Chapter 129: Chapter 129: Beneath the Cloak of Night
A darkish night time.
In front of a big, shabby warehouse, numerous mercenaries have been burning cigarettes.
As they chuckled and gossiped, they spoke with a sense of remedy.
"It's so fresh to not should concentrate to the youngsters whine."
"The warehouses were full of them the last few days."
"however in which have all of them long gone, in one day?"
"At dawn, a wagon got here and loaded the entirety up. I didn't ask where you have been going. live long."
no longer long ago, the warehouse turned into domestic to a number of orphans and not using a connections.
but now the warehouse is empty, and in some days, a brand new batch of youngsters could be transported from somewhere.
after which they'll disappear, nobody is aware of while or wherein.
"I want to know in which they're coming from and where they're going."
"Arthur, thinking approximately useless matters will lead you on your destiny."
"I heard they go to a few form of nursery inside the center of the Imperial town."
"That's right, a nursery run by the religious Quovadis. Don't worry."
The mercenaries make small communicate, stretching and yawning.
Then.
abruptly, the mercenaries fall silent.
A hulking man who ought to have stood at the least six ft tall stepped to their facet.
Captain Ron Bartison.
A fierce mercenary from the North. 'The Flesh Grinder', 'The Butcher's Hammer', and other gory nicknames followed.
"forestall talking and stand defend, if you want to take domestic a handful of coins to your wasted existence."
"...."
"Trashy stuff."
Bartison clicked his tongue and continued on his way.
He sneered inwardly on the mercenaries who couldn't speak a phrase at his length.
What type of argument should a lowly mercenary with no mana have towards a man of his stature?
...?
The standing mercenaries didn't just communicate.
Thud.
a person slumped to the floor.
He become followed by means of the opposite mercenaries, who went limp.
"What the hell?"
Bartison quick reached to the hammer at his waist.
Now, a protracted shadow is forged inside the glow of the roaring campfire.
"What, what?"
Bartison turned into startled.
A parent peered down from the roof of the warehouse.
A black cloak, a black hat, and an ominous stork's beak masks overlaying its face.
"...are you Ron Bartison?"
The spooky voice said.
Bartison swallowed dryly.
Tsutsutsuts...
Bartison's hammer took on an air of secrecy.
A liquid air of mystery that could only be used by folks that had attained enlightenment, an charisma that symbolized the Graduator, wrapped across the hammer.
"What are you doing!"
He swung the hammer with all his might.
...tried to swing it away.
however all he may want to manipulate to swing had been his wrists, which have been now lacking.
Thud!
The hammer flew upward with such momentum that it landed at the back of him, scattering the air of mystery it carried.
"...?"
Bartison staggered backward.
No blood gushed out. The reduce in which his wrist were severed had been instantly dried by using the warmth.
"Uh-huh?"
Bartison opened his mouth to scream.
however he couldn't.
The ominous shadow had crawled down from the roof of the warehouse and become now searching into his face.
"Ron Hubert Bartison. First p.c. with the demon 4 years ago, whilst he molested and killed the thirteen-year-vintage woman next door and sacrificed her. since then, he's been stealing data from the Northern Guild Union and feeding it to the demon. sooner or later, he betrayed his platoon, the first Platoon, 4th business enterprise, 207th Regiment, 75th department, 5th Legion of the Humanity Alliance, via turning in the location of the platoon's sound asleep quarters to the enemy while on protect duty. Led a friendly platoon to destruction. Is that right?"
The Shadow's question become tough and chilling.
Bartison stammered a respond.
"Ughhhh... ... at the very beginning, the incident from four years in the past is correct, however what occurs after that!? I didn't do them!"
"Yeah. They're just things you haven't performed yet."
"What, what?"
Bartison gasped, stepping back.
however he couldn't.
This time, his ankle changed into severed.
"No!"
Bartison couldn't even scream anymore.
The Shadow stretched out his proper hand, and a black sword become drawn and plunged into his throat.
Bartison struggled, after which he become dead.
"...."
Vikir. The hound of the night time.
