Null took in a deep breath of air when they finally emerged from the shadows. He hated traveling through ______'s shadow. It made him feel the same way he had when they first met. Except a hundred times worse.
He shuddered, trying to brush off the lingering oblivion. He looked around, the scenery was a familiar one. An old abandoned church house that had fallen into disrepair a while ago. It sat somewhere between Quelkriste and Shinkoku.
______ had the harbingers meet here from time to time. But not often, they all worked solo. Searching for their own meaning of life.
It was empty now, and as a result eerily silent. Or maybe that was just ______'s presence, suffocating any sounds.
A tap on Null's shoulder madd him turn, but there was nothing there. There was a shrill laugh from in front of him. He turned back to find a raven haired girl sneering at him.
"You always fall for it," she laughed. "You just never learn, do you?"
Null groaned. Of course she would be here, hanging on to ______'s coat tails as usual. Hiding in the shadows. She wore them like clothes, instead of actual ones. But thankfully they covered enough of her.
"Nildi." He acknowledged her coldly. She fancied herself ______'s right hand and always hanged about him. Even though it was quite obvious he barely even noticed she existed. And Null had become a harbinger far before her.
She tilted her head to the side, amused. "How does it feel? To fail so spectacularly."
Null ignored her, moving to follow ______. Nildi trailed behind him, still giggling.
"No, seriously. All that work, and for what? All of it undone in seconds. Not a trace left."
Null felt his eyebrow twitch. She loved trying to get under his skin. And if he wasn't too empty inside to actually get angry he might have taken the bait at one point.
"Where are Akasha and Khali?" He asked. As long as she was here he might as well get some information from her.
She shrugged, the shadows around her leaving a dark trail. "Last I heard they were trailing that 'knight of Brilliance' in Yves. They invited me to join but I turned them down. I almost considered it, it would've been nice to meet up with Aldy again. But there's a little too much light for my shadows."
Yves, he repeated in his head. Where the knight and his princess were from.
"Anyway, while I do enjoy our conversations." Nildi continued, placing her hands on her hips. "You probably shouldn't keep him waiting."
She pointed at the front row of seats right in front of the altar. Where ______ was currently sitting. He left her standing there, but he had no doubt she'd find some way to listen in.
He took a seat in the row opposite him. Prolonged time in close proximity to him was ill advised.
_______ regarded him, the same eternally tired look on his face. "My apologies for interrupting your plans."
Null nodded, but he knew he wasn't actually. Regret was just one of the many emotions lost in the abyss of nihility.
______ sighed and turned his gaze back to the altar. "Azazel, an old..."
He paused for a second, trying to decide if 'friend' was the right word to describe the downcast.
Those that walked the path of Naut didn't have 'friends'. They were meaningless. "... acquaintance of mine. He has plans of his own, involving those two."
Null wondered how this Azazel had gotten _____ to do him a favour. He didn't care enough to ask though.
"That man has been pulling strings from behind the scenes for a while now," ______ added. "Whatever he has planned is bound to be at least a little entertaining."
×
"When do you think Veliona is getting back?" Aldrich asked Levi, resting his head on Astra's work table.
Levi had come over to ask Astra about a few things and Aldrich had tagged along. But there was some kind of emergency so Astra had left them in her office while she dealt with it.
Levi shrugged, flipping through Astra's papers. Veliona and Larian had been gone for around three days now, so they should be getting back any time now.
Levi placed the papers back down as the door creaked open, an exhausted looking Astra walking through it. She shut it and leaned against it for a second.
"What was that all about?" Aldrich asked as she took a seat at her desk.
She shook her head. "Nothing serious, just a few idiots making trouble. So anyway, to what do I owe this visit?"
Aldrich looked to Levi, and so Astra did too. Levi wasn't sure exactly how to start. "You'd call yourself a pretty well informed person, right?"
Astra raised an eyebrow. "I guess. What do you need to know?"
Levi slid into a seat beside Aldrich. "Is it possible to make a Virtue directly stronger?"
Astra thought about it for a minute. "Well... there is one way. But it's quite dangerous."
Levi leaned forward, interested. "What is it?"
"It's called a 'limit release'," Astra explained. "An old technique that allows one to push their Virtue into overdrive for a short amount of time."
That sounded exactly like what Levi needed.
"But, as I said earlier. It's dangerous." Astra added. "It puts a tremendous strain on one's soul, which is the source of a Virtue, so how to use it isn't really common knowledge. Only a captain commander can pull it off."
Levi folded his arms, nodding. That was all Astra knew on the subject, but it was enough. Before they left though, he had one more question.
"What would happen... if the knight of Brilliance were to die?"
Astra was surprised the the sudden change in subject. This was her favorite subject though, so she wasted no time in answering.
"Theoretically, I'm not completely sure because... well it hasn't happened before obviously. All the energy contained in his body would collapse in on itself, causing a massive explosion. And killing everyone."
Levi sat back in his chair. That was what the king had said as well. Not that he had doubted the king's word. He just wanted... a second opinion.
"Lucky for us," Astra added. "No one can touch him. Or else that would be really bad."
Levi left with even more reservations. Maybe he could just tell the knight how dangerous it would be for everyone the next time he daw him. Whenever that would be.
"Are you alright?" Aldrich asked, jogging to catch up to him.
Levi nodded. "Yes, why?"
Aldrich shrugged. "You've just had the same look on your face for a while now. Like you've been thinking."
"And?"
"And it's not something you usually do." Aldrich finished.
Levi scoffed and punched him lightly on the shoulder. Aldrich laughed, hopping a few steps away. Levi wondered if he should tell him about Sir Kazuki's request. But decided not to, the knight had asked him to keep it a secret after all.
[You should learn how to use a limit release anyway, Abaddon suggested.]
Levi was surprised to hear him talk, he had been silent for a while now. "I already told you we aren't killing him."
[Yes, yes. The dragon said, brushing him off. But it would still be a useful technique to know.]
"What do you know about it?" Levi questioned.
[I can't teach it to you, if that's what you're asking. I never had need of it, dragons don't have Virtues. You'll have to find someone else.]
Levi sighed. The first person that came to mind was Sir Andrius. He wasn't so sure the knight would be willing to teach him a potentially dangerous skill though. Especially since he couldn't tell him what it was for.
He waved goodbye to Aldrich at the city gates and returned to his room. Laying down on his bed and staring up at the ceiling.
He would ask the wolf knight about it the next day. But for now, he was going to sleep.