The sky was dark and cloudy, no sign of the stars above. There was no moonlight to see by. It was the night hours when all underworld activities would begin, instigating chaos in society under the cover of secrecy.
Two black-cloaked figures sat on opposite rooftops, the cowls of their robes covering their faces. One of them nodded to the other and they stood up. The two leapt over unstable beams and smoky chimneys.
The one in the lead motioned for the other to stop, and they crouched down under the shadows of a balcony. Their backs faced a solid wall as they looked down and saw a group of four people stalking the grimy alleyways, approaching the bridge walkway they were standing on either side of. Low voices littered the tense air as the group talked to each other, but it was only mundane musings.
One of the cloaked figures accidentally dislodged a piece of gravel and it flew over the edge, letting out a deafening knock in the silence of the night. The group stilled and became wary.
One of them cautiously approached the building and looked at the ground. He spotted the pebble and looked up.
The cloaked figures pressed their backs against the wall, barely breathing. The group member below eventually shook his head and went back to the other three. "'Twas only a stone. Reckon it was a bird."
"Got us riled up for no reason," one of the others grumbled. They began to move again.
"Guildmaster's meeting with Sky Blaze's Guildmaster, huh?" one brought up after the tension had died.
"Yeah, and all the vassal Guildmasters have to be there too. For some dramatic show of power or something, I don't know," the leader complained. "Point is, nearly everyone will have to show up."
"Bah. Like a warmongering Guild from the 1
st Major Kingdom would give a crown about our lot," another snorted. "Splinter's Guildmaster can't see the woods for the trees."
"Keep it down," the leader ordered. "We don't know who could be listening-"
A whisper of the wind was the only sign they were under attack. In one moment they had been patrolling the streets as usual, and then in the next the member at the back was left with the shaft of an arrow poking out the other side of his head.
He let out a faint groan as the others spun around in alarm and then his body burst out into white flames. His body instantly crumbled into white dust which picked up in the wind and filled the air around them, creating a smoke screen.
The remaining three fumbled for their weapons in panic. The leader let out a roar when he saw the glint of metal on the rooftops. "The enemies are above-"
The ground beneath him buckled as one of the cloaked attackers leapt to the ground with the full force of his strength. He swung the massive greatsword he gripped with two hands and the leader grimaced as he raised his long sword to defend himself.
The force of the swing smashed him into the side of a building, leaving a crater. The other two tried to stab the greatsword-wielder from behind but a shower of five arrows all shot at the same time made them shout in alarm and raise their swords to shield themselves. The arrows that hit the stony ground turned the mineral to dust wherever they landed.
"Identify yourself!" one shouted as he charged forward. The cloaked figure slammed his heavy boot into the man's abdomen, crushing his organs and sending him flying. The man died instantly.
The last uninjured man, save for the lone arrow that had pierced his foot and pinned him into place, trembled. He looked over to see what had become of their leader and paled as he saw the mangled mess peppered with arrows, still stuck to the building.
"I-I surrender!" the black-haired man screamed in fear. "I don't know who you are, but I'm willing to do-"
"Your name. What is it?" the assailant growled.
"M-my name? I-It's Durain W-"
Wind whistled, and then the man's head hit the ground with a sickening splat. The cloaked figure remained staring at the body for a moment and then threw back his hood with anger.
"Dammit, Elrotior, it's not this guy either!" Gawen roared, reaching the limits of his patience. "You said he has to be in this group, without fail! We've wasted a whole week doing this and for what? Nil! Nada! Any longer and it won't be this
Lester guy's neck I'm wringing but
yours!"
"Calm down, my old friend." The ash-element archer landed softly next to the body and lowered his cowl. "It's a minor miscalculation, that's all. We'll regroup back at our hideout and then consider-"
"'
Miscalculation'? We're not blighted Charter readers here. Don't use that jargon on me. We're a bunch of empty-brained meat-heads whose only talent is stabbing people in the right places!"
Elrotior Hawkesh calmly raised a hand. "And shooting them in the right places."
"Forget places, for now we're not even killing the right
people." Gawen frowned and planted a hand on his hip, the other on the pommel of the greatsword half buried in the ground. "Let's backtrack a little. Why is this not working?"
