• Chapter #50: [NOBLES’ OBLIGE] •—•—•—• “U-Urghhh…”, The pained voice of a man groaned out. He had been lying on this dark and forsaken place since who knows when, bound by chains that just brought constant pain and weakness to his body. In front of him, was none other than Hori Kaide, still disguised as Jack the Ripper. Kaide took on a bored face, resting his cheek on his fist, as he observed his prisoner. “Haven’t you had enough?”, Kaide blandly asked. Cough…! “No matter what you put me through… You won’t get anything from me…!”, The man growled at Kaide, glaring at him hatingly. “I hate stubborn people.”, Kaide absentmindedly said, before pulling off a box of dark chocolates on his inventory. Taking a piece, he popped it into his mouth. He savored it’s flavor, before taking a glance at Miyanase. The little goddess seemed to be liking whatever Kaide is doing, or eating, evidenced by the 3 large bars of chocolate in her lap and another that she chewed on. She’s also quite obedient to him, as she meticulously guarded the prisoner while he’s away. Sigh… Kaide looked back at the man. The guy has resistance to most torture methods, which was quite impressive. However, it also means that if even their goons is trained enough to handle torture, then this is a more serious matter. “You’re all monsters! Just take what you want from us!”, One of the prisoners screamed at Miyanase, his spit, blood, and dirt flying out of his mouth. Kaide took a moment to give the man a pitying look, as he saw Miyanase’s eyes darken. Whether it was from his statement, or the grime that was on her food, he did not know. Kaide watched, as Miyanase took off the part that was littered by the man’s blood. Pop, and the chocolate bar was now halved. Then without warning, she threw the dirtied chocolate at the man. “AAAAAHHHHHH!!!”, The man screeched in pain, as the chocolate was thrown so hard that it literally stuck on his chest like a shuriken. The other prisoners flinched and whimpered at the man’s screams. Meanwhile, Kaide internally facepalmed, though he was still lightly amused. Miyanase though, seemed to calm down and returned to chewing on her snack. “Please talk already, you really don’t want to know what things she could use to kill you.”, Kaide said to the man, warning him for a bit. However, he just ignored him and continued to glare at him. “Who the hell are you…?!”, The man spitted out. “I’m the knight of the night.”, Kaide blankly stated, before letting out another sigh at his poor attempt at comedy. Sigh… “Well then… If you won’t talk, then you are of no use to me.”, Kaide emotionlessly said, gazing blankly at the man’s heated eyes. “It’s time to dispose you.” “Huh…?”, The man choked out for a bit, his eyes widening. Cold, deathly winds blew within the dark cave, sending shivers down the captives’ bodies. Then, as fast as it came, it immediately left… Along with the man’s soul. Kaide snapped his fingers, making the magical chains that bound the man break and disappear. Immediately, his lifeless body fell on the floor with a thud. Kaide opened his palms, a white and cyan colored wisp of flames on his hand. He had just used [Soul Harvest]. Taking one last look at the man’s soul, he then absorbed it on his palms. Miyanase took a glance at him, before standing up and going to his side. Kaide also stood up from his chair, and walked right to the other prisoners. He sported the same hollow look that he used on the man, making them shake and whimper in fear. “Now, it’s you guys’ turn…" •—•—•—• Sigh… “Well, this is much more harder than I thought…”, Chen Zen, the Black Zodiac’s head muttered in mild annoyance. Chen is a man on his early twenties, sporting a rather tall and quite muscular build. He has a jet-black hair, and sported silvery gray eyes that were slits and sharp teeth, quite similar to that a dragon. He wore the traditional Chinese Tang suit, with silver buttons and silver outlines, alongside a simple black pants and black shoes. He also wore an intensely black robe of magical origins, which seemed to devour all light which shone upon it and even light that doesn’t touch it, as evidenced by the darkened room that he was in. “W-We cannot find the hopper…”, One of the men kneeling in front of him reported. Afraid of what will happen, he flinched as Zen moved from his cross-legged position to a normal one. “Goodness, can’t you atleast act normally?”, Zen said to the man in exasperation, making him flinch again. “I... I-I’m sorry, my lord…”, He stuttered. However, Zen only closed his eyes and released a light sigh. “Whatever, just go…”, He commanded. Hastily, the two men nervously gathered their bearings and immediately left the throne room. Chen observed the two exit his throne room, before he got up from the chair. Walking towards the balcony, his silver eyes turned into darkness, as he observed everything below like a god. “Now 7th one, please don’t make my life harder than it already is.”, He commented lightly. “There’s no one here who’s power is noteworthy.”, He stated, before grinning for a bit. “Could it be that it’s one of those hidden ones?”, He finished, before a crimson magic circle consumed his body. Normally, most hoppers are open in showing their powers and oftentimes arrogant, showing off their immensely powerful skills to the public. So for a hopper to be this untraceable, it surprised him much so. •—•—•—• In another unknown place, the crimson magic circle that Zen had used appeared. As soon as it came, a servant also stood in front of it, anticipating something. Soon enough, Zen’s figure came into light. “My lord…”, The