Chapter 13
A muscular yet lean arm locked Lawrence's neck tightly while dragging him deeper into the alleway. He tried clawing at the attacker in an attempt to make him let go, however the difference in strength was simply too high.
In his moment of panic, he recalled something that his son had told him:
"Calmness is essential for survival, that's why a prey must act like a predator in order to survive."
Lawrence was confused at the snake's words, so he asked what he meant. "But isn't a person's first instinct is to run when they're in danger?"
The old man swore he'd seen a soft smile on the snake's plain expression as he spoke.
"Well, that's exactly the mindset of a prey, don't you think?"
At that moment, Lawrence finally understood what his son was trying to tell him. His eyes glanced towards his hip, where his short sword was being covered by his trench coat, and an idea sparkled in his mind.
"Calm…?"
His hands swiftly went down towards the grip of the weapon and the sword was drawn in almost an instant, the blade flickered upwards at the attacker's wrist.
Although the other man's reflexes were sharp as well since he let go of Lawrence and backed away, creating some distance between the two.
He turned to face the attacker and realized that he was dressed very nicely in a black suit, as if he was about to go on a date—or maybe he's a butler for a very rich family.
At his wrist was a small cut that'd been made when Lawrence swung his short sword.
"Who are you?"
The other old man's blue eyes gleamed eerily. "Me? Oh you don't need to know, good sir. If you come with me quietly then it'll save us a lot of time."
The butler's hair was entirely grey, unlike Lawrence, indicating that the other man was a lot older than him.
Despite that though, the strength of his neck lock was certainly not something to scoff at.
"…An awakened?"
The butler didn't continue to waste anymore time standing still, he rushed at Lawrence with an incredible speed while he held a small needle between his fingers, as if planning to use that to fight against a sword.
Just as Lawrence was about to dodge though, he suddenly felt multiple sharp stings run down his back. His eyes widened with shock and pain which created an opening for the butler to tackle him and pinned him to the ground.
'Kuhk..!"
"Hm? Did you think that I seriously didn't come prepared?" The older man spoke as a creepy smirk appeared on his lips. "Don't worry though, good sir, the poison isn't life-threatening, it'll just paralyze you for a bit until I can escort you to Young Master."
"Young…master?"
"Oh you must've realized by now, no? Those two trash dared to upset Young Master, so I'm here to finish what they couldn't."
"!!!"
Lawrence immediately knew where this butler had come from, he gritted his teeth with anger. "Damn It! Let me go and fight like a man, you coward!"
"Coward?" The old man laughed maniacally. "Oh, good sir, you weren't even on your guard when walking around the streets, I doubt that a normal person couldn't kill you!"
The butler got off of him and began dusting his own clothes. "Well, it doesn't matter anyway, you'll still lose to me even if we'd fought."
Suddenly, the older man snapped his fingers, at first nothing had happened, but only after the echoes of the snap had dissipated that Lawrence felt something was wrong.
Beneath the shadows of the butler, several creatures rose from within. They were all black as if made from darkness, their eyes gleamed a sinister purple and the shape of their bodies appeared to be humanoid, although it was hard to tell when they were all crawling on all four. "Carry him for me please."
The creatures responded with a soft shriek and began moving towards Lawrence, who could only stare in horror as black tentacles rose from the bodies of the monsters.
They began wrapping around him until he couldn't see anything but darkness and the poison from earlier had already spread throughout his body, he couldn't move nor say anything at all.
'No!'
However, as they were all about to leave, a loud hiss was heard followed by a sudden drop in temperature.
Lawrence immediately recognized who it was.
'Theo!' He tried screaming his son's name but no sound came out.
"Dad!" A thunderous hiss rang through the alleyway as the soft noise of magic circles being formed could be heard. "I'll kill you for that!"
"Oh, what a large snake. What sort of monster are you?" The butler didn't sound scared at all, in fact, there was amusement hinted in his tones. "But I won't let you take him back, he's now the property of the Griffins family."
