Aaron's eyes focused on the middle of the room, where a black throne emerged from the ground, a man sitting within it.
His hair was black, skin pale, and eyes a cold, bland gray that revealed no emotion as he stared at the two intruders.
Robes of crimson clad his figure, a crown unlike any other, topping his head, made out of liquid obsidian and dripping with false blood.
In his hand, a staff pulsated with mana, casting an array of runic circles in the air that created the hypnosis spell.
Before Aaron could even speak, Akari rushed forward, appearing at the man's side, sending a kick towards the wooden object in the man's hand.
Anticipating her strike, he thrusted his opposite hand outward and across his body, slamming straight into the girl's face and knocking her backwards.
He had moved faster than either of the two challengers could react, his grip tightening around his casting device.
"Who, who, who has come for me?"
The man spoke like a lunatic, his words not even a stutter, just endless repetition that sent chills down the blond boy's spine.
Akari, who had been knocked against the edge of the dark chamber that housed the clock mechanism, rushed forward once again, ducking the man's second strike and digging her fist below his jaw.
Leaping backwards before he could retaliate, she watched as the man raised his hand and rubbed his jaw slowly.
"You, you, you hurt me! Why, why, why?"
His entire body twitched and spasmed as he attempted to stand, the magic circles in the air trembling as he faced the two children.
"Evils, evils, evils! You, you, you want to defame the great one! How, how, how could you!"
Aiming his staff at Aaron, he opened his mouth, practically screaming out the chant in a hideous shriek.
「Burn」
A fireball of pitch-black darkness shot forth, its target the less threatening of the two, a tall blond boy who had his brow furrowed in confusion.
"BURN, BURN, BURN!"
Closing his eyes and ranting until his lungs ran dry, he did not hear the screams of death, nor even a single noise.
Tilting his head to the side and opening his eyes again, he let out an audible gasp as he noticed the once defenseless boy holding a blade, a dumbfounded look across his youthful face.
"HOW, HOW, HOW DID YOU SURVIVE!? THAT, THAT, THAT SPELL IS UNDEFEATABLE!"
Blinking repeatedly in shock, Aaron turned towards Akari, completely disregarding the man's words.
"Is this guy serious?"
Returning his gaze to the lunatic before the pink-haired girl could respond, Aaron spoke again, his tone probing for answers.
"Who the hell are you, old man? And why are you so weird?"
Wiping his face with his open hand and clutching Penelope tight in the other, he watched the cloaked man's face twitch.
"Weird, weird, weird? Old, old, old, man, man, man?"
Looking down at his hands and then back to Aaron, his face practically shifted colors, anger exuding from his body like a strange supplement to mana.
"DIE, DIE, DIE!"
Raising his staff once again and screaming at the top of his lungs, he prepared a spell that he believed was even more destructive than the one before.
「Crimson Tide」
His enunciation on each syllable made the blond boy frown slightly; however, as the entire space disappeared around them, he focused his gaze.
The once pitch-black clock chamber had vanished, a wave of crimson blood flooding the space at lightning speed.
Widening his eyebrows in surprise, Aaron located Akari quickly, running to her side and standing in front of her.
"What the hell are you doing!?"
Her shout was pointless as the boy didn't move, his blade pulsing with turquoise light on the eve of the crimson tide.
Then, as the liquid crashed down around them, with one slash of his blade, the entire void shattered, the wave of blood splitting in half.
All too easily.
Aaron blinked as the magic scattered in front of him like leaves in the wind, unsure if the spell was that weak or if he had gone a little overboard.
However, it was too late to stop his slash—the entire building shook as it split into two distinct pieces, the orange sunset glistening onto Aaron's hair as he stared down the cloaked psycho.
"What in God's name was that!?"
Akari's scream from behind Aaron snapped through the air like a whip, the boy recoiling slightly as she stood up and walked in front of him.
