Dislodging himself from the wall with the help of Mysta's blood red strings, Lieren stpped onto the ruined concrete and gave the uptight attendant a cursory glance.
With a voice filled with a ridiculing tone, he said:
"Could you run that by me again?" His arms and legs still felt like they were about to break as he rubbed his wrists.
"Alright." Mysta nodded indiscernibly, her face a shadowed by the total lack of lighting artifacts in the room. Only the faint lanterns glimmer of lanterns from the connected hallway illuminated the desecrated VIP room.
"Sagittarius, also known as the Mad Hatter, is an introverted and maniacal madman with a warped sense of moral and values. His real name and affiliation is currently unknown.
"He likes to hide and show himself at the most random of moments, briefly appearing from time to time, engaging in the most cruel acts imaginable, as well as the occasional kidnappings.
"He's also one of the contestants in this competition, as well as a bearer of a proof of participation. The main family's newly formed intelligence division has give use some clues to his abilities, as well as a personal witness of the powers of his proof of participation—the Cane of Sagittarius.
"He's an Accomplice, and a well-developed one at that. It's been a whole decade and some months since Awakening, and his attunement with his core abilities has risen to great heights, allowing him access to allowing most difficult and complicated part of the human body — the soul and spirit. The conditions for activation and restriction for prolonged effect is currently unknown and in speculation."
'Awakening…? Is that different from an Adornment… feels like it. It seems to enhance a mage's affinity and mastery over their own magic, as well as the core aspect of their abilities and overall quality of it.' Lieren found himself stuck on a particular term and ruminated on it, finding himself interested in the subject.
Mysta stopped talking when he began to ruminate on the word, but continued when he saw Lieren get lost and looked at her.
She returned to the subject at hand.
"With his various set of abilities, his influence over his target's soul increases the more they submit to his will, whether that be before or after they fall prey to his Accomplice powers.
"His sick and warped mentality has developed a great affinity to torture and all forms of painful interrogation techniques, such as asphyxiation and electrocution. His subordinates and manipulated puppets help him in this wicked endeavor.
"However, the main family's sources told us that after the acquisition of his proof of participation, he's become more reserved and hot-headed in the recent weeks following the Exousia family ball. He did not attend the ball and was personally delivered his proof of participation, where one of our Mistcasters lay in wait and infiltrated Sagittarius's base, and bore witness to his proof of participation's power for the subsequent weeks.
"His Cane of Sagittarius allows him to conceptually 'store' and 'project' his abilities. 'Storing' requires him to activate his abilities and direct it to the meter long cane and bide it for later use, and then 'project' it onto his desired target with maximum output, using all his accumulated power to effectively manipulate the target and ignore his usual restrictions and conditions. It is currently unknown how many times the Cane can be used or how much power can be accumulated within it.
"The main family has constructed a plan; which is to assign a representative member of the family to infiltrate Sagittarius's base of operations and gather intel and clues about his criminal activities as well as clues about his identity and other faction supporting him.
"After careful consideration and planning, the main family has assigned its own contestant, Lieren, also known as Aries, to take part in the operation and be the main representative."
'Bait, in other words… kind of like a sacrificial lamb. Sigh, how did I get into this mess? Well, it's not like I can back out now.' Lieren weighed his choices, taking each situation into account.
On one hand, he could simply ignore the uptight attendant's request and continue with the competition like usual, slaughtering all the other constants in this abhorrent game of death and survival. However, judging from Mysta's description of Sagittarius — the Mad Hatter — he found himself unpredictably in a bind.
If Mysta's report was to be trusted, then Sagittarius may be the most difficult to handle contestant other than Leo. The longer he dawdles on and runs around killing all the other contestants, the more powerful and wide Sagittarius's connections become.
With the help of the Cane of Sagittarius, his combat capacity and influence will only grow by time, eventually surpassing even the main family of Exousia, whose combat prowess is the highest in the entire godforsaken city.
Lieren doubted that the Mad Hatter would just pick anyone now that he's more or less acquainted with the Cane and its wondrous powers. Every second counted and every moment was of utmost value.
There's also the possibility for Harita's combat ability to be recognized and become captured, as well. That thought was enough for Lieren to seriously consider the second and much worse option.
'I really hate myself sometimes.' Cursing his own innate luck and predisposition to be trapped in the middle of ridiculous tales, Lieren lamented his fate and destiny.
The second scenario before him is to follow along with Mysta's plan and allow himself to be captured.
Now that one… that one was like diving into Hel itself.
Lieren lampooned inwardly, and considered his situation—rather, the situation he was seriously considering plunging into. It was bound to be a hellish scenario, not to mention a path filled with pain and suffering… but also one that would nip unnecessary buds before it could bloom into a terrifying situation.
