Date: January 1, 2018 | Time: 9:35 PM
Location: Upper District Plaza – Sylvaris
Perspective: Lucas
The Upper District at night is a completely different vibe from the rest of this world. It's like someone took a medieval fantasy set and gave it a limitless budget for RGB lighting.
Magical lanterns glow with a warm, golden hue, casting long shadows across the pristine white cobblestones. Taverns are overflowing with the sounds of clinking glass and boisterous laughter—people actually enjoying life instead of just surviving it.
I leaned back, walking with a swagger. I jingled the pouch at my waist. The weight was satisfying.
15 silvers in a single day. No cap, I might be the greatest business mogul this world has ever seen. Move over, merchant guilds, there's a new shark in the water.
「 15 silvers? You mean 15 silvers for my hard labor, you absolute jackass. Also, 'businessman'? You were a street performer, bro. A literal bard. 」
I prefer the term 'Multi-Instrumental Visionary,' thank you very much. The public was practically begging for my soul-stirring performances. I'm a professional. I should've just done this as a career from the start.
「 'Soul-stirring'? Is that what we're calling it now? I remember you crying in my ear. 'System, please, please, please play the flute for me or they're going to throw me in the gutter and call me a fraud!' Your words, not mine. 」
I DID NOT SAY THAT.
I was merely… delegating technical tasks to my trusted partner.
「 Whatever helps you sleep at night. I literally had to hijack your motor functions to keep you from snapping the strings. I even had to fabricate a new skill just to save your reputation: [Divine Protection: Pro Musician]. You're basically a walking Spotify playlist now. You're way too overpowered for someone who can't even tune a violin. 」
Hey, it comes with the territory of being this good-looking. The universe just wants me to succeed.
I was about to retort with something even more ego-inflating when my gaze caught a familiar silhouette near the base of the Old Clocktower.
The lively atmosphere of the plaza seemed to die out around her. It was Celia.
She was standing perfectly still, her head bowed, staring at the ground as if she were trying to memorize the cracks in the stone. Even from here, I could feel the heavy, suffocating aura of misery coming off her in waves.
Wait… where's the edge-lord? Where's Kaiser?
I hurried over, my playful mood evaporating. "Celia? Hey, Celia!"
She didn't move. She didn't even blink. It was like she'd turned into a statue.
I reached out and gently touched her shoulder. She flinched, her head snapping up. Her eyes—usually so sharp and terrifying—were dull, rimmed with a faint, exhausted red.
"Lucas…?" her voice was a ghost of itself. Small. Broken.
"What are you doing here alone? It's freezing. Where's Kaiser?"
She looked away, her fingers trembling as they twisted a strand of her hair—the one tied with that red ribbon.
"He… he let go. My hand… he just let go and ran. He didn't even look back at me, Lucas. It was like… like I wasn't even there."
Kaiser, you absolute idiot. You don't just leave a girl like this alone in a city like Sylvaris.
"Hey, look at me," I said, putting on my best 'reliable older brother' face.
"Stop searching for him with those eyes. You know how he is. Kaiser is basically a human cockroach. He's probably off somewhere conning a merchant or getting lost in an alleyway. He's annoying, he's likely unemployed, and he's definitely an idiot, but he's like a bug—he might fly around and disappear for a bit, but he always ends up crawling back under the bed eventually. Or, you know, back to the inn."
A tiny, almost imperceptible huff of air escaped her nose. Not a laugh, but the start of one.
"He's not… a cockroach," she muttered, though she didn't sound like she was defending him.
"He totally is. No need to waste your energy moping over a bug," I teased, reaching out and grabbing her wrist. Her skin was ice cold.
"Come on, sis. I've got 15 silvers burning a hole in my pocket and I'm starving. We're going to find the loudest, most expensive tavern in this district and eat until we forget what his face looks like."
She remained quiet, her body swaying slightly as if she were debating whether to resist or just collapse. I didn't give her the choice. I started walking, pulling her along with a firm but gentle tug.
"Come on. My treat. You can tell me all the ways he's an idiot while we eat steak."
Celia didn't say anything else, but she didn't pull away. She followed me into the light of the lively street.
Time: 10:05 PM
The tavern was thick with the scent of rosemary-rubbed chicken and the sharp, yeasty tang of high-end honey mead. It was the kind of place where the fire in the hearth didn't just provide heat; it provided an aesthetic.
