Chapter 95

Sep 05, 2023

The destruction of the Agrece castle revealed a wealth of evidence regarding Lante Agrece’s history of corruption and crimes. It was so plain and bare to see that none were able to protest or blame the Pedelians for their actions. Even Jeremy’s older half-sister Roxana would not have wanted to see that can of worms reopened. Thus, he decided to press on and accept his family’s shame as an inevitable reminder of their ugly past.

His first course of action was to claw his way into the emergency assembly in Yggdrasil in order to force the attendees to recognize him as the new Black clan master. It certainly wasn’t an easy task. In fact, Jeremy found it particularly humiliating and disgraceful. “Those bastards are just biding their time to come after me.”

But a true Agrece never let anything deter them from their goal, which meant he would play the penitent son if it ensured that the other clans would accept him as the Agreces’ new leader. Their badgering might seem endless, but it couldn’t last forever. He could live with it if it meant he could carry out his master plan to establish a new Black clan. One that Roxana would be happy to return to.

“Damn it! What’s gotten into my eyes now?” He began to rub at them furiously while cursing.

Rustle.

Jeremy whipped his head around in the direction of the setting sun upon hearing a disturbing noise. Perhaps since he had grown accustomed to the silence, it sounded especially loud.

Has that woman who rode in on that strange, fat bird come back? The young Agrece’s face creased as he recalled first spotting the pair. The woman had snuck into the compound ruins to sneak around the empty demon farms. From the looks of it, she was a demon tamer. Almost the same moment he had spotted her, she seemed to blast away on the hideous creature's back. He also sensed a second set of eyes scanning what was left of the Agrece compound after the first pair flew off, but it was such a fleeting suspicion that he assumed he had been mistaken.

Has she returned to check on our progress? What do people call it? “Returning to the scene of the crime”? He knew if that were the case, he wouldn’t dare let her get away as easily this time.

Jeremy abruptly stood up from where he had been sitting. There was a dangerous glint in his blue eyes. He walked toward the source of the disturbance. But the person who came into his view wasn’t a demon tamer. “What the heck?! What’re you doing out here, old lady?!”

“Oh! Is that you, Jeremy?”

The young Agrece leader had been feeling drained, but suddenly regained his focus when he realized something was off. “What’s with the getup? You going somewhere?”

Maria was wearing a thick overcoat and carrying a small suitcase. Per her usual style, she was wearing a flamboyant dress underneath with high heels and carrying a parasol in her free hand to match. It seemed as if she was simply out for a stroll. But there was no fooling him. He could see that she was preparing to set out on a journey.

Maria, however, just smiled her blithe smile back at him. “I’m going to search for Sierra.”

Jeremy couldn’t help frowning at the thought. Sheesh... She’s so fixated on that woman.

On the day of the invasion, he had lit a sedation incense in Maria’s room to put her to sleep. When she finally awoke, all the destruction he and Roxana had planned was over. Maria had been vocal about how outraged she was about the turn of events. She was especially upset about the fact that Sierra had gone missing. She wasn’t the slightest bit bothered about their castle being reduced to ashen rumble, and what was even more amazing was her apparent obliviousness about her husband Lante’s demise. Her own son Deon’s disappearance seemed to be far from her thoughts as well. Yet when she learned that Sierra had not been accounted for among the evacuees, she had run around howling like a banshee, which even shocked Jeremy.

Thus, even as they stood there atop the ruins he reminded her once again that he had drugged her during the Pedelian invasion. After hearing that she was still losing her mind over Sierra’s absence, he became even more certain that he would have to take the secret with him to his grave.

“What do you intend to do if you find her?”

“What a silly question.” She didn’t hesitate to voice her frustration. “Protect her, of course.”

Both the expression on her face and the tone of her voice were innocent. Jeremy frowned at her response. “Aren’t you even a bit curious about Deon, old lady? He is your son after all.”

Not that Jeremy was particularly worried about his older half-brother. He simply thought it was basic human nature to care more about one’s son than a lovely, doll-like woman, so he felt compelled to ask. Of course, it also occurred to him just how irrational and dysfunctional the entire Agrece clan was.

“Do you think Deon is someone who would die so easily?” As expected, she wasn’t remotely worried about him. “He’s mature enough to decide when and how he dies, but Sierra is so... so helpless!”

