Chapter 8: Predictable

The air was suffocating. Nobody moved.

Daragon was processing what had just happened while the rest just stayed in place due to fear.

“Sir Eccel, eh?” Daragon looked at the sabre. “Was my father that scary?”

Their eyes widened in both shock and fear. He was the son of Sir Eccel? They heard that the Eccel family had a genius son that graduated from the School of Magic, St. Leah University, at the age of 14.

“Could he be Draken Eccel, Chi?” The woman asked the bald one, Chi. Daragon’s heart dropped when he heard her mention his brother.

“Don’t be dumb, Fei Fei. Draken has white hair.” Chi replied.

“You’re right. I’m not Draken.” Daragon breathed in deeply. “I’m Daragon Eccel, his brother.”

“Who?” The brute asked.

Daragon expected this response. But Daragon himself was just buying time. They might not know him, but he knew them.

“What is Worm doing here?” Daragon asked.

“You know us?” Fei asked.

“Of course he knows us, Fei Fei! We’re infamous!” Chi said with his head held up high.

“No, I just noticed from the triple X logo.” Daragon corrected Chi. Draken had told him about Worm. They were a group of cultists that worshipped the Dark King, Kreima Winter.

“It’s not an X! It’s an M and a W combined! It stands for… what does it stand for again?” The brute asked.

“For Kreima sakes John. It’s Winter Mors!” Chi sounded rather annoyed by the thick brute.

“You don’t have to shout so much!” John argued. The three started bickering among themselves.

Daragon used this opportunity to sneak away. By the time they realised Daragon’s getaway, he was already climbing up the hole he fell from.

“Hey!” John’s voice roared as he ran up to get him. Daragon climbed quickly, soon he was out. He gloated a bit and walked away.

A large shadow loomed over him. Daragon turned around to see John landing on the solid ground in front of the hole. It seemed like he jumped up. The only problem was, that ditch was at least 5 meters deep.

John threw a punch as Daragon went to block it with his Sabre. Unable to fully negate the force sent by John, Daragon was thrusted into the air.

‘Damn it! This Sabre is way too heavy for me to use properly.’ Daragon thought. The Sabre glowed and turned into a dagger. ‘What the heck.’

John leapt into the air and landed a blow on Daragon. Daragon was hurled into the ground. He got up and found himself, lightly injured. Granted he was injured, however, it wasn’t severe. If anything, it felt more like a jab to the face. Something he could walk off.

“Are you a Seguri?” Daragon asked the dagger. It glowed in response. “Do you have powers?”

John slammed onto Daragon. Dust particles blurred John’s vision. After the dust settled, Daragon disappeared. John searched frantically before he sensed something coming from behind. He turned with haste and used his arm to block the incoming assailant, Daragon.

Daragon and John clashed, with Daragon’s dagger emitting sparks. Daragon then moved away and went to strike the air as his dagger sent a bolt of lightning into the air which rained on John.

“Shit!” John blurted, covering himself.

‘Did I do that?’ Daragon thought. He didn’t mean to do anything. His body just moved that way, as if something urged him to. But afterwards, his head started hurting a bit. He shook it off.

John stood up, his robe ablaze and slowly burning away. His hair was crisp. He, however, was fine and was holding a one-bladed axe. It was a black rod with a skull on the handle. The blade itself was white.

“You wanted a fight kid? Well you got one!” John yelled as he swung his axe. Chi and Fei had just climbed after hearing a thunderous boom and saw the scene. John was about to hit Daragon with his axe.

“John! Stop! You’ll kill hi-” Before Chi could finish his sentence, he felt a gust of wind blowing against his direction. A black figure dashed towards the two.

A Katana, about half the size of the axe, had clashed with John’s axe. The figure’s hood was blown away revealing his red hair.

“Relic!” Daragon cried out. “These guys are trying to kill me!”

The three of them froze in place at Daragon’s mention of Relic’s name. All three knew of Relic, which was why they were stuck in place.

‘Damn it! Why is he here? And why is he with an Eccel? Doesn’t that kid know who he is?’ Chi complained to himself. He was panicking. Relic was someone they knew they couldn’t beat.

The atmosphere was so tense, a knife could cut it. Silence. The cultists unanimously agreed that if they did anything rash, they would get royally fucked.

‘FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK.’ Relic repeated to himself. He was drained far too much by their long-distance travel. It took him half of the energy he restored just to block that attack. Nonetheless, he noticed something. The cultists were not moving. ‘Wait. I still have clout! Maybe…’

“So, you guys are Worm, right?” Relic said nonchalantly. The three stood in silence. “Since there’s a kid here, I’ll let you off with a warning.”

