Chapter 79: When A Dark Marble Got Darker (Part 2)

Things don't get much more surprising than a teenage Spirit-user easily defeating dozens of adult Vampires and getting away from them in the middle of a night. So, when something like this happens, anyone who knows about it would definitely want to learn more about this Spirit-user.

While that wasn't her only purpose, that was definitely a big reason as to why Angela Holystone had come to meet Sona Pectus.

Seeing the teenage girl she had come to meet approaching her with clear caution and very calculated expressions, Angela smirked.

Angela: "So kid, who the hell are you?"

She asked, right off the bat, stupendifying Sona.

Sona: "T-the heck?! Shouldn't you tell me who you are first?"

Angela: "Well, I'm not anyone particularly special. Okay well, that's a lie. I'm pretty special. But, we are here to talk about you."

Sona was at a loss for how to react as she listened to the woman ramble on.

Angela: "Anyway, do you steal for passion or is it like a job for you?"

Sona: "Slow down a bit, will you? What the hell are we even talking about here?"

With a big sigh, the woman looks at the kid with bored eyes as she is forced to leave the topic she is interested in.

Angela: "I seriously have to explain this shit? Hah! I guess it can't be helped."

Sona: "...?"

Angela: "I was, for a couple of weeks, spying on a particular hideout of the Vampire Kingdom. That is when you showed up out of nowhere and tried to steal something from them, did it successfully, beat them up and got away with it."

Sona's heart jumped with nervousness as she heard that and she prepared herself to summon a Spirit, thinking she might be attacked by the person in front of her.

Angela: "Relax, jeez! I am not gonna fight you in here with all these people around."

She pointed at the crowd all around the table she had been sitting on the entire time.

Angela: "Anyway, I saw it all. And I have to say, I am impressed. You are a really powerful kid, for a Spirit-user at least."

Sona: "I see."

Having finally understood who the woman is and how she knew Sona, she sighed.

Sona: "So, what do you want from me?"

The caution was still there but Angela could notice her dropping her fighting stance.

Angela: "Well, I just want to know if you will join up with me and do something bigger this time."

Sona: "... Like what?"

Angela: "Oh, you know, a hideout isn't that great of a feat. If you want to make a name for yourself, you have at least got to go destroy a battalion or two."

Angela's nonchalant tone made it seem that she was sure Sona wouldn't refuse the offer to join. However,

Sona: "Tsk! I am not a petty thief. I had a reason for stealing from them and I will not put myself in needless risk by doing it again just for self-gratification."

Angela: "Who said it'd be for self-gratification?"

Sona: "...?"

Sona looked at her with a questioning and intimidating glare but, Angela didn't quite care and nonchalantly answered.

Angela: "Vermillion could accept you as an ally if you show them how great of an asset you can be. It will surely help with whatever it is that you are trying to accomplish here."

Sona: "Uh ... uh ... but Vermillion is a-"

Taken aback by those words, wide-eyed and cautious, Sona struggled to form words to vocalise her worries.

Angela: "Psychic organization?"

Knowing what her worries are though, and also because she was getting impatient, Angela helped her out.

Angela: "So what? I never said they would accept you as a member, only as an ally. I mean, there's an Aural that completes missions for them when needed and gets huge amounts of payment in return. And~ I think she's your age too. You could totally be like her."

With no words to describe the confusion and confliction she was feeling, Sona just gawked at the woman in front of her for a good whole minute.

Angela: "So, wanna team up?"

Narrowing her eyes in suspicion, Sona tried to think of ways this woman could be deceiving her in. However, she couldn't come up with anything solid.

And so, seeing the woman's hand outstretched in front of her, Sona sighed.

Sona: "I guess, I could give it a try."

And like that, her plans of summoning the Spirit she would later name 'Death' got delayed just a little bit.

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When Barry and Reid had left and Darcy was about to, Bronzer asked her for her opinion on the Spirit-user who Barry was trying to help.

Surprisingly enough, Darcy was expecting that question and answered immediately.

Darcy: "I think she's clever, but also foolish. A person like her will self-destruct sooner or later, unless she has someone who she can completely trust and that person can make all the important decisions for her."

Bronzer merely smiled as he heard that.

Bronzer: "I see. I can't particularly disagree, not from a logical standpoint anyway."

Darcy felt curious and inclined to ask what he meant exactly but instead, as she saw his tired face, she just asked one question that was the crux of all her worries.

Darcy: "Do you intend to make use of that girl?"

Bronzer: "Hmm?"

Darcy: "Do you think she could be useful to us in any way?"

Bronzer smirked and rephrased her question,

Bronzer: "You are asking if she is worth turning into a pawn for us?"

There was only one possible answer Bronzer could give to that statement.

Bronzer: "Yes. Yes, indeed, I think she would be a fabulous pawn for us."

As if thinking about it re-energized him a little, Bronzer stood up with an excited smile.

Darcy: "Can I ask why you think that?"

Bronzer: "Well, there are various reasons. There's the fact that she is genuinely powerful and as you mentioned, if there's someone out there who is making her decisions for her, she could be an extremely valuable asset. There's also the fact that she's a victim of that asshole. But, more than anything else,"

He said with a dark glint in his eyes,

Bronzer: "Ethan doesn't know about her."

Darcy: "What? I mean, I guess that's true but how's that significant?"

Bronzer: "Oh, it's very significant, Darcy."

He turned to look at her as he explained,

Bronzer: "Ethan is trying to manipulate a lot of events and people in the world. But he can only manipulate those he knows of. He can't manipulate someone like this girl, who he doesn't know anything about."

And THAT, the fact that he doesn't know about someone who is deeply connected to Kais' past, is a huge thing in Bronzer's eyes.

Bronzer: "I don't consider him smarter or more creative than me by any stretch of imagination. However, he definitely is someone that I can't underestimate. Therefore, I would love to have some hidden cards to play against him when it does end up coming down to a showdown between us."

His lips curled up in a smile, he said so.

Darcy: "From the way you are talking, you seem pretty convinced that you and Ethan will have to face each other some time in the future."

Bronzer: "Well, he's not someone who'll join the Vampire Kingdom, and also not someone who'll join The Dragon Alliance either. Still, he will be majorly involved in the war. And, I would at least have enough faith in him to say that he won't be taken down by nobodies. There's a pretty good chance things would come down to me and him someday."

Darcy: "I ... see."

Bronzer: "Yes, and that is why that girl will be a very, very useful pawn."

And hence, just like how Ozyllus and Abyss tried to turn Kais and Ethan into their biggest players in the game, Bronzer chose his own secret weapon.

The meeting of the three chosen freaks on a legendary and dying island was still 5 years away at this point.

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