Polished mahogany tables reflected the amber glow of the chandelier, and the murmur of the crowd was a low, sophisticated hum.
I leaned back in my chair, watching Celia across the table. She hadn't touched her steak yet. She was just staring at the flickering candle between us.
Is it just me, or did she hit the character customizer again? Her hair... it's definitely darker. It used to have a brownish tint in the light, but now it's like someone dumped a bottle of black ink on her head.
Even her eyes look like two black holes. I guess when you're a yandere, 'mourning' just means your soul gets a darker paint job. Still, she looks less like she's going to cry and more like she's planning an assassination.
「 System analysis: Her mana stability has shifted. Also there is food on your cheek genius. 」
Shut up.
Celia finally looked up, her expression hardening. She didn't look like the broken girl I found by the clocktower anymore.
"Lucas," she said, her voice steady.
"We're going to become stronger. Much stronger than we are now."
I grinned, setting my fork down.
"Now you're talking. Why stop at just 'strong'? We're going to reach a level where the Guilds look like playgroups. The Royal Army? A bunch of kids with sticks. Kingdoms, empires... we'll surpass all of it. We'll be the ones holding the leash."
"I don't care about the world," Celia replied, her gaze intensifying.
"I want us to be the monsters they tell stories about. I want everyone who thinks they can look down on us to realize they're just ants."
That's my sister. Look at us, just a couple of overpowered siblings plotting world-tier dominance over dinner. It's wholesome, really. If you ignore the impending trauma for everyone else.
"I'm in," I said, leaning forward. "But what sparked the fire? Usually, you're just content being Kaiser's shadow. Why the sudden need for the throne?"
Celia looked down at her hands, her fingers curling into fists.
"I want to surpass him."
My eyes narrowed. "What do you mean? Surpass Kaiser?"
"You and him... you went to the same academy," Celia said, her voice dropping to a whisper.
"You know, don't you? He's always holding back. Every time he fights, every time he speaks—it's a mask. He never reveals his true power in front of people. Even when he's 'scared,' it feels... calculated."
Damn. She's sharper than I thought…
"How'd you figure it out?" I asked, genuinely curious.
"In my trial... he's the one who saved me," she said, her eyes distant. "I don't even know how he did it, but the way he moved... it wasn't a 'beginner.' And I've seen him take out enemies that should have killed him. He pretends to be terrified, he plays the fool, but in the end... he's the only one standing."
"And…"
"The Labyrinth incident," I muttered, cutting her off. "I knew it. We didn't just 'stumble' out of that place because of luck. I had a hunch that something happened in the dark that we weren't supposed to see."
Celia's eyes opened wide, a flicker of shock crossing her face. "What do you know?"
"I think..." I hesitated, glancing at the System interface flickering in the corner of my vision.
"I think there was a second Kaiser inside that place. Something... or someone... that did the heavy lifting while our Kaiser played the victim."
"A second Kaiser?"
"Think about it," I said, my voice growing serious. "During the Grotesque War... did you have anyone close to you? A friend or a partner who suddenly appeared out of nowhere?"
Celia shook her head slowly. "I don't think so. It was all a blur of blood and chaos. Why?"
"I met someone," I said, the memory of those cold, blue-veined eyes surfacing in my mind.
"His name was Azrael. He looked... cold-blooded. Like death itself had taken a human shape. The day I tried to rush into a grotesque nest—totally reckless, I know—he just happened to be there. He told me not to go in. He saved my life, and then vanished."
I tapped my finger against the table. "What's odd is that I never saw him again after that first raid. Not even his body. And the day before he disappeared, he was calculating something... planning. It was like he was playing a game."
I looked Celia dead in the eyes. "Azrael and Kaiser. Different names, different vibes, but the same 'I'm five steps ahead of you' energy. Isn't that weirdly convenient?"
Celia went silent, her gaze falling back to the Ring of Empty Chaos on her finger. The cobalt swirl seemed to pulse under the tavern light.
"I think I know..." she whispered, a chilling realization dawning on her face. "I think I know of someone."
Perspective: Celia
"There was someone... his name was Arius," I murmur, my thumb tracing the cobalt curve of my ring. "He had black hair and blue eyes. Just like Kaiser."
