CHAPTER 87

DIJKSTRA - THE SAD DEATH

  A new day had dawned in the perilous white mountains of Frozen Tooth, where the danger level remained at four stars not due to any monstrous threat, but because of the harsh and deadly weather conditions. Despite this, Hans had slept soundly through the night, thanks to the mages and their magical artefact keeping their cave warm.

  As was his habit, Hans woke up at the first light of dawn, but to his shock, he found himself holding something soft in his hands. Upon opening his eyes, he found himself lying face to face with Delimira, under the same furred hide. Her hands clasping in his, creating the only barrier between their faces. Startled, he jumped out of bedding and nearly stumbled into the brazier. if it was not for the knight that stopped him from hitting it, he would be dancing in the fire right now.

Arat addressed him sternly,

"She is under a spell, which means you crawled to her side -

"But I was way there", refuted Hans, pointing to a faraway place.

"Tsk, tsk, that's not acceptable, especially after all she has spoken for, Prince."

Hans was taken aback,

"How did you find out?"

"You really crawled into her bed?"Arat asked in doubt, his eyes widened.

Hans flustered revolted,

"Not that! The thing about her spoken of."

"We may not venture often, but we always know when a big money mover makes a move," Arat replied proudly showing off Parv's information-gathering skill and instructing someone to wake the elf girl up, but when she arose, the memories of the previous night weighed heavily on her. Hans looked to Arat for guidance, but the older man merely shrugged and said, "Don't look at me. I'm not good with kids. That's why I never had any."

Hans said to her in his rough tone,

"Cheer up Winters, focus on today, and let the future I worry about tomorrow."

Even his quirky words that usually made her snap did not work and she replied,

"How can I? When I know it's me, I am sure."

Arat chimed in, doubting her suspicions,

"Why do you think that?"

"I just know it," Delimira replied, shivering not from cold but from something else.

Seeing her this distress, which did not suit her, Hans turned to Arat, hoping for an answer. He never thought it was this easy to shake her up but Arat knew the reasons and he relayed to Hans, "She met Xandor, and he carries a curse with him, the stronger the mentality the harder the effect, it makes people mentally vulnerable and there is no cure for it - "

Hans just listened, thinking when the curse's effect will end meanwhile Arat weighed the possibilities and concluded that Delimira being the target was unlikely since Hans had a higher value. Nevertheless, they had to be certain so he reassured her, "We'll find out for sure." after a brief pause he continued, "Do you think we only caught you, children - ?"

But before he could finish, the knight who had been on watch duty chimed in,

"There's a crazy war machine loose in Dead Gorge right now."

DEAD GORGE

  Yesterday, upon receiving the letter, Rudolf wasted no time and immediately departed to Dead Gorge. But despite searching the area fervently, he was unable to locate the person he sought, only coming across a seemingly never-ending trail of dead bodies. It was clear that the responsible party was none other than Rudolf's self-proclaimed friend however the sheer body count meant the opposite party was pretty serious about the assassination. Undeterred, he persisted in following the gruesome path, and today, he finally came face to face with the man he had been searching for.

  Rudolf's attention was immediately drawn to Dijkstra, who stood before him adorned in a bright robe that fluttered in the wind, now dyed in deep red with the blood of his victims. However, the golden coat of arms of the Parv was still emblazoned on his robe, featuring a gryphon with a sword. For once, Dijkstra appeared to be questioning someone rather than adhering to his usual 'killing first and asking later' strategy. He overheard the man say,

"Who sent you, you bastards?" but the masked individual was struggling to breathe as Dijkstra was holding him by the neck.

Before this maniac could take the masked man's life, Rudolf intervened, swiftly removing the Dijkstra's hands from the victim's throat and rebuking him.

"You should stick to what you're good at, Dijkstra, asking questions is not your forte," he scolded.

"Ah!! " Dijkstra exclaimed, then turning to his friend he said, "Alastar, you found me!" He then gripped the man's neck once again and added, "But if I don't bring back a name, Arat will chew my head off"

  Their conversation continued while Dijkstra maintained a firm grip on the assassin's neck but upon hearing the name Dijkstra, the assassin began to panic. In their community, there was a saying that if one were to ever face Dijkstra, it was better to pray for a swift death. The man asking him questions was a sadistic individual who derived pleasure from toying with his victims before finally granting them the mercy of death.

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  Trembling with fear, the assassin belatedly realised that the second person to arrive was Rudolf Edenberg, another well-known figure. knowing full well that there was no hope, the assassin began to sing like a bird, pleading with Rudolf to spare his life.

"I will tell you everything I know, please spare me - "

POOF!!

  Assassin did not finish speaking but his head exploded out of nowhere and it was not some so-called poison or curse to stop him from spilling beans but Dijkstra himself as he grew irritated when his captive began to spill everything as soon as Rudolf arrived. It was a blow to his pride, so he raised his aura to intimidate the man. However, the assassin, just like a fragile glass, exploded due to the pressure.

