Harita shivered in his steps, staggering as his figure shuddered. For a second, the world a blurry, malevolent mess of colors, as if the world had been pressed together to make a uniquely colored schism.
His thoughts fleeting, Harita just barely managed to keep the spell active on Bian, though the momentary lapse in mental stability still caused the spell to become unstable and crumble. With an exaggerated sigh, he looked away and walked back into the streets, hurriedly crafting a smile and catching up with Bian.
When he did, the lustrous woman showed a rather perturbed expression, her eyes seemingly on the verge of closing, as if she was going to sleep. Noticing the first sign, Harita squeezed his hand behind his back and said:
"What's wrong? You don't look too well."
Bian leaned back on a nearby, wall, held her head and heaved for breath. Her forehead creased and relaxed at irregular intervals, mumbling something under her breath.
Harita leaned closer to hear, but by then, she had already stopped. Feeling for their Vow, he closed his eyes and sighed in relief when he felt that it was still there.
"I'm fine," Bian said, her tone strangely… enflamed. "Just a headache. It'll pass soon."
She shook her head and resumed to walk forward, her figure staggering very now and then, as if she was sleepwalking.
Seeing that scene, Harita knitted his brows together and became more determined, resolving himself for the coming night.
Tonight, they were going to invade the Hatter's hideout. At the same time… the Myth he had established a Vow with was finally going to fulfill its promise—to fight and beat the Legend Leo had summoned during their past altercation.
Speaking of Leo, where had that vile scoundrel gone?
◇◆◇◆◇
Opening his eyes to the pleasingly familiar world, Naruse Silata—the Aquarius candidate, sucked in a breath, his other hand fiddling with the beaded bracelet wrapped around his wrist.
"Finally…" he muttered, his voice strangely sober.
*Tak**Tak*
Two knocks resounded from the door of his private quarters. Standing up from his study, he fixed his appearance in front of a mirror—something he had grown rather accustomed at, then headed and opened the door to his room.
Outside, in the hallways adjacent to his room, a servant bowed politely and produced a letter.
"A message from master Mirage, sir. It is of dire importance."
"Got it." Picking up the letter, Naruse mused for a second and looked back at the servant, then asked, "Will that be all?"
He made sure to purposely tone down the act.
The servant smiled simply
"Actually, sir. There is another matter that begets your presence.
"Your father has invited you to take part in a family dinner tonight. Sadly, though, your mother has expressed her regret on being unable to attend." The servant, with his back straight as an arrow, waited for answer.
Looking at the letter, Naruse examined and pocketed it away.
"I'll be there," he said. "Though, please do tell Father to tone down the nightly dinners. Such events is supposed to be held during early evening only."
With a polite chuckle, the servant bowed and bid his farewell, strolling down the hall, deeper into the opulent villa.
"Now, what do we have here…" Looking at the letter in his hand, Naruse walked back to his study and sat down, ripping the seal and looking at its contents.
It read:
"Dear Aquarius,
My apologies for the lateness of this letter. But a dire matter has presented itself out of nowhere, but the family requests your aid.
"A Special S-class monster has appeared in the midst of the competition, and at the rate at which the officials, voluntaries, and city guards are trying to resolve the problem, the family—myself, the head included—has deemed the matter at a critical state.
"At this rate, the free city of New Mireton might face a dire event on the level of the Purple Night, and thus, we request your help dealing with this.
"Granted, your contributions will not be in vain. The family will appreciate your help from the bottom of our hearts."
"..." Setting down the contents of the letter, Naruse threw his head back and laughed out loud, his voice resounding like a madman's his personal room.
"Damn geezers," he muttered, blaspheming his own superior's position, power, and status.
Igniting his arms, Naruse burnt the letter, and in a few seconds, it was nothing more than a small pile of ash.
Even after reading the letter just once, He already knew the hidden meaning of its contents without a miss. He smiled bitterly.
"Once again, I have to solve nonsensical problems like this…" He chuckled like a mad man. "So, this is what my life has come to…"
Then, he made a fist, lowered his head, and took a deep breath. Closing his eyes, he counted his breathing to calm himself down.
Sure enough, roughly a minute later, his palpitations and boiling rage calmed down, and he swept back his long hair.
Taking stand, he changed his clothes to something more "appropriate" and left the room, intending to answer his Father's beckoning.
There was a deep frown on his gave when he thought of that.
"No matter, I'll just get it over with quickly…" Resolving himself for a quick meeting, Naruse walked down the carpeted halls of the opulent villa of the Silata family.
…A few minutes later, following the map of the villa head etched into his mind over numerous occasions, he took a deep breath and opened the doors to the dining room. Inside, a long table was in the center, surrounded by a multitude of paintings and other extravagant paraphernalia.
"I'm here, Father," he said calmly. Naruse bowed.
The man at the end of the long table did not respond.
Used to this, Naruse masked the listlessness on his face and walked over to the seat opposite the man, where an sumptuous-looking dinner was placed, with all the necessary and unnecessary utensils.