"Well, my first guess is that No. 57 caught onto the fact he's our target." Elrotior approached the severed head and lifted up a piece of the hair. "Look, this guy's got the height, build and hair colour of Lester. I'd bet all my Mausoleum Credits that he was intentionally sent as a decoy."
"Okay then, if he knows we want to kill him…" Gawen gestured roughly at the dead bodies scattered around. "What do we do? And how do you know he has black hair when all Anonymity members are disguised, anyway? It's our whole gimmick, what with the name and everything."
"He's from the Genest Duchy, remember? It's impossible for him to not have black hair when he has such a strong affinity for the dark element," Elrotior reminded him.
"Whatever you say." Gawen raised an eyebrow. "You've been rather determined to track down
this particular colleague of ours instead of anyone else. I'm pretty sure you have another agenda here."
The archer looked away. "You're delusional."
Gawen scoffed. He pulled his hood back down. "We need to get back before any of these fodder resurrect and raise the alarm."
Elrotior nodded and pulled his hood down too. "Especially after the ruckus you made. Did you want the entire city to wake up?"
"Give me a break," Gawen grumbled, speeding up into a run as Elrotior ran alongside him. "I'm a greatsword-wielding berserker, finesse and subtly aren't really my 'expertise'."
"I was actually referring to that epic failure of yours in keeping silent on the rooftops. I pity the poor stone you sent to its doom."
"Oh, shut up!"
…
The archer of the duo opened up the shabby hatch to the secret room of a warehouse they had been living in and pulled himself up. "Home sweet home."
"Can't say I missed this dump." Gawen grunted and hauled himself up after throwing his sword in. The room he entered was barely high enough for him to stand without bumping his head on anything. "Remind me why we chose
here of all places?"
"Because ideally, we were only going to stay here for the night but…"
"But your brilliant plan didn't work," Gawen retorted. He sat down and pulled his blade onto his lap to begin cleaning. "Maybe we've been approaching this the wrong way. We don't have the information network of Anonymity to rely on, so why don't you actually explain more about this Lester guy and his abilities?"
Elrotior shrugged and took off his cloak. "Lester is around twenty nine right now. He has affinities for dark and wind and acts as the spymaster of the Splinter dark Guild. To everyone else he's the Vice Guildmaster of a vassal Guild of Splinter."
"Yeah, and what does a 'spymaster' do?" Gawen said, pulling out a flask to take a swig.
"Track clues, keep in contact with all the spies in other Guilds, that sort of thing." The archer pulled out a sack with feathers, smooth wooden poles and metal arrowheads. He began to fletch the poles. "He pretty much just stayed locked up in Sentinel without doing anything besides receive report."
"Dark and wind, huh? How does he use it?"
"He manipulates people by their shadows. He has no combat strength on his own."
Gawen clicked his tongue. "Nasty." He frowned at the dirty rag he clutched and swiped away the last of the blood before stuffing it back into a nearby rucksack. "Okay then, Elrotior. You know I'm not one to just sit around when there are people to be killed. So here's how it's going to play out." He jabbed a finger at his friend. "Those guilders were talking about some meet up between Splinter's Guildmaster and another dude. According to them, Lester is likely to be there too. I say we create a distraction and pretend to kidnap him, but kill him in the chaos. No Guildmaster is willing to have their 'top secret spy' alive in the hands of their enemies so we're more likely to survive if we do that. The Guildmaster will assume he can find Lester at the Obelisk."
Gawen leaned on his hand. "Is there any weakness you remember about him? Any at all? Even if it's the smallest thing, we might be able to use it."
Elrotior considered it for a long time. He gained a strange expression. "There is… one thing I remember about him… I once heard a rumour that when he was around this old, he was still deathly afraid of a certain creature…"
"What creature?"
Elrotior winced and told him. They stared at each other. "…I think it has to do with a childhood trauma of his," the archer finally said.
Gawen shook his head. "You sicko. Alright, you get the…
special goods, while I'll go fetch the materials for the distraction."
Elrotior cocked an eyebrow. "What kind of distraction are you going for?"
Gawen smirked and pressed his fists together. "I thought about going for something a little Ol' fashioned. How about a falling chandelier?"
A pasty, weak looking man stood calmly beside a second taller man in the Guild Hall of Splinter. Twenty other men stood in a semi-circle at the back of the hall alongside them, the Guildmasters with their Vice Guildmasters. The red and black haired Guildmaster of Splinter sat on an ostentatious chair on a raised platform in the centre. It was clearly a shallow show of power.