Without warning, Lawrence's senses suddenly ceased function and he would soon fall unconscious.
'Theo…'
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The black creatures suddenly began sinking into the shadows below, taking Lawrence with them.
Theodore's eyes turned slit as he released his magic, firing multiple shards of ice towards the monsters. "No! Stop it!"
Unfortunately, the monsters moved way too quickly and the icicle spears only managed to hit one of them while the rest impaled themselves on the empty paveway.
Seeing that he couldn't take his father back the easy way, he turned his attention towards the butler with anger. "You! Give him back or else!"
"Or else what?" The ol man crooked his neck with an amused smile. "I doubt a monster at your level could kill me, after all, I've slain even dragons."
Theodore hissed furiously. "I don't give a sh*t! Die!"
"Theo, wait!" Merlin suddenly appeared behind him, he was soaked with sweat from head to toe and was breathing heavily. "Don't charge in! He's dangerous!"
"What?"
"Oh? Aren't you the slave that Young Master loved so much?" The butler raised an eyebrow. "Well, it's unfortunate that a butler like myself can't control that collar, however…I'm sure Young Master would be 'thrilled' to hear of this rebellious act."
Merlin's eyes widened with horror after hearing the old man.
Theodore had calmed down due to his friend's sudden appearance. It wasn't smart to recklessly run at the opponent without knowing who he was dealing with first.
His rage had piled up the moment he went to the cave and saw that his father wasn't there. Out of concern, he went out looking for him.
But even after night had fallen, he and Merlin couldn't find a trace of Lawrence, so Theodore began to panic and slithered to every chicken restaurant he could think of while trying to find him.
And there they were.
Theodore took a deep breath and activated Gaze of Wisdom:
< HP: 299,000/300,000
Species: ■■
Age: 5
Rank: A
Class: ■■
Specialty: No specific specialty, a master of all weapons.
Skills: ■■
[Your skill's level is sufficient enough to view the target's informations, however, the data is not shown since they have not yet been registered to the Records.]>>
It was shocking to see that there were things even the System—no, a god doesn't even know about Oliver's information. What bothered him the most was that the old man's age was only five years old.
'Is it a mistake?'
[Negative. The target named 'Oliver' is indeed 5 Human Years Old.]
"Oh?" The butler's lips curled up even further. "Did you just see something you shouldn't have? So you possess a dragon's 'Gaze of Wisdom'…What an interesting specimen you are…"
The sudden revelation caused Theodore and Merlin to flinch with surprise.
However, Theodore's expression turned somber almost instantly after. "…How did you know about that?"
Oliver merely let out a playful chuckle. "Of course I won't tell you, now then, if you'll excuse me—"
"You're not going anywhere." Magic circles appeared around the butler, surrounding him from all sides and gleamed dangerously as if a single twitch of the old man's muscles could trigger them in an instant.
However, instead of feeling fear, Oliver remained smiling. "Hm? I don't think killing me now is a good idea, after all, only I can free that man from the shadows."
Theodore hissed with annoyance. 'Why isn't Predator of All working on him?'
The skill would supposedly work on all living organisms, including the arrogant gate monsters that would fight against humans even if it meant they would die.
'Or…Is he not a living person?'
At the moment of his realization, Oliver suddenly disappeared from his confinement, leaving behind only a dark afterimage.
"The f*ck!?"
Theodore's eyes instinctively shifted to his left as a magic circle formed in front of him.
[Froze Spear]
Just as Oliver manifested right on the spot where Theodore had predicted, a cool spike emerged from the arcane and flung itself towards its target.
Oliver's reflexes were inhumane as well, however it wasn't enough, while the old man took a few steps to the side, the icicle spear managed to pierce his left shoulder.
Despite the injury, no blood came out of the wound.
The butler chuckled. "Not bad."
Merlin was still shaking in his spot as he stared at the two of them in awe and fear. 'All of that happened in a second! I would've died instantly if I fought with Oliver!'
