Damien sat in his office chair, reading through some documents and other important files, when he heard his smartwatch beep.
*Beep* *Beep*
Indicating that someone was trying to reach him, he took out his phone and answered the call.
"My lord" came from the other side of the call.
"One.. Did you find anything about that midnighter?" Damien inquired.
"Yes, My lord"
"Hmm.. send me everything you found out about him."
"As you command, My lord!"
Damien hung up the call and waited for a few moments, after which
*bloop*
A white owl suddenly entered his room and stood at his table, a blue cloth tied to its left leg.. Damien moved forward and patted the owl as he untied the blue cloth from its leg. As soon as Damien untied the blue cloth from his leg, the owl started to move its wings as it took flight towards the wall, but when the owl was about to hit the wall… The owl vanished.
Damien unfolded the blue cloth with a claw of night printed on it. However, it was different from the one used by Vincent. Instead of three claws, it had five, indicating that it was superior to the one used by Vincent.
Damien put his palm on the claw of night carved on the blue cloth, and as soon as he did so, His gaze went distant for a few moments. Images started to flood his head, giving him all the information stored within the claw of night.
"Hah.." Damien sighed and finished organizing the information in his head.
"Vincent Bolten... Mind Control... Tyro-Adept rank... An exile of Azor."
Damien's eyes glinted with ruthlessness.
"An exile.. Huh.. I wonder."
( An exile is the midnighter who is not allowed to enter Azor. Specifically, exiles are those who break the main laws of Azor. )
Damien shut his eyes as he leaned back on his chair.
'I feel like I'll be meeting them soon.'
A hooded figure— Blake — was following behind Amaya as she moved through a dark alley. Soon, she stopped before an under-construction building and started walking inside it.
As soon as Amaya reached the rooftop, her eyes fell on a lean male with short black hair and a few white strands; a diagonal scar was etched on his right eye. Yes, Vincent was standing there looking at her with a smile.
"You came"- Vincent's smile turned into a grin when he finished his words -"O' follower"
As soon as Blake heard Vincent, his eyes widened.
'H-how?' Blake thought in confusion and doubt. Blake was taught the art of assassination and spying from a young age. He had confidence in hiding from the senses of a Midnighter, even if he is one major rank above him; Blake himself, being an Apex-Ignited rank, couldn't make sense out of this.
'Is he bluffing?' Blake thought that maybe Vincent was trying to play psychological games to know if someone was following Amaya.
"Heh.. no one is following you today," Vincent said as he turned towards Amaya and shrugged
Hearing that, Blake sighed inwardly and thought.
'I nearly fell for it.'
*woosh*
Suddenly, a gust of wind hit Blake, causing him to turn his head towards the location it came from. There, he saw Vincent standing with his arms open wide, a wide grin plastered on his face; however, his eyes were cold like a winter moon.
"Found you," Vincent said, his voice gentle yet haunting, cold yet calming.
Before Blake could even understand what was going on, Vincent moved forward with a speed far beyond the level of normal humans and landed a kick to the chest of Blake
Blake was sent flying as he crashed into a nearby pillar, a few drops of blood dripping from his mouth.
Vincent moved again, and Blake moved his head before a kick was about to land on his head. Seeing that he missed, Vincent's grin turned into a small frown.
"Why do you have to make this…" Vincent said as he threw a punch to Blake's side.
Blake blocked his punch but was still sent skidding backwards for a few meters.
".. So annoying." Vincent moved again and grabbed one of Blake's wrists as he threw him towards a nearby pillar. As he was about to land on the pillar, Blake's body liquefied into black goo and slipped into the shadows.
Blake came out of Vincent's shadow and landed an uppercut at his chin, but to his dismay, his uppercut didn't do anything to Vincent as he stood staring at him with cold and indifferent eyes.
"Do you believe you can defeat me? Someone who is one major rank above you?" Vincent sneered at Blake's attempt to hurt him.
"I believe we've had enough of these games," Vincent said as his ocean-like blue eyes started to emit a faint glow.
Seeing Vincent's eyes glow, Blake hurriedly moved away. However, that didn't change as Vincent's eyes started to turn brighter.
Suddenly, Blake's eyes turned white, and he knelt.
"M.y l..o.rd..!" Blake called out.