Glancing surreptitiously at Mysta, who was looking up, where dozens of footsteps resounded like a stampede, he sighed and checked his mana reserves.
'…Not much.' He sighed again.
At this rate, he could only use Augmentation to enhance and fortify his body for no more than ten minutes. After that, he would remain entirely defenseless… except for his innate Resistance, which seemed to function with or without his tacit consent.
It was like it had its own mind, operating like some kind of hidden existence inside of him… different from King, who was more of a parasite than anything.
He respected the man at first, but after some fortuitous encounters, and nights spent delegating the mysterious man in the abyss's presence, he ultimately found him untrustworthy and very dangerous. This was before his body had been taken over in his first Vow with Harita.
Taking a deep breath twice and exhaling once for a long while, he pursed his lips and took another deep breath, then removed Scorpio's gauntlet and Taurus's pendant with a remorseful look.
Mysta looked at him with clear surprise written on her pale face.
"What are you doing?"
"Minimizing the losses. If, and only if I fail… I want you to give to this to a… close friend of mine. His name is Harita, he's lean and a little bit of playboy, so you should be wary of him.
"One time, I saw him seduce a middle-aged woman with a daughter with just a few words and weird look. You can trust him with your life, but not with your heart.
"He's missing his left arm and has a rune under his right eye. I think… I think it symbolizes weight. Though I might have to double back on that.
"Anyways, should anything happen to him… please make him the next Exousia main family contestant and hand him these. Get the help from the Silata and Mocný, too. It's about time the former started helping us win."
"Alright." With a curt nod, Mysta gratefully accepted the proof of participation of Scorpio and Taurus.
She pulled out a handkerchief and placed the two important items inside, then wrapped it tight with her blood red strings with a sharp tug. Now, it was both protected and somewhat concealed.
Lieren stretched his arms and legs and imitated a few stretching exercises that he saw the blind monk — Feng Xing Liu — perform before. With a groan he turned to the door and said:
"You should leave. At this rate, you'll get caught, too."
Mysta nodded and exited out of the room through the hallways and went further down the halls. She went so far in that Lieren couldn't even see her figure anymore.
When he was sure that she was completely gone, Lieren turned to the other side of the hallways, where the stampeding footsteps resounded from.
He repeated with a bit of madness tinging his childish voice:
"I really, really hate myself."
◇◆◇◆◇
Aquarius sat on a fine leather sofa, his back straight and his hat hung on the rack by the door. His eyes were seemingly fixed on the tea in his right hand, but the truth couldn't be farther from it.
Currently, two aged men sat in front of him drinking the same beverage, ignoring the occasional rumble and cascading cacophony outside, which was muffled by the thick walls of the detective agency.
One of the two aged men had black hair and red eyes—he was James Moriarty, the accepted muscle of the two men, whose quick thinking and on-the-spot decision making earned him multiple nicknames and various battles under his belt. Though he looked considerably aged, there were still strong muscles rolling under his skin, making the man look more imposing than a person of the same age.
The other, less muscular man beside him was Sherlock Holmes. He had black hair and blue eyes, with a tinge of deep wisdom. Though he didn't look imposing in the least, the aura of benevolence and intelligence he exuded on the world just by simply existing was almost palpable, as if he had everything under precise consideration. He was known as the brains of the duo… well, trio, technically, up until the incident.
Sipping his tea, he complimented the two aged men with an expertly crafted smile:
"This black tea is quite the delicacy. I think I'll have buy some for my own use sometime later. Oh! I'll just have my butler, Moris, take care of it. He's more knowledgeable on this matter, anyway."
He threw his head back and let out an ungentlemanly belly laugh, his coarse voice filling the reception room in a matter of seconds.
But the two aged man looked as if they couldn't care any less as they just watched silently and with eyes that seemed to bore through him like an speedy mole.
When he noticed these dire and serious expressions, Sagittarius set down his tea on the coffee table in between the three of them and smiled expertly.
"I have come here for to make an offer you simply cannot refuse."
"…So it would seem." Sherlock muttered.
"Well, aren't you going to show us? Or are you just here to bluff and make a fool out of us like those—" James Moriarty's words stopped suddenly when he saw Sagittarius pull back his sleeves and brandish his left wrist.
On it was a bracelet with several shining balls of swirling light joined together by a lustrous strand of silver threads. It was like a rosary bead, except one that can be worn on the wrist instead of the neck.
The two aged men's eyes landed on the magnificent artifact—Aquarius's proof of participation.
Eventually, one of them said warily, in a cold tone:
"What do you want, Naruse Silata? What could a person like you possibly want from a failing detective agency like ours?"