[John Gloom]

The afternoon sun blazed up in the sky, looking at it was impossible and being under it was more difficult.

I was standing with my Ravens except Elena and Jin surrounding a corpse which lied beneath with an arrow shot in his chest. His arms placed in such a way that he had fallen off.

I looked at him with despair and prayed for his soul to rest in peace.

As I closed my eyes, I heard footsteps of a rather distinct animal which I was comfortably familiar with.

I didn’t turn my gaze and kept facing the corpse down below.

‘Neigh!’

The horse made the sound as it was stopped forcefully. A cart was attached to it, which seemed royal in its appearance.

“What’s this racket about?”

A voice came from , footsteps were heard of approaching.

“Racket, you say?”

I responded with a playful tone.

“If this seems like a racket to you then you must have the eyesight of a Minotaur.”

“Watch what you speak? How dare you respond in such a way to a clergy?”

The voice from behind replied in anger, their movements were of frustration which I enjoyed at most.

But, I knew who they were and I knew how to toy with them.

“I’ll show you your place.”

The voice repelled with screeching sound that of a sword being removed.

“Take one more step and you might see your head rolling.”

I say at once and then turn back to look at them in their eyes. It was man standing in a half posture of striking.

“The least I know is that I am in much higher position than you, Zeig.”

I say with eyes wide.

‘Tsk’

I never liked him and how could I…

He was one of the reasons why they had to die….

“I-I-I’m sorry.”

He said as he quickly retracted his sword back and then turned his gaze towards the cart behind him.

Him looking at the cart made it clear that whoever that was sitting in there had to come out.

The door opened with a small creak. I could see someone coming out and very well it was him.

The person I wanted to meet from so long. Standing in the sun had finally paid me off.

“It’s been a long time, John?”

A man said as he walked out the cart. He was tall and his chest was equivalent to that of a wall, though I wasn’t afraid of me…..or maybe I was, but just a little.

“It seems so.” I replied to him, “How are you, Marvin?”

I asked him to which he huffed and walked straight towards us.

“To what do I owe your presence here?”

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He asked as he casually ignored my question.

“I was out on stroll and on my path I found this.”

I replied as I pointed my finger towards the dead man lying on the ground. Ravens dispersed so that Marvin could see what was beneath clearly.

“A dead knight who doesn’t belong to My Kingdom does not concern me.”

He had been heartless from the very beginning.

Marvin DeGeneres is the King of Terra, a kingdom solely known for its weaponry and its trades. It was said that the concept of trade originated from this kingdom, which was a fed to people by the Elders. It certainly wasn’t, but what was that Terra handled all the gold and treasuries of the five main kingdoms in the Pentacross. Even the War Council trusted its funding in their hands. Terra is the land of businessmen and traders.

Being a nation of wealth really meant that Marvin never showed interest in his subjects and would only concern himself with matters involved with trades.

He looked at the corpse like some fallen apple which was crushed by passer, for all he really cared for was the gold he owned and controlled.

“He doesn’t belong to yours….but does belong to mine.”

I said. I was filled with a tinge of anger which now reflected through my tone and my expressions.

“Then it does not bother me at all…”

He said as he turned around and started walking towards the cart.

“Really? Look closely, Marvin.”

I said which stopped him from taking another step. He stood facing the cart for a second, but didn’t turn.

“What do you see? The arrow does it not look familiar?”

I said once again trying to provoke, because I knew that he had already observed what I was trying to point out.

“It rather does look familiar, but…” He says as he turns around, “It can’t act as a tangible evidence for my Blood Knights to be involved with this.”

“Not tangible, but still suspicious.”

I tried pointing it out.

Of course, it wasn’t tangible at all, but that the intention behind shooting the knight with an arrow of Blood Knights was just to raise some unwanted confusion and doubts.

“Why don’t we talk at the castle?”

He said as he walked towards me.

“Why?”

“Don’t try to act dumb. You didn’t attend the conference and now you are just out on the stroll in afternoon….”

He said as he came too close to my face.

I think what he was trying was to intimidate me, but that was far from what it seemed.

“We’re friends, but not more than that, right?”

I asked as I tried putting my hand between his and my face.

“Follow me.”

He said in a monotonous tone and continued to the cart.

In minutes they had left the site.

“That buffed buffon….He didn’t even bother lifting him.” I said with an irritated voice as I looked down at the corpse.

We lifted him and buried him next to the road.

“What now?”

Novah asked me in a curious tone.

“Now, we just hope that Jin does his job right.”

I replied and proceeded towards the carriage which was waiting for us to get on.

“To Terra it is…”

Naomi exclaimed which made the horses move and we were now off to Terra.

Everything was going according to what I had thought off, but there were still ifs and buts.

Though I had confidence in the guy named ‘Mortis.’

But to first make him obey me, I had to show what I am capable of and that’s precisely what I was going to do from so on…

******

[The Lake of Life]

“Ahh! I’ve finally found you.”

Jin exclaimed as he walked on the shore beneath the sparkling night. The water splashed as it hit the tower and watching that scene stood a man in a black robe, with his spear on his back.

“Seems like you made the horse work tirelessly to reach here.”

Mortis replied without looking at Jin.

“I have a job for us—“

“I am not his personal plaything. I won’t comply to your missions.”

Jin was taken back with this response, but something like this was already expected. He took a step further and then stood alongside Mortis who looked at him once and then continued looking in front.

“Can’t sleep?”

“I have already done enough damage to them. If someone attacks us at night, I shall face them alone.”

“This sense of nobility is what I hate the most.”

Jin replied as he sharpened his eyes.

“This isn’t nobility. It is responsibility.”

“Are they the only ones you should protect?”

“It starts with them.”

As Mortis answered he started walking towards the opposite direction.

“So you don’t care if the world goes into flames?”

Jin imposed another question which made Mortis stop in his tracks.

“You mean the world John envisions of?”

Mortis asked him back.

To which Jin just nodded.

“As I said, I want to save the world, the real world.”

“The farce created by Summa still has people in it, or is there just no way to save them?”

Mortis stood quietly with no moment, silence was a beast with dormant nature, but it surrounding them still made things gloomy.

“If you don’t have anything else then…”

Mortis continued his walk to which Jin just smirked and then continued with his speech.

“Heard of someone named ‘Alias’?”

Jin finally used the trump card given to him by John, a name which would certainly make Mortis cooperate with him.

Mortis turned around with his face down. It was clear that he was agitated.

Mortis lifted his head and looked straight into Jin’s eyes. Jin was paralyzed the same way Nikola was.

He never had understood why had that happened, but when circumcised to him, he realized that he was instantly filled with the fear of Death in him.

The fear was so strong that his notion was stopped and he was about to go blank.

His vision blurred, but he could see Mortis walking towards him.

“I can help you find her.”

Jin said as he tried avoiding blacking out.

“I can help you find her…..”