"What's your name?" Vincent asked with an authoritative tone.
"B..a.ron H.am-es"
"Baron Hames.. Hmm."
"Who sent you?"
"Y.ou..ng Ma..s.ter sent me."
"Young master? Who is your young master?"
"Dam-"
Suddenly, Vincent's body shivered, and the hair behind his head stood up as he turned backwards.
Before his very eyes, the space began to ripple and glow in a faint purple hue, which soon turned into a portal.
An hourglass of dark green wood filled with golden sand, intricate runes carved around it, landed before him. Vincent looked at the hourglass as his eyes opened wide. A ripple of blue energy left the hourglass and turned into a dome filled with runes of multiple sizes and colours, and an ethereal hourglass of similar shape floated up above. However, it was much bigger.
*Wrr* *Wrr*
The small portal began to widen, and a man with white hair reaching his shoulders, blue sapphire-like eyes, a handsome face, a black shirt with a white leather jacket having black embroidery, black pants, and black boots, walked out from the portal.
As soon as Vincent recognized Damien, he couldn't help but mutter out loud.
"Damien Starborne… no wonder."
"Vincent Bolten," Damien called out, his eyes and voice both cold.
"Yours truly," Vincent said as he bowed dramatically like he was in some drama. Well, why wouldn't he? After all.
"It's truly an honour to be in the presence of the Maestro of Space, Mars Kinten."
"Why?" Damien asked, seemingly uninterested in his theatrics.
"I am deeply sorry, but I can't say."
"Then you will die."
"You underestimate me," Vincent said with a smile.
As soon as Vincent said so, he took out a black disc, which had multiple delicate golden runes enclosed within a purple circle carved on its surface. He placed it on his palm, and soon the disc started to emit a purple glow.
"Another time," Vincent said with a wide grin, because he was sure of his escape, however-
5 Seconds
10 Seconds
15 Seconds
Nothing happened...
Vincent's grin quickly faded into a deep frown.
"Huh? Why didn't it work?"
"I didn't think you would be stupid enough to use a return disc in front of its very creator."
As soon as Vincent heard that, he realized how stupid his actions were. With a terrified look, he looked at Damien, and he just waved his hand sideways.
[Space Crescent]
A purple crescent was created from the wave of his hand, and it moved towards Vincent at terrifying speed.
Vincent sidestepped to dodge, but he still couldn't dodge it completely.
"AarrrghHh," Vincent screamed in agony as his hand was separated from his body.
However, the purple crescent continued its movement, cutting through everything before it and dying out after a few moments.
Damien walked towards Vincent and asked once again.
"Why?"
Even though Vincent wanted nothing more than to kill the hateful man standing in front of him, he could only bow his hand and beg for his life.
"I-I was t-told to kidnap Anieal Starborne and in r-return they would h-help me breakthrough to the next major rank," Vincent answered, fear evident in his tone.
"Who told you to kidnap Anieal?" Vincent asked, his eyes turning colder.
"I a-am not s-sure but it must be T-the Cr-"
*boom*
Vincent's head exploded, and his blood, brain matter, and pieces of flesh flew nearby.
Damien stood silently before the now-headless corpse, his eyes having a ruthless glint. He clenched his fists.
*Snap*
Damien snapped his fingers, and the dome produced by the battleglass started to crack before it dissipated. Everything returned. The pillars mended themselves. All of the gore dissipated from the headless corpse of Vincent.
In place of his body, there were his clothes and a black envelope slipping from his pocket. Damien waved his hand, and the envelope vanished and appeared in his hand. and opened the envelope. He read the letter inside, which had the same words as Vincent had told him. He flipped the envelope, and when he saw the symbol at the back of the envelope… his eyes turned dark.
*Brr* *Beep* *Brr* *Beep*
'Hmm?'
Footnotes:
Battleglass: An hourglass made of dark green wood filled with golden sand, with intricate runes carved around it. It produces a doom-shaped barrier using the star essence present within the environment
- Nothing inside can go out of it; living beings will be teleported out, though
- From outside, the affected area looks normal with no living beings - affects perception itself
- Once the dome is removed, the non-living objects within the affected area return to the state they were before
Return Disc: Once star essence is fed to it, it allows the user to return to a nearby set location