Chapter 176: Night Call [ 5 ]

The marble hall was filled with uneasy murmurs, evident panic, and a growing sense of fear and confusion that deepened the tense atmosphere.

Shadows flickered across the polished floors as voices rose in alarm, while the cold, smooth walls seemed to close in, amplifying the feeling of impending chaos.

Leomaris and Erloice descended from the upper floor, curiosity etched in their eyes. Moments ago, he’d registered a palpable commotion below, one he couldn’t help but come down to witness.

Had it been merely his own sensation, this would have been an entirely different matter, but both Erloice and Caelus perceived it as well.

’I am already done with Caelus... so I hope this won’t be something that keeps me here for long.’

He’d had a wearisome negotiation with his uncle, Caelus, and though he did not incline to agree, refusal was the worst-case scenario, and acquiescence offered no particular comfort either. It was equally precarious, and the sole factor on his part was time.

After such an exhausting conversation, the last thing he wanted was to linger longer than necessary.

Little did he know the commotion below was going to seize his attention far longer than he’d bargained for.

For the most part, ever since he and Erloice had descended to the lower floor, everything surrounding them remained shrouded in grey fog, save for the conspicuously thickened atmosphere.

It wasn’t long before Erloice motioned toward something in the distance and said.

"I think there’s something there, sir... at the gate."

In its wake was the gilded armoured man, his sharpened gold radiance piercing through the fog. He was crouched on the floor by the door, a man drenched in blood cradled in his arms.

A few aristocrats stood nearby, awestruck, while the terrified ones couldn’t keep their mouths shut.

Taking point, Leomaris began closing in on the incident, and Erloice was obedient enough to follow suit without question.

Leomaris caught wind of the stench of blood in the air, his confusion intensifying. He’d been told violence was strictly forbidden within the Seniors’ Jade Hall’s perimeters, the very reason he’d remained composed. But if there was blood, where on earth had it come from?

Up close, with scarcely a few metres between himself and the gilded, armoured Dunvol, Leomaris discerned something clutched in the man’s hand.

It was a sheet inscribed with words in the dead man’s blood, words written in neither Caelish, the predominant language of the Prism Kingdom, nor any of the remaining four languages.

It took Leomaris a moment or two to finally decode the language. It was Abaddon, the ancient language of the Prism Empire, the progenitor from which almost all five languages had sprung.

He wasn’t particularly fluent in it; in fact, the only fragments he could decipher were the pronouns and a scattering of strange characters. There was one thing he could read, though, and it made his blood boil at the sight of it.

"Souls of Cinder..." it said.

No explanation was required. Raine’s organisation had targeted those associated with Dunvol, the War God, and that message was unmistakably the servant’s last, desperate effort to get word to him. Or perhaps, a direct message from the Ancient Saint.

Leomaris struggled to contain his fury, his shaking boots bearing silent witness to it. This couldn’t have happened at a worse possible time.

Caelus had assigned Dunvol to him as a target, and Raine going after Dunvol would, in fact, benefit him in the long run, but there were times when a soldier had to recognise when to retreat. Now their current weakened state was precisely one of those times.

"Isn’t he the Jester of the End?"

"He is with them, isn’t he?"

"How cowardly... to think he would choose such a cruel and cowardly way to act."

"This goes against the rules of the hall... doesn’t it?"

"Hm... I can’t really tell, but I hope they ban him forever."

The murmurs and whispers kept multiplying, and that was the principal reason Leomaris couldn’t shake the feeling that this was the worst conceivable moment for such an incident.

The first time the Souls of Cinder surfaced within the underground community was when Leomaris and his champions defeated three members of the Crimson Order. Though Charlotte declined any credit for the feat, Leomaris and Raine accepted theirs, the Laughing End and Souls of Cinder emerging as collaborative victors.

In other words, most people assumed the Laughing End and Souls of Cinder were affiliated, and that Leomaris had exploited Dunvol’s presence at the hall to launch an assault on his people.

Despite how much he despised it, he knew saying anything, or doing anything at all, would come back to haunt him. He chose restraint.

With a gesture to Erloice, they made their way out of the hall, carrying themselves with the nonchalance of people who felt no remorse for their actions.

As they walked past Dunvol, Leomaris felt it. The cold, deadly glare settled squarely upon him. Dunvol’s armour had no apertures for eyes, but that wasn’t sufficient to seal away his malevolent aura.

Descending the towering staircase to where their carriage waited below, unease crept over Leomaris once more. The feeling of being watched had resurfaced, though this was more than mere observation; it felt as though he were being targeted in spirit.

He wasn’t acquainted with this, and he’d already deduced that the probability of it being the Crimson Order’s doing was substantial. And considering he was soon to become a target on Dunvol’s list, the gilded man could give the order for his execution.

This forced him to fall back on Erloice, using her for the sole purpose he’d brought her along.

"What are your abilities?"

Erloice turned in his direction and spoke.

"I believe you are wondering about my combat prowess. My ability isn’t suited for combat, but I am skilled in martial arts."

’Oh... I remember now.’

He motioned positively toward Erloice.

’Hazel said Erloice can turn her surroundings into weapons. She really was the right choice after all.’

Erloice’s entire presence was meant to safeguard his survival, and he was determined to see to it, even if it meant sacrificing her along the way.