Arcane Era-Chapter 66: Curtains Fall (Part 3)

Claudius... an active member of the Ak’ashi Guild.

He was a non-combat Staff, having some influence in the Academy especially. He was placed in charge of the Preliminary Round of the Combat Exams and also made to host the first three days of the Recruitment Event that focused on the Combat section.

’We have some information on him, especially his history in the guild. He is more of a scholar than a fighter, and while he has a somewhat twisted ideal when it comes to competition, making it so that every subject he is in charge of in the Academy is difficult for the students, he was relatively harmless to our plan.’ The lady in white thought to herself.

On the promised day, when the Mercenary Crew was scheduled to strike, the plan was to silently eliminate him and make up an excuse for his absence. Since the Mercenary Crew had an ’Masquerade’ Armament which made deception relatively easy, they were able to get away with the swap and had him take a leave.

’But, instead of Joker impersonating him, she chose to take the form of a female Host, since it was easier to mimic her personality and also hide her hidden Armaments.’ She thought. ’Still, it was confirmed that they killed this man—relatively easily, in fact.’

So why... why was he still alive?

’No, more importantly, what is he doing here?’ She frowned, her veil obscuring her unpleasant expression.

"You must have a lot of questions. I understand." Claudius said, his voice calm. "Let me start off by saying that I do not represent the Ak’ashi Guild, at least... not currently."

He slowly took off his hat, allowing his brown hair to flutter with the wind. Inhaling the cool breeze of the beach, he embraced the warmth of the rising sun.

Dawn was breaking, and he kept smiling.

"My interest lies in you people, or more specifically... the one who serves as your benefactor."

The two girls behind him, dressed in white and black respectively, nodded as if confirming every word he uttered. They too were perfectly calm, their bodies still as they kept their gaze on the veiled lady in white.

"You people backed the Mercenary King and made his very risky plan to invade the Ak’ashi Guild possible. I want to know more about the kind of people who are responsible for this kind of miracle, specifically your leader. I’m curious about him, and his motives."

"Him?" The woman raised a brow.

"Just a feeling." Claudius shrugged. "A woman is fine too... but something tells me I’m dealing with a man."

’This man... is not so simple.’

The veiled woman narrowed her eyes as she stared at Claudius, completely silent. She felt a level of caution that she never had when dealing with the Mercenary King or all the other pawns that her master had her handle.

’What kind of existence is he?’ She furrowed her brows. ’What Armament could he wield? This level of power could only be—’

"I would like to ask you not to keep me waiting." Claudius interrupted her thoughts, taking another step forward as his smile slowly began to fade.

"Please satisfy my curiosity."

’What should I do?’ The woman looked at the balloon and found it silent. ’It seems the Lord wants to see how this plays out. In that case...’

"No."

Her reply was curt and firm. "I don’t know how you managed to survive Joker, but by the time I’m done with you, there won’t be anything left of your corpse."

She was curious about his abilities and how he managed to find her location, but none of that mattered at the moment. Her concern was eliminating any threat that could obstruct the will of her Master in any way.

Whatever motive these obstacles had were not her problem to deal with.

VWUUUUSH!

With a single thought, an icy blizzard erupted, consuming everything around her for about a mile. The waters around her froze solid, and the sandy beach turned into a snowy field covered in thick ice.

Snow danced around her, threatening to consume even more land in frost, but she willed the torrent to cease and contained the icy maelstrom in its restricted zone. The temperature surrounding her had dropped to absolute zero, and even she shivered mildly as visible breaths escaped her lips.

Her pale skin had ice patches around it, but they quickly melted away as steam began to rise all over her body.

’Regardless of how he managed to escape Joker, there’s no way a mere scholar could possibly avoid my snowfield. Unless—’

The veiled woman’s eyes widened as she hurriedly leaped from her position.

However—

"Too late." A voice echoed in her mind as an entity materialized himself in front of her and grabbed her by the throat.

"Keuk!" She felt Claudius’ strong grip on her throat, watching as he glowed bright and dark in the white field. A part of him shone with golden luster, while the other side had dark energy swirling around.

"You have some fine Armaments and an excellent battle sense, but it’s of no use." He told her, a playful smirk on his handsome face.

