TYND 93

TL: Motokare

Scree~

Chi-chi scampered down Rothy’s arm, its pink nose twitching as it sniffed around, its eyes sharp. The little thing was definitely thinking the same thing as Theon.

“Theon, I want to try drawing the dagger.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Yes, not right now. It hasn’t binded on its owner yet. Once I activate the curse magic, that’s when the binding happens. Shall I activate it now?”

Tsudeyfa looked to Theon, seeking permission. Theon was ready to refuse, but the boy standing behind Rothy stepped forward before he could.

“You’ve placed curse magic on the blade?”

“…That’s right.”

“I’ll give it to Lord Rothy after I’ve examined the magic myself. I know how to do binding spells too.”

“So you’ve got someone who knows curse magic as a guard. Well, that’s no fun.”

Tsudeyfa shrugged. 

Half a year had passed since Naran Daisy officially became a guard mage, and since Theon trusted Naran now, he handed over the dagger to the boy. Rothy’s sparkling eyes followed the dagger as it disappeared into Naran’s mage robes. 

Theon signalled to Ultje, who immediately set the magic stones meant for Tsudeyfa on the table. 

“Hmm, thank you. Magic stones from the Great Northern Mine are always a delight for a mage.”

“Did you destroy the dark magic books from The Mandate?”

“Bit late to ask, don’t you think? I’ve memorised them all and destroyed them ages ago.”

Bluetri would take ownership of all The Mandate’s books and magitools, but the dark magic texts had to be destroyed within six months. Those were the terms they’d agreed on. Since eradicating dark magic was imperial law, Bluetri had decided to comply, being based in the empire themselves. They also discussed the recent movements of other dark magic guilds within the empire. Once they’d finished exchanging information, Tsudeyfa got up from his seat.

“Well then, Lord Rothy, I hope you stay well. If you ever need dark magic for anything, please come and find me.”

“Yeah. Thanks so much for the gift. Not sure if Theon will let me… but if he does, I’ll put it to good use.”

“Don’t feel too down about it. Sometimes growth spurts come late, you know. There are people on the eastern continent who didn’t hit theirs until after they turned twenty.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. They grew a whole ten centimetres even after twenty. Lord Rothy, when your growth spurt comes, you’ll shoot up in no time.”

Finally, Tsudeyfa, the last guest, left after offering his well wishes. Rothy, who’d been sitting up straight with such effort, slumped like a rag doll and Theon quickly helped him sit back up.

“Rothy. You’ve to eat dinner before sleeping.”

“Mmhm, right… Need to eat lots to grow big…”

Since Rothy looked too drained to walk on his own, Theon lifted him into his arms.

“I’m not a little kid…”

Rothy didn’t have the energy to pull away. Instead, he burrowed deeper into Theon’s embrace. Theon strolled through the hallway, relishing this rare chance to hold Rothy. He was incredibly light, weighing about as much as a weasel.

“You’re so wispy I fear you might blow away.”

“I’m not a sheet of paper…”

“It’s like you’ve got no bones.”

“They’re there if you search for them…”

“You’ve got a fever as well.”

“I’m always a bit warm…”

Rothy rubbed his forehead against Theon’s neck. Cute and lovely as he was to make Theon laugh, holding his body close made his heart race wildly with worry. The mild fevers had become more frequent these days. Now Rothy was warm to the touch every single time he held him.

It’s been three years. I must find a way. Fast.

He was biting his lip just then. When their eyes met, Rothy let out a disappointed little huff and pouted.

“You’re making that face again…”

“……”

“This won’t do. We’ve got to get rid of that huge rock in your chest, Theon…”

Rothy reached over and pressed his fingers into the tight space between Theon’s brows and carefully smoothed away the lines before breaking into a soft smile. Theon couldn’t help but smile back. For that moment, the massive weight crushing his chest lifted.

***

“Schrain!”

BANG!

“Schrain, won’t you come out this instant?!”

BOOM!

“Schrain!”

Every time the white-haired old man swung his staff, pillars collapsed and walls crumbled. The cracked ceiling caved in with a grinding crack, kicking up clouds of dust. Large chunks of debris flew everywhere, but the old man didn’t care. Pitch-black darkness bloomed around where he stood and simply swallowed up the fragments flying towards him.

“Come out now! Do I have to obliterate this place completely before you will emerge?!”

A roar echoed, and just as the impatient old man raised his staff high once more, a voice rang out.

“Thuong, why the hell are you doing this to me?”

A raggedy middle-aged man came running from afar, panting hard. It was Schrain, who’d crawled into some vagrant’s body in a rural village on the empire’s outskirts to recover after getting kicked out of the Givarche prince’s flesh.

He dropped to his knees in front of the old man and pleaded.

“Why’re you making things so hard for me? Can’t you see I’m hurt?”

“Pay me back my money.”

“Just give me a bit of time. Two years, that’s all. Two years flies by before you know it.”

“Pay up right now!”

Hundreds of years ago, Schrain had borrowed money from the old man. The old man, or rather the being wearing the old man’s body, was Thuong, the sixth fallen. Of all the fallen living in secret throughout Araxys, he was the richest, and whenever Schrain ran out of money while scheming to trick humans, he’d always borrow funds from Thuong. Thuong was a loan shark more vicious than any human, so Schrain’s back was practically breaking from paying interest on what he owed. 