The pale man with lanky dark hair and a sideswept fringe turned to face the other man when he spoke. "Vice Guildmaster Rugen, have the arrangements been made?"
'Rugen' gave him a thin smile. "Of course, sir." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Sky Blaze's Second Captain has confirmed the date of our little… meeting. You can soon start building up the Guild's strength so that we can overtake Splinter. We can't be satisfied with the position of second ranked."
His superior chuckled. "Of course we can't."
Inwardly, 'Rugen' mocked the man's ideals.
Overtake Splinter with his wit? He still hasn't caught on to the fact I was placed here by Splinter's Guildmaster himself. This is all a scheme to gain blackmail material on Sky Blaze and the second ranked Guild if the deal goes awry.
What a pathetic man. There is nothing I hate more than stupid people with ambition. Ambition is only deserved by those with the ability to act on it.
He straightened his collar up and widened his ever-present smile. 'Rugen' had been commanded not to stir up anything and he would never go against his master's orders.
All his powers had been bound by the contract grafted into his mana, after all. But he didn't have the strength to refuse at the time, so he had no regrets. Either he'll work his way into a position of power so strong not even the Guildmaster of Splinter could take it from him… or he'll arrive at a day he could backstab the Guildmaster and make that prestige his own.
Today would be one of the biggest steps in proving his loyalty to the Guildmaster of Splinter. As long as nothing went wrong-
The sound of marching echoed down the Guild hall. Everyone, including the many guilders lining the hall to represent the power of the Guilds, straightened up with their heads held high. They wouldn't bow down to any other Guild, even if it was one from the 1
st Major Kingdom.
'Rugen' held his hands behind his back, his smile fixed in place. According to the intelligence his spies had brought him, everything was perfect.
The Vice Guildmaster of Sky Blaze approached first, two flaming red and white banners held up on either side of him. "Guild Splinter of the 7
th Major Kingdom-"
The gentle chiming of glass was heard overhead, likely coming from the overhanging glass chandelier. 'Rugen' was a bit confused and mildly suspicious of the sound, but nobody looked up for fear of disrespecting their guests.
Then the chain above broke. The chandelier smashed into the floor between the Sky Blaze guilders and the Splinter Guildmaster.
A look of pure wrath formed on the face of the Splinter Guildmaster, chilling the subordinates to the bone.
Not 'Rugen', however. He felt intense irritation that his plans had been disrupted.
What idiot chose now? Do they seriously think they can get away from over a hundred guilders? And Sky Blaze is a Guild from the Gold-Dias Conquerors Kingdom...
Then a thought struck him like a lightening bolt.
No, that's not the important fact here. If Sky Blaze had any intentions to create a conflict between our guilds under the guise of an alliance as we estimated was likely, the Vice Guildmaster won't hesitate to blame Splinter-
He spun to look at their guests but it was chaos. The Vice Guildmaster of Sky Blaze pointed his sword at Splinter's Guildmaster and roared, "The Guilds of the Kingdom of the Hidden Black Star have returned our grace with hostility and violence! We shall not let them get away with us! Attack men! Show them the power of Sky Blaze!"
The guilders of Sky Blaze dashed forward and crossed swords with anyone they came across. Cries of fury and hasty excuses were made, but Sky Blaze didn't relent. It was clear they came to Splinter for the very purpose of attacking them.
'Rugen' clicked his tongue and spun around. He marched over to the Guildmaster of Splinter, ignoring the cries of his 'superior' to support him.
"Sir, you need to leave," 'Rugen' said in a low voice. "I've analysed their strength and the odds aren't good. The strongest members of Splinter will be decimated here and we'll truly be helpless if you don't command our remaining forces to attack."
"I am the
Guildmaster of Splinter! I will not retreat! Don't argue with me, Rugen," the man threatened, approaching 'Rugen' menacingly. "I may have given you authority due to your bloodline and wit, but don't forget it was
I who gave it to you in the first place." He held his fist up, an ominous black chain manifesting between 'Rugen' and his hand. "You are
nothing without me."
"...yes sir."
The Guildmaster marched off with his mace, ready to enter the fray. 'Rugen's smile fell and he scowled.
