Salem had always been like a son to Rorik—a son convicted of heinous crimes. If Rorik wasn't a cardinal, Salem would be a wanted face all over Canaan. When the news spread about a deacon who murdered Pastor Gideon Corderoy, the first face that came into his mind was Salem's. It wasn't as if the man was a horrible student. He was a genius who had a different outlook in life; it was a perspective and belief that posed danger to the Elysian religion.
The nimble viel had dodged his sneaky assault, as a result, he had slammed his hammer against Jinx's head, effectively breaking his neck and taking his life. The impact sent him gyrating, with blood getting left behind by the speed of his departure. The viel was so decomposed after his death that he had almost forgotten about the cardinal's presence.
The mallet drew an inch distance to Kou's face but failed to give the same treatment that was mistakenly bestowed to Salem's subordinate. Kou latched himself on top of the hammer, clinging to it as it was swung. Once he was raised perpendicular to the cardinal's head, he teleported on top of him and squeezed Rorik's head between his arms, attempting to twist his neck.
Rorik focused his full strength on the muscles of his neck. His gait was unstable. He released Remorse to remove the pesky viel sitting on his shoulders.
The cardinal's face was as red as cherry tomato, veins popping from the struggle. Despite his weight, he sprang into a height questionable by the law of gravity, flipping midair. Kou used Rorik's shoulders as flooring to leap away from the impending head slam, which made the latter invert so that he could land safely on his feet.
Rorik took notice that Kou had his eyes closed the entire time. It wasn't because he underestimated Rorik, but he was dealing with something else as he fought in a battle of brawn with the muscled human. This was spicing up the cows' routine farm life. Then again, if one is acquainted with Salem, they should bid the quiet and cordial farm life goodbye. They were no longer ordinary cows. They were the livestock supplying dairy products to felons.
"What's that?" Rorik was forced to stop from the sight from afar.
Something was crawling out of the forest where Jinx was sent away. Its head was making a series of accelerated and perturbing convulsions. In each rest, his facial features became more and more blood-curdling. His body was bulking up while it released black goo. His hair lengthened in brisk growth.
He released a loud and gritty screech that alerted Rorik. There were now two menaces in Salem's farm of cows. Although he expected this to happen, his expectations were surpassed. The juvenile that the excom was looking out for evolved into a fledgling. It stood at more than 12 feet tall. Its body was equivalent to a giant troll. Deadly pointed rocks on its skin acted as a barb which aided his purpose to pulverize.
"I was not able to stop the transformation," Kou said, his eyes now open.
"Unless you're God you won't be able to," Rorik replied.
"In the meantime, shall we set aside our fight?"
The cardinal snorted. "Agreed."
The vessel leaped. It extended its limb toward Remorse. The owner was drastically confused when it reacted with a violent shake from the sheol's energy.
The hammer flew from the magnetic force hauling it from the grasp of its master. The fledgling caught it without fail, yet its grotesque hand sizzled from coming in contact with something divine.
"It just took it like that!" the old man blurted in disbelief. All his years of training and keeping his physique robust were out-beaten by this poltroon mutating dunce.
Kou grabbed the cardinal just in time before the vessel caused a tectonic earthquake that demolished the farm. The house broke apart, the land became fragmented, and the cows went to heaven.
"How can a fledgling cause this much damage?" Rorik questioned as soon as they perched on the tip of a shattered ground.
White light sliced a square under the vessel. A transparent cube with white Elysian markings emerged that caged it. The fledgeling banged against the walls, used Remorse to break free, but only made small cracks.
"I was going to invite you to a peaceful breakfast but now I am contemplating how to bring about a widespread dropout in the academy."
Rorik and Kou turned to glance at Salem and Karma, who just arrived from the store with bags of groceries in their arms. Salem envisioned this to happen yet he did not anticipate that his home would be in smithereens.
"Even if you serve me buffalo steak, I'd rather eat somewhere else than dining with a viel," Rorik said. His tone was less arrogant and less offensive compared to before.
The viel had good intentions, but if he was a man who could be easily convinced, he would not be elected as the headmaster of Ecclesia Academy.
The vessel was knocked unconscious by holy beams that pierced through him from every angle. It changed into Jinx's much smaller form. Karma could not fathom what he was witnessing.
"Hold on, master, what's happening?"
The excom shrugged. "I saved my brother, that's what happened."
His statement did not satisfy Karma's question, it only confused him further. Jinx didn't seem to be aware of his condition because if he was, he would have used it in every encounter with a deadly opponent. But he kept proving how erasable he was.
Kou saved the surviving cows one-by-one in fast jumps. There were other cows that fate chose to put to rest, while the others got plucked to continue this bittersweet venture of getting milked.
"This viel needs to be taken under the royal family's jurisdiction." Rorik brought out glowing white cuffs from his belt bag, tossing it to the viel who asked Karma to cuff him obediently.
Karma held on to the cuffs, hesitating. "You're really going to let him catch you?"
The knight shrugged. "Kou has never been cuffed before. My king told me to try out new things." The viel usually did the cuffing of criminals, traitors, and prisoners of war.
"Very well, I need to speak to the king as well."
The king would be more than glad to imprison Salem and the viel. He was titled as a traitor to Canaan. If Rorik was to confess that he was taking care of a vessel and a viel, his sentence would be more severe than death itself.
"You do know that if you come, you will get arrested?"
"I'm a convict. What makes you think I'll sit idly like a duck?"
He was already in this situation. Salem could always do more to enrich his reputation. He hit every illegal aspect in society. There was no way he'd be given a chance to alter his way of life and even if there was an opportunity to change things, he wouldn't grab it. Life had been so much better without people depending on him to protect them.
The screech of Scorch resonated in the skies It soared and hooked its talons to the headmaster's arm. Once the message was relayed, his eyes gave off a calm discretion over the matter at hand.
"King Lycus is requesting your help. He announces that this mission is a curse level 2, dragon."
Curse level 2?
"Rorik, the attack in Satbury village is by neonates. The Gravida wine should have been dispatched to different parts of Canaan in a matter of days. I sent a separate message to the king about it."
The curse level should be 1. Either Lycus disregarded his message because of his pride to accept the help of a convict or Scorch was too exhausted from relaying messages since last night.
"King Lycus must have executed a plan of action by now. Once we get there, we'll remind him."
If the king doesn't get preoccupied by the surprising goodies Salem has to unfold, he would let himself get reminded.
For the time being, Salem had all the reasons to have faith that Canaan is doomed.