`He’ll just let us go? Just because there’s a kid? Was he always so merciful?’ Fei pondered for a second. She had nightmarish flashbacks of her last encounter with the Man behind the Crimson Moon Massacre. Then she noticed something. He didn’t have the same cold eyes as before.

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Fei looked at John and Chi.

‘Are you sure?’ Chi thought to himself and looked back at Fei. It looked like they somehow understood each other. Chi signalled to John and Fei as they both nodded.

John slashed at Relic. Relic was caught off guard and barely managed to dodge, with a single scratch on his cheek.

“Relic. Or should I call you by your actual name?” Chi asked.

“You’re not going to go even though I let you?” Relic said, preparing a sword stance.

Chi gulped. He trusted in Fei’s assessment but he was still nervous. Fei was an expert at reading people. He stood firmly, clearing his head and stared intently at Relic.

“You’re not going to do anything to us.” Chi confidently spoke. Relic didn’t retaliate. “You’re running out of Qi. The fact you didn’t perfectly dodge is proof of that. You’re not using those eyes.”

“What do you mean?” Relic was flustered. ‘Shit. I forgot they had that girl.’

Relic was not just running out of mana, he was exhausting the mana he had just regained moments prior. In his mind, all he could do was curse Daragon for stumbling across here.

“You know why we’re here, don’t you?” Chi quizzed the assassin. Relic simply stared. “You’re here for the same reason. We’re here to find Encil’s Seguri.”

Relic’s heart dropped. If they found his Seguri, it was proof he died. If they didn’t, then he was either alive or someone else took it. Relic shook his head profusely.

“You should know his abilities enough. There’s no way he could have died from a simple nuke since he could just hide in a shadow.” Relic answered. Chi shook his head.

“Tsk tsk tsk. You probably didn’t recognize this but it was in our report. This wasn’t caused by a nuke.” He paused. “The cause of the explosion was a Seguri.”

The air went stale. Daragon was confused by all this. How could a Seguri cause such destruction?

“An explosion this big would be someone on the same level as you. Perhaps even higher.” Chi suggested. “And not only-”

“That’s confidential! Shut up already!” Fei slapped Chi’s head.

“Shit.” Chi stood there in realisation. Once he started talking, he couldn’t stop. “Whatever. Let’s take him down here! Both him and the Eccel brat!”

John took out his axe as he charged at Relic while Fei took out throwing knives and aimed. Chi readied himself to fight Daragon. He could handle him alone.

“Now ki-” Or so he thought. Daragon gave him no time to talk, rushing him with a flurry of slashes. Each slash was aiming for a tendon.

Daragon aspired to be an olympic fighter, so naturally he studied every weapon he could. His favourite was a dagger. He even learnt a martial art to help with his abilities. Kali Arnis.

‘What the hell is on with this kid?’ Chi said thought while dodging Daragon. ‘Each attack flows perfectly. It feels like each strike has a purpose.’

Daragon continued trying to push him back but Chi grabbed his hand.

“Which is why it’s a shame that you’re so predictable.” Chi told Daragon before disarming him by elbowing his backhand. Daragon’s fingers open, causing his dagger to drop to the ground.

Chi was right. Daragon’s form was perfect. Everything about it. And all the attacks were likely to end him. However, that was the problem. He went by the book.

“Perfection is stale.” Chi grabbed Daragon’s other hand and kneed his stomach. Daragon fell to the floor, trying to relieve the pain by holding the part Chi hit him.

Chi responded to this with a kick to the chin upwards, causing him to bite himself and to bleed from his mouth. Daragon continued to crawl on the floor. Chi tried to leave but Daragon held his leg which got Chi to stomp on him. Daragon wanted to let go but he knew if he did, then Relic wouldn't be able to fend them off.

Meanwhile, Relic was still fighting for his life. He could barely focus with Daragon being beaten up and was on the losing end on the 2 v 1. Relic was getting far too distracted. He couldn’t afford to lose now.

“Hey!” A voice roared. “What are you lot doing here?”

Several men appeared, walking over to them. They all had the same uniform aside from the blonde in the center.

“Shit. Are those the authorities?” John asked himself.

“Retreat for now!” Chi ordered as Fei and John began to retreat. “Till next time.”

Chi glared at Daragon as he left. Daragon groaned from pain with blood trickling from his mouth. Once they were out of sight, Relic collapsed from relief. The men quickly went to inspect Daragon and Relic.

“Pause for a moment.” The male in the middle said. “This is the man Major Bradbury said was coming here. But why are you here, Dara?”