He stared down at Bartison's frame in front of him.
No, he puzzled.
In time, Bartison's corpse would speedy start to decay and flip to mush.
just as Set Baskerville had stated.
"The odor remains there."
Vikir's brow furrowed slightly.
those who've made a % with the demon emit a rotten smell from their very souls.
A stench that grew increasingly foul with the diploma of corruption.
Veteran swordsmen who've lived through the Age of Destruction understand the heady scent like a ghost, however the humans of this age will not but be able to odor it.
So for now, only Vikir knew a way to odor it.
Tsutsutsutsuts...
Bartison's face melted like ice underneath the solar, and shortly he changed into long past, his skeleton on complete show.
It turned into unusual for the face to decay so quick as compared to different frame elements.
"i wonder if that is the capability of the ten Commandments who made a % with him? I'll have to research that as properly."
Vikir took an owl from his bosom and wrote a letter detailing the situation.
It turned into addressed to Sindiwendi, who had a number of sellers and informants at his disposal.
With the letter in hand, Vikir turned away.
numerous bottles of liquor lay in the front of the roaring campfire.
Vikir picked up the most powerful bottle of rum and poured it over the bloodstains on his cloak.
...
The robust liquor washed away the dirty blood.
Vikir tore the web page from the access in the kill e-book that listed the name Ron Bartison and threw it into the bonfire.
The web page turns black in an instantaneous and curls right into a ball, then turns to ash and floats away into the sky.
...quickly.
"Off."
"It's your again."
"What, did I go to sleep?"
The mercenaries standing in the front of the warehouse started to wake up one after the other.
"Huh?"
but all they noticed turned into a demise bonfire that had lost maximum of its timber, and a faceless corpse mendacity in a heap beside it.
* * *
Ding- ding- ding- ding- ding- ding- ding- ding- ding- ding- ding- ding-
From the clock tower on the center of the academy, the majestic bell chimed twelve times.
a bit after midnight. The night time's obligations have been over in advance than he'd expected.
Vikir had visited mansions in upscale neighborhoods, warehouses at the outskirts of the city, gambling dens inside the slums, glitzy golf equipment inside the basement, secluded houses by way of the lake, brothels, and greater, and that night time by myself he had snapped twenty-nine heads.
The best factor all of them had in not unusual became that they'd made pacts with the demon, had been accused of betrayal and infidelity, and their faces melted at once upon loss of life.
lamentably, Vikir were given nearly no clues out of this whole procedure.
This intended that his assassination changed into going to be a protracted and arduous one.
'I didn't expect a harvest from step one.'
today is literally simply the first day.
Vikir back to the academy, the pages of the Killing journal still thick in his mind.
...Jaw!
He climbed over the Academy's outer wall, which turned into as excessive and strong as a city wall.
From this vantage point, you could see that the Academy's buildings are certainly big and extraordinary.
inside the distance, the dormitories are silent within the darkness.
Vikir flies closer to the lecture hall.
shiny lighting fixtures and boisterous laughter emanated from the windows of the buildings within the other route.
'...OT, is the freshman welcome birthday party nevertheless happening?'
Vikir notion for a second.
have to he go lower back to his dorm and sleep, or ought to he live up past due and attend the freshman welcome dinner?
After some moments of deliberation, the solution came quickly.
'simply display up.'
It wasn't approximately networking with seniors or classmates.
I simply desired to have an alibi, just in case.
He turned into additionally a little involved approximately Piggy being alone.
Vikir took off his masks, tucked it into his arms, and landed on the roof of the lecture hall.
As he was about to descend the steps leading down.
...Ping! growth!
A single firecracker shot high into the air, lighting up the night time sky.
in the next second, Vikir may want to see guys and female status by way of the railing of the rooftop stairs.
"...!
Vikir's eyes narrowed.
The brief glow of the firecrackers as they exploded and faded become sufficient to inform him who they had been.
The beautiful female, tall and sharp-featured, become unmistakably Usher Bianca, a freshman in class 20.