His two female subordinates also appeared right behind him, their eyes fixed on the woman.

"Now, I would prefer not to hurt you... so if you can, just tell me what I want to know."

"O-over my dead body!" She spat.

"No need to get impatient." Claudius responded. "Death comes for us all, but my current concerns lie with the living."

He snatched the balloon she held very easily, observing it carefully.

"Perhaps the truth lies in this? A disposable communication-type Armament, hm? Untraceable, I’m guessing... or has the person you were speaking to logged off? Is that the boss in charge of your activities?"

"Just... kill me..." The lady gritted her teeth, completely paralyzed by his grip.

"Oh, don’t be like that..." He smiled. "Why would I resort to such a wasteful method like killing? There are many ways to find out what I want to know from you."

"Guh...!"

"Torture is a fine option, but something tells me you won’t break so easily." He took off her hat and veil, revealing pure white hair that matched the snow that littered their surroundings. Her eyes were bright azure, and her glossy lips trembled under his power.

"If you tell me what I want to know, I can offer you true security in the coming scourge."

"Tch!"

"I like your loyalty and fiery spirit, but you’re fighting a losing battle here. Please cease your struggles and accept my sincerity."

"You’ll never know... what you want."

"Oh?" He stared curiously. "Why do you say s—"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

A brilliant explosion suddenly manifested, easily decimating everything for at least a hundred meters. Its bright blue flames melted the icy surroundings, sending an updraft of warm wind and furious rain that decorated the brightly painted landscape.

The thick smoke eventually cleared, and the hissing steam ascended high above, revealing the silhouette of a naked man at the very center of the crater that had formed from the azure eruption.

"She caught me by surprise with that one. What a lady..." He laughed, looking around and not finding a trace of anything surrounding him. His nude body absorbed the sunlight that blessed the world, causing his grin to broaden in delight.

"That’s because you were too careless, Master." One of the young women said, suddenly appearing at his side with a fresh change of clothes.

"How disappointing, Master. She even managed to escape because of your negligence." The other sighed, carrying his shoe, gloves, hat, and monocle.

"Well, I thank you both for your astute observations... hm?"

Claudius noticed something in that moment. It appeared as a drawing on the ground, but it was smeared in red liquid akin to blood. The face was that of a silly-looking clown, one who had a crooked hat on its head and a tongue out as it winked.

It felt like a cruel joke or a prank, one that seemed completely out of place considering the situation.

’Strange... a silly clown?’ Even Claudius did not know what to make of it, so he could only give in to his instinctive reaction and chuckled.

"Interesting..."

By the time he climbed out of the crater, he was dressed in new, clean clothes.

He had a formal white shirt, with a dark brown waistcoat to match his messy hair and gloves. He put on his hat as well as a monocle, and twirled his walking stick while his shoes made more imprints on the devastated ground.

Ignoring the chaotic landscape, and only paying attention to the sun that kept ascending high into the sky, Claudius sighed.

"Whoever we’re dealing with is too dangerous. They had the knowledge to forge a prophecy, claiming it to be from the Divine Court." He shook his head. "This led many astray, sending them right to their well-deserved deaths."

Claudius was hiding it fairly well, but he was actually upset.

"Such fools... they dared to lower the status of the Divine Ones to the position of former Mortals—what blasphemy!" The passion with which he spoke and the vitriol in his eyes seemed uncharacteristic of him.

It shone in sharp contrast to the gentlemanly facade he liked to put on.

However, Claudius couldn’t help it.

"To besmirch the sacred identities of the ones above, especially Divine Ancestors Great Sun and Grand Moon... this hidden figure is definitely an enemy." He turned to the two women behind him. "I have no doubt that they will impede our future plans, especially regarding the upcoming pilgrimage."

"The Blessed Lands can wait." One of the two said.

"No, it cannot." The other replied.

"You are both correct and wrong. We can afford to wait for now, but once the right opportunity arrives, it would be foolishness not to grasp it. That means we need to eliminate any obstacle—potential or actual—that could get in the way."

"Yes, Master."

Once the two girls bowed to Claudius, he returned his gaze to the sun above and smiled.

"The treasure you left behind... I shall claim it, Great Sun!"