Nox shook his head in an attempt to dispel the ringing in his ears, trying to focus on the confrontation in front of him.
Besides him, Lei stared flatly at the troublesome woman, clicking her tongue mockingly. There was a smug grin on her face.
Li Daiyu's face turned ugly. "What are you looking at!"
Compared to her previous impeccable state, Li Daiyu really was a sight for sore eyes. The missing jacket caused her thin arms to be exposed to the chilling air and she unknowingly curled in on herself.
Claude took out a palm-sized orb, its clear surface free of any blemishes. Inside of the glass, there was a pale gray fog drifting around aimlessly. He tossed it to Nox. "Use that."
Nox smoothly caught the orb, tapping on its smooth surface to open its description.
[Item: Truth-Seeker
Rarity: Normal
Function: Pierces the hazy world of truths and lies. Can be used three times.]
Something bumped against Nox's shoulder, causing him to flinch. The orb tilted dangerously in his hand. Startled, Nox secured it quickly before it could fall onto the ground. He turned to the person behind him. "Can't you wait your turn?"
Li Zemin rubbed his aching chin with a wronged expression. "I just wanted to see what it was!" He ignored Nox's deadpan stare. "Hey, you wouldn't mind if I copied this right?" He asked Claude, who was once again preoccupied with his status window.
During the few hours Nox and Lei left, Li Zemin had been forced to make a few copies of Claude's endless hoard of items. Since he first started practicing, his ability had already risen by four levels. After mastered the basics of copying random objects, duplicating lower-rarity items became much easier.
Claude's hand paused momentarily at Li Zemin's question. "If you want,"he acknowledged, eyes still remaining fixed on the holographic screen in front of him.
Bak Soomin and Liam guarded Li Daiyu to prevent her from escaping, making the woman grit her teeth silently. Making another woman and a child guard her, this was clearly looking down on her even though they knew she was a Serpent!
Li Daiyu furtively swept her eyes across her surroundings, looking for a gap to slip through. Her eyes stopped on a chubby raccoon resembling a round ball.
With a grin, Li Zemin reached for the orb, placing a hand on top of the glass. In addition to letting him copy items, Claude also allowed him to keep all the duplicates. Despite the number of defects, this was simply too good of a bargain to pass up, ah!
Nox watched carefully as a dull white glow surrounded the item. "Will the duplicate be exactly like the original?"
"It might have less uses," Li Zemin answered offhandedly, yelping as the fog inside the orb turned blue. Seeing Nox's glare, he threw up his hands, gripping onto the duplicated item firmly with one hand. "Sorry! I didn't mean t- wait, you're the one who asked the question in the first place." Li Zemin pointed an accusing finger at Nox.
"Think about your next words carefully," Nox responded coldly, leaving the perm head behind as he approached Li Daiyu.
Bak Soomin patted Nox on the shoulder, handing the task over to him. "I'll go check out the situation on the other side."
Nox nodded, "If you see So Jiwoo, tell him that he might have snakes next to him."
The doctor looked at him sharply, catching onto his meaning. She pursed her lips, "I'll pass on the message."
"Thanks."
Seeing Nox come over, Liam scooted over and stood on his right side with Roscoe.
Amused by their antics, Nox patted Liam's head and came to a stop in front of Li Daiyu. She stared at him with wide eyes, a furious expression painted on her face like she hadn't been looking for an opening moments before. After years of observing from the side lines, he could see through these performances easily.
But now, he didn't have to play along.
Since Li Zemin had accidentally used up a question, he only had two left. He shook the glass orb gently to dissipate the blue fog, returning it to a neural gray. "Let's see," he mused, dragging Li Daiyu's reluctant hand onto the item. He kept it trapped there with an iron grip, tightening his hold even further when she attempted to pull away.
"How many people are personally marked like you?"
Li Daiyu's eyes shook faintly. She tried to duck away, but the damn bastard wouldn't let her go. "Let me go!"
"Not until you answer our questions."
Frantically, Li Daiyu turned around, "Help! Someone, come over here and get me out!"
A few heads turned in their direction, but after seeing the group of people surrounding one person they all turned away. There were rarely any people who would save others at their own cost.
