14th of the Black Star

11:35 PM

Wilsden

“Thank you.”

Aerin accepted the tea served by the old butler. His abrupt arrival at the manor’s notwithstanding, he had carefully explained the situation to Julie’s confidant.

Although temporarily, he was allowed to stay in the manor to monitor the anomaly and make sure things didn’t get out of hand.

The butler has been pretty accommodating and treated Aerin with respect.

Kelby, known as the Faceless Devil, sat across from the Minstrel of the Ages. Unlike the latter, who was calm as he gazed at the starless night sky, the Original Vampire was nervous and kept looking over his shoulder, expecting the Undead Jester to appear.

None of the two knew anything about each other, but the vampire didn’t dare act recklessly or say anything improper to Aerin.

“It is going to start.”

The poet took out a feather from his pocket and blew it in the air: It shone with a resplendent silver light before shooting to the sky and transforming into a translucent and protective sphere that encompassed the entirety of Wilsden.

Barely half a minute later, an intense earthquake followed. In comparison to the rest of Astria, the damage that Archwood suffered was relatively minimal but nonetheless devastating.

A large tsunami assaulted the Western coast of the Itas Continent, numerous volcanoes erupted South of the Western Continent, and snowstorms and tremors occurred all over the Demon Continent.

All of Astria was beset by many natural disasters, causing the death of thousands of people. It was a catastrophe of untold proportions. This was a consequence of momentarily isolating Astria and halting the systematic flow of the Natural Laws.

When everything had returned to normal, the Natural Laws came flooding in like a raging river, thus leading to unintentional yet deadly after-effects.

Wilsden was unaffected by the earthquake, unlike the rest of Archwood and the Hollow Creek as well.

“What’s happening?”

Feeling the inconsequential tremors, Kelby held onto the table while anxiously staring at the heavily-shaking trees and hills of the Greenbell Forest.

Shouts echoed from the small town as the residents freaked out and ran to safety.

“A tragedy made from the foolish endeavour of higher beings. More and more, I’m starting to agree with Leiu and his idea of purging all Celestial entities from existence.”

“Emm…”

Kelby, masquerading a middle-aged man, looked at the melancholic Aerin while stuttering and not saying anything coherent.

“Astria is hurt… Wolfram will be furious. Pissing off the two of them simultaneously, what a headache.”

He let out a soft groan and rested his chin on his raised hand while looking at the Vampire,

“How well do you know Marjory?”

“We aren’t on good terms, sir.”

“She can be quite difficult to talk to. Nevertheless, I must ask you to go to her.”

“Sir…”

“Mention my name to her and she’ll come. Cheer up, Kelby.”

“Yes, sir.”

15th of the Black Star

1:07 AM

An Arman Facility under Hollow Creek

“It has stopped, Consul!”

Kirn Sparrow solemnly nodded his head and examined the condition of the facility. The alarms kept ringing loudly and some of the ‘walls’ were malfunctioning.

“Walls E-47 to E-53 are not responding, Consul!”

“Consul, reporting damage to 189 Cryo Cubiles!”

Several men and women, dressed in Arman military uniforms reported the damages suffered due to the unanticipated tremors.

Unlike the Viscount, those soldiers had the bodies of humans but their heads were a strange sight to behold: Rectangular and abnormally wide head, made from metal and dozens of small tubes through which flowed an yellow-ish liquid. They didn’t seem to have a face, so to speak, but they could hear and talk like any other human.

These soldiers were the peak of Arman ingenuity. Living and breathing beings, awakened after millennia of being stuck in the Cryo Cubiles.

“Do not let this delay our plan. We begin in a week whether the walls are repaired or not!”

“Yes, Consul!”

The awakened Armans saluted and dispersed, each resuming their tasks.

“A mess at such a crucial time. Still, this will not deter us. The moment is at hand.”

Kirn’s eyes shone with a golden light as he looked at the vast facility, spanning several kilometers.

Imperial Palace of Azakin City

15th of the Black Star

1:38 AM

“Some guests sustained minor injuries, but there were no casualties, Your Radiance. All have been escorted to their respective residences.”