Lucas leans back, his expression shifting into something uncharacteristically focused.
"I remember him. He's the one that defended you against Rinascita's people when you first arrived, didn't he?".
I'm surprised he remembers. I had pushed Arius into a dark corner of my mind, a footnote I barely acknowledged because he wasn't Kaiser. But now, that detail feels like a cold weight in my stomach.
"Was there anyone else?" Lucas asks, his voice dropping.
I close my eyes, and the memory of cold steel and arrogance resurfaces.
"A sword saint... Xander. He was looking down at me, talking to me like I was dirt. I was so angry, I was ready to burn everything just to kill him, and I..."
"You were going to die?" Lucas interrupts.
I nod slowly, the phantom chill of that moment returning
"Then a bandaged man arrived. His name was Aldric. He saved me. Afterwards, he told me he wanted me to follow him... said he could keep me safe. I refused. He just smiled, and I never saw him again".
"Think back to the grotesque hive, Celia. Remember when our attack failed and we were trapped?"
"When the world felt like it was ending?" I whisper.
"The person who snatched us out of there," Lucas says, leaning over the table. "His height. His voice. It matches..."
"Kaiser," I breathe.
My heart suddenly feels too large for my chest. I remember the way I was held in that darkness—a grip so familiar. I thought it was a miracle.
"Arius, Aldric, Azrael..." Lucas shakes his head, a dry, cynical smile tugging at his lips.
"I think they were all him. Disguises, illusions—whatever he did, it was him. I'm certain. Why else would we have 'miracles' every time we're about to die?".
He was there. Every time I felt the cold breath of death, he was standing in the shadows, pulling the strings of fate to keep me breathing.
Even when he played dead, even when he let go of my hand today, he was never truly gone. He was watching. He was protecting his little bunny.
He lied to me. He wore masks and stayed silent while I screamed for him. I should be angry. I should want to break him for the grief he put me through.
But all I feel is an all-consuming, terrifying love.
[ My Queen, the jester has been playing a very long game, ] Crownless's voice echoes in my mind. [ It seems your 'Kaiser' has more faces than a deck of cards. ]
Ofcourse… he is bad boy.
You were always there, weren't you, Kai? You can't help yourself. You're as obsessed with keeping me alive as I am with possessing you. You think you're a ghost? I'll find every mask you own. I'll strip them away one by one until there is nowhere left for you to hide but inside my arms.
You are mine, Kai. Even the miracles you perform belong to me.
"Scratch Kaiser for now, Lucas," I say, my voice steadying as I force the image of that pink-haired girl to the back of my mind.
"From tomorrow, we're going on our ascension. No more waiting for him to decide our pace."
Lucas grins, that familiar, cocky light returning to his eyes. He thrusts his hand out across the table, palm open. "Our solo ascension, then? Time for the world to see what we're actually made of."
I meet his palm with a sharp, stinging high-five, the contact grounding me.
"Duo," I correct him, offering a small, sharp wink that feels almost foreign on my face.
It's easier like this. Focusing on the hunger in my stomach and the cold clarity of a goal. I'll let him play his games for one more night.
I need to get my energy up, prepare my body for the slaughter tomorrow, and once I'm strong enough... I'll hunt down whatever bitch he ran off to and peel her away from him. Layer by layer.
"So, strategy," Lucas says, stabbing a potato with more enthusiasm than necessary.
"I was thinking we go for a 'Total Annihilation' approach. I lure them into a bottleneck with some flashy light show—maybe a little lute solo for flair—and then you drop the ceiling on them. Simple..."
I scoff, leaning back as I watch him chew. "Too much effort. I'd rather just chain the exits and walk through the middle of them. Why waste time with a 'light show' when we can just turn the room into a morgue in ten seconds?"
"See, that's your problem, sis! No 'cool' factor!" he laughs, waving his fork around. "You gotta have a brand! 'The Silent Killers' is boring. We need to be 'The Divine Duo' or 'The Flash and the Chain'!"
"We're going to be 'The People Who Get the Reward and Leave,'" I retort, a genuine, tiny huff of amusement escaping my nose.
"Hehe... your ideas are insane, Lucas. We're going in, we're defeating them all, we take the gold, and we move to the next quest."