Taking a knife and a fork, Naruse began cutting into the steak. This was to serve as his dinner.
But, for the moment, until the man spoke first, he was to keep mum and eat his fill.
…It wasn't until the full course "dinner" finished did his father finally spoke up.
"You received a letter from my brother just earlier, did you not? Reject it," he said simply, wiping his mouth of all imperfections.
There weren't any, of course. There never had been.
Pursing his lips, Aquarius tightened his fist to the point of seriously risking popping his blood vessels.
'Klennel Silata,' he echoed the familiar name in his mind. 'The most powerful member of the family currently. He could have been the most formidable fighter in New Mireton, if not for his major flaw.'
Sighing deeply, he intrinsically began counting his own breathing to calm his nerves and lower the tension, even if just a tiny bit. Just the man's presence alone was enough to make him perspire.
Raising his head, he said…
But the man, his father, was already standing up to leave, his business settled and his supper finished. To his eyes, which never once landed on Naruse, there nothing more of any semblance of importance left in this place.
"W—wait!" Naruse stammered, his voice weakening. His vision swam, his concentration failing.
But the man didn't respond. Instead, he just stood up and left, uncaring and unperturbed by the worthless. Klennel Silata walked over to the door to leave...
"I said wait goddammit…!!"
But stopped when Naruse's voice suddenly pierced the air. Still, his expression remained the same.
"What do you want?" his father said simply, his gaze on the doorknob.
'I bet that, to him, that doorknob must look more valuable than I am right now.' Naruse ridiculed within, looking at his father through his swimming vision.
"I won't do it," Naruse said, looking straight at his father. "I'll follow the head and help in the extermination of the Legend."
Then, he took a breath, and said finally:
"I won't do as you say."
There was a glint in his fake eyes, cold and true—resolute, even.
A warm yet cold feeling enveloped Naruse's chest, as if he had broken through a bond chaining him his whole life.
…But the next moment changed all that, manifesting the chains back faster than they had left.
"What di you just say?"
"…!" Naruse shrank back, feeling small and pitiful, losing all his confidence in the process.
Still, his resolve remained.
Straightening his back like an infallible arrow, he faced his greatest fears and returned his father's gaze—the titan he could never surpass, and put on a mask of indifference.
It was cracked, flawed, and stitched, but it was nevertheless his. And he would like to keep it that way.
'I won't lose who I am ever again.' His longtime restrictions seemed to loosen as he thought this.
Klennel Silata faced the door, refusing to meet his son's gaze, and muttered under his breath:
"This was a waste of my time." With that, he opened the door, and left, leaving Naruse all alone.
In the lit, decorated dining hall of the Silata family villa, Naruse Silata—also known Aquarius felt his future change.
Whether that was for better or worse, nobody could tell.
A resolute expression bore on his face, and he looked at the tall window, and felt the night growing closer. He subconsciously fiddled with the beaded bracelet on his wrist.
Tonight, Aquarius shall battle the Legend himself.
◇◆◇◆◇
"What did you just say?"
Zolovat Mocny frowned when his newly appointed butler expressed the message his family had brought him.
The butler coughed, then read the letter again.
"Ahem!
"Venerable Zolovat Mocny of the great Mocny family,
"The Exousia family formally requests your aid in defeating the Special S-class monster plaguing the streets of our beautiful city. We have prepared a suitable reward for you, of course;
"Scorpio's Gauntlet. We believe you have heard of this, no? You possessed it previously, after all.
"Should you accept this mission, then—"
"I know what it said!" Zolovat waved his hand as if he was swatting a fly. "I asked why you gave this to me first and not the head. Heck, as much as hate to say it, even my brothers would be privy to this kind of content more than me."
Ever since losing his status as Scorpio, Zolovat's position in the family rapidly sunk, as if he had been pressed into a quicksand. The point of no return was fast approaching.
The newly appointed butler tilted his head quizzically, confused.
"Is this not a letter addressed to you, young master? I believe that, more than anyone, not even the head himself, shall be privy to natter such as this. The letter is rightfully yours."
"..."
Zolovat was stupefied, his thoughts running at a million miles per hour coming at an abrupt stop.
"Well I'll be dammed…" he whispered under his breath.
The butler merely smiled. "What was that, young master?"
"Nothing, just a little surprised, is all." Zolovat reciprocated appropriately.
There was a mad, wild grin on his face when he said that.
Looking out at the dimming sunlight outside, he felt a new morning coming, his face lighting up as he returned to his table to arrange some things.
'If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it right. Thoroughly and methodically. No more room for failures.'
"You may leave now, Johnson. Oh, and keep the rest of the family out of this. Especially my brothers."
When the newly appointed butler left after some polite pleasantries, Zolovat flashed a grin in excitement.
"I can't wait to see the surprised looks on their faces when I return with the pendant in hand. I bet they'll look super shocked!"
Outside the door of the indulging scorpion's personal room, the butler Johnson simply smiled. As a butler should.
With the coming of new moon, the residents of New Mireton hurries on with their life, matching one goal with another.
The fall of the summoned Legend had begun.