How I wish I could stab him in the back right now... but there's no telling if he'll permanently disable my abilities when he sees my betrayal. I can't leave the hall without his permission either.
He still had to do something to salvage the situation though. It wouldn't do for him to fall out of the Guildmaster's favour just because he caught him at the wrong moment. 'Rugen' pointed at a few nearby guilders trying to avoid the battle. They were too weak be anything but cannon fodder. "You lot. I understand your desire to stay out of the fight, but your necks will be on the line if you don't do something."
They glanced nervously at each other. "Then… what do we do?"
He pointed above. "Someone sabotaged the chandelier, and it will be up to you to discover who it was. I need you to be as quick as possible so we can end this batt-."
"No need to look for us," a man's low voice called out from above and 'Rugen' flinched when a cloaked figure dropped from the rafters to land right next to him. He hauled a heavy greatsword behind him, carving grooves in the floor.
"Identify yourself!" 'Rugen' shouted, pointing at him with the rapier he carried around for self defence. He needed to stall until the Guildmaster of Splinter noticed the situation-
"Yeah, how 'bout no." The cloaked figure turned to the four guilders who were originally tasked to locate the saboteurs, then swung his massive blade. It knocked them back all at once.
The crash alerted the nearby fighters and the cloaked figure clicked his tongue. "Need to get out of here quick."
He rapidly stormed towards 'Rugen' but fell back when violent dark mana surged from 'Rugen's shadow to creep towards him. 'Rugen' gave him a bright smile. "I'm not as defenceless as-."
"Elrotior!" the man shouted.
'Rugen' couldn't even look up before long, narrow
things of some kind fell on his head. The sound of breaking glass nearby alerted him to the fact that a jar had been thrown down, but his body stiffened up when he felt the hundreds of
legs touching his bare skin.
T-There's no way…
He nervously lowered his eyes and blanched when he saw the many black centipedes crawling around on the floor. His thoughts began to cloud and his heart beat painfully in his chest.
N-no, think, think. These people can't have done this by accident… they clearly k-know my weakness, but… how? Anyone whose seen me react is dead-
"Hurry up!" a voice called out from above.
The cloaked figure looked up and nodded. "On it."
'Rugen' willed his limbs to move but they remained locked up as ticklish legs brushed his skin, leaving him helpless as the much taller man grabbed him by the waist and threw him over the shoulder. The figure thundered towards a side exit as guilders congregated to form a wall to block him.
"Get out of the way you morons!" The figure shouted. He barreled through the centre with a heavy shove form his shoulder and broke through to the other side.
The adrenaline of the situation began to wake 'Rugen' up from his fugue but he couldn't do anything as his kidnapped bounded up stairs and leapt onto a nearby building's roof from a balcony. His knees bent to soften the flow and then he was off again, jumping down into an alleyway with his bounty still hanging over one shoulder.
'Rugen' became dizzy from the motion and struggled to keep track of the direction they came from. Eventually, the man crashed through a window and threw 'Rugen' onto a well-prepared room.
The cloaked figure drew the black curtains closed and before 'Rugen' could even think about escaping, he was trussed up and tied to a chair. He stayed still for a moment, catching his breath and considering his situation.
The cloaked man grunted as he took a stool and dragged it in front of 'Rugen'. He flopped down on it and looked like he was studying his captive, from what could be seen of his eyes under the hood.
"So, spymaster, ey? Does it pay well?"
…he knew he was a spymaster. Clearly he knew who he was a spymaster
for too. 'Rugen' licked his cracked lips and gave him a strained smile, feeling only slightly better now that the terrible arthropods had fallen off. "Not as much as you'd think."
He's too relaxed, talking to me about my job when Splinter will soon to be on his tail to look for me. This is vastly more dangerous than I ever anticipated.
The cloaked man clicked his tongue and put his hands behind his head. "You gave us quite a run for our money this past week. How many hapless clones of yours do you have prepared to sacrifice at a moment's notice?"
'Rugen's thoughts froze. He was caught completely off guard by the statement. "That was
you?" he said, stunned. "You were the anonymous attacks of our patrols this past week?"
"Yup," was the man's reply. "Honestly way too much of a bother. We should've given up on you and gone to find someone else long ago."