"But I won't push my luck any further." The old man continued as he slowly stepped back. The shadows behind him shifted until it became large enough to cover his entire frame. "I'll have to take my leave now."
"No you're not!" Theodore summoned more magic circles, and while releasing multiple ice spells, he rushed forward with his mouth wide open, as if planning on swallowing him whole.
But once again, he was still slower than Oliver's skills, the butler backed into the darkness and both he and the 'portal' disappeared instantly, causing all of Theo's spells to simply hit the empty wall while he himself crashed head-first into it.
"Damn it!" Theodore hissed angrily as he shook his head while stepping back from the slightly-dent wall covered with frost and spikes. "Sh*t! That f*cker ran like a b*tch!"
"Theo…"
"Shut up, Merlin!" Theodore shot a death glare at Merlin, who flinched unexpectedly and began backing away, clear terror reflected in his eyes.
'I—I'm sorry…"
Seeing his friend's reaction, Theodore froze in place, he relaxed his muscles and lowered his head in shame. "No…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shouted at you like that."
"No! I—I was useless…I couldn't even do anything during all of that…I deserved it."
The both of them went silent as the ice began to melt. The atmosphere suddenly turned awkward.
'Right now, I need to calm down and carefully think about this…They captured dad alive so they probably want something from him. Until then, there's still time..' He thought to himself as he took a deep breath.
"We should think of our next move." Theodore was the first to speak.
"Yes…" Merlin nodded in agreement.
"How does the slave collar work? Will Rhys blow your head off the moment Oliver got back?"
Merlin shook his head. "No, it only works when the slave hears the command. It would only…blow my head off when I try to take it off."
Theodore sighed with relief. "Okay, you're not coming with me then."
The ginger frowned with round eyes. "What!?"
"It's too dangerous, if you face Rhys with that thing on then who knows what he'll make you do."
"W—Well, you do have a point…But then help me find a way to get it off!"
Theodore sighed. "I do know of a way. How sensitive is the collar to magic?"
"Well, if you don't infuse too much then—"
"Let's go back to Delphi first." Suddenly, Theo's voice suddenly sounded mistrustfully relaxed. "We ran past a bunch of civilians, doing it now isn't a good idea.
Merlin swallowed nervously as he forced a smile. "Yeah, okay."
The redhead had known Theodore for years, and after spending so much time with him, Merlin had come to realize one hidden trait that his friend had tried but failed to to keep away from his good insight.
Theodore Varon is a sadist.
Sometimes Merlin hates being perceptive, as they often say: "Ignorance is bliss."
.
.
.
"You're not doing this to satisfy your curiosity right?"
"What do you mean? I'm not going to gamble my friend's life over something like that."
"You know that means 'nothing' when you say it!"
They'd both arrived at the cave shelter a few minutes ago. Merlin was sitting cross-legged on a medium-sized futon while Theodore had his large body coiled around his friend, as if closing in all possible escape routes.
The mountain cave's interior wasn't the best, items and daily necessities were all scattered throughout the floor while lights were installed on the ceiling, powered by Theodore's mana.
"So, do you want the collar off of you or not?"
Merlin pursed his lips, frowning at his friend as if sulking. "Hhn! Okay, fine! Please just don't let it blow my head off."
"Well, if you have enough 'faith' in me then maybe your head can regenerate."
[The Bloodline Skill 'Super Regeneration' cannot be rented.]
Theodore chuckled at the System's unexpected voice, which made Merlin even more concerned about entrusting his life with him.
"That doesn't sound reassuring."
He focused on the slave collar and took a deep breath. "It'll be fine, I have the System with me, remember?"
[I cannot assist you with this matter.]
[But I can!] Ouroboros' voice rang out, sounding happy when he felt that Theodore would most likely be asking him for help again.
'Alright. Ouroboros please take care of the Chaos.' With that thought, he activated his skills.
