"Gaze of Arkhé."
With a crazed expression, Lucien tried to reveal information specifically forbidden by the curse, intending to kill himself. But at that very instant, the green-eyed youth spoke with a calm expression, stopping him cold. With a face twisted by disbelief, Lucien looked at the green-eyed youth and asked in a near whisper.
"How…?"
"I know many things, but that doesn't matter. What really matters is that your death won't prevent anything. Even if I die here, your people won't survive what's coming. All of you will be hunted to extinction."
Lucien stared in disbelief as the green-eyed youth explained in a quiet, casual tone, as if he weren't talking about anything important. But Lucien could see that the more he spoke, the wider the youth's smile grew—subtly, yet steadily and noticeably. By the end of his words, the green-eyed youth's smile was so broad it stretched from ear to ear. He paused briefly, then spoke in a voice that hid delight and cold murderous intent.
"No one lives after messing with the Arcane Order."
The killing intent made Lucien's mind go completely blank, but even in that state he could still hear the youth's voice, as if his words had the magical ability to penetrate to the depths of his being.
"But I'm a businessman. If you give me something truly good, I wouldn't be opposed to speaking on your behalf so at least a portion of your people are spared."
"…"
Mind in shambles, Lucien looked into the youth's bright green eyes, then at his starry hair, fear and regret deepening across his face. Deathly pale—his lips turning purple—Lucien shook his head like a madman and then screamed in panic and terror.
"No! No! No! You… YOU… YOU!!! You must die! Your curse must end, the glorious S—"
Mid-sentence, Lucien was completely covered by what looked like tattoos of chains, which began to glow with an ominous purple light. This made the star-haired youth's face fill with surprise, and he quickly gave an urgent order.
"Ebonique!"
Hearing the order, the dragoness turned into a bolt of dark lightning that struck Erik directly. As ghostly horns and scales appeared around his body, Erik leaped at Lucien and placed his hand on his chest, at which point thick arcs of dark lightning began to course through the man's body.
Immediately, the lightning and the chains started a silent struggle, causing the chains' purple glow to fluctuate violently. After several minutes of "fighting," the glow of the chains faded, though the chains themselves remained on Lucien's body. At that moment, Erik's ghostly horns and scales vanished all at once, and he dropped to the ground, sitting.
"Are you okay?!" Alarmed, Zoe jumped to Erik's side and asked loudly. Erik shook his head and replied in a slightly breathless voice.
"I'm fine. I just used too much mana… Give me a healing potion."
Zoe quickly took the woven bamboo pouch from her waist and pulled out a potion with a heart drawn in charcoal on it, then handed it to Erik as his dragon coiled gently around his neck. Erik downed the potion in one go, then looked at Lucien, face-down on the ground, and asked.
"Is he still alive?"
Zoe walked over to Lucien and took his pulse. After a few seconds, she let go of his wrist, rolled him over, and opened his eyelids. Using the scant light in the place, Zoe covered and uncovered the eye a couple of times, paying attention to the changes in the pupil. After a few seconds, Zoe turned to Erik and said in a calm voice.
"He's alive, but his brain is practically fried. He's only still breathing because he's a Revealed-Level—an Ascended-level would be dead."
"At least he's alive. That buys us time, but we have to head back quickly." Erik said in a steadier voice. Zoe nodded, then asked with a slightly puzzled expression.
"Do you know anything about this man, Erik? He was terrified, and his reaction to seeing your hair was way over the top."
"I've never seen him before, so I don't know why he reacted like that to my hair." Erik said with a shake of his head, then stood up and explained in a calm tone while looking at the dragon around his neck.
"As for the fear before that, it was just a little trick I copied from Ebonique. I basically used the surrounding Myst to transmit 'killing intent,' but I didn't expect it to be that effective."
"…What happened at the auction?" Ebonique asked after thinking for a moment, and Erik nodded.
"Yes. That time, just your eye and your 'killing intent' were enough to terrify that woman, which really caught my attention. That day, the Myst moved in a strange way and seemed to want to 'transmit' something, so now I just tried to imitate what happened then, and as you can see, it turned out to be very effective."
"…I see…"
Ebonique said, trying to conceal her surprise. She hadn't used the Myst to transmit her killing intent; in truth, it had been the other way around—the Myst had reacted to her intent.
But thinking about Erik's peculiarity, the dragoness quickly accepted it. Erik was the Myst's pampered darling; he could do whatever he wanted, and the Myst would try to fulfill his will on its own. That he would skip the process and go straight to the result was only natural.
"…Your connection with the Myst is truly impressive, Erik… But how did you know he'd recognize the name of the bio-mystic technique?" Zoe said, open admiration on her face. Erik shook his head and replied in a more serious tone.
"I didn't. It was a bluff. The guy clearly seemed set on killing himself using the curse, so I needed something to divert his attention, and since we practically know nothing, I'd planned to name the technique, the basilisk, and the air serpents to make myself seem mysterious—but unexpectedly, the guy reacted to the technique."
"…I see. It's possible there are more places like that stone cabin." Zoe said thoughtfully, then looked at Erik and announced gravely.
"Now we have an important lead."
"Certainly, but let's leave that for later. For now, let's move—we need to pull out the medallion and check the second temple to see if there's any activity."
"You're right." Zoe nodded seriously, then looked at Lucien on the ground and asked.
"But what do we do with this guy?"
"For now it's best to keep him alive." Erik replied, looking down at Lucien on the ground. "If the people at the second temple haven't noticed anything odd, keeping him alive will buy us time."
"Makes sense, but I think it's best if you try to open the storage pouch. I'll keep an eye on the second temple." Zoe looked at Erik and said seriously. Erik nodded and, looking at the black wolf at his side, said.