"Fine, fine. Workhorse mentality. I can dig it," he mutters, though he's already humming some upbeat tune under his breath.
He's trying so hard to keep my spirits up. It's almost touching, in a pathetic, brotherly way. It works, though. The weight on my chest feels a fraction lighter. I can almost ignore the void Kaiser left by the clocktower. Almost.
I look down at my hand as I reach for my glass. The Ring of Empty Chaos—the dark, nebulous metal that binds my fate to his—begins to pulse.
There you are. I can feel you, Kai. You can wear all the masks you want. You can run into the dark and hide behind every alias in the world. But this ring doesn't lie.
You're still breathing, you're still near, and you're still connected to me by every drop of blood in your veins.
I pull my hand back, clenching it into a fist until the metal bites into my skin.
You're all mine.
And tomorrow, I start becoming the monster you'll never be able to run from.
Perspective: Kaiser
Time: 10:14 PM
She stood in the threshold, framed by the dark, jagged silhouette of the doorway.
She looked like a stray petal caught in a gale. A soft, cream-colored scarf with a little red tint, was wrapped snugly around her neck, and her pastel pink hair—framed by those delicate white ribbon bows—flowed behind her like a silk tapestry.
Her pink eyes were wide and shimmering with a mixture of exhaustion and a desperate, flickering courage.
Elfie is that you…?
The same hair, the same eyes, the same way she tilts her head when she's terrified. Elfie? No, Elfie is dead.
"Ah—um..." Her voice was soft, slightly breathy, and trembling like a leaf.
She stepped forward, her small boots clicking tentatively on the blood-stained floor.
"I-I found you. I brought... I brought the silvers. Just like I promised."
She reached into a small pouch, her fingers shaking so hard she nearly dropped the coins. She held out 10 shimmering silver pieces toward Jax, her gaze fixed on the floor.
"Please... my ring. You said if I brought the money back tonight... you'd give it back. I-I need it. It's very important..."
Jax let out a low, mocking whistle, leaning back against a rack of cursed armor. He didn't even look at the money.
"Silvers? Oh, sweetheart, you're a few hours too late. I'm a busy man. I can't just hold onto collateral forever."
"B-but you said—" Eve's eyes welled with tears, her voice cracking. "You promised!"
"I lied," Jax grinned, gesturing toward the desk where Malakor sat.
"I already sold it to the Boss here. It's his property now. If you want it, you'll have to talk to him."
Eve's head snapped toward the blackened oak desk. She didn't seem to notice me standing there. She rushed toward the desk, her hands clasped over her heart.
"Please! Sir! That ring... it's not just jewelry. It's everything to me! I'll pay you! I'll pay you more! I'll work! Just... please don't take it away!"
Malakor leaned forward, his amber eyes tracking the tears rolling down her porcelain cheeks. He looked like a wolf watching a lamb offer itself up for dinner.
"My name is Malakor, little flower. And in this shop, once a contract is signed, the item belongs to the house. It's sold. It's gone."
"No... no, please!" She was practically hyperventilating now, her small frame shaking.
"I-I'll do anything! Please! I felt so... so cold while it was gone. I can't lose it! I'll give you my full life, I'll serve you, just... please give it back to me!"
Malakor's smirk widened into something truly predatory. He picked up the Sea of the Heart ring, letting the cobalt blue and pink light dance across his palm.
"Anything? That's a very dangerous word to use in the Under-Spire, Eve. It means you belong to us. You'll do whatever we say, whenever we say it. And I mean anything."
Eve let out a broken sob, her knees buckling as she stared at the ring. "I... I will. I'll do it. Just... give it back. Please."
Boris, the mountain of meat to my left, let out a lecherous chuckle. He stepped toward her, his large, calloused hand reaching out toward her shoulder, his fingers twitching with a disgusting intent.
"Don't you worry your pretty little head, girl. We'll take real good care of you. Starting with a little tour of the basement—"
THUD.
My hand shot out, catching Boris's wrist. The force of the grab was so absolute that his arm stopped dead in mid-air, the bones in his forearm groaning under the sudden, crushing pressure of my grip.
I tilted my head, my eyes locking onto Boris's… My old self returning.
"Don't," I said.
"Touch," I continued, my grip tightening until I heard the faint pop of a tendon.
"Her."