servant bowed to Zen. “Is everything alright here?”, Without batting an eye to the servant, Zen walked towards his chambers on the quarters that he teleported into. “Yes my lord, but there’s one thing…”, The servant said cryptically. However, Zen could detect the excitement restrained from him as well. “What is it?”, Zen stopped in the middle of the hall, curious at what the man is about to say. “We had found this… Mineral, which contained an odd energy, which is extremely dark and unstable. We believe that it could be harnessed into a powerful weapon…”, As the servant explained to Zen, he took out a small magical box. The said box appeared to be transparent like glass, and what floated within it was a jet-black rock fragment, brimming with an intense aura. Zen frowned as he recognized the energy signature of the rock. After all, such energy was wielded by one of his former executives, the Bound Serpent. “Bastard… So those things came from you…”, Zen whispered, his face turning into a hateful scowl. “My oldest nemesis…”, The servant now looked at him in fear and concern, unsure of what his lord had been whispering. However, if he judged by the look of ugliness on the man’s face, it cannot be good. “Plotter…”, Zen took the glass box from the servant, in which he immediately handed. In a simple grasp, he crushed the glass on his bare palms. As its shards flew, the servant flinched. He held the rock on between his fingers. Most notably, it doesn’t seem to cause any adverse effects upon him. Narrowing his eyes, Zen’s fingers became coated in watery darkness, which also swallowed the entire rock. A few moments later, the darkness faded into black mist, revealing no traces of the fragment that Zen held. “I have not forgotten what you did to me.”, Zen spoke darkly, before he turned onto his subordinate. “Pack everything about this mineral that you found, and destroy all of it.”, He soundly ordered, making the servant look up to him in shock. “B-But… I believe this would be an advantageous item tha—“, Before he could finish, Zen’s dark aura flowed within the halls and made the lights flicker. “Did I stutter?”, Zen glared at him heatedly, as if daring to question him one more time. Immediately, the servant bowed to his knees in forgiveness. “Apologies my lord… Very well, I shall relay your will to the others.”, He apologized, before he quickly turned back to relay his order to the executives. Zen observed him quickly, before he receded his aura and continued to walk towards his chambers. •—•—•—• “Now tell me everything.”, I commanded to the flaming wisp in my hand, which was the soul of the man I had tortured earlier. Currently, I am using the spirit manipulating ability of the [Soul Harvest], so there was no need for mercy. After I’m done with him, he’ll be a new and clean slate, reincarnated to start over again. “Yes sir!”, The soul exclaimed. So this is the power of [Soul Harvest] huh, how wonderful and convenient. “I’m a former teacher at the ‘Ainzeb Magic Academy’, before I was contacted by one of the nobles…”, I looked a bit surprised. Of course, how did I not think of that. Usually, in worlds with magic like this one, their religious sects and nobles would be the ones who are corrupted. “I was surprised during that time, since they were the protectors of all people, regardless of origins. They told me that they wish to start a revolution and overthrow the king, to end the nobles’ 1000 year reign and repent for the sins of mortals. They name themselves, ‘Nobles’ Oblige'.”, Well… This is odd… Nobles fighting to overthrow the rule of their fellowmen, for repentance… I need further information… Besides me, I could see Miyanase listen intently at his statements. “What is this ‘sin’ that you’re talking about?”, I asked. “For the betrayal the humanity did to a Divinity eons ago…”, My eyes widened a bit, before I quickly turned my head to look at Miyanase. Her eyes, already lifeless, became a void of nothingness as she heard the soul speak of humanity’s betrayal. I knew it. Urgently, I asked the soul for more information. “What is this ‘Nobles’ Oblige’?” “To protect Magika, the Deity protected everything. Nobles’ Oblige focuses on our tasks as a noble, our obligation, far greater than our prestige as a royalty.”, It seems that I was wrong regarding the royals of this world, even though they’re ways are certainly extreme, I could respect their desire to bear the burden of their sins. “It seems that there’s more into this… But how did the people betray the Deity, let alone defy its power?”, Deities, or just everything that’s one of the 5 Divine Ranks is extremely hard to overthrow. In this world, there’s nothing direct that could affect Miyanase except CulturedOjii-san. “I’m sorry, but the records is extremely unclear in the past. The only thing that we know, is that our Creator, Librarian and the other otherworldly beings confronted something far more powerful than them.”, Something more powerful… What could top an Ancient God… He continued his explanation. “The only thing left on this world that time was the Deity.” “Still… The question remains, how did it get defeated?” “There was something that we didn’t take into account…”, He muttered regrettably. I thought about everything that he said. What would be powerful enough to damage a Divinity…? Magic of humans milleniums ago was still not that developed. And then this, what threat could make CulturedOjii-san and the others leave… They’re Ancient Gods… The only threat that they would take seriously would be… My eyes widened in realization. The Primordial... [•END•] Revised by BaNaeNae.