Embrace the Ether 43 First Blow Between Masters

This had been what the crows were waiting for. They needed a direct reason to disrupt the Orion clan's influence and severe it's connection to Direfell, and so they forced their clan master to personally attack a member of Direfell's upper-echelon.

Simply put, the Thaddeus down there had used himself as bait to get everything done. In doing so, he showed not only complete confidence in himself but also in the plan that he had laid out.

"There you are, now I can finally see the strength you acquired after being beaten senseless by Roch!" The person disguised as Thaddeus shouted out, a joyous smirk spread across his lips, causing the violent and cruel Rol'an to break out into a fury.

"I may have lost before, but I've gained power since then… even that man would die to my hands, let alone a foolish little rat like you!" Rol'an appeared confident as his body burned, engulfed entirely by a terrifying black flame. The sand beneath his feet simmering as waves of heat radiated upward.

"I've acquired this power from countless sacrifices… it may not be complete, but it's more than enough to destroy you and declare my independence from those old fellows."

"Kekeke—" the form of Thaddeus started to melt away, his skin transforming into this grey liquid as it bled across his entire body. "If that's what you think, then I'll absolutely stick around to entertain you… I hope you can keep up, otherwise, I'll become bored."

Deus's eyes practically burst as he stared down at them, shocked at the energy he felt from the once Thaddeus.

Now, his body had completely changed without even a slight trace of the previous Thaddeus. Even his soul undulations were different as if this new person had suddenly taken his place without anyone noticing.

The grey liquid faded away, blending into his body almost as quickly as it had first appeared, leaving no trace.

"Ah—" he exhaled out. Two clear eyes observed their surroundings from their large sockets. A pair of snake-like nostrils rested below, but it was the wide mouth underneath them that took all the attention. A sardonic smile revealed two eerie canines and a thin tongue. Thin squared ears sat on each side of its long, round head, which itself was smooth and featureless.

His long thinly-built body stood straight, entirely grey just as that previous liquid had been. Two thin arms folded together across his chest as he stared mockingly, lack of emotion and interest shot out from within his eyes.

Seeing this, Evelien shivered. "Ah, there the master is… now it seems that foolish Rol'an is in for a challenge."

'That's him?' Deus thought as he watched, 'What is he? So he really wasn't Thaddeus after all.'

Unlike everyone else, Droh hadn't fully comprehended what had happened, or what it meant. With his head tilted to the side, he questioned, "Wait, so who is he if he isn't Thaddeus? I've never seen him before…"

"Of course you haven't," Evelien explained, "Our master lurks within the shadows, which is where he is most proficient. That doesn't mean he isn't capable of a frontal battle, however, it simply means that Rol'an will have more of a chance to struggle, being as they're face to face without any potent illusions or tricks."

After a moment of thought, she continued, "Our master commands the crows, as he was vital to the construction of not only our Many-Eyed Crows group but also many other aspects of Direfell's command system. In truth, you both know his name, you simply can't put the name to the face."

"We know his name?" Deus repeated in a light murmur.

"Our master stands as an equal to the great military captain and commands the intelligence corps while sire Roch commands the military and guard force. They're both valued throughout the city, and without either of them the city's infrastructure could collapse."

Hearing this, Droh asked another question, "How do we know who he is, though? I've never seen him before in my life… and my memory is one of my better features."

'Don't admit that…' Deus didn't know if he should laugh or cry at Droh's admission. "I think I'm starting to understand what's happening... tell me if I'm anywhere near the right answer, alright?"

"Very well, have at it."

With Evelien's approval, Deus began to mentally kick himself in his best attempt to connect as many of the pieces he could.

"Alright so, everything that has happened was in order to lure out Roland… and have his clan removed from Direfell's central powers. I'm guessing a clan can't be forcibly removed unless they either directly act against Direfell's interest or if the Lord specifically acts?"

Evelien gave a pleased grin, "So far so good… keep going."

"Right," he was pleased to hear that he had guessed right. "So in order to do that, you needed proof of their hostility. You manufactured a weakness in your own forces, knowing Roland wouldn't be able to resist at least sending in members of his clan, even if he didn't go himself."

"After that, you used the death of a centipede to entice his followers, and once they had started something, you shot them… us… down. You stranded us, forcing us to rely on reinforcements or die. I imagine my own plan was quite annoying for you, but somehow you managed to take advantage of me and put me against a wall, leaving me with no other alternative. I either call for Roland, or I end up dead."

Even Reinout at this point had a shocked face on as he listened. He typically left the plotting to his betters, which would be Evelien and his master, in this situation.

