Chapter 696: Chapter 696

“Now, the second head…”

After taking a deep breath, she continued detailing the team led by the second head, which was also involved in illegal trade. Unlike the first team, however, this one dealt not in goods, but in lives.

“That scum will do anything from poaching to abducting and even murder.”

They not only poached endangered and protected animals, but would harm Sacred and Spectral Beasts, and obviously humans too.

They had no respect for wildlife sanctuaries and disregarded all of the preservation laws put in place by the Three Gods Countries. They also had no qualms about abducting children, and they would slaughter the parents if they got in the way.

And to really drive home how little they thought of human lives, if they were unable to sell their prey, they would mercilessly kill it.

“Hmm… That’s just pure evil…”

Mira winced with disgust hearing everything Alma told her. Sometimes the young Sacred Beasts they would poach would get injured in the process, becoming worthless in the market, also leading to their unnecessary death. There were also countless children who had been taken away from their parents by that team. All they left behind was anguish and tragedy.

“But I can actually give some good news about them too.” With that, Alma added, “What you did a while back dealt a pretty big blow to them,” grinning a little.

“You see, this team was closely tied to Chimera Clauzen, since they also sold a bunch of spirits.”

The destruction of Chimera Clauzen had also extended into that organization. As the Fifty Bells went around crushing any remnants of Chimera Clauzen, they also gained information about their associates, like that team.

The Fifty Bells also had excellent methods of interrogation, so it did not take long before they were tearing quite deep into that team.

Sensing their impending destruction, that team decided to cast off a large number of members and bases, cutting ties from Ira Muerte to spare the rest of the organization. So while they were being hunted down by the Fifty Bells from one side, their lifeline was also cut on the other side.

“Ohh, I hadn’t thought of that. At least my hard work paid off then.”

Mira was rather pleased with herself hearing that her work had such an effect somewhere else.

Following Chimera Clauzen’s destruction, they had no one to sell spirits to anymore, and the follow-up investigations also destroyed their ability to sell other beings.

It was almost shocking how quickly the number of intruders in sanctuaries and the casualties amongst Sacred Beasts had decreased. The same applied to human trafficking, with numbers decreasing so suddenly it was almost like something else had happened.

With all that combined, Alma thought it was safe to assume that everyone in that team was standing on hot water.

“Now, the third head’s team is actually the one you’ll be dealing with, Grandpa…”

Moving along, Alma detailed the team led by the third head of Ira Muerte.

That third team was deeply linked to the previous two. For origınal chapters go to novel-fire.ɴet

Namely, they were in charge of distribution and transport. They would collect the weapons and items from the first team, as well as the animals and hostages from the second, and distribute them across the continent. He Who Commands the Dark Routes, August Gradin, was also the leader of that whole team.

“Ah, and this August is also a really messed up individual.”

August was also one of the few people aware of the existence of the Oracle, and Esmeralda stepped in to talk about him.

As his nickname suggested, he was the person controlling most of the underground trading routes across the continent. He had established them to transport illegal goods, which most bandits and evildoers relied on. That also meant that he oversaw any major trade deal that happened.

Everyone in the blackmarket knew about him, and that also meant that he oversaw Chimera Clauzen’s business deals.

“And you see, you’re not the only one who’s been hard at work, Grandpa. Keep this between us, but my army has actually managed to seize most of the underground trade routes he controlled.”

Alma looked almost smug about it, clearly glad of how much she had accomplished already. But what she had said would require an immense amount of effort to accomplish.

“…You say it like it was no big deal…but did you actually do that?”

Mira could not help but ask that, seeing Alma’s attitude. But that doubt was understandable, as so far it had been established that Ira Muerte was one of the biggest underground organizations, with connections all across the continent. And yet, Alma claimed to have seized almost all of their trade routes.

That equated to cutting their lifeline, as no matter how much of their wicked merchandise they gathered, it was useless if they could not sell it.

Mira could not comprehend how something like that was even possible.

“Mhm, it’s all true. By now I’ve probably ruined about…five hundred billion Rils worth of trade for them. And that’s where you come into the picture, Grandpa.”

Alma reaffirmed her claim, even mentioning an unimaginable sum of money, before she finally began talking about her request for Mira to guard the Oracle. After all, it was only thanks to the Oracle’s powers that Alma had been able to cripple Ira Muerte so much.

“You’ve heard she has the power to see the future, but that’s not very accurate. There’s clear limits and restrictions to her power, and it’s not like she can predict earthquakes or major disasters like that. To put it simply, her power…”

The Oracle’s power worked only on other people, greatly limiting the scope of her ability. On top of that, it was not as much of seeing the future, but more like seeing what the person was currently doing, *or what they were about to do*. That was the real power of the Oracle.

“And there’s one condition to activate that power in the first place. The Oracle needs to touch a prized possession of the target, or a piece of their hair or nails. Once one of those is secured, she can repeatedly use her power as many times as she wants. So…in other words, August is compromised and can’t do anything at all for the organization, or know anything about it anymore.”

Nirvana had been fighting against Ira Muerte for many years now, and a few months prior they had managed to find one of their bases, thanks to the efforts of many spies and soldiers. When they investigated the place, they were able to collect a vital item, a strand of hair from August.

“The benefit of that ability is that it works repeatedly. Once the Oracle touched the hair, and continued to touch it, she could tell what August was doing and planning, everything. So as long as we have the hair and the Oracle, he can’t do any work for Ira Muerte.”

Saying that, Alma’s eyes seemed to fill with pride. She was proud from the bottom of her heart about those serving her, whose continuous efforts had allowed her to deal such a major blow to Ira Muerte.

“I see… He knew about all the business conducted by the organization, so the Oracle’s power became his greatest weakness.”

August controlled the underground trade routes, used by Ira Muerte and many others, and all the information he obtained was channeled straight to the Oracle.

That meant that Nirvana also learned about other clients of August’s, who were also prosecuted and imprisoned, greatly decreasing August’s reputation and credibility. And whenever he tried to come up with countermeasures, Nirvana immediately knew about them.

The Oracle had left one of the biggest leaders of the organization hamstrung, leaving a devastating effect on everyone else.

Having heard that much, Mira understood why they had such a grudge against the Oracle, and was not surprised that they had sent assassins, it was almost expected at that point.

“By the way, there’s something I still don’t understand. Earlier you said only a handful of high ranking officers *and* August know about the Oracle.”