Lieren took a tentative step back.
"You… you lied to me?"
"Umbra" smiled. "Yes, I did. In retrospect, maybe I shouldn't have, should I? Must have been my nature, I guess."
At that moment, that wretched scene flashed through Lieren's mind. Cold and dark, her body dragged by the person he trusted the most.
Powerless and lost, small and feeble. Lieren felt as if the world he knew was cracking bit by bit. Eventually, he even forgot what to think.
A Mage put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Are you okay, kid? You don't seem to be breathing right."
"I'm… fine," Lieren lied.
"If you say so."
The man let go, and with a shaking breath, Lieren clenched his fist and consoled himself.
'…Right.' There was nothing to worry about.
He hadn't known "Umbra" long, nor did she know him much. They were just strangers who met coincidentally; their relationship is nothing more than just a small piece of each other's lives. Their trials and tribulations, as well as the moment of vulnerability they showed was just a façade meant to rope in the other… well, one of the was, anyways. That much is apparent now.
A lie or two wasn't going to change anything.
…It shouldn't, right?
Taking calming breaths, Lieren willed his Resistance, detaching himself from the world.
The process of increasing the milky-white aura's density and thickness brought him a sense of sequestration from the world. Everybody felt so far away, his emotions turned numb, and—hopefully—they disappear soon.
But they couldn't. His feelings of… of… rage? Anger? Confusion? Whatever they were, he knew internally that such things were not going to disappear. Not anytime soon, anyways.
Looking down at the dirty asphalt, Lieren closed his eyes and lied to himself:
"Right. We don't even know each other that much."
Umbra… Horis Han Li smiled wryly. "Right."
Harita looked to Lieren with a complicated expression, then placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Come, your parents are worried sick."
Horis guffawed.
"Ha! As if. They just want to keep up that stupid façade of theirs, like they always do. Did you really trust those people's lies? Or is this what the Order is meant to truly represent?
"I swear; one of the these days, your actions are going to blow up in your face in a spectacular fashion!"
Harita's eyes narrowed, turning cold.
"I'm well aware."
The conversation stopped with his words. Every now and then, Harita would look back, as if searching for something, only to find a small boy with a distraught expression. The boy's face will change again and again, as if trying to find the most fitting clothes that he could to attend a most excellent gala.
As if he was finding the most beautiful lie.
◇◆◇◆◇
Looking back at the destruction brought about by the uptight attendant's spell, Zolovat couldn't help but clench his fist and knit his brows. The words that followed made him even more frustrated.
"Well done, venerable Scorpio, you slayed the Hatter," Mysta said, her professional smile unchanging.
He only nodded.
One of the rules of this wretched dictated that only contestants—and potential contestants, who have either been formerly appointed publicly or lost their proof of participation—can slay and claim another representative's proof of participation. This was put in order to reduce the risk of other forces intervening with the competition. Of course, the main family verified this rule themselves and ensured that it be followed without alterations or using devious trickery.
Zolovat smiled bitterly.
'That means that, if they so choose and with enough preparations, they could disavow this rule and use their own forces to circumvent or completely ignore it if they so chose… They must have suffered a lot of resources to make this happen, though, which is most likely why only a few of then are here.'
'The rest of their forces should have been spread thin and scattered all over the slums by now, monitoring the vicinity for any spies or observers that might be peaking. I can assume that their most powerful forces are here, as well… The Hatter is no meagre foe.'
'I should stay on my toes.'
With those thoughts flashing through his mind, Zolovat looked to the front of the room, where a plump man lay dead, his frock coat and top hat tattered into pieces.
He tilted his head in wonder.
'Wasn't there supposed to be an ace of hearts slipped in between the sash of his top hat?'
In the end, he could only put those thoughts at the back of his mind as the night drew on, the morning close to at hand.
When the sun rose the next day, things would surely change. Whether that was for the better, though… only fate will tell.
Looking back at the corpse, he made sure that man lay dead and desecrated.
Truly, the Hatter has been killed.
◇◆◇◆◇
In one of the bases marked in Harita's purchased map, a slender, young man awoke atop a marble altar, his senses jolted awake by an unnatural force as he opened his eyes to a familiar room and an unfamiliar body.
The slender man laid on his back, his eyes darting everywhere. Just then, his skin began to sizzle as a mark appeared on his cheek: the ace of hearts.
"So, it's a tattoo this time…"
The voice that spoke was young and pure, but carried a deep malevolence in it.
Standing up, the man snapped his fingers and conjured his clothes. A double-breasted frock coat, a top hat with a yellow sash, materialized from nascent sparks after half an hour, and by then, the slender was already up and sprightly, stretching and performing different poses.
He held no cane.
"At least, the body this time isn't so sickly like the last one… Ugh. Hm~? What is this?"
Looking back, he saw a figure standing in the shadows. The figure face was hooded, covering its eyes and head. Still, even this far, the slender man could still see that the figure had a star-shaped birthmark on the corner of an eye.
The slender man sighed.
"I just never know how to hide from you, do I?"
The hooded figure smiled, then knelt.
"Mr. Hatter, I bid you welcome."
The slender man smiled.
"I never left, just relocated."
