways of the underground hall. They were either wielding ballista bolts or all sorts of weapons.
The four guards at the gate that Claude had come through also surrounded him with their weapons drawn.
The gamblers and maidservants who were running around earlier finally calmed down and stopped shouting and running around. They consciously spread out around the four walls of the underground hall to watch the show.
On the balcony of the second floor, a dozen or so gamblers and maids appeared, looking down curiously.
Claude was shocked to find that the person he was looking for, Arbeit, was also among the crowd on the second floor. His face was flushed red and there was even a maidservant who pretended to look bashful as he looked at the show and groped her body.
Claude's rage shot through the roof. That heartless bastard was still in the mood to have fun when his house was in a mess. What a beast in human form!
However, Claude was still rather calm. He only gave Arbeit a glance and didn't look at him again.
Now that he had made a move against Blacksnake, if others found out that he was there to look for Arbeit, even if he managed to escape, Blacksnake would be able to find clues on Arbeit's body.
Seeing that Claude didn't reply and only looked around, the middle-aged man on the second floor couldn't help but get angry. "Do it! It's best if you leave him alive. It doesn't matter even if he dies!"
Bang!
Bang!
Bang … "The five men on the second floor pulled the trigger, and five crossbow bolts flew out like lightning.
However, contrary to everyone's expectations, the bolts seemed to be stopped by something they couldn't see. They stopped an inch away from Claude's body and fell one after another.
The middle-aged man on the second floor paled and hurriedly retreated. The lanky guard beside him had already drawn his shortsword and stood guard in front of him.
Claude didn't bother with the middle-aged man and continued to fire Magic Missiles at the five ballista-wielding men on the second floor. Next, he went for the dozen or so black-armored guards who were charging at him from all directions.
By the time the last guard was knocked to the ground by Claude's broken arm and knocked out with a stomp, it was already more than ten minutes later.
What a mistake … Claude wiped the cold sweat off his forehead. He shouldn't have dealt with the ballista-wielding men first. After he applied a long-range arrow protection spell on himself, the ballista-wielding fellows no longer posed a threat to him. Instead, it was the sword-wielding guards who posed a greater threat to him.
Fortunately, he realized his mistake in time. After shooting down the five ballista-wielding men on the second floor, he went for the sword-wielding guards who were charging at him in melee combat.
More than ten of them charged at him at once, causing him to be flustered. He retreated and fired Magic Missiles repeatedly before he managed to block the wave of attacks. Only three of the guards managed to get close to him.
However, it took quite a bit of effort for Claude to take them down.
It was only then that Claude noticed that most of the people in the hall had run away. Only about ten or so of them were left. He didn't know if their legs were weak or they were terrified. They were either hiding under the tables or shivering in a corner.
Looking at the hall, it was no wonder they were so afraid. There were more than 20 men lying on the ground. The ones who were still breathing were moaning and moaning in pain, while the ones who weren't were motionless. Blood flowed like a river on the ground.
Claude didn't feel the slightest bit of emotion. The guards were Blacksnake members anyway. They were scum and their deaths weren't to be regretted.
If he killed them, then so be it. He wouldn't feel any regret.
The fight was so intense that he couldn't stop at all. All he could think about was taking down as many as he could. How could he care about whether his Magic Missiles were fatal or not?
On the other hand, if he were to fall into their hands, he would definitely end up in a worse state than those on the ground. He might even drag his mother, sister, and brother down with him.
He looked up at the second floor and saw that there wasn't anyone there.
Even during the battle, he noticed that the middle-aged man and his guards, as well as Arbeit and the others who were watching the show, had long disappeared.
However, he was certain that they hadn't gone down yet. The staircase leading to the second floor had been empty all along. Nobody had come down from there.