She looked between Aaron and the man across from him as if she didn't know what to question first—Aaron's stubborn determination to protect her, his surprising strength, or the other man's apparent lack of said strength.
Their opponent, whose spell had been destroyed, simply stared at Aaron, his mouth agape and eyes wide.
"How, how, how…"
Making her way towards the crimson-robed figure, the pink-haired girl reached out, taking his staff without any resistance.
Then, raising her hand in haste, she slapped the man across the face three times, followed by a knee to the groin.
From a short distance away, the blond boy could only whistle and look elsewhere as the man collapsed into a pile of his own tears.
Akari herself smirked as she snapped his staff into two pieces, throwing them off the ledge of the building.
Turning her attention back to Aaron, she spoke loudly, annoyance evident in her voice.
"Is this seriously it? This guy? I'm not turning down an easy mission, but what in the actual hell was this?"
As she kicked the cloaked man in the side, he let out a groan, falling over and weeping silently.
The turquoise-eyed boy could only stand there, confused and tired, his mind a wreck of thoughts.
"I have no idea…"
…
Inside a dark room, three people sat around a table, two of them armed and one tied tightly to the chair.
The bound man struggled at his binds and shouted for help; however, his captors weren't so generous.
"Who are you?"
Aaron spoke first, his blade tucked under the man's chin.
"I'm, I'm, I'm the Crimson Sanctormous! Please, please, please let me go!"
Furrowing his brow in absolute dismay, the blond boy retracted his blade, staring Akari dead in the eye.
"There's no way…"
It couldn't be that Crimson Sanctormous, the one that Alicia mentioned, right…?
The man across from the two interrogators laughed manically, his voice coming out in muffled shouts.
"You, you, you don't know who you're messing with! I'm, I'm, I'm not even the strongest in my cult! Our, our, our god will kill you!"
Sighing heavily, Aaron murmured something quietly under his breath.
"I'd hope you aren't the strongest…"
With the boy so close, Akari heard his remark and chuckled lightly as she posed her first question.
"Why did you cast a spell on the town?"
She watched as the man's face contracted a little, then reformed back into a scowl of seriousness, one different from his previous demeanor.
Tilting his head and focusing intently on their captive, Aaron noticed a change in his personality as he listened to him speak.
"I did it because it was time for the people of this era to know of our god's return. He has descended, and he is hungry. I have no time for this anymore. Either kill me or let me go. I'm not your toy to play around with."
Staring straight into the pink-haired girl's eyes, he snapped the iron cufflinks around his wrist without any effort, standing up straight and clearing his throat.
"Now if you excuse me—"
Before he could finish his words, he had two blades aimed at his throat, both Akari and Aaron ready to fight him at any moment.
Without moving his head, the cultist simply turned his eyes downcast, raising his hands and pushing the blades off his neck slowly.
"Ah, now that's what I dislike. I guess I could stay and chat for a few minutes before the other guy comes back."
Both Akari and Aaron were too stupefied by the sudden shift in the situation to put more pressure on their weapons, eventually letting them fall back to their sides.
Free from the threat, the man sat back down and removed his hood, his long black hair glistening in the candlelight, and his eyes focused on the two before him.
"You must be wondering why I went from a raving lunatic to a well-civilized man who isn't a bumbling fool. Now the full story is quite a long one that I don't wish to bore you with; however, for a short version, there are two voices inside my head."
He paused, making sure both of his captors were understanding.
"During the day, I become that maniac who has the offensive power of a mouse and the brainpower of a chicken. However, when the sun sets below the horizon, the real me appears in all my splendor!"
Raising his hands above his head quickly, he almost received a knife to the throat from Akari, who had had enough of this man's games.
Placing his hand in front of the bloodthirsty girl to calm her, Aaron spoke in a baited manner, careful not to miss any of the questions brewing in his head.
"So are you telling us that this attack today. This 'act of terrorism' was simply a result of your insane other personality? You truly expect us to believe that?"