◇◆◇◆◇
Looking back at the dirty, rotting slums, Lieren couldn't help but grimace when he saw the titanic bird of prey's battered corpse being harvested for parts. Even from this distance, with the help of Manavision, he was able to discern various figures approaching the avian giant. Several machines of unknown functions moved in concert, ripping and tearing.
And then, the shadows moved.
Horis Han Li sighed exaggeratedly.
"Whatever, just… just take me away."
'She surrendered rather easily.' Looking back, he let his fist clench in frustration, holding his ire in that one place alone, lying to the rest of himself.
With a frown, he took a deep breath and sighed. Opening his eyes, he saw the empty and hollow girl smile at him wryly, sending creeping chills down his spine.
"Seeya, Lieren. I hope you find what you're looking for." She was referring to their conversation whilst they were imprisoned, where he let out his feelings.
Sincerely, Lieren hoped the same. With a frown, he looked away and at the rising sun. By now, few vestiges of the morning were peeking out from the boundless horizon.
A new day had come.
Looking up, he saw a familiar yet unfamiliar figure enter close to the slums.
'I think I've seen her somewhere from the mansion before… I… I believe he's an apprentice or assistant of Mysta's? Who knows.'
As the familiar yet unfamiliar figure approached, Lieren naturally fell into his inquisitive nature and asked:
"Where are the others?"
The figure bowed and introduced herself, muttering some basic pleasantries in passing.
"Mr. Vesba, Ms. Xing Liu, Ms. Votum and Ms. Mysta are currently away providing aid to Zolovat Mocny—the former candidate for the title of Scorpio, until your grace adeptly beat him—against the Hatter, venerable Sagittarius himself.
"Through a written contract, they have enlisted the help of venerable Scorpio as a representative, so as not to forsake the rules set by the great head."
Lieren tilted his head. "Rule set by the head? Which one?"
'Why haven't I been informed of this?'
The assistant, Lavins, nodded and explained the rule concerning the elimination of candidates and inheritance of proof of participations.
Lieren digested the information relatively quickly and looked to Harita, seeking permission, and received a positive response.
"Will they be arriving soon?" he asked finally as he was led out of the slums, separate from Harita's group.
Once again, they were separated. Except this time, they could easily meet again. He wasn't trapped in a turbid dungeon anymore.
Just as Lavins was about to raise a negative response, four figures suddenly rose from the depths of the slum, the shadows around them receding from the light of the morning sun.
Former Scorpio walked in front, holding a bag with a rotting stench and red splotches, scarlet dripping from the bottom. Behind him, Mysta held a beautiful black cane with silver inlaid on its shaft.
"Ms. Mysta!" Lavins hurriedly walked forward. When she said those words, several other figures emerged from the darkness, as well.
Zolovat glanced at a lanky boy with several bruises and burns marks evident on the exposed parts of his skin. He looker thinner than usual, as if he hadn't eaten in days, and had deep bags under his eyes. He looked like a hollow of his former self.
"Hey," Zolovat succinctly greeted.
The corner of the lanky boy's mouth twitched. "Hey to you, too.
"So, did you beat that guy? The Hatter, I mean… You better, otherwise, I'll definitely haunt you in your dreams."
Zolovat frowned.
"And how are you even going to do that?"
Lieren rolled his shoulders and said, "I'll figure it out."
His frown could only deepen. 'What a weirdo. Is everybody in the Exousia family like this?'
When he looked back he saw the uptight attendant walking over, holding the deep black cane in his hand.
"Can I see that?" Lieren suddenly asked, holding out his hand.
Mysta's professional smile cracked a little.
"What happened to your wrists?" she asked with a frown, deliberating over the lanky boy's question.
Lieren rolled his shoulders and sighed like an old man who had seen the vicissitudes of life.
"I met a girl: She broke my heart."
Mysta couldn't help but roll her hazel eyes, then handed over the cane without another word.
'She wouldn't even let me touch it…' Zolovat inwardly grumbled, then shook his head. 'No, no. You can't be too greedy, Zolovat Mocny! Your participation into the competition is already a guarantee, there's no need to be so impatient now. You're not who you were before…'
Holding the cane in one hand, which was about half his height, Lieren weighed it and found the cane exceedingly lighter than he expected.
His glowed blue as he activated the enchantment the deep black cane inlaid with silver rings, siphoning some of his power. When he did, he suddenly felt the cane grow heavy as stone, and he instinctively deactivated the enchantment.
Selen Votum eyed him weirdly.
"So, it grows heavy the more power is imbued in it? Now wonder that madman didn't move so much… And here I thought he was just growing old."
"Yeah. Now, I can't even carry it."
With a sigh, Lieren handed the cane to Mysta again, and she frowned when she felt the weight in her hands and reluctantly handed the cane to Vesba, who was the least injured in their group, mostly because of his evasive fighting style of diving into shadows for half the fight.
The lying giant merely smiled and held the cane as if it was a toothpick, pinching it with his index finger and thumb. With an odd expression, he wiggled the cane like a pencil and gasped as it turned seemingly like jelly, bending and waving like a magnificent illusion.
Lieren laughed through the pain of his many wounds when he saw that.
VOLUME 2: REVERSED MAGICIAN [END]