Rumble!
The ground shook as if there was an earthquake as the last seal was torn off, and the patient Myth writhed in excitement; the arms protruding from it moved in apparent reverie.
Even the masks on its body seemed to smile.
With an inexorable sound, the mass of darkness, arms, and masks shifted, turning mercurial and passing in between space between the bars of its cell. There was no door, and so the Myth used its semi-liquid state to squeeze through the space between the bars as its escape route.
Splat! It landed with a wet sound, forming back into the familiar mass of pulsating darkness. One the happy masks extended to where Harita stood, as if it had a neck, and its "voice" resounded.
"Why, thank you, my dear friend. I'm free!" It rejoiced, its body writhing like a slime.
Bian eyed the Myth suspiciously.
"Your promise…"
"Yes, yes. I remember." Resounding, the creature's voice slowly turned colder and colder, the jovial tone it had just moments before dissipating. "I'll take care of that titanic problem of yours in the coming three days."
Rescinding the happy mask with a wet, slightly crunching noise, all masks on its dark body looked upwards.
It almost seemed to smile.
"But, first, I need to regain my power.
"Time to feast!"
Harita's eyes expanded in surprise.
"Wait, no!" he reached out, but it was too late.
Turning back into a pure mass of darkness, the creature flew up, melting into the surrounding darkness and disappearing.
Bian patted his shoulder. "Leave him. We came here to eliminate the Han Li executives, anyways.
"By my estimations, they should be in a separate underground area than us, which is located slightly higher than where we are right now. Most of the guards and important people will be there, too, so this is a win for us.
"Remember: none of these people are innocent. Their hands have already been tainted one way or another."
Lowering his hand, Harita gripped it tight and took a deep breath. He exhaled exaggeratedly, then turned to the spiral staircase.
"…Got it. I understand. Let's leave now." He said sternly, remembering his Vow to the lustrous woman beside her.
Bian nodded at that, making her way up the staircase.
As they ascended, ghoulish screams and sorrowful wails echoed in the underground chambers.
One of the main families at the center of the godforsaken city of New Mireton, the Han Li clan, had been eviscerated.
◇◆◇◆◇
The moon hung overhead, casting a soft light upon a grand mansion with an opulent garden and lawn.
Two figures stuck close to the shadows with remarkable proficiency, never sticking out for too long and keeping their wits about them.
After a while, one of the figures muttered in a low voice:
"Are we sure that he's in there, Sherlock?"
Sherlock nodded. "Yes, my sources told me that Scorpio—well, former Scorpio of the Mocný family is in there. He's currently injured and recovering from his fight with Aries, it would seem, and is in a very enraged state.
"We should be very careful, James."
James scoffed. "Hmph. When are we not."
Sticking close to the shadows, the two aged detectives kept a conscious eye on their surroundings, watching for any abnormality or odd magical effects in their surroundings.
Sherlock, especially, kept his wits about him. His blue eyes darted from here to there with almost manic instinct.
"Don't overdo it." James said beside him, looking forward, like always.
"Yeah, don't worry. Just a little… Some things just came back to me, is all."
The detective duo crested the opulent mansion and rounded the back, where another entrance to the inside was located: the backdoor. It was located some distance away from both of them.
Quickly casting a glance at the surroundings, Sherlock closed his eyes and kneeled to the ground, with his palm touching the ground. James stood on guard, just in case something went wrong.
During the entire time, both of them stuck close to the shadows and James didn't miss even the smallest detail about his immediate periphery.
After a minute or so, Sherlock announced:
"Only two guards. They're coming to switch shifts with the two other guards on the waiting beyond the backdoor.
"If we hurry now, we might be able to switch places before they come close enough."
Nodding meaningfully, James Moriarty began cracking his knuckles and took a deep breath. Igniting Manavision, his red eyes grew a little clearer as it enhanced his visual ability.
Rolling his shoulders, he approached the backdoor confidently.
With a grunt, he raised his fist and punched the metal door. But it didn't crash against it, instead his fist and arm turned slightly translucent…
And passed straight through the door!
Bam! It hit one of the guards in the back of the head, instantly knocking him unconscious.
As the unconscious guard fell like a plank, the translucent hand slid down, grabbed the key hanging off the guards' waist, and sunk back into the metal door.
With a toss, Sherlock caught the door, opened it instantly, and rushed the other guard beyond the backdoor.
This one was more alert, having seen the defeat of his colleague. He slashed with a short sword, cutting air.
Sherlock dodged with nimble steps, his age betraying his movements. Magic did wonders to those that had it. Pushing out his palm, the blue-eyed detective knocked the air out of the remaining guard's lungs and made him stagger.
Following with a roundhouse kick, he felled the man and caught him mid-fall. One man already fell, another would only cause suspicion.