"Go with Tiberius. If things get complicated, he can help you get away."
"Perfect. Then let's split up." Zoe nodded, and Tiberius walked over to stand by her side. Erik nodded and said.
"Let's go. I'll drop you off below and head back to the base to grab a few things…" He turned to Ebonique at his side and said.
"Ebonique, stay and watch this guy for a few minutes. It's better not to take him to the base. They might track him or something."
"Leave him to me." Ebonique replied, uncoiling from Erik's neck and growing until she was nearly two meters tall.
Erik nodded and created a Myst barrier to cover Lucien, then formed a platform of Myst and flew down to the ground. There, Zoe said her goodbyes, then drank another concealment potion and ran toward the second temple with Tiberius.
As for Erik, he was cloaked in a mantle of dark lightning and shot off toward the base at astonishing speed, several times faster than he could normally move. Ebonique's lightning, being a combination of lightning and darkness affinity, was powerful and somewhat stealthy, so as long as he didn't get too close to the temples, they wouldn't notice.
Upon arriving above the temple, Erik stopped and touched the ground, creating a magic circle that conjured a barrier of light that surrounded him and sank into the rock as if it were liquid. At the bottom, Erik found Elara and Frank with a fireball and a small whirlwind in their hands, while Hiyori watched him from a few meters away with a serious expression.
"Erik, where's Zoe? What happened?"
Relieved that it really was Erik, Elara spoke quickly as the fireball in her hands faded into nothing. Erik hurried over to the crates, from which he took several threads of True Copper and Falamite while explaining what had happened.…
"D'Arvos…?"
Elara said, slightly surprised. Erik asked curiously, a barrier of solidified Myst floating behind him along with some chalk, metal threads, and ingots of True Copper and Falamite.
"Do you know him?"
"No, I'd never heard of him—but my eldest cousin's husband is named Henri D'Arbois…" Elara said thoughtfully, then looked at Erik and added.
"I haven't interacted with him much, but I know that about 300 years ago he fled the Kingdom of Vauxcendre, which is under the influence of House Solaris."
"House Solaris…" Erik murmured, pensive, but quickly shook his head and ordered in a firm tone.
"Let's set that aside for now. Come with me with some crates, the cauldron, and the pseudo-armor. If we can't fool the hunters, we should take advantage of this moment of 'weakness' and get into the garden."
"Understood. We've already got the most vital things packed in five boxes." Elara said, pointing to four crates stacked in a corner, then glanced at Frank, who quickly ran to a stone table where the four leather armors they'd been working on lay.
"Perfect, let's go."
Satisfied, Erik created a Myst barrier enclosing the crates, then linked the barrier's relative position to his belt. At the same time, Hiyori, Frank, and Elara came closer to Erik, who quickly drew a magic circle on the ground, and they rose into the air, passing through the rock as if it were liquid.
Without wasting a single moment, Frank, Elara, Hiyori, and Erik sprinted toward the cave Erik had carved into the wall of the colossal cavern. After a while, the group reached the wall, where Erik formed a platform of Myst to lift everyone up. They soon arrived at the cave's entrance, where Ebonique awaited calmly.
"So this is Lucien D'Arvos…"
As Erik began drawing a geometric runic circle on the ground with chalk, Elara approached the unconscious man covered in chain tattoos within the Myst barrier and spoke in a reflective tone. Without stopping his work, Erik replied as he removed the barrier covering Lucien.
"You can examine him and see if you find anything. But make sure to keep him alive—they might realize something's wrong if he dies."
"Understood."
Elara said seriously, quickly studying the nearly naked man on the ground for anything that could serve as a clue. Meanwhile, Erik said, glancing at Frank from the corner of his eye.
"Frank, helps Ebonique to prepare braided threads of True Copper and Falamite. I'm going to try to open this guy's storage pouch."
"Understood, boss."
Frank quickly approached the dragon, who began producing threads, then handed them over for him to braid carefully. After confirming with Erik how he wanted the threads, Frank set to work, occasionally glancing at the complex magic circle the talented, star-haired youth was drawing.
A few minutes later, Erik finally finished the magic circle. He quickly took the storage pouch and the braided threads Frank had made. Inspecting the pouch's outer seams, Erik swiftly identified the iridescent threads that formed the magic circle powering the pouch, subtly hidden among the stitching.
Using the braided threads, Erik began to "embroider" runes on the pouch following the circle's pattern, as if he were creating a runic-geometric circle. Not long after, he finished embroidering nine runes around the pouch, then set it in the center of the magic circle while Elara and Frank watched, holding their breath.
After a deep breath, Erik placed his hands on either side of the magic circle and activated it slowly under the curious gazes of Ebonique and Hiyori. Soon the circle lit up completely, at which point the newly embroidered runes shone, followed by the circle on the pouch.
At that moment, the light of the runes and the circle began to fluctuate, as if repelling each other, making Elara and Frank clench their fists. But Erik wore a calm expression, and he quickly took Lucien's frozen finger and set it on the pouch. Channeling his mana and the surrounding Myst, Erik focused entirely on the pouch, which began to fluctuate more strongly.
But soon, the light vanished completely, confusing everyone present except Erik, who showed a satisfied smile, then picked up the pouch and said evenly.
"It was easier than I expected. Perhaps due to the simplification, the security measures were quite mediocre."
Under the others' watchful eyes, Erik opened the pouch and slid his hand inside, moving it a bit before pulling out a strange medallion, which put a lovely smile on Elara's face. The beautiful blonde couldn't help but say in a respectful tone.
"There really is nothing impossible for you, Erik…"
***
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