"You can always give up now," 'Rugen' suggested, rapidly trying to understand the intentions of his kidnappers.
As he expected, the man just laughed. "Nah. Someone would kill me if I let you go now."
Could he be lying about the attacks? He doesn't have a reason too, though. The attackers of the patrols lacked any secrecy and were more of a minor annoyance, really. I just thought they were enemies of my current 'superior'. He tends to make a lot.
"What do you want to do with me?" he finally asked.
The man tilted his head slightly like he was going to respond, but then a flapping noise made them both look at the window to see a man cursing as he tried to drop down, his legs getting tangling up in the curtains. Eventually he fell into the room and sent the other cloaked figure a glare. "Gawen, you moron! Why did you block the only entrance into this place?"
"What, did you seriously expect me to keep the window open and show everyone that we have someone in here, tied to a chair?" the presumed 'Gawen' retorted. "They're not going to assume it's a willing arrangement, I can tell you that."
"We don't have time for your complaints." The other man straightened up and 'Rugen' finally identified it as the voice he had heard above him after the jar of those…
abominations fell on him. "We've got him?"
Gawen shrugged and gestured to 'Rugen'. "Look, he's your target. Check for yourself."
The second cloaked figure threw back his hood to reveal chiseled features and grey hair and eyes. He crouched down to study 'Rugen' and then an evil grin spread across his face. "Got you now, you slippery slime spawn."
"So… he's the one?" Gawen asked.
"Of course. I'd know that greasy smile from anywhere, even with the mask he always wore over his eyes." The grey-haired man straightened up and crossed his arms. "Lester, Lester, Lester… Lester Genest. What a situation you've gotten yourself into now. How does it feel to be so helpless, so utterly powerless?"
What!!? How- Why- Where did they learn that name?! Don't tell me… are they from the Ever-Present Shadow Duchy?! Did the Duchy finally realise I exist?! It would make sense, no wonder they don't care about the Guilds-
"Sounding like a real villain there, Elrotior," Gawen snorted.
"Hush." 'Elrotior' tapped on Gawen's shoulder to get him to stand up and then took the stool for himself. He smirked at Lester's confusion. "Lester, do you know me? You owe me a
great debt. So big that I'd be a shame if it was never paid back, truthfully."
Lester blinked, his thoughts of the Duchy fading.
What... this is... personal? There have been some people I've offended in the past but...
He squinted at this 'Elrotior' person. It didn't make any sense. He had
never seen this person before. Someone with grey hair would be easily remembered.
"I fear you have the wrong person," Lester began amicably. "I have never seen you in my entire life, and I'm certainly not this 'Lester Genest' person. I don't recall the Ever-Present Shadow Duchy ever having someone like that among them, and I'd know as a spymaster." He gave them a pleasant smile, hiding all traces of his former shock. "Perhaps we could come to an agreement. You let me go, and I will utilise my resources to locate this 'Lester'-"
"Shut your trap." Elrotior lifted his leg and slammed his foot against the back of the chair, right next to Lester's face. "I already know who you are, so we can stop with the pretence. I have a vendetta against you and I'll get my reckoning, Lester Genest, No. 57 and Genest's Wayward Puppeteer."
Lester could feel the question mark forming above his head. Gawen raised a hand. "That hasn't happened yet."
Elrotior looked back at the bearded man, then at Lester, and rolled his eyes. He took his foot down and paced the room. "...anyway, my point is... you will repay that debt! You hear me?!" he yelled, waving a finger at Lester.
"As you seem so sure of who I am, perhaps you could enlighten me as to what I did to wrong you," Lester pried.
Elrotior stopped to stare at him, then a scowl formed on his face. He stalked closer and grabbed Lester by the neck. "You want to know what you did?
Truly?"
His expression twitched with anger and then he threw his hands up. "I lost more than half of my saved Mausoleum Credits because of you! All because of that stupid wager! You're No. 57 for the realm's sake, your wage is far higher than mine but
nooo, you just has to pick on me, someone 150 ranks below you!" The grey-haired man put his hands on his head with clear distress. "I was saving up for access to more of that element's essence too! Argh, I'm still frustrated thinking about all I lost!"
"Wait a minute, Elrotior." Gawen came closer and crossed his arms. "You're telling me we went after this guy in particular because of a bet
you lost?"
