“Huh? Who’re you?!”

Emil didn’t find it strange that the knights were missing. He left the carriage and even activated the Sanguis Barrier.

“I asked you a ques-”

He suddenly stopped talking, his mouth agape as the space behind Aerin distorted.

A creature of horror appeared. Terrifying. Nightmarish. A lanky and bony humanoid boy, abnormally long and thin arms, and a face that depicted pure evil. The Undead Jester.

As Emil stood there, petrified from dread, his mysterious companion left from the other side of the carriage and attempted to flee. His body blurred as he was about to cast a spell, but one with grabbing motion, the Undead Jester made the man get dragged across the ground by an invisible force.

“The Faceless Devil.” Spoke the Undead Jester, sounding a bit curious.

The man’s face and body kept changing non-stop until it returned to its original appearance: A bald head, pale-white and wrinkled skin, and facial features that were ugly to behold.

Emil’s companion turned out to be the Faceless Devil, one of the Original Vampires. Over three thousand years old and head of the Mendaces Vampire Family.

However, even such an old and powerful being was shaking in fear. Once the force that bound him disappeared, the Faceless Devil slowly stood up and politely bowed.

“I-I greet the Undead Jester.”

Unlike the Undead Jester, Aerin didn’t know the Vampire.

“He’s one of the few remaining Original Vampires. His name is Kelby.”

“Original? Like Marjory?”

Aerin didn’t seem that convinced, especially after he carefully scrutinized Kelby. It seemed he noticed that something was off, or at least different from Marjory Na Xivia.

“Aye, he’s very weak and a total coward.”

Likewise, Kelby didn’t know Aerin, but just from the fact that he and the Undead Jester were talking on equal and friendly grounds made him assume that the Minstrel of the Ages was also a terrifying being.

“W-what’s going on? Who… what are you?!”

Emil finally snapped out of it and yelled at the two of them. In response, the Undead Jester let out a grunt of annoyance and pointed his finger at Emil Sanguis.

The poor youth positioned the barrier in front of him, but it was a futile attempt.

His body literally exploded into a bloody mist, leaving only a glowing silver blob of light, which the Undead Jester devoured before licking his lips in satisfaction.

A high-status Aristocrat was killed so casually, but neither Aerin nor Kelby reacted.

The former already knew that Emil must’ve been behind what happened to Elyna and her mother, while the latter had no courage to provoke the Undead Jester.

“Oh?”

The coin that was in Emil’s possession flew toward the Undead Jester.

“This is quite old. Look.”

Aerin took the coin and inspected it for a couple of moments.

“‘It’s true. An ancient Artifact from Thal’keh. We have no need for it. Give it to the girl.”

“Alright.”

The Undead Jester shrugged and snapped his fingers, which made the coin vanish from Aerin’s hands and return to the oblivious Elyna.

With the minor annoyance- Emil- gone, only the anxious Kelby remained. He stood there, fidgeting as he kept looking down.

“It has been a couple hundred centuries, Kelby. You’ve not forgotten our Covenant, yes?”

“O-of course not.”

The Undead Jester let out a sinister cackle. His beady round eyes fixated on Kelby, or rather, his Soul.

“He could be of use to us, Aerin. He is a master at disguise. It will help us access some places in an easier way.”

The minstrel pondered for a bit, “You can teleport wherever you want. Also, you know that I’m not fond of Vampires.”

“Well…” The Undead Jester awkwardly scratched his head, “I sure can open a door to any place, but you know how Astria can be. There’s also the Nameless Knight and his watchful eye. I really don’t want to attract his attention.”

“You call him a coward but you’re also one.”

“Who’s a coward? Tsk, you dumb bard. Just because you’re not afraid of him doesn’t mean I am too.” The Undead Jester’s body shook for a moment, “I saw that monster kill Death… freaking Death! Who can even do that?!”

Aerin rolled his eyes and then looked at the quiet Kelby.

“What are you doing here?”

