Romanoff Dukedom: Eschira Forest (7)

Thereafter covering half of the distance, Ius stopped on his tracks. He stared at the old man, scornful and repulsed.

Withal, Erwin remained to be undeterred.

Following a deep contemplation, Erwin had realized that an agreement with Ius would be more beneficial than wreaking havoc inside the capital.

"That's obvious enough, isn't it? Even children are made aware of the tension between the two. This is your chance to stop that, Ius Romanoff. Aren't you willing to take that glory? If you're willing to cooperate with me, I'll make sure that the snake clan would be under your rule. You wouldn't have to worry about the rivalry anymore."

"Glory, you say?"

At that point, Ius began to chuckle derisively at the old man's words. He found it amusing that someone, who didn't suit the word glory, had the audacity to use it as the negotiating factor in their deal. He wondered if Erwin was even serious with his offer.

It simply didn't settle well with his conscience that a traitor had dared to rope him in with such a worldly desire.

"Do you know what you're saying, Erwin Pelt? Have you no shame for bringing that up? Glory? How laughable are you? You have no glory to serve, traitor." With utter disdain in his eyes, Ius looked down on the old man.

In his gaze Erwin appeared as a snake, coiled around the arm of the ageing body of the butler who had raised him. The young man didn't have any sympathy to give to the desperate old man.

On the contrary, he wished to make him suffer right at that moment. A swift kill wouldn't satisfy his yearning to punish the traitor who compelled him to run around the Empire in search of their identity.

"Pompous words for someone who had yet to prove themself. Young Master, have you forgotten that you have no recorded achievements? If you keep up with your stubbornness, the next head will be no other than Fluger Schertrude."

Rather than giving a proper answer, Ius sneered at the old man. He believed that, in between the two of them, Erwin's arrogance was the one that's misplaced.

"I don't need your validation or anyone else's, Erwin. Whether I become the next head or not is a matter of the future, and from now on, you have no say in that. Besides, you know very well that my goal is not to become the head of the clan. I thought you knew me better than that."

The moment that he was done speaking, Ius disappeared from his spot and shortly reappeared right in front of Erwin. He quickly put a hand around the old man's neck and gripped it tightly, lifting him up in the air thereafter.

"Just by holding you right now, I'm wondering how you became one of the grand elders. The sensation feels as if I'm going to break the bones of a child. How come you've been reduced to such a state, Erwin Pelt?"

A malicious glint then appeared on the young man's eyes as he tightened his grip. Clearly, he was pouring all of the pent up emotions out of his body. Ius couldn't get enough of the pleasure of finally confronting the root of the issue that had been bothering him since.

There couldn't be a bliss even greater than that.

"How far have you fallen? You were a strong wolf, even participating in the war three years ago. You lead the pack with your prowess. But why is your body this weak now, Erwin? Are you perhaps on drugs?"

The old man grasped Ius' wrist with both of his hands, attempting to loosen the grip that was on his neck. If he was only a few years younger, he would've been able to keep up with the young man's speed.

However, it was for a fact that ageing had taken away his strength. But then again, it was the power of the heir to the snake clan that made changes in his body that he couldn't hope to reverse.

Erwin's body was a hybrid of a wolf and a snake. And because of that, the process of assimilating the inheritance in his body took too much time. He had absorbed it nearly a decade ago, yet it's usefulness only manifested beginning a year ago.

That was also the point that Ius started to investigate the uncanny occurrences within the capital of the Empire.

The old man couldn't risk exposing his identity, so he had to wait until he could exploit the shadow ability of the snake clan. Being the hybrid that he was, he couldn't bring out the ability's full power unless he discarded his wolf nature.

Erwin wasn't aware of that at the outset, thus he simply used the ability, over and over again, without minding the repercussions. It was late in the ordeal that he found out that the gifts -- bestowed by his wolf blood -- were slowly losing their might.

If he were to fight Ius in that instant, there was no guarantee that he would win. If he hadn't been careless, then the goddess of victory would side with him, no doubt.

At present, he was praying that his pride as one of the elders would make Ius wary of him. Though in truth, the number one candidate for the next head of the wolf clan was one who shouldn't be underestimated.

As nonchalant as he was to the sentiments of other people, Ius was, beyond any doubt, strong. The young man could kill Erwin if he so desired for his death in that very second. That was if he was sentient of the reality that the old man was weakened to his core.

Once Erwin had loosened Ius' grip for a bit, he said, "That's none, urk-- none of your business, young master. I'm still one of the grand elders. There's a reason why I was chosen to b-."

"Stop. I can only hear lies spilling out of your foul mouth, Erwin Pelt."