"Shut up. This has nothing to do with you."
"Nothing to do with
me? We could've been levelling up and collecting all sorts of artifacts during this time but you wanted to find this guy in particular because you're a sore loser!"
Lester was dumbfounded.
Excuse me? This is all because of some 'bet' I made in the past? They're not part of some organisation that wants me dead? But when are they going to stop arguing-
"So? It's a new timeline, Gawen. Get with the times. We're here to fix our regrets and gain better opportunities-"
"
No, we're here because Zerum apparently died before they could realise the System's ultimate goal and it needs
our help to support them with the
Hero aware of the future-"
Heavy footsteps outside the room's bolted door made everyone stop. Something slammed against the thick wood and an axe-head poked through the cracks. After one more blow the door shattered to pieces and armoured guilders forced their way in.
Lester made eye contact with the leading guilder as Gawen and Elrotior exchanged looks.
"Oh. No! The. Guilders. Have. Arrived!" Gawen shouted in stilted tones, dramatically jumping back. "What. Should. We. Do?"
"Psst.
Gawen," Elrotior hissed. "You're supposed to be my boss. That was my line, remember?"
Lester gazed strangely at them.
What is this pathetic attempt at acting? Even my own Guildmaster could do better than them.
"Ah." The bearded man blinked and then nodded. He slowly pulled out his greatsword and flexed his arms. "Now I remember. Our. Command. Was. To. Take. Rugen. Alive!" He lunged forward to slash the ropes binding Lester to take him away.
Lester paled because he knew that this was the worst situation possible... and he had no resurrections left, which the Guildmaster knew it. He stared wide-eyed as the guilder took one look at how Gawen was about to grab Lester and pull him out of the window, then nodded to the archer by his side.
With one swift movement an arrow was sent flying, and Lester stumbled to the ground, the projectile in his heart. Warm blood began to flow from his back and chest.
"Catch them!" the guilder commanded.
Lester lay there with sensation slowly draining from his body to be replaced by icy cold. He watched his two kidnappers throw apart the curtains and leap out of the window as the fog slowly clouded his mind.
His last thought as his consciousness faded was...
Why oh why did it have to be those two blighted morons who were responsible for my death?!
...
A man reformed from fractured white light in front of the towering Obelisk. He frowned slightly as the remnants of a migraine faded, but then he straightened up and brushed himself down. He hummed as he looked around.
It appears the memory restoration mechanism the System bestowed on us has worked. This is certainly the City I worked in for many years as a spymaster before the Guild was ultimately destroyed and I killed my controller, and it looks nothing like it did two hundred years later. Only...
Lester rubbed his temples as a surge of confusion welled in him.
I recall saying that death was how we earned our memories back in the new timeline, but I never died during this time period, so how...
His thoughts came to a stop as several conflicting and
very recent memories appeared. Lester turned around and gained a tight smile when he saw two people he could only presume were his colleagues in another life.
"There he is!" the bearded man said, elbowing his friend. They ran up to him and leant on their knees, panting. "Sorry, had to get those guilders off our tails before we came here." He wiped the sweat on his brow away and straightened up, planting his hands on his hips. "So... remember everything?"
Lester smirked. "No. 132 of the field 'researcher' department, Gawen Darthmond. You were hired because of your exceptional combat abilities and unconventional use of the glass element alongside your class of Berserker. As was the case with many of our field researchers, you tended to prefer the exhilaration of violence instead of academic discovery."
Gawen stared at him then turned to the scowling man beside him. "He's one of those pretentious guys who arrange our missions, isn't he?"
Lester turned to the grey-haired archer and beamed. "And how could I forget Elrotior Hawkesh! No. 204, the Eye of Ash. How delighted I am to see you once more! We had such an....
entertaining acquaintance."
Elrotior's expression darkened and then he stormed forward. "I'm going to kill him again. I hate that smug look on his face."
"We literally just managed to get his memories back, Elrotior-"
"Don't stop me Gawen! Who knows when I'll get the chance to beat him up!"
"Ah, that would be a bit of an issue if you killed me." Lester calmly plucked some lint from his suit. "You see, I only resurrected this time because of the System's graciousness, but if I died again it
will be permanent."
Gawen gave Elrotior a pointed look and the archer slumped. "I'm going to hate having to deal with this blighted snob."
