YIN-YANG DEVOURER

Sefia found herself completely paralyzed in front of Ruvan. Mental images of him murdering Gino and his men were still swirling around in her head.

"Well?"

"You don't plan to introduce yourself?" Ruvan asked with a smile which brought her completely out of her thoughts.

"I-I'm sorry I've been watching... I just happened to be passing by hehe."

"It's not good to lie. You know?"

"You've been following me since the tavern. Are you related to those guys?" Ruvan asked as he pointed his spear towards the charred corpses.

Sefia quickly shook her head.

'Shit this guy is a lot sharper than I thought' Sefia said to herself. She was certainly in a difficult position at the moment after all she had witnessed him kill five disciples of the sect. It made the most sense that he would kill her in order to silence her.

"My name is Sefia Lifkas and I am a disciple of the outer courtyard..."

"Them I know because they are part of the gang that extorts me and my friends!" Sefia said honestly. Sometimes it was better to just tell the truth after all she was sure that if she continued to lie, Ruvan would murder her right there and then.

"And so? Why did you follow them?"

"I heard rumors about you..."

"When I saw that Gino and his men wanted to do something to you, I couldn't help but be curious to see how this would turn out."

"Mmm at least you're being honest now" Ruvan said as he walked calmly towards the charred corpses. With a casual motion he bent down to pick up the space rings as he continued to converse with Sefia.

"Can I give you a suggestion?" Sefia said as she timidly raises her hand.

"Go ahead..."

"If you want to disappear the bodies, I recommend that you take them to the Incineration Matrix right now... Remember, the disappearance of five disciples within the Sect grounds will surely trigger an investigation by the Hall of Discipline." 

"And that place is not guarded?" asked Ruvan with a curious look.

"No!! Elder Rostra is quite a grown woman so it is normal for her to be asleep at this hour" Sefia said with a smile. This was her time to show a bit of usefulness.

"Mmm that's a good choice but I have a better one" Ruvan said with a smile as a small snake poked its little head out from the bottom of his sleeve.

"Viridis~ Here's some food." 

"Ssssss." The little snake stuck its tongue out happily before launching itself into the air.

'It will take that little snake years to devour the entire bodies of Gino and his friends' Sefia thought to herself with a bit of frustration, however the words she was about to say got stuck in her throat as the little Snake transformed into a gigantic five meter long beast.

"Sssssss~" "Ssssss~" 

"I know~ I know~ Next time I won't burn them so much" Ruvan said with a smile as he sensed Viridis annoyance at eating a burnt food. Gradually the five charred bodies disappeared leaving only a rather satisfied snake.

Sefia again became nervous as she watched the giant snake devour the bodies. If this was a psychological tactic on Ruvan's part, it sure was working at this point.

'Mmm this girl has no major noteworthy trait but something inside me tells me that this girl is something special'

"I hope this makes up a bit for the guy the other day..." Ruvan said with a smile as he gave Viridis' scales a couple of pats.

"Sssssss~"

"Yeah I get it... We'll go on a hunt to find you something better" Ruvan said with a roll of his eyes as he watched his snake's bratty behavior.

'Unbelievable... Only rank four spirit beasts can change size. But this snake is barely at rank three.'
'Is it possible that this is some mutation...?' Sefia still had her attention focused on Viridis, completely forgetting about Ruvan.

"Ahem... Well?"

"Isn't this the part where you try to convince me not to kill you?"

"Not that I want to but if you don't say anything nice I'll have to..." Ruvan said with a bitter smile after all he was telling the truth. As an old saying from the Vylas Empire went 'Secret between two is no longer a secret'.

Sefia quickly put her brain to work as she tried to analyze Ruvan. He was certainly a very powerful guy and a lusty one too. Sefia had seen him flirting with several girls inside the tavern just before he left.

'The problem is that I'm not a great beauty who brings down empires.'

'Even though he likes the use of force I can see he's a smart guy... Of all the possible places to kill someone inside the Outer Courtyard this is certainly one of the best to do it in'

Ruvan had been given a map of the Outer Yard map by Yurie, as well as a fairly general tour of the streets of the Outer Yard and some of its districts. This was enough for Ruvan to start to draw out some guesses as to which location was suitable to take on their pursuers.

'I think I might try to convince him with this...'

"You're a Dual Cultivator, right?" Sefia said.

"You really used all that time just to end up telling me that you're offering me your body?" Ruvan asked with a smile as he shook his head, it seemed the hunches he had about this woman were totally wrong....

"No...Well I can give it to you if you want but I don't think it's something you're very interested in" Sefia said with a wry smile. She herself was aware that she was lacking a lot in the image department so Ruvan's words simply didn't help.

"Mmm no~ no~ I mean that...."

"You have your own charm. I'm simply saying that because I think you're much smarter than that..." Ruvan said honestly. The girl standing in front of him generated a certain kind of attraction to him. Perhaps it was the very security and confidence that Sefia exuded about herself that made him lust after her.

"..." Sefia went completely blank at Ruvan's words. They had never complimented her physique before, let alone an extremely attractive guy like Ruvan.

"Ahem..."

"Thanks for that... But what I'm trying to say is that I think you need a person who can guide you in the outer courtyard. I don't mean to offend but you seem pretty lost. Although it may not seem like it the situation in the outer courtyard is a lot more complicated than it appears at first glance..."

"I think I may be just the person to help you with that..."

"Besides, I can guide you when it comes to finding potential partners after all I'm pretty well informed about the situation of most of the talented women in the Sect"

"Mmm this doesn't sound bad... But you only aspire to that?"

Although it is true that Ruvan was new, this did not mean that he could not quickly catch up on the situation of the sect.

"Actually I would like to work for you... I can help you manage time with your partners and the cultivation resources of your harem" Sefia said with a serious look on her face as she placed her hand on her modest chest.

Ruvan was completely blown away with the introduction the woman in front of him had just given him. This was what he was looking for...

What Sefia was suggesting was basically to become the regent of his harem as well as his most trusted person.

'I remember Azkabar had a similar person...'

Sefia was nervous seeing that Ruvan wasn't giving any answer so she started to prepare a second speech to try to convince him, but just before she started to say anything, Ruvan finally spoke....

"You sure are an ambitious girl ehh"

'This girl instead of being part of my harem, prefers to control it'

Sefia was embarrassed to see that her intentions had been deciphered by Ruvan. Just as she was preparing to defend herself, Ruvan spoke again.

"Looks like my instincts weren't entirely wrong..."

"Come with me... I want to hear your ideas" Ruvan said with a smile as he pointed the way to his residence. Viridis also stepped aside.

"Sure" Sefia said with a smile as she walked beside Ruvan. 

'I don't know why I have a feeling I just completely changed my fate' Sefia said to herself as she watched closely as Ruvan's broad back walked in front of her.