Deus went on as he had a mental light bulb ignite above his head, "Ah… not only was my being here used to your advantage, you even planned for me to find Thaddeus sneakily plotting aboard the Nijaden. Right, that way I would be far less trusting of those around me, and would rely more on what I could directly trust rather than a distant hope like mister Roch."

"Hmph," Evelien coughed out, "You catch on very quickly. Indeed, most of that was planned, even if slightly improvised as we went on further. After you sent your little message, we knew all that needed to be done then was wait. We couldn't let our bait be killed, so after some time we ordered those cannon fodder to stop attacking."

"I understand, but there is still one thing I'm not sure about," Deus claimed, scratching at his chin as he asked, "You said I already know who your master is, and yet I don't even recognize him by appearance… how could I know him?"

"Well, that's a simple one," Evelien said, a gleam glowing in her eyes, "You've heard our master's name once before when you had first entered our wonderful little city. Even that action, with the uproar it had caused, was simply a part of the plan to uproot the Orion from Direfell, casting out their influence permanently."

"When I first arrived at Direfell? How is that possible… nothing like that happened…" Deus thought for a moment, doing everything in his power to recall the past.

He struggled to comprehend everything, that was, until a single memory erupted out, causing him to connect the dots together.

"My god… everything, and I mean everything… it was all for this moment, wasn't it? But how could that be possible—" Before he could finish asking, a low-toned growl suddenly blasted out into a full-fledged roar, shaking the air and scratching the tower's metallic side.

"Androma, so this is your true form? I had heard that there was a rat amongst Direfell's members who possessed the power of transformation, but to think it had been to such a degree where even I would be blinded… even if only for a moment," Rol'an roared and shouted, his superiority had obviously been challenged and insulted as Thaddeus melted away, revealing the master of the Many-Eyed Crows—Androma.

"You act surprised at your own failings, and yet it's only natural…" Androma taunted with a deadpan expression, which only seemed to irritate Rol'an even more.

A brief and overwhelming sensation of domination broke out from beneath Androma's feet as if prepared to kick off against the desert. Energy slowly spread out, equaling the might that Rol'an had already released, perhaps even surpassing it.

"You're strong, but that's the limits to it. You will never possess true power," Androma had clearly grown bored with his enemy as he started to spread out his own strength. Without even taking a step, Rol'an had already undergone a terrifying attack that struck at his very soul.

The level of battle they had wasn't something a weakling like Deus could intervene in. He believed that, under their suppressive powers, he'd be crushed the moment he showed himself.

Suddenly, as if to break the slow-pace of their combat, Rol'an jumped out into the air, charging directly toward Androma as a sword dripping in what appeared to be scalding blood suddenly appeared in his grip. The sword that Rol'an wielded caused even Evelien to shudder, forcing her into taking a mental note to avoid receiving a blow from it at all cost.

"Allow me to take your precious little head, Androma! I'll treasure it as I mount it atop my monolith!"

Rol'an had already appeared before Androma, passing the several tens of meters in a single second. With his blood sword outstretched, he brought it crashing down toward his opponent's head, hoping to end everything in a single strike.

Was this arrogance or confidence that made Rol'an think he could kill Androma in one hit?

Unfortunately for him, his opponent wasn't an enemy he could underestimate, as Androma seemed to have daringly avoided the strike, missing the blade's tip by mere inches.

To the typical eye, it would've appeared that Rol'an had simple missed, but to Evelien and Reinout, the truth had already revealed itself.

Androma had sidestepped the strike, moving his entire body faster than Rol'an could move his outstretched arm and sword.

"Are you quite done with the jokes, little insect?" Androma continued to act relaxed and unconcerned as he taunted his enemy. His eyes locked onto his opponent, he knew Rol'an did not possess the strength to strike at him without him knowing.

"As long as I don't let you get anywhere behind me, you won't have the ability to strike me down," Androma confidently claimed as his body continued to pour out a frightening grey aura.

"The understanding of Mir that you possess is quaint and archaic, but I suppose that's the best a mere clan leader can accomplish with the entire Midnight world working against you."

Rol'an bit down as fury spread throughout his body. Seeing this, Droh couldn't help but shiver uncontrollably, even from atop the tower. "Are you sure it's safe here?" The little Faun asked.

Evelien, Reinout, and even Deus turned to look at him, feeling both pity and shame that he had always become so broken when faced against Rol'an.

"Droh, don't worry, I'll stick around here with you, so just leave everything to me and don't worry about it," Deus said with confidence, hoping he could do something to alleviate his worry. In truth, he was absolutely not confident in his abilities to even survive in a battle like that, let alone protect anything.

It was better than nothing, he figured.

Chapter end