"You fucker, we needed him!" Rudolf yelled at Dijkstra in anger

Dijkstra, in turn, retorted,

"He should have spoken up when I asked him first."

Rudolf let out a frustrated sigh, every time they worked together he found it tiresome to deal with Dijkstra's childish and jealous antics. Gritting his teeth, he turned to Dijkstra and said,

"Then maybe, introduce yourself first before intimidating."

"So that's how it works." responded Dijkstra chuckling at Rudolf's comment and then gazing off into the distance he added, "There's a rat hiding over there. Whoever catches him first gets to ask the questions."

  Rudolf feigned interest, knowing that he had to participate in this charade until Dijkstra was satisfied, putting in minimal effort in their race to catch the assassin, and as expected, Dijkstra caught him first. Intimidating the assassin, Dijkstra demanded,

"I am Dijkstra. Spill the beans."

The assassin was so terrified he peed his pants upon hearing the name, and Dijkstra's joy at this fact was evident. his wicked smile added to the horrors and the masked man stuttered,

"We didn't come for you."

Dijkstra annoyingly said,

"Of course, you don't you fuckwarts, you are not fools... or wait, are you? - "

"Who sent you?"Rudolf interjected,

"I..I rea..lly don't know. We were just tasked with killing the boy and taking the elf girl with us,"

Rudolf asked massaging his temples,

"Where?"

"To our guild," the assassin replied.

Rudolf's patience was wearing thin, and his aura of killing intent permeated the air around them. Observing this, Dijkstra grinned wickedly at the assassin and asked,

"Which guild?"

The assassin trembled as he replied,

"D.DDARK HAN…"

Dijkstra pressed on,

"Where is it?"

"In the.. Reinhardt duchy,

Rudolf chimed in, demanding to know,

"Who were you affiliated with?"

"We are..independent. We are an...an independent guild,"

Rudolf then asked,

"Exact location?"

"It's in the central city of the Reinhardt duchy. You..you can find it in the underground of So...olvik's auction house,"

When they got what they wanted, the assassin’s head popped like a balloon and this time the culprit was Rudolf, not Dijkstra. The Parvian knight looked at him from top to bottom and remarked,

"You have become rusty, Alastor, how many corpses did I have to drop so you could find me?"

"Move it, Dijkstra," said Rudolf disregarding his comment.

To which Dikstra inquired,

"So where are you heading now?"

"Where else, Reinhardt duchy?" Rudolf replied, asking Dijkstra, "What are your plans?"

Dijkstra hummed, amused by the idea in his head and responded swiftly,

"What else, join the fun. Arat wants a clear message to be delivered."

After popping the head, Rudolf had calmed down to some degree and responded thinking a bit,

"You do know that I am the Count of this country which you are trespassing."

"Yeah, no shit your highness,"

Annoyed, Rudolf retorted,

"You are still as obnoxious as ever."

"Come on," Dijkstra exclaimed, "it will be like the good old days, rampaging in someone else's city. It's fucking peaceful times Alastor; I need some entertainment."

Resigned, Rudolf replied,

"Fine, follow me. It's better if you are in sight rather than rampaging without reins."

Dijkstra laughed madly in excitement and followed Rudolf to the Duchy.

FROZEN TOOTH

Arat noticed Hans's confusion and explained,

"That man is synonymous with the Parvian army. This will send a clear message to their heads if he didn't pop them first."

"Who did you send?" asked Hans showing visible curiosity on his face.

Arat grinned as he said,

"Dijkstra, The Sad Death."

"And that is supposed to ring a bell in my head."

  Ignorant as Hans was of the world, he didn't recognise the name, but Delimira did. She knew Dijkstra as the most unpredictable warlord in Genas, who once went on a killing spree just because a foolish noble disturbed his sleep. She understood that Dijkstra's involvement meant that Parv was serious this time, and there would be many casualties. She devised a clear explanation for Hans to quickly understand and said

"If there was a record of the most kills in this world, 'Dijkstra - the Sad Death' would be on top of it undoubtedly."

After hearing her words Hans found the situation amusing,

"It looks like something fun is going on while we are stuck in this damned place," he pouted.

Delimira, startled by his callous attitude towards the lives that were at stake, asked him,

"You call that fun?"

"Why not?" Hans responded, "They came to kill me first. Isn't it funny for them to get what they deserve, possibly by the scariest warlord, as you have said?"

Delimira reminded him that he was talking about people's lives, and killing without thinking was no different from their attackers. But Hans dismissed her naive thinking and explained

"Winters, if someone comes after me, then it's self-defence. And self-defence should not stop until everyone related to that is dead."

He added,

"I'm just disappointed that I'm not the one doing it. I don't like someone else doing my work, and now that I think of it, it's pissing me off."

***