Chapter 179 - The Union

Amaris smiled coldly as soon as she said this.

Of course, Bonnie isn't some kind of person who would do such a thing from a mere provocation by the other party.

"We can't… Just make them unable to harm us." Bonnie answered softly to Amaris' question.

She's not a cold-blooded killer after all. Though it might be different from this woman standing beside her.

'I wonder where did Cy befriend this woman. I heard she's not part of the Association or even any Guilds. Ugh… Whatever… Let's set that aside for now.'

Bonnie looked at the representative of the Navi Corporation with a cold gaze. She's not afraid of offending the corporation at this point.

"I'm sorry. I don't think I can accept any dealing with your Corporation…" Bonnie said confidently.

"You—"

The man was almost speechless as soon as he heard her answer. This is the first time he was rejected like this after learning that he came from the Navi Corporation.

"You can leave now."

Bonnie continued as she looked at the bodyguards who looked very serious now. They seem to be waiting for Brodie's instruction.

However, Bonnie didn't mind it as she fully trust Amaris.

Not only are they backed by an A-Rank Awakened, but they have also this mysterious Awakened with them. Furthermore, she already has a connection with Vanessa Strauss from the Awakened Association.

In fact, when they've gotten the permit to sell the Lesser Healing Potion, Vanessa decided to approach her personally and they've become closer to each other.

Of course, they both have hidden intentions for doing this but for sure, they will both profit from it.

Bonnie can continue producing unique potions for Vanessa, while the latter protects her from any external problems like this Navi Corporation.

Aside from that, Vanessa also promised that if she managed to find unique potion recipes, she would give them to Bonnie for free as long as they could get a guaranteed supply that they will still purchase according to the market price.

It means that it wasn't only Cyril who noticed Bonnie's incredible talent in potion-making but also Vanessa who similarly had good eyes on discerning people.

"Fine! If you can't decide now, we will bring you to our headquarters and we'll discuss it from there!"

Brodie finally chose to do this forcefully.

With a snap of his fingers, the two bodyguards beside him pulled out their guns. Aside from that, they also activated their bracelets which are Artifacts that are probably at Rank-D considering the undulation of energy coming from it.

'Ugh…'

Although Bonnie already expected this to happen, she still felt nervous as she clenched her a Magic Orb. It only has defensive magic engraved on it but it should be enough to protect her from immediate harm.

"Preposterous!" Amaris saw the guns on their hands so she quickly waved her hand to control her demonic energy scattered secretly around the room.

Then, Bonnie heard a thud and saw the three people from Navi Corporation unconscious on the floor!

It happened so fast that she didn't even have the time to activate her Magic Orb!

"W-what happened?" Bonnie couldn't help but ask as she looked at Amaris.

However, the latter only smirked as if her action was nothing impressive!

'This woman has incredible casting speed…'

Normally, Awakened like them requires a few seconds to connect to the Artifact before channeling your Aura into it. After that, the caster would still have to select the Magic Ability that the Artifact possesses and control it to reach the desired target!

However, Amaris almost skipped many parts and dealt with the enemies so swiftly.

"Amazing, right? You should praise me once Mast-Ehem… I mean, once Sir Cyril is here." Amaris said as she retrieved the scattered Demonic energy around the room.

Well, she still can't waste too much energy after all. Although she was allowed to have Corrupted Humans serving her, their number wasn't that big in the first place. Perhaps, she needed more than a couple of hundred before she could truly feel the power of being a Corruptor Demon.

In the meantime, she had to properly manage her energy so once Cyril confirmed that they'll be entering the Dragon World, she would have enough energy to use.

"Alright, I'll tell Cyril how amazing you are… Uhm… But what should we do about these people?" Bonnie sighed as she looked at the three unconscious people.

In the end, after thinking for a while, they called the police since Brodie and the others attempted to harm them. After the police took them into custody, Bonnie called her friend to get a piece of advice about their situation.

[ What's wrong, Miss Bonnie? It's been a while since you called… ]

"That's right, Vanessa. Some people from Navi Corporation caused trouble here in my shop and I called the police to come over…"

[ Eh? What happened? ]

Bonnie then informed Vanessa Strauss of everything that has occurred within the shop. Luckily, even Vanessa doesn't think too much of Navi Corporation which only supports weak guilds.

[ Hmm… To make sure that this won't happen again, how about you join the Golden Grace Merchant Union. ]

Vanessa suddenly offered which made Bonnie confused. She had never heard of this Merchant Union at all.

[ Well, let's meet up on weekend and I'll discuss it with you. You can bring Cyril with you since he'll be your main supporter in the end. I'm sure he'll be interested in it. ]

"Got it! Thank you for your help!"

[ No worries. In the meantime, if you want, I can send someone from us to put your shop under our care… ]

Vanessa then explained that their Strauss Family can make her Timeless Artifact and Alchemy Store officially under their umbrella.

Nothing is going to change on their management at all unless Bonnie requested the Strauss Family to intervene and help them. It is a good thing since they are still considered as independent as far as they are concerned.

Of course, the supplies of Lesser Healing Potions, Star Garnet Stones, and others will continue. This is something that will benefit them as well since the Strauss Family is purchasing their items at a good price.

After considering for a while, Bonnie decided to accept the generous offer.

'I don't think Cyril will mind it. He said that I could trust Vanessa. Hmm… Perhaps, they're seeing each other privately?' Bonnie mused as she ordered her employees that they will close the shop for today.

Soon, someone from the Strauss Clan arrived at the shop and completed the process of bringing the shop under the Clan.

Then, just like what Vanessa informed her, a silver emblem of a winged book was given to Bonnie. This is the sign of the Strauss Clan. Aside from that, another emblem was also placed outside the shop.

It seems that this emblem was actually made of otherworldly material seeing how Amaris became interested in it.

'Sigh~ I hope this would be the last I would have to deal with such people.' Bonnie sighed as she returned to her laboratory.

Instead of continuing to brew the lesser healing potions, she decided to continue her potion research!

Apparently, she accidentally discovered a new type of healing potion. She had never told anyone about this discovery yet and she's planning to surprise Cyril about it once he returned.

***

After about three more hours, Cyril and the others were already completely recovered and are planning to enter the Boss Room.

"Ugh… This might be a bit difficult… However, since you are an A-Rank Awakened, I'll trust you." Eron said after considering their options.

Evalia also nodded as she heard what happened while she was unconscious.

Just like Cyril and Melody, Eron and Evalia were transported to the central part of the tomb instead of the one at the entry.

At first, they fought against Banshees which is quite easy thanks to their Shaman's Gloves. However, they were soon surrounded by Skeleton Mages and had to continuously move forward to flee from them.

They are confident in killing one Skeleton Mage at a time but fighting multiple of them at once is still too much.

This is why they truly respected Cyril after he managed to defeat them with his mysterious means.

"How about you, Melody?"

Cyril asked the gorgeous lady standing beside him.

"There's no other option anyway. Tracing back our path is not an option at all. We're not even aware of the path and how many monsters are there. We might die in hunger or exhaustion…"

Melody answered truthfully.

Aside from that, she's also aware that the three of them are too reliant on the Shaman's Gloves while Cyril was not.

It means that she also has to be conscious of its durability since no one here can repair her Artifact.

"Great… If you've completed your preparation, we'll go in." Cyril said as he looked at everyone.

Seeing that everyone is prepared, Cyril pushed open the Boss Room's door.