The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 81: Disturbance (2) (Part 1)

The night in Baoless was unusually deep and dark compared to other regions.

Yet, ironically, Baoless’s night was also far more dazzling—though in a sleazy, decadent way.

A crimson glow painted the alleyways.
Laughter and seductive cries echoed endlessly through the streets of pleasure.

The Red-Light District.

In every alley and street corner, brothels lined up in rows, and women dressed in extravagant outfits waved men inside with coy smiles.

And at the center of it all stood the most extravagant of them all—
A building adorned with lavish ornaments and aged elegance, resembling a noble’s grand mansion.

“P-Please, I’m sorry! I won’t do it again!”

From within the mansion, a naked woman was dragged out by brutish men.

“I-I must have lost my mind for a second! I swear I won’t repeat it, please…!!”

She begged desperately, but the men didn’t even pretend to listen.
They threw her to the ground and began to beat her without mercy.

Whack! Thud!

Her pale skin, once ghostly white under heavy makeup, quickly turned blue and bruised.
Her red lips burst open and bled, making them an even deeper red.

Whack! Thump! Thud!

Still, the beating didn’t stop.
Before long, her bare body was so covered in bruises and blood, her face unrecognizable.

And then—

“Enough.”

A voice came from deeper within the mansion.
Only then did the men finally stop, stepping back.

A new woman walked out from the interior.

Hair as red as fresh blood.
A dangerously seductive appearance that ignited desire in the air.

The red gem around her neck only enhanced the allure of her sensual neckline and curvy figure.

“Ma… Ma’am…”

The bloodied woman crawled toward her.

She was Lyla, the Matron of the Red Banquet and ruler of the red-light district.

“Pl-please… have mercy…”

Lyla slowly walked over—smack!
She slapped the woman’s face hard.
It was like being struck by a whip—her cheek split open.

“Who taught you to reject a customer’s choice?”

Smack! Smack!
Lyla continued to slap her across the face, unfazed.
After several strikes, only wet, gurgling gasps came out of the woman’s throat.

Only then did Lyla flick the blood from her hand in annoyance.

“Take her away. Fix her attitude—permanently.”

The men dragged the unconscious woman away.

And just then—

BOOOOM!!!

An ear-splitting explosion shook the city, accompanied by a blinding flash of light.
It felt like the entire city of Baoless was trembling.

“Matron.”

A member of the Red Banquet, approached Lyla.

“What’s the situation?”

“Sarpedon is confirmed to be at the casino.”

Sarpedon—the Black grasp’s acting leader and ruler of the casino.

“And the ones who attacked the black market—doesn’t seem like it was the Black Grasp.”

“Hm…”

Lyla ran her long, slender fingers along her lips.
The blood she hadn’t wiped off yet made them appear even redder.

“Then who could it be?”

“There are rumors that smaller Vister groups in Baoless have allied together, but…”

“No.”

Lyla shook her head instantly.

The Grey Masks of the black market weren’t pushovers.
There’s no way a loose alliance of low-level Visters could overpower them.

A bunch of small fries banding together is still just small fries.
If the black market could fall to that, it would’ve collapsed long ago.

It was nothing more than a bunch of monsters pretending to be kings in a mountain without ogres.

BOOM!

Another explosion—this one even stronger than before.

This proved the black market wasn’t even mounting a proper defense. They were being completely overwhelmed.

“This isn’t normal.”

A glint sparked in Lyla’s eyes.

“What about the Black Grasp?”

“No unusual movement yet…”

The subordinate swallowed hard and continued:

“But judging by the way their executives and affiliated Visters are gathering at the casino… they’re about to act.”

“They’re going all in?”

“What should we do?”

Lyla didn’t need long to decide.

BOOOOOOM!!!

Another explosion shook the entire underground market as soon as they arrived.

‘Looks like Isolde is going wild.’

Anyway.

“This way.”

Following the Acata, they reached the market’s vault.
Although the route required a complicated security process, they passed through it without any hiccups.

And once the thick vault door opened—

Gold and silver coins from across the continent flooded the view.
The sight rivaled even Avarus’ secret treasury.

No, it dwarfed it.

“This is the money laundered through Obscura.”

Obscura—a name that referred both to a method and a place used by the Dark Merchant Guild for laundering money.

The guild generated massive profits through black markets across the continent.

But since those profits came from illegal activities, they couldn’t just spend them freely.
If they did, they’d risk being traced.

So they used Obscura to clean the money—turning dirty gold into “legitimate” assets.

Baoless was one of the guild’s major bases, with its own Obscura system.
The mountain of wealth in front of his eyes was proof of the profits laundered here.

‘Easily over 100 million gold.’

And that was just a low-end estimate.

He’d have to count to get the exact number, but it was already mind-blowing.

And then—

“B-Bad news!!”

An Acata, wearing a grey mask, burst in, panting.

“T-The Black Grasp… they’ve started attacking the Temple!!”

“What?!”

An Evangelista jumped to his feet.

“T-That’s not all…!”

The Acata paused to catch his breath before continuing:

“Smaller Vister groups in Baoless have joined forces and are attacking the Temple too!”

“What in the world…!”

The Evangelista looked completely stunned.

The Black Grasp and a Vister alliance?
Even the Dark Merchant Guild couldn’t ignore that kind of force.

But—

‘The Red Banquet still hasn’t moved.’

Was it caution?

Or were they plotting something else?

‘Hmm…’

Still too early to tell.

But one thing was clear—Lyla had no intention of getting involved just yet.
An unexpected move.

But that was fine.

Unexpected factors were normal during an operation.
This one was still within tolerable limits.

‘We’re just on a slightly tighter schedule now.’

Still, the plan was progressing as expected.

“I told you, didn’t I? The black market assault was just a diversion.”

“A-Ah… of course…!!”

Translatin_Otaku

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