Of all the things Jeremy had expected, he never would have expected Maria to say that. His father’s wife had always volunteered to serve as a lookout or guardian for Sierra at the compound, but he had assumed it was all for fun and due to Roxana’s mother’s equally flawless appearance. To suddenly learn that her decision to do so was the result of sincere concern caused Jeremy to stare at Maria with a mixture of strange feelings. It was somewhat of public knowledge, but the Agreces really were a clan of obsessives.

“Then do as you like. Just remember that the moment you set foot outside of our territory, you’ll no longer be an Agrece. So don’t go around using our name for your personal gain.”

It was a stern and genuine warning. He could not risk Maria’s chaotic nature muddying up the clan’s reputation even further when he was just beginning to set them on a new path.

“Don’t worry. I won’t need that sort of crutch,” she said.

Her response gave the impression that she had no idea what he was actually worried about. She then let out a heavy sigh before continuing.

“You were also such a beautiful child, dear. But like all Agrece children, that charm fades with age. You boys especially seem to darken both inside and out until one can hardly tell what you’re ever thinking... Oh, how I miss my darlings Sierra and Xana.”

His stepmother looked off into the distance as her eyes misted with longing. Then just as suddenly as she had looked away, she turned toward Jeremy with a smile back on her face. “Get in touch with me when you have a child of your own. I shall adore that cutie as I did you when you were little.”

“Oh just get the hell out of here, you old hag!”

Despite Jeremy’s angry outburst, Maria continued to smile, then turned her back to the Black compound. It was a simple and clean break without any drawn-out farewells or regrets. Somehow it served as the most appropriate manner for the two to part.

* * *

In the pitch darkness, not even a pinpoint of light could be seen anywhere. It inspired a sensation akin to being buried under cold, dry desert sand, only to get sucked further down into the abyss where everything was dark and silent. Perhaps he was in the deepest depths of the ocean as it seemed to be a completely soundless environment. But in a strange way, it also felt restful.

Amazingly enough, in this space where nothing else existed, he felt ultimate peace. It was a state of being he had never once experienced before in his life. The sensation was indeed alien, but not unwelcome. However, the space where his spirit was currently idling seemed less than happy about his presence. The formless environment twisted and squirmed as if to spit him out, then before he knew what he was experiencing, a thin crack appeared in what he could only describe as “overhead.”

Crack!

Finally shattering like an old clay pot, the void began to hurl him forward.

Silence...

Deon slowly tried to open his eyelids. They felt immensely weighed down as though boulders were pinning them shut. Once he managed to peek through the slits of his eyes, everything was hazy, which made it impossible to grasp anything fully at first. From what he could tell, he was lying on a small bed. His body ached all over, and a sharp pain was shooting out from his neck. It was the wound his father had given him as a final parting gift.

While continuing to lie still, he tried to listen to his surroundings in order to gauge the level of caution he should exercise in his current predicament. He could hear faint chatter in the distance, which suggested that he was likely being kept in a separate room from his captives. He tried harder to eavesdrop on the people talking, but their voices weren’t clear enough to discern what they were saying.

He did manage to discern that there were at least three people nearby. Two were outside talking, while one was inside the room. He had sensed for some time that he was not alone. Between the rustling of their clothes and their shallow breaths, they weren’t difficult for him to notice. Without warning, the individual took a sharp intake of breath.

Clink!

Scrape!

He tried his best not to react as the sound of something dropping to the floor, then a chair abruptly getting pushed away cut through the near silence he had taken solace in.

“Are you... awake?”

It was a woman’s voice, and she was audibly startled that Deon had regained consciousness. With his eyes finally adjusting, he stared at the figure before him. Even he was surprised at how reflexively he had resumed his cool and calm gaze, especially so soon after waking from the dark abyss.

Now that he could see, his crimson eyes scanned the room with what could only be described as anticipation. On the floor was a picture frame that the woman appeared to have dropped just moments ago. He couldn’t be sure if it was just his imagination, but she looked oddly familiar. She fidgeted for a moment as her hand clenched her dress, before fumbling toward the door.

“Please wait a moment.”

Despite her request for him to wait there, Deon had no reason to obey her. He began to rise from the bed.

Clang!

His upper body, however, had been chained to the flat surface mat beneath him. He attempted to at least move his arm, only to be met with the sound of even more metallic clanging. Deon coolly assessed the manacles around his wrists, but they weren’t just around his wrists. His ankles had been secured as well. Before long the sound of approaching feet came from just outside the room.

He stared coldly in the direction of the door. As promised, the woman returned promptly with another person in tow. Upon seeing who it was, Deon could not help scowling.

“I see you’ve awoken, sir.”

The dispassionate voice belonged to none other than Roxana’s steward, Emily.