The Ruin Bringer.

Now, for such a title, the exact type of ruin it was supposed to bring was unknown.

The prophecy was incomplete, after all.

But, even so, fate was set in stone. Like the law, Ignorantia iuris neminem excusat. That’s to say, the ignorance of its contents didn’t exempt anyone from its compliance.

“Now for the kind of ruin someone like her could bring…” Dianthus spoke to his mind. “Clearly she’s dissatisfied with the mage society, but to be able to change that, one needs too much power. Only the Mergifari’s Director could pull something like that.”

“Looking at her now, she has neither the power nor the skills, so we would be speaking of a far away future. And future means change. We can’t be sure her current motivations are maintained in the future.”

He didn’t exactly care if Velvet wanted to ruin the mage society. He was aware that it was fucked, and wouldn’t mind if she went down to town on their asses.

Of course, without mages, no one could stop Permafrost, so he should keep that in mind.

But once again, Velvet’s current motivations might not be Velvet’s future motivations…

“Ugh.” Dianthus’ mind strained from overthinking. Now would be a great time to have a prophetic dream with the answers of what he should do, but alas.

It was his choice.

He could kill Velvet right this instant, it wouldn’t even be that difficult. She was just next to him, and, as a knowledge mage, her physical defense was average. Even when she had consumed devil’s blood recently, a hit at such close distance would kill her.

He wasn’t the strongest novice just because he was unkillable and didn’t accumulate miasma, no. He also had a lot of raw power, and the confidence that went with it.

If he were to act now, neither Paramus, Hasdrubal, or his monitor could stop him. And that in the case they were to even try.

Because killing Velvet would have zero consequences for him.

As an unaffiliated, unbacked, slightly infamous mage, the only consequence would be that the Queen would have to pay a fee to Ceres for his selected’s death. Nothing else.

Yes, there was the morality issue of murdering someone who hadn’t done nothing in the present but would do so in the future.

Not that Velvet was an innocent soul. She had blood on her hands, but, in Dianthus’ humble but very important opinion (self-diagnosed), they had it coming.

So, nothing could stop him but himself.

And, to tell the truth, he didn’t like the idea of doing it.

No, scratch that. Fuck not liking it, he simply wasn’t going to.

If fate was so feeble that some Chosen One behaving stubbornly could change it, he would eat his sword, with handle and everything.

But, as long as the choice was his, he wouldn’t kill Velvet before knowing what Ruin she would bring.

Not because of guilt, morality or the idea of being able to fix her, but because he didn’t want to.

He didn’t want to do it, so he wouldn’t. End of history.

Dianthus sighed deeply, making more noise than necessary, which earned him a glare from Paramus.

Oh, right. He had disconnected from the lesson a while ago, not paying any attention, but Paramus seemed to be explaining the ritual. A ritual which Velvet looked eager to try.

After checking Paramus’ thoughts once again, he obtained the real reason to share the ritual.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Her plan was making a bunch of mages learn the name and ritual to channel Baethylus, so as to make His gaze move more towards this world.

By having the Father of Craftsmanship looking here, some mages could obtain inspiration faster, making more weapons. Keyword some.

A Deriliam’s gaze wasn’t like a deity’s, having some consequences for the unlucky novice mages who were unable to hold it. Corruption, madness, loss of reasoning were prime examples.

Of course, it could also be a movement of desperation, to progress faster on the Permafrost incursion. Not all plans had just one finality, after all.

Novice mages were pretty much in the unknown about the official mage's interest on Permafrost, but Dianthus, a mind reader and Chosen One, had a lot of information.

But Paramus’ plan was doomed to fail.

First, Baethylus' mark on Dianthus got erased by his companion, so he, the most stable anchor, was an anchor no more.

Second, Velvet ended up hoarding the Deriliam's attention, which was evident due to her mark being more nitid than the others. That meant that the other most stable anchor was going on its own.

And third, like Lothrigern, Baetylus wasn’t exactly safe to deal with. Probably.

He wasn’t exactly sure. But, there was no reason for the other novice mages to be the ones finding out. They only had one life, after all.

And official mages playing with the novices' lives bothered him a little bit.

So, he did what he knew best: annoy people.

“Your class is boring me.” Dianthus got up from the chair, stretching and yawning in an attention seeker manner.

Paramus fixed her monocle’s position, clearly annoyed at a novice mage interrupting her.

No other novice mage would be insane, or stupid enough to speak that way to an official mage. But he was. “You told me that you’ll show me the best way to engrave my sword, and now you tell me I have to call someone else. What use do I have for you then?”

Paramus raised her chin slightly, clearly having an answer for that question. “The visions are confusing and hard to understand. Without the pertaining knowledge, understanding the procedures is-”

“Don’t talk too highly of yourself.” He interrupted, again. “I doubt the visions of one of them are confusing. You simply can't replicate them properly, so you just dumb them down to your level.”

He continued, this time, motioning to the surrounding mages. "Oh, but for all of you, that’s normal. Unlike me, it's not like you can accomplish anything worthwhile, so having others giving you the solutions must feel great."

Now it wasn’t only Paramus who was getting increasingly pissed off, since everyone disliked that.

Well, honestly, combat mages disliked that, while support mages were already used to similar comments. They already knew their role usually ended up being an afterthought, and that they would never be the most flashy of mages.

But combat mages were competitive, taking the comment in strife.

Any moment now…

Upon sensing an hostile thought, Dianthus moved his hand.

Clash!

A triangular gold pillar got summoned next to him, instants before a metallic, multi-layered gear clashed against him, sending sparkles of scorching metal flying off.

Huh, he hadn’t expected the attacker to be a knowledge mage, not after mentioning how assuming they were of their unimportance.

Checking his mind without even looking towards him, he found the culprit. It was the guy who had entered with Velvet. Dianthus didn't care about his name, so that was the description he offered.

Spinning in place, the gear tried to break the pillar, not making any progress.

If I move the pillar, the gear's rebound might cut someone in half... Oh well, he attacked me first.

With a wave, the triangular pillar spinned in place, the gear losing its opposition and crazily rushing towards a table.

With a snap of fingers, Paramus stopped the gear on its tracks, taking its control away from Harlan in an instant.

Even so, the remnant kinetic energy didn't disappear, the air wave crashing against the novices on that side, breaking tables and chairs, knocking them away.

Dianthus was gonna give it to them, though. Two mages did have the inertia to put up a shield.

That protected only them. Oh, the selfishness.

He turned his head, making sure to put his most infuriating, smug smile. "Is this gear a dumbed down Baethylus invention? No wonder I can intercept it, since you're unable to modify it."

“You-” The gear guy wanted to shout something at him, but he noticed how Paramus had glared at him for the loose gear, shutting up.

"Unlike me, none of you really matter, so, if you want to cut your lives short playing with that Baethylus guy, so be it. But, that's a coward's choice." Dianthus grinned, an idea forming in his mind.

"Why don't you call his brother? He is known for coming in person, not needing to send visions!"

"Go and call for Lothrigern, I'm sure he'll love it. "

The angry expression from the mages changed suddenly. Even when he wasn't sure of the Deriliam's blood ties, calling them brothers was on purpose.

Lothrigern was very infamous in the mage world, so putting Baethylus as 'related' to Him was a devastating blow to His approachability. It was also a tiny detail that Paramus ‘skipped’, so Dianthus saying it hurted all credibility.

Aside from Velvet, no novice mage would ruin their life now, Dianthus concluded, checking their minds. As per his reputation?

Who cared!