Daragon felt a spike going through him. The voice was different but the tone he used, and how he addressed Daragon. Nobody except two people had ever addressed Daragon as ‘Dara’. Daragon looked up, confirming his suspicions.

“Brandon?” He asked. The man smiled and nodded.

“We’ll talk later.” Brandon gave a warm smile before Daragon fell asleep.

Brandon Faust. He was someone who Daragon always competed with when he was younger. Before he moved schools. When it came to studies, only one other kid had a chance in beating him. That was why Daragon was so hellbent on trying to learn even more. His entire motivation behind some experiments such as the one he did when Tom first showed up. However, Daragon didn't remember much of Brandon. All he knew was Brandon was an upright character.

After Daragon moved schools, he never saw Brandon again. And he didn’t know anything else.

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“You finally up?” Relic asked Daragon. Relic seemed unharmed. A complete juxtaposition to Daragon who was bruised all over.

“Where are we?” Daragon looked around the room. The walls were made up of fabric with poles helping them stand upright. A tent. He saw the bed he was on and a table of medical tools.

“A military tent.” Brandon swaggered in. “Say ah.”

“Ah.” Brandon stuck out an ice cream stick to Daragon’s mouth. Daragon complied. Brandon then lifted a finger and pointed it.

“[Finger Flashlight]” Brandon said as his finger lit up. He examined Daragon’s mouth. “Alright. It looks like you aren’t as injured as before.”

“Hey. Since when was the incantation Finger Flashlight? Isn’t it illegal to change the incantation of a spell?” Daragon asked.

“Who cares? It’s faster than saying [Light Spell: Finger Light].” Brandon put his finger below the ice cream stick, not touching it. “[Finger Fire].”

“Same as ever huh. You never did follow the rules.” Daragon sighed. “But why are you here?”

“Oh. You don’t know? I completed school then Med School early. I’m now an unofficial army doctor.” Brandon responded. “Basically, since I’m still 16, I can’t enlist in the military so I’m still unemployed.”

“Wait, isn’t that a world record? A medical doctor at 16.” Daragon asked.

“Is it? I really don’t bother with that stuff.” Brandon was as nonchalant as ever. Daragon grew more envious.

Brandon Faust was someone Daragon looked up to. He seemed not to care at all about anything yet was always able to achieve something monumental. Before it was just grades but now he managed to set an unprecedented world record.

“Hey.” Relic interrupted. “You still haven’t updated me on the situation. Did you find his Seguri?”

Daragon glared at Relic. Brandon coughed.

“Right. Well we didn’t find any traces of his Seguri.” Brandon explained. “We searched as soon as we could.”

“Hey. What Seguri are you guys even looking for?” Daragon asked Brandon.

“Encil’s Seguri. It cannot fall into the hands of Worm.”

“Why?”

“Well, it’s confidential information.” Brandon answered before looking around. “But what I can tell you is that his Seguri is extremely sought after. It’s one the pieces that make up the Dark King’s Seguri. The one that was able to bring back the dead.”

‘A Seguri that can bring back the dead? If that were possible then… Draken could…’ Daragon felt his heart racing. He clenched his fist. Relic noticed Daragon’s change in expression.

“Daragon. No.” Relic’s voice was stern. ‘This kid.’

“Huh? What do you mean?” Daragon asked, feigning ignorance. Relic sighed.

“Well, let’s get going, Daragon. I still have to find Encil.”

“Relic, I know it’s hard for you to grasp this concept but, Encil is dead.” Brandon said.

“Listen to me.” Relic grabbed Brandon’s neck immediately and glared at him with murderous intent. “Encil is alive.”

Men quickly barged into the room and pointed their spears at him. Relic released Brandon from his grasps as Brandon ordered his men to back off.

“Private Todd, help escort Daragon out.”

“Right away sir!” The soldier replied, bringing Daragon out.

“The rest of you, get out too. I would like to have a word in private with Relic.” Brandon scowled at Relic. Relic coldly stared back, disinterested in what he had to say.

Everyone scurried away.

“[Private Conversation 5 meters].” Brandon crossed his fingers.

“A Soundproof bubble spell. You really have customised every spell. An army doctor breaking the law.”

“Stay away from Daragon.”

Relic’s raised an eyebrow. He didn’t expect those words to be the first to come out of his mouth.

“I’m serious. If not, I’ll tell him all about you.”

“He already knows I am- well was an assassin.”

“Not that. And not the massacre either. The fact that you stole away his chance of a happy life. A normal family.” Brandon continued, raising his voice. “That you killed his parents!”