Master Salem sure took his sweet time getting to his disciples. Karma didn't know whether to feel proud of what he had achieved on his own without getting rescued or to feel neglected. Either way, what was done was done and there was no point dwelling in the past even if he was feeling slightly bitter. Master Salem always arrives on time when it comes to saving Jinx though. Karma was starting to believe that there was some favoritism going on.
"Master, we are still alive as you can see," Karma reported.
Salem's eyes smiled. "What can I do without my responsible and competent student?"
Karma's eyes sharpened in annoyance. "I don't know, be early for once?"
Salem sighed, flipping his hand back and forth. "Too much bothersome. Why do you think I accepted students in the first place?"
"To help for the betterment of humankind" was too much of a hassle for his master and it would be a dishonest response. It was even too righteous.
Knowing Master Salem, he was not a noble man. He could go to extremes–he could be the most frank bastard there was to live and he was also capable of being a cunning and dangerous liar if doing so would give him the upperhand.
Salem looked around. Basil was blankly staring off into the distance. Karma was distraught and ready to put poison to his milk and there was a perilous and sinister presence at the wrecked treehouse. It didn't appear to have the desire to hurt them. If it did, Salem wouldn't be talking to Basil and Karma alive. "So, what's the situation?"
Boota had been searching for his second heads with his trusty and loyal servant, Gaku. It wasn't as if there were no coffins around, in fact, they already spotted seventeen so far. Each of them were deadly traps. Gaku had a strong feeling that those coffins would flip a bad coin; therefore, instead of taking the risk, they left a note on each of those boxes for Basil saying:
"This will flip tails but knowing you, you'll still open it."
Reverse psychology appeared to mostly work on that moronic reptile. He had trust issues. All of the viels had the same problem except for Kou it would seem. He trusted humans too much and where did it get him? He became a crispy herb.
"Master, there's one coffin nearby, but…something is not right."
"What do you mean?"
Gaku visibly gulped. "Master, please stay here, I will take a look."
Boota sighed, halting the fish with the drop of his hand. "We'll go together."
Gaku never felt so touched. Boota had grimaced from the sparkly eyes that the fish gave him. It wouldn't do them any good if the only thing that could sense what's inside of those boxes perishes.
They went to the source of Gaku's uneasiness, finding that the coffin was opened. Gaku was shaken while Boota's guard went further up. Did Basil get to this first? But if he was done with this one, shouldn't the coffin disappear regardless of the result?
"Ahh, look at what we have here…Is that you, little Boota?"
Boota faced the teenager sitting nonchalantly on the branch of the tree southeast of them. Black feathers mixed in with his hair. His pink eyes glowed in the midst of his pitch black sclera. His skin was ghostly pale which was more emphasized by his dark and leathery garments. His black feathered wings were folded behind him. A purple halo floated above his head.
"Raum…"
Kou wasn't officially declared as King Kairon's personal knight as he was needed in the frontlines leading the other viels against vessels. There was a specific band of viels assigned to protect the royal family—the King's Shadows. The group was composed of five members. They not only protected the flesh and blood of the royal family, but they were more than willing to cut flesh and shed blood if they had to in order to protect the kingdom's best interest. The selection of members was brutal. All of them underwent the test. If they could manage to pierce the leader of the King's Shadows heart, they would be part of the ranks. The 333 viels failed despite Sorath getting stabbed 332 times in the chest; therefore, Sorath settled for those who reached his standards of fighting. Raum was one of them.
Boota braced himself, one second Raum was sitting by the branch and then the next he already had his bladed arms ready to slash Gaku's head outwards. He was quick to respond; he staked his halberd into the soil, emitting a blinding flash of light that made Raum jump and flip back several times.
Raum chuckled. "This is why you didn't pass Cadriel, you're too bright."