Li Daiyu's family came from a good social standing. That, combined with her decent grades and outstanding appearance, had always let her lead a smooth life. Even when the Eclipse occurred, she could quickly curry favor with her Calamity because he had taken a fancy to her appearance and her ability. Even if other Serpents disliked her, they had no choice but to put up with her.
But now, they were practically treating her like air. Li Daiyu slumped spiritlessly, cursing up a storm. "Cowards!" she spat,, fed up with these two-faced people. "Useless bastards! Just see how Amon deals with you!" She gasped, stifling her words but it was too late.
Faint traces of a smile could be seen on Nox's face, but his voice remained steady as he asked again, almost gently: "How many people are personally marked?"
The last of her resistance collapsing. Li Daiyu mumbled weakly, "Eleven that I know of."
The orb turned blue.
"Amon marked almost half of us," Li Daiyu added. Her expression became feverish and words continued to pour out of her mouth. "I've only met three Calamities, but all of them have immeasurable power. There's so many of us willing to become their loyal dogs, but taking in strays does't mean you'll put a collar on them, right? I was chosen because I'm better than them. So why would they desert me? Hah, they'll get what they deserve soon."
Her hand trembled uncontrollably in Nox's grip as she let out a hoarse laugh.
Claude snatched the orb out of Nox's hand. "Don't listen to her rambling. She's trying to confuse you." He stared icily at Li Daiyu. "Did your master plant all of his cores yet?"
She stared at the tall man in a daze. "Core... ?" His eyes made her unexplainably frightened. The stormy blue nebula flickered dangerously. His left eye had a subtle silver glow. "I- I don't know anything about that! I swear, but I can tell y-"
Her next words were cut off as a glint of metal protruded through her chest.
Nox caught the sharp spearhead seconds before it shot through his leg, crushing the arrow between his fingers gloomily. They had gotten so close.
The glow in Claude's eyes retreated. "What's the meaning of this, Bai Yu?"
Bai Yu spun the bow in his hands carelessly, tossing the weapon away. "I thought you needed a hand. Who knows what kind of tricks women have up their sleeves." His excuse was delivered smoothly.
The previous slicked back fringe fell messily on Bai Yu's forehead and perspiration ran down his face. He straightened his rumpled dress shirt, having lost the suit jacket sometime while fighting. "In addition, Arcadia's problems will be dealt by Arcadia. Outsiders should quickly leave."
The remains of the arrow dropped onto the ground as Nox stood up. "She was a member of Arcadia?" he asked, ignoring the warning in the older man's words. He snorted silently at Bai Yu's displeased expression. The old fox probably hoped the arrow would shoot through his leg too.
Bai Yu narrowed his eyes, observing the expressions of the group. The child standing next to that fat fur ball set him on edge; his stare lingered on them for a few seconds longer than the rest. "She is. Who would've thought that she would become a traitor," he said with notes of anger evident in his voice.
Nox crossed his arms with a smirk. "As I see it, she isn't the only one."
Bai Yu's expression stiffened for a split second. "Are you saying there are more traitors? Or are you claiming that you sold us out?" he spat coldly.
His loud volume attracted people nearby, stopping their fights to hear what the suited man was saying. At this time, Bai Yu released a blast of his aura, the arrogant pressure preventing people from moving.
'So he wants an audience.' Nox glanced around, gauging the rising hostility from other members of Arcadia. Their belief in their boss's words was impressive. "In the first place, we aren't part of Arcadia. But Li Daiyu isn't a member of your organization either." He purposefully raised his voice when he said her name.
Sure enough, confused mutters started to rise among members.
Bai Yu didn't expect So Jiwoo to get close enough with Nox to disclose any useful information. But as a leader of Arcadia, how could So Jiwoo not know all of his people? The young man was too cautious for such an entrance-level mistake. And as someone who held equal pull in the organization, he naturally needed additional allies as insurance- a role Nox was willing to play. This could also be seen as Bai Yu underestimating So Jiwoo's ability.
"You said she was part of Arcadia, but that was to hide the fact that you recognize her," Nox stated calmly, monitoring Bai Yu's erratic aura with [Eye of Themis]. "You killed her because it would be a problem if she spilled all of your secrets. Bai Yu, you're a Serpent, aren't you?"