“Good. Thank you, Arnold. You may go.”

The Commander of the Royal Knights, Arnold, saluted before leaving the Throne Hall.

Once he was gone, only four people remained: The Emperor, Jennifer, Finn, and the Chamberlain

“What have you done, Augustus?”

Jennifer immediately snapped at the Emperor, her voice loud and filled with fury. No matter how angry she would get in the past, she never flared up like this, ignoring proper etiquette or the respect her brother was due.

“...”

“You’re not going to answer?! What happened on the terrace? Who was that man? Explain!”

Even Finn, who never cared about his elder brother’s ambition, was quite shook up as he sat in his wheelchair a distance away.

“We had a plan, Jenny-.. Jennifer. Albeit risky, we did it for the sake of the Empire.”

Jennifer walked in front of Chamberlain, her glare murderously menacing.

“Was I talking to you?”

“Listen to the explanation firs-”

The Chamberlain, fearfully backing away, instinctively raised his hands in an attempt to reassure her, but Jennifer was having none of that.

“Was I talking to you?!”

“...”

“Keep your mouth shut. And you, Augustus…”

The woman shifted back her attention to her brother, her voice getting increasingly more threatening,

“I did not yield my right to the throne for you to do thi-”

“We had the Headless Soldier locked under the palace. We wanted to use him to kill the Dark Knight.”

The Emperor interrupted her and revealed the truth, which made her turn quiet as she looked at him with an expression of utter shock.

“Death itself approached me. He would weaken the Dark Knight and we would disturb the seal that bound the Mythical Being.”

Augustus let out a long sigh before continuing, “Jennifer, you have to understand that I never had any authority. When I became the Emperor, the Dark Knight came to me and showed me the Headless Soldier below us. He told me that I had to keep the peace and be content with what I had.”

A laugh escaped his sister’s lips as if she found his words hilarious.

“I am speaking the truth.”

Jennifer didn’t speak another word, she unceremoniously waved her hand and walked away.

“I need you more than ever, Jennifer. The Dark Knight has escaped. We must kill him while there is still a chance.”

Alas, Augustus received no answer. Finn left shortly after, opting not to voice out his opinions, as was his wont.

A brief silence flowed between Augustus and the Chamberlain before the latter clicked his tongue,

“Disregarding the unexpected problems… Death has yet to contact us, and the Headless Soldier disappeared.”

“...”

“Also, I just received reports from Frostrune and Donkrig. The Duchy has been hit by a blizzard and the temperature drastically fell. As for Donkrig… Well, it has been hit by a massive tsunami.”

Just as the Chamberlain finished speaking, something broke through the ceiling and landed in the middle of the Throne Hall.

Tentacles came out of the Chamberlain’s chest and tried to attack the unexpected ‘guest’, but they were cut-down almost immediately.

“You reek of them.”

Wolfram, known as the Trickster, grabbed the Chamberlain's face and repeatedly smashed it against the ground until there were no signs of movement or breathing.

“Hello, dear and beloved Emperor Augustus Azakin.”

“Guards!”

Despite of his shout, no one came to his rescue. The Throne Hall remained eerily quiet.

“Oh? You don’t know me?”

The Trickster grinned and stood there while playfully fiddling with cards.

Augustus tapped something on the right side of his chest while Wolfram watched him with interest.

Seconds later, the large door leading out of the hall was flung open and the Angel Troup rushed in.

The Trickster pointed a finger toward them and comically imitated shooting a firearm. It looked like a pointless action, but the Angel Troup stopped moving and, at the same time, all fell on the ground.

“With most of the Primordial Darkness was holding the Crimson Rift, I confess that it was quite clever to weaken Leiu’s bond with it. Daring, but clever. Death came up with it, right?”

“Who are you?!”

“Ah! I thought you’d have figured it out by now. I am the Trickster, though I also go by other titles.”

Augustus sucked a deep breath, his eyes filled with surprise and fear.