“I was after that coin, my lord. It is the heirloom of the Sanguis Family and I thought it could help me.”

“Whatever whatever! You’re coming with us, little Kelby.”

‘Fuck me and my luck!’ Kelby inwardly cursed while keeping his overly-respectful and polite demeanour. He was sweating buckets and feeling uncomfortable to have his true face shown, but there was nothing he could do in this situation.

The Undead Jester was known for being able to go to any place, so fleeing wasn’t a choice. Earlier, Kelby tried to flee out of instinct. In hindsight, it was a pretty stupid spontaneous decision.

Wilsden

“What?”

“We should go to that banquet, sister!”

Sitting behind her desk, Julie raised her head from the stack of papers and looked at Feylord.

“You stayed docile for a while but here you are, back to your usual antics. I will not entertain your selfish desires. Get out.”

“Listen to me first. It will be a good opportunity to build relations with other nobles. Some of the Seats will probably attend too. This is your chance.”

Feylord couldn’t tell her that his mentioned reasons were a lie. He became interested in the banquet because the Phoenix spoke to him, telling him to go to the Imperial Capital no matter what. It definitely had something to do with the Dark Knight and the anomaly in the basement of the manor.

“First, there’s no ‘we’, Feylord. You are an aristocrat only in name. In fact, you should be glad I didn’t have you hanged for plotting to kill our father. Second, you do not get to tell me- or even suggest- what I should or should not do. Keep testing my patience and I’ll have you thrown out.”

Julie’s eyes narrowed as she raised her voice, “You don’t have any money. Your condition is bad and you will not survive without my help. Even if you manage to contain the Phoenix Flame, you simply are unable to survive alone. You are spoiled and greedy, incapable of venturing on your own without any monetary support or otherwise.”

Her derogatory words, stated as facts, worked well and incensed the blond young man. Still, he didn’t lash out in rage and anger, instead choosing to control his emotions while grinding his teeth. His sister had grown more bold, which was a contrast to her once reserved, shy, and fearful attitude.

The rise to power had boosted her confidence, but her arrogance was warranted as not only became a Baron, but also obtained great powers thanks to becoming a Vampire. Indeed, the brother and sister weren’t equal anymore.

Worse, Feylord never doted on his younger sister or offered any help in her times of need. Although he didn’t do anything bad to her, so to speak, his indifference had created a bridge between them.

After a brief and tense bout of silence, Feylord declared,

“I’m going to the Imperial Capital. With or without you.”

Upon hearing this, Julie frowned, “What are you not telling me, Feylord?”

He didn’t answer, choosing to storm out of the office.

…

‘Seek the Dark Knight. Find him. Tell him.’

‘The Imperial Capital. Go. Stop them.’

‘Warn him. Warn him. WARN HIM!’

The Phoenix’ voice rang in his head, making him groan in pain as flames flickered on his body, seemingly about to go out of control.

Everytime the Phoenix spoke to him, he would be assaulted by excruciating pain. It felt as if someone was stabbing knives into his head.

“S..Sstop it! I’ll go! Stop!”

After a lot of begging, the voice was gone. Feylord laid on the ground, sweating and breathing rapidly. He raised his hand and looked at it: It was trembling and blackened due to the unstable flames. Although it didn’t hurt, its mere appearance was disturbing.

Feylord knew that it would heal in just a couple of hours, but recently, this kept happening more frequently.

Julie’s powers were unable to control the flames as efficiently as before. Or to put in another way, Feylord’s body was breaking apart. Reaching its limit.

He truly was inadequate. Unable to absorb the Phoenix Flames and make them his own.

He had many books about the Mythical Creatures, specifically the Phoenix. Almost in all instances, all those who used a Phoenix Feather were ultimately consumed by the flames. Those who succeeded had no records, which made one wonder if they had even existed.

“Just what am I supposed to do…”

The youth clenched his fists and muttered to himself. He was afraid and confused. Perhaps if he accepted the Imperials’ offer instead of returning home, all of this suffering wouldn’t have happened.