She turned into a great rookie who become creating a call for herself by way of ranking first in the cold magnificence placement test.
The boy's face, however, was now not one which Vikir remembered especially nicely.
Their vibe become unusual.
The boy squeezed his eyes close and called out to Bianca.
"I... fell in love with you the instant I noticed you! received't you go out with me! I'll be excellent to you!"
reputedly, he become a 2nd-12 months scholar.
but Bianca was adamant.
"Hah...."
With a deep sigh, she swept her bangs and squinted one eye.
"You're proper. Did you name me as much as that rooftop just to mention that?"
"Uh, yeah. Uh, yeah, right?"
"properly, to begin with, permit me make an apology, i will't find the money for to go out with a guy or whatever proper now, and that i only were given in nowadays within the first location."
"Ha, but you have not anything to lose by way of going out with me! I'm in the pupil council and i'm also inside the main club...!"
"Yeah. I'm sorry."
And with that, Bianca became and kicked her confessor to the cut down.
Vikir stood at the back of the stone pillar of the railing and concept.
'proper instances. nicely, it has not anything to do with me.'
watching the harmless lovemaking of children 20 years more youthful than him made the end of his nose tickle.
Vikir quickly pulled away, his returned to the pillar.
At that very moment.
"...!"
Bianca's head snapped up.
"Who's there?"
Bianca asks in a chilly voice, and then she takes a step and shoots closer to the stone pillar that Vikir is hiding in the back of.
'Oh no. You must have accurate eyesight due to the fact you're from the Sacred Palace.'
Vikir shrugged as soon as.
Bam!
Vikir slammed into the wall and leaped down.
No want to take the stairs.
Vikir leaped from railing to railing, pillar to pillar, and speedy disappeared within the direction of the lecture corridor.
Bianca caught up with him a couple of minutes later, and her eyes widened.
"...What become that? I ought to truly feel the presence."
Bianca regarded again at the stone pillars, railings, and stairs that had been kicked in just before.
however something that had been there was long past, like a ghost.
"Did I see it wrong?"
Bianca scratched her head.
The divine archers of Usher, the superhumans, can see and hear matters miles away.
they may be additionally masters of the art of archery, and their our bodies are so strong and gaunt that it is no exaggeration to mention that no person can suit their velocity, particularly in pursuit.
Bianca, the eldest daughter of the sort of circle of relatives, chasing someone and losing them?
That couldn't manifest, as a minimum not inside this academy.
"I ought to were looking in the wrong vicinity, i was too touchy."
Bianca became to appearance among the stone pillars.
It become time to go back to her seat at the brand new pupil reception.
... simply then.
"!"
Bianca stopped in her tracks.
A faint smell wafted beyond her nostrils.
It turned into the unmistakable heady scent of strong rum.
no longer the form of smell you'd count on to discover on a rooftop go out staircase with nothing but the night breeze and moonlight.
What does that suggest?
'someone was here.'
Bianca's expression hardened.
someone had been here just moments in the past.
however that didn't rely now.
What mattered changed into that someone turned into right here, and that someone was long past.
And that someone who have been here had evaded Bianca, the prodigy of the Usher family!
'...No manner!'
That man or woman need to had been there whilst Bianca was feeling the hits.
however what approximately the fact that there's nothing in front of her now?
It manner that the person has fled at a speed that 'barely' exceeds her personal.
'Who should it be? A senior or a professor?'
but there's no purpose for a senior or a professor to run faraway from Bianca's pursuit.
furthermore, Bianca became assured that she could outrun any senior or professor in terms of speed.
in the end, she'd tested that during her sensible evaluation.
"... but who."
Did he suggest that everybody within the academy may want to simply stroll away and leave her in the back of?
Bianca sniffed, harassed, on the heady scent of rum that changed into slowly fading on the night breeze.
Then.
"hey, Bianca, come on, it's almost time for the freshman talent display!"
I listen my classmates waving and calling from the window under.
"...."
Bianca can't assist but turn on her heel with a fearful look on her face.
With only the fragrance of reasonably-priced rum wafting at the back of her.
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