“Protect the Emperor!”

A voice came from the open door as several half-visible silhouettes leapt at the Trickster.

Jennifer also ran into the Throne Hall and unleashed a Light-aspected magical blast, which disappeared after crossing a small distance.

Her highly-trained assassins, much like the soulless ‘Angels’, tumbled and fell on the ground, unconscious.

“Guys! I’m trying to have a conversation here. If I wanted to kill the Emperor, I would have done it already. Hmm…”

Wolfram paused for a second as three cards floated in front of him.

“Jennifer Zok Azakin. Very beautiful, and from the looks of it, much more capable than your sorry ass, my dear Emperor.”

He snapped his fingers, which made Jennifer’s slowly close and her body gently fall down.

“What do you want from me?”

“Straight to the point? I do like beating around the bush, though..”

The Trickster sulked and paced around as dozens of blank white cards flew from his sleeve and danced in the air.

“To be honest with you, seeing Astria being hurt pissed me off a lot. See, Emperor, I usually kill annoying fuckers like you. It’s easy and less time-consuming, but… I changed my mind.”

Augustus forced himself to sit down as his body kept shaking. He tried to look composed and maintain the demeanor of a ruler despite standing in the presence of a godly being.

Unfortunately, he barely knew anything about the Godslayer. He was much more mysterious than the Nameless Knight.

“I wouldn’t want to spoil it, but there are more pieces at play other than your clever plan to kill Leiu. Hahahahahaha! Sorry sorry, your plan sounded funnier when I said it outloud.”

The Trickster turned his head and stared back at the Emperor, an inscrutable yet creepy smile plastered on his face.

“You made Leiu very angry. Mind you, even I cannot do that. However, to make things clear, it wasn’t you attempting to kill him, but the fact that you not only released the Headless Soldier, but you had a minion of an Outer God at your side. Believe me when I say this, Emperor, I will very very much enjoy seeing Leiu go batshit on all of you.”

“I did it for the glory of the Empire! The mere presence of that monster threatened the lives of all my subjects!”

“How very noble of you. It almost brings a tear to my eye!”

“Just because beings like you hold unimaginable powers doesn’t give you the right to command us like puppets.”

“Yes! You’re absolutely right! I wholeheartedly agree with you. Genuinely.”

“...”

“If each person minded their own business, it would be fantastic, isn’t that right? And because I share your opinion, I’m not going to kill you. I care about Astria, not its inhabitants. Want to conquer other nations? Do it. Want to slaughter your people? No God will dare stop you in Astria. Mortals here are free to decide their own fate. That is my and Astria’s will.”

“Then what exactly do you want? Why did you come here?”

“To talk, obviously.” Wolfram shrugged his shoulders and approached the Chamberlain before proceeding to smash his head and burst it into a mass of gore and blood. Seconds later, a mass of squirming flesh grew from the neck and reconstructed the head again.

“You know what you did wrong, my dear Emperor. There is no doubt in my mind that Leiu will come for you. Suffice it to say, I will not stop him. Hmm… I don’t think I’ll be able to stop him. It shames me to admit it, but he is slightly… ever-so-slightly, just a tiny bit, stronger than me. Who knows? Maybe you can convince him to spare you? Maybe redeem yourself by locating the Headless Soldier? Anyway, I’ve got other matters to deal with. Bye-bye!”

The Trickster waved goodbye and vanished into a puff of small and glittering particles.

…

“Soooooo… let’s see!”

Wolfram formed a circle with his thumb and index and brought it closer to his eye as he looked at the desert.

“Arthur Bilgart, huh… is it a coincidence that Leiu chose you? If you’re like the one I have known, then it’ll work out. If not, we’ll all just die. Wait! I just realized something!”

The Trickster spun around as he talked to himself, “That’s right! I’ll be free of Leiu’s incessant nagging for a while! Not only that, but I can fight the Voidspawn as much as I want!”

Extremely excited, the man opened somesort of portal and leapt into it.

He seemed to have forgotten about the other matters he wanted to check.