"Should've thought of that before you got me killed!" Lester replied brightly.
...
"I see." Lester sipped the tea he somehow managed to procure, to Gawen and Elrotior's confoundment. He took a small spoon and stirred up the tea leaves at the bottom. They were in a hotel room and had ditched their former clothes in a faraway alley. "I had first thought that you chose me due to my extensive knowledge of the true identities of our colleagues due to my position within the intelligence department, yet I suppose that foresight is too much for men of your ilk."
Elrotior clenched his fist while Gawen just laughed. "I only know the real names of two guys in Anonymity, and one of those was Elrotior here. It was all this guy's decision to find you."
"Hmm..." Lester put his cup down and crossed his arms. "And this other individual?"
"For a 'spymaster' you're not very smart, are you?" Elrotior mocked. "If you thought for a moment then you'd know who he is automatically. I'll give you a hint: He's the loudest of our members."
Lester ignored Elrotior. "If it's someone that everyone, regardless of our ranks would know, then you must be referring to the Black Dragon Margotharel. He was never...
subtle about his identity, true." He lifted his cup to take another sip.
"Yep, that's the one," Gawen confirmed. "Which is why he's our next target to kill."
Lester spat out his drink and stared at the two men. "You cannot be serious."
Gawen shrugged while Elrotior scoffed. "Of course we're serious. It took centuries for us to be strong enough for Anonymity to scout us. We're useless as is."
"If we have his help then we can go find the other top ranking members to help us," Gawen added. "Excluding people like No. 1 and No. 2, of course. Sentinel is in the Cosmic Realm and No. 2's plane won't be discovered for a hundred years at least."
"No. 1 and No. 2 chose not to return to their former positions in this timeline, as such they're in Anonymity's facilities and private dimension," Lester refuted.
Elrotior gave Lester an odd look. "Sentinel I can understand because he's a Mechadroid who basically became our base and can't just leave, but No. 2? Isn't... you know, a danger to everyone without Zerum to supply the essence transfusions?"
"He entered a chrono-capsule to soothe the bloodthirst of his unstable Aberrant-half but..." Lester shook his head. "He's desperate to never return to that facility on the Old Era plane. He'd rather risk losing his sanity and mortality than go back."
They stayed silent for a while, the thought that for some, the new timeline wasn't really a blessing occupying their thoughts. Lester sighed and refocused on the conversation. "As for Margotharel... I can understand the merit. He's likely our only powerful member at this time, other than No. 5."
"No. 5 is..." Gawen snapped his fingers. "The Arcane mage? The most powerful magic engineer in the Tower? Not that anybody but Anonymity knew his talents though..."
"At the present, however, he'll be on the Aeonic plane completing his studies," Lester said. "Defeating a being as powerful as the Black Dragon is more probable than sneaking onto the Aeonic plane to kidnap a prized student."
Elrotior nodded. "Is it settled then? We'll lure Margotharel into a trap and kill him?"
The three exchanged looks and gained self-pitying gazes as the thought of the gruelling, almost masochistic training they had to go through surfaced. "We're going to need to all be at least Rank-4 before we challenge him," Gawen said with amusement.
Lester sighed. "Levelling was always tedious for me, but needs must. However, first..." He smiled and gripped a woven chain of dark mana that manifested from his chest. His hand became black as he yanked on it and the chain shattered. He chuckled to himself. "If only my younger self knew the level of domination Genest's bloodline had over the dark element in the past... the Guildmaster of Splinter never could've expected that I'd turn the tables on him so soon." He grinned with malicious glee. "A black magic contract broken when both are still alive is rather dangerous for those involved, you see. It's rather coincidental that out of all elements, the dark element is the best at reflecting curses, hexes and wounds on the other though."
Gawen eyed the dark-haired man's killing intent slowly seeping from his mana. "I think..." he began slowly. "That the three of us will get along better than expected."
-On a low ranked plane owned by Alichanteu-
The messenger bowed deeply with a pale complexion as an intense atmosphere built in the room. The woman he had given his message to was strangely still and silent, so he risked looking up.
"What," Lucille began without any expression, "Do you
mean, Sedric Ferin has been
kidnapped?"
I am back! I'm sorry! Uni got really stressful. Here's to hoping I can keep up my release schedule here on out!