Laughing at his own words, Aaron watched as the man's face tightened, a smug smile appearing across his own.
"No, my young friend. Believing me or not doesn't matter. However, what does matter is that you let me go or kill me. The clock is ticking before I really must depart this room, whether it be alive or dead."
Pulling at his robes as if he were hot, he yawned loudly with his cocky expression only deepening.
Akari raised her blade, her cheek twitching slightly in annoyance.
"Since you asked so nicely, I'll chop you into a few pieces to send back to your cult friends."
Leaning back in his chair and raising his hands in front of himself, the cult leader turned his gaze over to Aaron, a response coming from his lips.
"Whoa there, girlie. Has your boyfriend given you the order to kill me, or is the dog disobeying its master?"
The pink-haired girl's face turned a fiery red, anger and embarrassment coursing throughout her entire body.
"THAT'S IT!"
She lunged forward to slice the man's throat, but Aaron intercepted her, knocking her blade out of her hand with his own.
"ENOUGH!"
Silencing both people firmly, the blond boy expressed his words in a stable and rational way.
"You."
He pointed towards the cultist.
"What the hell are you doing here? Do you actually hold such little regard for your life that you would practically beg to be stabbed?"
Placing Penelope's edge on the man's neck once again, he awaited an answer, which came in haste.
Straightening his posture, the cloaked man smiled so wide that all his brilliant white teeth were put on display.
"Of course not. I just knew that you wouldn't let me die."
Reaching upward with his hand, much to the utter shock of Aaron, he grabbed the blade tightly, warm crimson blood dripping from his palm.
Slowly moving the sword away from his throat, the man spoke again, his insane grin widening even further.
"You won't kill me. You know how I know it? Because you said it. I heard your little speech before entering the clock tower. Something about 'non-lethal combat' and how you would only kill me if I wasn't human. Quite the admirable approach if I can say so myself."
Licking his lips and leaning backwards yet again, the man released his grip on the sword and watched as the blood dripped from his hand onto the floor.
"I knew there was a chance that the little princess here would bite me, but when I saw you so bravely deflect my othersides' attacks, I knew who wore the pants in this relationship…"
His eyes were locked onto the infuriated Akari, who looked like she might lunge over the table and snap the man's neck before Aaron could stop her.
The blond boy, however, was frozen in place, his eyes glazed over as his mind went blank from the man's perfect analysis.
I can't just execute him… That would be wrong… He didn't even kill anyone…
Rubbing his forehead with his free hand, he heard the man raise his voice again, his buttery words filling the chamber.
"So, how about this? You let me go today, and we'll call it even. I won't let my other half cause any more trouble in the city, and it'll all be over like that. How does that sound?"
Pursing his lips in anticipation, he could only wait for the impending verdict that Aaron was going to deliver.
The cherry-haired girl leaned over to whisper something into the boy's ear, her anger very clearly shown.
"I say we behead him and throw him to the vultures."
Taking a deep breath and silencing the girl quickly, the blond boy spoke up, addressing the Crimson Sanctormous formally.
"I'll let you live if you don't ever return to this city again. You must also change the name of your damn cult so as not to implicate the Church of True Earth anymore. If you can abide by these simple requests of mine, you can leave right now."
His words left a heavy silence over the room as the man contemplated them inside his mentally unstable mind.
Akari looked bewildered at the boy's words, yet she did not argue aloud, only pouting uncomfortably.
"Dealio, my friend. I don't know why you like those non-believers so much, but it isn't my job to care! I bid you farewell."
Tipping his head to the blond boy and standing up, he faced the pink-haired girl who stared daggers at him.
"Oh, and sir."
He turned to Aaron and winked.
"You should tell your guard dog to be quiet while the men are talking."
Cracking a smile and beginning to walk away, he heard Aaron's voice call out from behind him.
"This is your one warning. Stay the hell away from me and this city, or it will be your head at the bottom of the sea."