"Decisions, decisions… We need someone to lock the fragment down so it doesn't escape," Jarak murmured, pacing back and forth. "The twins will handle that."
"The spell connecting to the twins is stabilized. They can be communicated with now," came the voice of the magician, a low rumble that held a hint of impatience.
Before Jarak could respond, a loud, cheerful voice rang out. "Hey Chaos, whatcha doing? I'm so glad to see you all well now! Don't tell Jarak, but I've always liked you more. He has a stupid name! How do you even pronounce Ja-Rak? That's incredibly stupid."
"Nice to see you again, Light Bringer—or do you prefer Lucifer? Also, FYI, Jarak can hear you. For the record, I totally agree with whoever told him Jarak is a good name. I have no idea," I replied, a smirk creeping across my face.
"Oh, he can hear me! Jarak, you know you are my favorite person in the whole wide world, so please don't increase my card's prices! I can't afford it!" Lucifer begged, his eyes welling with dramatic tears.
"I'm not interested in increasing card prices, especially since I know you have that condition," Jarak shot back, irritation flickering across his features. "So you're helping me today to keep our business relationship from souring."
"Okay, great!" Lucifer shouted, his tears evaporating as if they'd never existed. "
"Where's your better half? Did you know? If you did, I can feel an epic card coming your way."
"Sadly, he's too much of a stick in the mud," Lucifer lamented, his tone shifting to a more somber note. "He was too naïve to take the opportunity. It's tragic, really—all these days of planning, and all our plans are ruined."
"Yes or no? I don't speak in your language. It's a simple question, and it doesn't require any of that," Jarak insisted, crossing his arms.
"No," Lucifer replied defiantly.
"Light Bringer, my behind! You couldn't even light a path to a successful relationship! What is wrong with you? Now I owe Thor five rare cards. Forget about them—free cards, let alone the price staying the same!" Jarak exclaimed, frustration mounting.
Lucifer acted up just to push Jarak's buttons, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Oh, but now you're forced by my skill to keep the price the same! It's a binding pact, my friend."
As Jarak opened his mouth to retort, the words faltered on his lips, and an invisible force seemed to grip him. "I—"
Suddenly, he stopped mid-sentence, the air thick with tension. It was as if the very essence of his words had been seized, unable to escape.
"See? You can't backtrack on your thoughts now!" Lucifer exclaimed, a triumphant grin spreading across his face. "You're bound by my ability. Your intentions can't be retracted, my dear Jarak."
Jarak's eyes widened in realization, anger and disbelief battling within him. "You… you can't just—"
"Oh, but I can!" Lucifer interrupted, his tone teasing yet assertive. "And now we have a solid foundation to proceed. So why did you call for us?"
"Uh, maybe because we have a fragment to contain?" Jarak replied, trying to steer the conversation back on track. "Where's your twin? Is he still on the date? We need him here, and we can't afford to delay."
Lucifer tilted his head, feigning innocence. "Who, Azrael? He's waiting to be let in. He can't force his way into someone else's domain, even if they had the intention of inviting him. Sadly, he's still not at that stage in his growth."
"Chaos, can you—" Jarak began, but was quickly interrupted.
"I got it; he's in now, just waiting until the other one decides to grace us with his presence."
"Great," Jarak said, relief flooding through him. "But we need to make sure the twins understand what's happening. We have a thousand year old Chaos fragment trying to eat me, erase Markus from existence, and possessing the new teammate I found for Markus. The fragment is unstable, and if it escapes, we'll have a world war on our hands. We have to lock it down before that happens."
Excuse me run that by me again so what type of fragment we taking about. Did you get fooled by them "Magicians" again how much did they get you for? How did they convince you to overreact like this from the way you called? I would have thought the king of Legends was banging on your front door."
" That was one time and he was very professional looking. The stone even had real mana; it just didn't work out the way I intended. Remembering how I was trying to create a soft moldable slime that could harden at will for one of my cards. He even read my mind and knew exactly what I was looking for. He was very convincing."
" He didn't read your mind, he read your desperation. Did is why Markus says that you are crazy."
" Ok back to the topic at hand they're is a actual source fragment threatening me and dueling at the shop. I didn't just call you I called in some one more backup. If you saw how the soul numbers got and the passives kept getting more directed at me you would understand. His stats were just under 10,000 and were still rising. "
"Oh, who else did you call? Did you call him? I can't wait to see your face blushing red! I wish I had a camera. I would've had so much blackmail material," Lucifer said, clearly relishing the thought.
"Very funny, This is very serious. Your favorite person in the whole wide world is going to be some creature's dinner. " Jarak replied, rolling his eyes. " We need to stay focused. This isn't a joke. We have real problems to deal with, and I can't afford to be distracted by your nonsense."
Just then, the atmosphere shifted as a familiar presence enveloped us. Azrael appeared, stepping through the portal with an air of authority that could silence any room. His expression was unreadable, a stark contrast to Lucifer's flamboyant demeanor.
"Did I miss the party?" Azrael asked, his voice calm but laced with curiosity.
"Just discussing strategy and how to keep Jarak from making an even bigger fool of himself," Lucifer replied with a cheeky grin.
Azrael raised an eyebrow, glancing at Jarak, who attempted to maintain his composure. "I hope you're prepared to focus on the task at hand. We have a very strong fragment to contain, and I'd prefer not to waste time on your antics."
"Right wait, you told him. ," Jarak said, stepping forward.
" Of course I did, you didn't seem to be making up stuff anyway." Lucifer mumbled softly. " So a chaos fragment we are going to be filthy rich.
"We need to create a binding spell strong enough to contain the fragment. I'll fill you in on the details, but we need to act quickly. The twins need to be informed about the nature of the fragment and what we're asking them to do. The magician's voice rang in their heads a spell to transmit thoughts into their heads. "
" Chaos I love you and all now is not the time for being extra. You could have just spoken up instead of dividing your attention into two different spells. Lucifer chided lightly.
The magician had the decency to look embarrassed at being called out on showing off.
" Yes you are probably right Lucifer."
" Are you seriously kidding me right now. He tells you that and you agree but I tell you something and I don't have enough clearance or whatever else."
"He's more arculated than you and he makes sense, the magician replied, losing the embarrassment. Lucifer smirked with an infuriating expression.
" You are my soul but you are defending him I can't believe this. These souls ain't give up all you can they'll stab you in the back."
Azrael, who had up until this point maintained his calm and cool demeanor, clenched his jaw. "Back on topic," he growled, his voice losing its icy composure for the first time. "There is a Source Fragment on the loose, and while you're all busy clowning around, we're running out of time!"
Lucifer, unfazed by the outburst, simply tilted his head, an amused smile creeping across his lips. "Oh, so you can feel emotions, brother. Nice to see. Thought you were just a brooding statue."
"Lucifer, shut up," Azrael snapped, his patience clearly thinning. "This isn't a joke. This thing could devour Jarak and everything in its path if we don't act fast."
Jarak, who had been on the receiving end of Azrael's intense stare, nodded quickly. "See? I told you it was serious.".