Sighing, he undressed the two men and stowed their bodies away outside, in a hedge of bushes. It wouldn't last very long, but they didn't plan on staying that long, anyhow.
Putting on the unconscious guards' stripped uniform, Sherlock stood on attention before the backdoor, closing it once James entered and did the same.
With a short sword hanging on his belt, and a spear in James's grasp, the two looked like a regular pair of guards; inconsequential and unremarkable, but nevertheless skilled and deadly.
A few minutes later, two guards in stunningly similar attire rounded the corner and spotted the two of them. All of their faces were covered by the darkness, with only the issued armor and weapon signifying their identities.
One the approaching guards said:
"Yo, we came to switch places with you."
"Get some rest." His partner, the other guard, followed.
Nodding to the two of them without a word, Sherlock and James went deeper into the mansion, their true identities still undiscovered.
"Hey, is it just me, or is something wrong with those two tonight? They seem a little more reserved tonight."
"…Hmm? Oh, you're probably just seeing things because of the stress of the competition. Those two are the same: the stress is catching up to them."
"Oh, really? I guess that makes sense. Still, I wonder when this darn competition will end~"
"Ugh, soon, I hope."
Walking deeper into the mansion, Sherlock and Moriarty heard the conversation of the two with sweat rolling down their backs. When the two guards finished, they felt just a little more assured about their disguises.
It's been a while seen they've done something like this.
◇◆◇◆◇
As the night deepened, Scorpio suddenly jolted awake, springing up from bed with beads of sweat on his face. Taking in the familiar scenery of his own room, he slowly laid back down, trying to close his eyes.
He failed.
Looking up, he saw the familiar ceiling, something that he had only grown accustomed to in the past month, when his status had gone up from a simple "backup" to one of the most important figures in the family… until this afternoon at Eavesdrop where everything was taken from him.
"I'll do it. I'll kill him and take the power of Exousia for the family!" Those words echoed in his ears as his mind inevitably went back to the crushing defeat he suffered from the boy significantly younger than him.
Aries, the eccentric representative of Exousia.
'Why was he even chosen? It should have been me!'
It, indeed, should have been him. He was worthy, he was powerful, he was nobility.
Unlike the competition, he had worked hard from birth, even before he received his private Adornment at the early age of eight—two whole years from the conventional norm. It was by this time that his magical abilities started showing themselves, thus granting him an audience with the local Council of Manas to receive a private grading.
The results were nothing short of astounding!
'…Heh, for commoners, that is.' He silently mocked.
Not only was his magic's category apparent, his talent shone even brighter. It didn't take long for word to spread of his rise…
But he, like usual, remained overshadowed by the stellar precedent that his ancestors had set. Compared to then, he seemed more mundane—compared to his brothers, that is.
If it weren't for the fact that he was a bachelor, he never would have been treated this well for the first time in his life.
Opening and closing his fists, Scorpio closed his eyes and took deep breaths at a preset rhythm.
If not for this routine he had created, honed, and mastered over the years, he would have gone insane long ago.
…Or worse: cause trouble for his father and brothers.
Keeping to the rhythm of his breathing technique, Scorpio—or, rather, Zolovat Mocný cleared his thoughts for the moment.
Right now he—more than ever—needed clarity. He had to come up with a plan to somehow, in some unknown way, regain the head's trust in him.
…No, not him; rather, he needed his power to be known.
He needed their approval.
He wanted their approval.
Slowly by surely, his thoughts began to dissipate entirely, but not for long as—
"Hey there, little brother. What weird ritual are you up to now?" Knocking him out of his reverie, familiar and grating voice resounded.
"Brother..." His voice was completely emotionless when he began. "I did not expect you to be here."
'What is brother Vidění doing here?'
Viděni smiled brightly, his face illuminated by the faint moonlight shining through the open doorway.
"Yes, well, I didn't expect you to. Nowadays, you seem to be rather preoccupied with other things.
"Losing, for example. As well as breaking promises."
Zolovat visibly flinched. 'He knows… heh… of course he knows. Everybody does!'
Leaning on bedside, Vidění scanned his bandaged body over with a worried look.
"Are you okay? Are your injuries dire? Did you get sufficient surgery?" The man said with a crestfallen tone.
Zolovat gripped his bedsheet tight, gritting his teeth. "Do not worry. I will be fine."
The man, Vidění, smiled brightly again.
"Good. I wouldn't want to make it look like you actually tried when I report your failure to father."
At that words, Zolovat's heart sunk like stone in water, sinking straight to the bottom.
A look of utter horror painted his face.
"Has… has father not heard of this?" He unconsciously muttered, his hands shaking.
Nothing else remained om his mind but this one point.