Gaku shakily reached for his neck. That was a close call. The blades on the side of Raum's arms were retractable. They were coated and dripping with his blood. Whenever he was ordered to silence a noble or destroy ships coming from a foreign land, he only brought himself; however, he comes home with his trophy heads as evidence that he got the job done. Regular knights who came to clean up his mess were dumbstruck by the scenes he left for them. He was the assassin who never brought a single weapon yet managed to leave thousands in the site of bloodbath.
"They still made use of me. I healed His Majesty's sickness, remember? None of you sanguinary assassins could have done what I did."
Raum raised a thick brow. "Assassins? You scorn us, my dear brother."
Gaku's eyes widened. Brother? His master never mentioned having a brother before.
"Some of our organs came from the same angel, but that doesn't make us brothers."
Raum grinned. "But that's exactly why we're related even though you became a legitimate angel while I became the fallen. How unfair."
"I don't have time for this. You flipped the coin didn't you? Play by the rules."
The older of the two snickered. "Now, where's the fun of playing fairly? Our Lord told us to have fun. The only time I'll be fair is when you beat me even if it's not fair and square."
Black smoke swirled around the raven's feet. Boota prepared for the worst.
"Gaku, out of the way!!!" Boota shouted, releasing a harsh blow of the winds that sent the fish rolling to the bushes.
"After all, with that fish of yours, you're technically cheating, aren't you?"
Boota knew that using Gaku made the game facile. He just didn't expect that Mammon would pick up on it soon and that he would command Raum to murder his servant. It was evident that Raum wasn't at all targeting him. He wasn't showing his true strength to them.
Raum lunged at Boota, his blades were deflected by the angel's halberd. The raven-haired boy's grin grew wider. While his blades pressed against the shaft of the halberd, he kicked his side, stretching his hand away to retract the blade from the side of his arm. A sword pierced out of his palm; he grabbed the hilt, twisting his wrist to stab Boota. Boota quickly broke his weapon into two. A chain connected the two parts. He blocked the sword, headbutting Raum.
Raum was taken by surprise as his neck bent back. Instead of getting upset, he broke into a fit of laughter, banging his head forward to get back at Boota.
The angel stumbled. Raum was riled up. "Cadriel, you really adore playing rough despite being the doctor of the royal family. When you led the rebellion, I wasn't at all surprised. People of the light can get stains easily."
Boota placed his palm over his forehead, healing the crack made on his skull. "You talk too much. Is it because you're losing?"
The assassin scoffed. "Getting ahead of yourself there. Who do you think you're talking to?"
"I could say the same thing. Who do you think knows where Sorath's heart is?"
Raum's blood dripped everywhere. The more he bled, the more the battle got riskier not for Raum but for those around him.
"Master!" Gaku shouted. His servant was in midair, mouth opened and ready to blast a jet stream of ocean water that did not spare even Boota.
Raum clicked his tongue. After the offending shower, he glanced at Gaku with eyes gleaming with malice. Three hounds fused together pounced on Gaku and managed to bite the side of his stomach.
"Gaku!" Boota yelled. He was aware who those dogs were. They didn't deserve being used like this.
His eyes caught the nimble silhouette of Raum's movements. He came at him in flips before diving and turning into a lacerating tornado. Boota summoned his gigantic shield to which Raum crashed into. The angel gritted his teeth at the sensation of Raum's forceful drilling. The sound of metal grinding against metal caused him to wince from irritation.
The drilling stop, Raum stood on top of his shield, his teeth coated with blood.
"Your enemy is in front of you! Leave your new pet for mine. I haven't fed them their dinner yet."
Boota's eyes widened. By instinct, he covered his face. Raum's spit landed on his arms. His shield dispersed. The doctor extended his arms away from his head, anticipating something.
Gaku paled even further not because of the loss of blood from getting mauled by the dogs, but because of the blood dripping on the ground coming from his master. Several blades punctured his arms. His master suddenly grew them out of nowhere.
"I despise you…" Boota seethed, his arms trembling from the piercing pain.
Raum smugly raked his hand through his feathered head.
"Oh come on, this is just how brothers have fun. Lighten up a lil', won't you?"