“For fuck’s sake, you’ve waited hundreds of years and can’t manage two more?”

“If you can’t pay back what you borrowed, get out of my world!”

“Why is this your world…? Aaagh, alright. Wait. Wait!”

Schrain saw the demonic energy hurtling towards him like an arrow and dropped flat on the ground. Escape had never been an option anyway. The humans had ranked him as the tenth fallen and Thuong as the sixth, but the humans were wrong.

While Thuong really was the sixth fallen, Schrain was actually the twenty-first fallen. With only ten fallen still alive, he’d ended up as the tenth-ranked by default, but originally, he’d just been middle-tier among the forty-nine fallen. The hierarchy between fallen was absolute. The tenth couldn’t resist the sixth.

“Money. Fork it over.”

“Listen, I’m serious, completely serious, absolutely serious. Just two years.”

“My money!”

“Once two years pass, I’ll repay you tenfold, no, a thousandfold.”

“My money no— a thousandfold?”

Schrain lifted just his head while staying flat on the ground. Thuong’s sharp demonic energy was aimed right between his eyes.

“Right. I’m serious. Give me two years and I can pay you back a thousandfold. I’ve got a way.”

“……”

“It’s not a lie! Why would I lie when you’d find out soon enough? Just give me two years. Please…”

The old man’s beard twitched.

“How interesting, Schrain. You’re hiding something, aren’t you?”

“Shit……”

Schrain realised he’d made a mistake. If Schrain primarily fed off wrath, Thuong’s main course was avarice. Someone as money hungry as him wouldn’t ignore this mistake. 

“What’re you hiding?”

“Shit… shit, shit, shit, shit….”

“Keh-keh-keh-keh-keh… Schrain. Khe-he-he… It seems, after all that wandering across Araxys… you finally found your shot.”

Thuong’s darkness swelled. It’d grown large enough to block out the moon in the night sky, engulfing Schrain completely. 

“Aaaaaaaargh!”

Schrain screamed as he ripped the dark veil to shreds. But the veil mended itself faster than he could rip it apart. Pitch-black tentacles extended from the veil and wrapped around Schrain’s face.

Crack—

The bones in his face fractured. 

He hadn’t yet recovered from the damage he’d sustained last year, and if he lost his body again this time, it’d take not two years, but twenty to recover. 

Finally, Schrain shouted.

“I found the ‘Archduke’s’ lost item!”

“……!”

“That divine artefact that disappeared seven years ago and caused all that mayhem! Theon Detre Falsen’s got it!”

“Theon Detre Falsen…, that transcendent?”

“Yes! An apostle stole the artefact and gave it to him!”

“You’re telling the truth?!”

“It’s true. Damn it… shit! It was my chance to climb up the ranks.”

“Anyone else know about this?”

“No one! Only me. Ha… Fuck… I was the only one who knew!”

Schrain was frustrated he’d missed such a golden opportunity. Yet he felt some relief too. He’d survive now. He couldn’t gain the ‘Archduke’s’ favour anymore, but he could remain in Araxys.

Crunch!

A black tentacle tore through Schrain’s chest, causing him to spat out blood and turned to Thuong with confusion written across his face.

“You’re so stupid. This is why you’re still stuck to the bottom… Keh-keh-keh…”

The black tentacle that pierced through his chest split into hundreds of strands and tore Schrain’s body apart. Thuong then absorbed the blood, flesh, and bone fragments from the body that’d hosted a fallen. Wasn’t much use to him, though. 

Divine magic’s the only thing that can kill a fallen. Fallen themselves weren’t able to kill each other. All he’d done to Schrain was slight damage to his spiritual form. However, it’d take a century to rebuild. 

“So that’s the divine artefact the ‘Archduke’ lost seven years back. Then…”

The ‘Archduke’ had a weird thing for collecting sacred artefacts. Any lower-ranked fallen with that hobby would’ve been mobbed and crushed, but since he was the ‘Archduke’, the fallen fell over themselves to report where divine artefacts were.

The ‘Archduke’ would then reward them with enormous amounts of demonic energy. The ones currently ranked third and fourth had been nobodies before earning their way up through those rewards.

“Yes… It was definitely something that the ‘Archduke’ particularly treasured.”

Seven years ago, after Seará’s apostle stole a certain divine artefact, the ‘Archduke’ flew into such a rage that he demolished half the demon realm’s castle. For a while he was so violent that if anyone so much as irritated him, whether they were fiend or devil, he’d kill them on the spot and send them back to eternal darkness.

To placate him, the fallens had to go to great lengths to steal divine artefacts from every corner of Araxys and tribute them to him. It was until they’d presented about ten of them that his anger began to subside. 

“To think Theon Detre Falsen had it…”

Even among the fallen, the Northern Archduke of the Zibiah Empire, called the Demon of Seará, was notorious. Fighting a transcendent was something even the fallen tried to avoid. However, Thuong was a fallen who lived by feeding on greed itself.

“If I were to bring back what the ‘Archduke’ prized so highly…”

Keh-keh-keh… his greedy laughter echoed far and wide.