It took a while to find them, but he did it.
Blood is strewn around the cold stone floor of the circular room. The young boy of fourteen watched with a hard gaze as another scurried towards him, leaving a trail of blood. He tightly gripped onto his leg using the last of his strength.
"I don't want to die." he says weakly. The desperation in his tone is close to moving but the boy remained firm. Appearances are deceiving which is why it was so easy to infiltrate their ranks and manipulate away from him. He overestimated them. They are no doubt amateurs which meant that only one person is truly involved in this.
With a swift lift of his finger, the person's body began convulsing and the scream from his mouth echoed the room and it won't stop, not until he gets the information he wants.
"According to her Majesty, she has already captured your accomplices outside the academy. All that is left is person who is pulling the strings here. She gave me permission to do whatever I want as long as I put an end to this. Now all I need is a name." he says calmly.
But the convulsing boy, realizing that he is dead regardless of the outcome, bit his tongue.
Shocked, he tried to pry his mouth open, but it was too late. He's dead.
After getting the necessary information out of them, he doesn't need them anymore. More blood is spilled. Are they innocent? No. But are they guilty? The answer is also no. They are behind the small things like errands rather than getting directly involved, mostly to hide the real perpetrator and remain hidden or perhaps they do not know what they are getting into. In other words, they don't know everything. They are mostly guilty of association. They provided the mineral water to put Violet into a coma, they spread the plague into the Orlando region before the year started, breaking Sabina's legs and provided ingredients and items to the ringmaster that caused all of these. They probably are not even aware of what they are doing.
On the other hand, these people are infiltrators with intentions of harming him and those around him and that is something he cannot slide. He knew what is going on and yet he wanted to let down their guard, put on an air of confusion and desperation though he knew he is running out of time. Nathaniel's assassination attempt was the last straw. He worked with the Queen on her orders and the authorities so that she could catch the perpetrators. In exchange, she and her influence will not touch the academy as he will deal with everything himself. And now that he got the information, all that is left is informing the queen. As for the assassin, he knows where to look. He looks back at the bodies. There are a few that are still alive. Perhaps he could use them.
*
Leon sniffed as if something is bothering his nose as he swung his staff around in the middle of the night. He is practicing for the upcoming tournament. Rufus took action far sooner than expected. So soon in fact, he won't be able to do anything until the tournament. To tell the truth, he is fearful of everyone's condition but not Rufus. He rarely calls people his equal and only two people occupy that position. Rufus is too stiff with his approach, preferring not to bring others into this and is a more careful planner than Ryllis. However, he cannot bring himself to criticize him. Just as he acknowledges him, he also might be the only person to understand him even if they might have their disagreements.
Sometimes he has trouble understanding himself. He may be able to bend and shape reality, but his abilities have limits, too many of them. He can create something, but it doesn't stay for long hence why his abilities are like illusions; temporary not permanent. There has never been a reality bending ability user in history. Everyone has powers that they can trace back to but not his. His is special as he is the only person in both present and past to have it. It was because of that, he probably worked even harder than anyone to get to where he is now. Raised as the best and the strongest, his power and skills already surpass everyone the moment it had manifested but prefers to show it at opportune moments. There have been too many attempts of his life to know that showing off is a terrible idea, but he is confident that no one would do anything.
This is why he let the assassin get away as much as he did. He was unable to figure out the identity of the Ripper so he should at least show how capable he is but taking him out in person. Sensing that he came back inside, he puts away the staff and heads inside with a curious expression.
*
Rufus feels sticky. The warm blood sticks onto his clothes and stick onto his skin. Cleaning that mess is a pain too especially since he cannot use magic to clean it up. He was about to enter the bathroom until the door opened to Leon with a lucid expression.
"You act fast. Pity. I was about to deal with them myself. Do you really have to listen to mother this much? You are more devoted to her than your own mother." Leon says sarcastically.
"She is the queen. Even if I don't want to, I have no choice." He replied casually while undressing.
"Well, did you find anything useful?"
"A couple." he admit, "I knew the method." he said while changing out of his bloody clothes. He would kill to have one of the Anthos twins in this room right now to purify the blood from it.
Leon's expression changed blankly, "Do you really not want to discuss who the leader really is? You know who it is, don't you?"
Rufus threw his bloody clothes into the basket as he walked to the bathroom undoing his hair.
"The moment Ryllis left should have been the first sign but the fact that no one died so far must have also been a clue. It's like this person is intentionally begging to die."
"If you already know, why not expose them?"
Leon scoffed, "And ruin the fun? No way! I want to see where this goes."
With a sigh, Rufus went in the bathroom and closed the door behind him.