When did Erza get a younger brother?
Neither the hair color nor the skin tone matched at all.
Moreover, the other party's expression and tone were clearly off.
Hope leaned back casually against the chair, fingers tapping the table lightly as magic power flowed quietly, ready to strike at any moment.
"You know Erza?"
Sho's lips curled into a cold arc, his voice filled with resentment. "More than just know her. We... are the 'companions' whose futures were destroyed by her own hands."
"We trusted her so much! But she abandoned us and lived a happy life outside on her own!"
Sho's emotions suddenly flared up, and his voice rose a few notches, drawing looks from guests at several surrounding gambling tables and attracting the casino's security.
"Hey! Why are you shouting at a guest?"
"Wait, I've never seen you before. Are you new—" Before he could finish, a magic Card accurately hit the security guard, and such a large living person vanished instantly.
Sho caught the returning magic Card and showed its contents to Hope. "If you don't want him to die, tell me honestly: where is Sister Erza?"
This dark-skinned man was actually a Card Mage.
Hope's gaze narrowed. He saw a tiny person calling for help inside the Card in the man's hand; it was exactly the security guard who had just disappeared.
To think there was such a move as sealing a human inside a Card.
Hope sighed softly. He had truly underestimated Card Magic before; he hadn't expected magic Cards could be used as storage spaces. As expected, there were no useless magics in this world.
Seeing Hope sigh, Sho thought the hostage in his hand was working and continued, "Tell me where Sister Erza is. I don't want to kill anyone, so don't make it difficult for me."
"Difficult?"
"Then don't do it."
Hope chuckled and flipped the gambling table with a lift of his hand. Simultaneously, his figure shot forward, kicking Sho in the chest before he could react and snatching away that magic Card in the process.
The hall instantly fell into chaos as guests cried out in alarm and scattered.
Sho scrambled to his feet, his expression grim. "Even if you take the Card, what's the use? No one but me can release this magic..."
As soon as he finished speaking, the security guard who was just in the Card landed on the floor with a thud the next second. Having returned to his original state, he thanked Hope and quickly scrambled away.
After all, a security guard was just an employee earning a few tens of thousands of J a month; why risk his life?
Hope looked at the stunned Sho and shook the blank Card in his hand. "Actually, I'm also a Card Mage. If it weren't for you, I might not have known this magic had so much room for development."
"By the way, what were you saying just now?"
Sho's face turned sullen, staring intently at the now-blank Card in Hope's hand. A function he had spent years of hard practice in Card Magic to develop had been learned by the opponent just like that.
Hope tossed the Card aside, his gaze sharpening. He would never believe Erza would do something to betray her companions, but the dark-skinned man before him clearly had a connection with her.
"Now, tell me, what exactly do you want with Erza? And who does the 'we' you mentioned refer to?"
"Don't underestimate me!" Sho gritted his teeth and pulled out three magic Cards from his pocket, tossing them into the air. The Cards transformed into dozens of flaming birds and dove straight at Hope.
Hope merely raised his hand lightly. 'Frost Shaping' instantly wove a dense net that fell, extinguishing the flock of firebirds while pinning Sho firmly to the ground.
"How can this be..." Sho watched in disbelief as his three Cards were torn to shreds by the frost net.
Hope approached step by step. "One last time: what do you want with Erza? And what do you all plan to do to her?"
Just then, the cavernous underground casino was suddenly covered by a darkness so thick one couldn't see their own hand. When the darkness dissipated, three figures emerging from different directions had surrounded Hope along with Sho.
Hope scanned them.
A man in a suit who looked like a block-man, a burly man with an iron jaw, and a girl with cat ears and a cat tail.
Sho shouted to the burly man, "Simon, this guy is very strong. I'm no match for him at all."
The burly man named Simon remained calm.
Instead, the block-man Wally said to Sho, "Look what's on his hand."
Only then did Hope notice a rope had been wound around his wrist at some point. He frowned; he could no longer mobilize the magic power in his body.
Sho's face immediately lit up with joy. That rope was a manifestation of the cat-girl Millianna's magic, 'Kitten'. Once bound by the rope, one could no longer use magic power.
"Well done, Millianna!"
Hearing her companion's praise, the cat-girl giggled. Earlier, Simon had used the magic 'Dark Moment' to completely cover the casino in darkness, and she had taken the opportunity to loop the rope around Hope's hand.
"Hmph! Stop dawdling."
The block-man Wally had a short fuse. He used magic to transform his arm into a large-caliber firearm and aimed it at Hope. "Tell us where Erza is, or I'll blow your head off."
The cat-girl Millianna also leaned in. "You're surrounded by us. If you confess honestly, we promise not to hurt you."
Hope sighed and said calmly, "You've got one thing wrong. It's not that you've surrounded me, but that I've surrounded the four of you."
Sho took out a blank Card from his clothes. "Stop talking big. What's the difference between a Mage who can't use magic and an ordinary person?"
"There's more to this world than just magic." Hope shrugged. "You're lucky today. I'll let you witness a power beyond your understanding."
As Hope's words fell, an invisible sound wave immediately spread out. Millianna suddenly covered her ears and fell to the ground with a look of agony.
Simon quickly supported her and asked with concern, "Millianna, are you okay—urgh!"
The burly man felt a terrifying power invade deep into his body. The intense pain instantly robbed him of his ability to move.
The block-man and Sho collapsed at the same time.
Simon looked pale at the only one standing, Hope. Without a doubt, the variable came from this guy. "Bastard, what did you do!"
"Nothing much, just activated 'Curse: Death Curse' a little bit. Don't worry, I'm holding back; I won't let you die."
Looking at the four weakened people, Hope had finally witnessed the power of the lullaby's Demon Curse.
'Curse: Death Curse' might be nothing to powerful Mages, but to ordinary Mages and commoners, it was a lethal Cursed Song of death.
"It seems you won't confess voluntarily..."
"So don't blame me for using a few little tricks to find the answer."
"Relax. If you struggle, you might turn into an idiot."
Hope casually snapped the rope and paced toward Sho with a villainous smile. Amidst Sho's terrified expression, he pressed a hand glowing with green light onto his head.
The next second, under the effect of the dual magics of Telepathy and Memory, Hope saw Sho's past...
----------------------------------
I've already uploaded over 70 new chapters on Patreon!
If you're enjoying the story and want to read ahead, feel free to check it out.
Your support truly means a lot to me!
patreon.com/Kazenova223
Thank you so much for being here!
And if you're having fun with the story, don't forget to drop a Power Stone for me!