Rise of the Darkness Tycoon

Chapter 13- Every Business Needs Capital

For a moment, the intersection was filled with the screech of brakes as nearby vehicles came to abrupt stops, while some drivers immediately threw their cars into reverse, backing away in fear of explosions or fire.

Pedestrians cried out in shock, with one who had been dangerously close to the traffic barrier the van crashed into, dropping to their knees in fear at their near-death experience.

But before the shock of the sudden accident could even fade, a loud, unmistakably inhuman roar echoed across the road.

It was immediately followed by a violent impact against the trailer's remaining door, sending it flying off its hinges, and rushing out from the now-open trailer were lions with spikes covering their bodies.

“M-monsters!!!”

“RUN!”

“Help!!”

People instantly scattered in all directions as the elemental beasts roared and charged outward, pouncing toward the nearest people they could find.

But just before they could sink their claws and fangs into any unfortunate civilians, the ground rumbled, and a five-meter wall of earth burst from below, encircling the accident zone within seconds.

The one responsible, Ashley, with half her body hanging out of the car window, immediately pushed open the door and got out before rushing toward a man who had fallen over in fear at the sight of the ferocious lion with spikes covering its back.

Calvin silently watched her helping civilians, glancing at her guard, who made no move beyond properly parking the car, before looking toward the wall of earth she had erected to contain the monsters.

‘From the energy levels I sense, they’re mostly F- and E-Ranks, but there are 2 D-Rank beasts in there.’

He looked around for a moment before spotting an open box of face masks in the storage pocket of the door Ashley had left open when she ran out of the car.

For a moment, he stayed silent, calculating his options in this situation, and soon, he reached a conclusion.

‘Every business needs capital. My 550k is far from enough capital for my liking. And right in front of me is a chance to make more money by killing elemental beasts and selling their corpses to the government.’

Calvin moved immediately, grabbing a mask and putting it on as he dashed out of the car. Ignoring the driver’s gaze behind him, he headed toward Ashley and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Can you use support techniques?”

“Huh? Calvin?! Get back in the car, there are—”

“I know there are D-Rank beasts in there,” Calvin said, cutting her off, then repeated his question. “Can you use support techniques? I can make short work of the F- and E-Ranks.”

Ashley frowned softly at his words, but a quick glance around showed there were no other elementalists within at least 500 metres. Her driver/guard also wouldn’t move unless the situation became truly dire.

“Yes, I can use some support techniques.”

“Good. Coat my arms with elemental energy and give me something like spiked gauntlets.”

Hearing Calvin’s demand, Ashley raised a brow in confusion for a moment, but the roars of the monsters slamming against her barrier didn’t give her much time to think.

She coated his arms with elemental energy, forming inch-thick armoured layers over them, and followed his request by adding spikes over each knuckle.

Calvin clenched his fist as much as he could with the rock encasing his fingers, then nodded in satisfaction.

Darkness energy poured from his body, wrapping around the earth gauntlets and turning them black, and without hesitation, he dashed toward Ashley’s earth wall, scaling it in seconds.

He scanned the scene inside the barrier, where more than a dozen elemental beasts of different elements were roaring and charging at the wall, trying to break out.

Most were fire elemental tigers, there were a few earth elementals like that first lion with spikes on its back, and he could even see several dark elemental panthers attempting to leap over the wall.

But what caught Calvin’s attention the most was that, from the torn-apart doors of the trailer, he could see broken cages.

Just then, a loud screech echoed, and the trailer’s side was ripped out, a giant eagle breaking free from the reinforced metal. It flew up, screeched once more and shattered the chain on its leg, before immediately turning and diving straight toward the van that had hit the traffic barrier.

Ashley fired earthen spears at it, but the eagle flapped its wings powerfully and unleashed a gust of wind that deflected all the spears, sending them crashing to the ground and even knocking airborne panthers off course mid-jump.

Despite her attempt to draw its attention, the eagle didn’t chase her, instead remaining focused on the van. It landed on the crashed vehicle and clamped its talons onto the roof, ripping through more of the metal with brute force.

After tearing away the van’s roof, it tried to grab the driver, but before it could reach him, and before Ashley’s next attack could land, the wounded driver pulled out a pistol and fired.

In a second, three shots rang out, and the eagle froze mid-motion, its pupils dilating before losing their light as its nearly 2-metre-tall body collapsed lifelessly onto the smashed hood of the car.

“What?!”

Calvin silently narrowed his eyes at the scene, ignoring Ashley’s shocked exclamation as he analysed the gun the driver had just used.

‘It’s charged with elemental energy bullets. A gun strong enough to kill a D-Rank Beast in 3 shots is clearly a D-Rank Artifact.’

Glancing at the markings on the van, the logo and number of an electricity company, he frowned faintly.

‘What are the chances that a van driver from an electricity company can afford something like this?’

Very. VERY low.

‘I see. So that’s what this is.’

Calvin quickly reached a conclusion and moved, taking advantage of the moment when the elemental beasts were still stunned from the death of one of the stronger ones.

He dashed toward the van, and as the driver barely managed to pull himself out from under the eagle’s corpse, Calvin’s open palm slammed into his lower jaw.

The impact left the driver disoriented, and Calvin followed up with another blow that made him collapse.

Calvin grabbed the now-unconscious man’s gun, then immediately turned toward Ashley, who was firing earthen spears at the E- and F-Rank beasts surrounding her, taking them down in one or two hits.

Ashley was focused on the battle, but she didn’t forget to watch her surroundings to keep the E-Rank panthers and leopards from jumping over her wall, which was why she immediately noticed when Calvin pointed the gun at her.

Needless to say, she was shocked, so much so that she nearly lost control of her attack and almost allowed an earth lion to bite her arm.

Luckily, she coated her arm with elemental energy just in time, and when the lion’s teeth cracked against the hard earth shell around her arm, she formed an earthen knife and stabbed it into the side of the lion’s head.

She glanced back at Calvin, eyes widening when she saw that he hadn’t moved an inch, the gun still pointed at her.

“…Calvin…why are you pointing that thing at me?” she asked, her voice cautious and wary.

Calvin didn’t answer immediately, and as a leopard leapt at him from the left, he didn’t even turn, swinging his left fist upward into its jaw and knocking it aside mid-air.

“Doing exactly what I should in this situation,” he responded calmly.

Ashley took a step back, quietly controlling her elemental energy, and just as she lifted her foot for another step away, Calvin spoke in a cold tone.

“Don’t move an inch.”

Ashley fell silent, but still placed her foot back down on the ground, and in that instant, Calvin clicked his tongue.

“I told you not to move an inch.”

Ashley didn’t even manage to say a word, as in the next moment, Calvin pulled the trigger and fired without hesitation.