[The Fragment of the Original is responding to the Bloodline Skill 'Embodiment of Chaos'!]
[Proficiency is increasing!]
[The level of the Bloodline Skill is sufficient. You can now manipulate the effects of this skill to a certain extent.]
Black, eerie mist began emerging from Theodore's scales. They slowly made their way towards the startled Merlin and encircled him, like a predator checking out its prey.
From Merlin's side, he could hear soft whispers coming from the smoke, and after carefully listening to them, he could immediately tell that they sounded like Theo's voice.
'Hey, don't you feel frustrated?'
"H—Huh?"
'Hehe, nothing…It's just that you're so weak compared to me. Aren't you jealous?'
'Oh don't say that to him! Be confident Merlin! I'm your friend so I'll definitely help you out with training!'
'I call you an idiot so many times. Aren't you angry? Bring out that frustration and—'
"Shut up." Theodore suddenly spoke and the bold voices began to die down until only inauditable whispers remained. "Ignore them, Merlin."
"That's quite something to ask after hearing those…"
"This is 'Chaos', it wants nothing but to cause destruction everywhere it touches." The smoke started to thicken around Merlin's slave collar. "Though, to first destroy, it must create. Quite the paradox, isn't it?"
"…" Merlin understood nothing of what his friend was trying to say, but at this point he's used to him spitting out nonsense that's more or less just him talking to himself.
Theodore focused on controlling the black mist until finally something clicked in his mind. "I'm almost finished."
As soon as he spoke, the System's voice rang out.
[The 'Slave Collar #462' has been breached by the effects of 'Discord', you can now destroy the magic circuits within.]
"Alright, get off my friend's neck now will you?" The collar abruptly snapped open and fell onto Merlin's lap, the smoke still hanging onto it but they would slowly disperse the moment Theodore deactivated his skill.
Merlin stared at the collar on his legs in disbelief. "…I'm—I'm free?"
A few moments later, the ginger would jump at Theodore, wrapping his arms around his neck while nudging him with his face. "Ah!! Thank you, Theo! I fricken' love you dude! You're the best!"
Theo tried edging away from his crazy friend however Merlin's grip had became abnormally strong.
'Was the collar restricting his strength!?'
"Okay, okay! Just let me go! It's not that big of a deal!"
"Oh, how can I ever repay you? I'll buy you a sh*t ton of fried chicken! Deadass I was so tired of being branded as a slave! Now I can finally go punch Rhys Griffass in the face!"
Theodore sighed, although he couldn't deny that Merlin was quite clever coming up with that nickname. "Now you're an extra piece on the board…First of all, do you know where Rhys is?"
Merlin stared up at him quietly for a moment, still clinging onto his body. "More or less. That little sh*t moved all the time, so he could be at where I think he is and he might not."
"Well? Where is that then?"
The ginger finally let go of him and took out his smartphone, after a few seconds of messing around with it, he would show Theodore the screen.
"That place is…!"
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"Oliver!" Rhys exclaimed with joy. "If I knew you could capture him in less than a day, I would've sent you instead of those dirtbags!"
"Oh, Young Master, I am unworthy of your praises." Oliver bowed, next to him was the tied-up Lawrence, who was glaring at the tanned young man angrily.
"…You killed my son."
Rhys chuckled. "But he's still alive, isn't he?" He was holding an ice spike, pulled out from Oliver's shoulder, it'd created a large hole on his body but the old man didn't seemed fazed by it at all.
"This is definitely Theodore's magic, I'm familiar with it, after all, I'm his 'friend'."
"Friend my ass! You murderer!"
"Hey, hey, how can I be a murderer if the person I 'killed' didn't die?" Rhys began fidgeting with the thin icicle, spinning it around his fingers as if it wasn't meant to be a deadly weapon.
Although only after a few more seconds of holding it, Rhys had to throw the ice spear on the ground while shaking his hand violently. "Ah, damn! It's cold as f*ck."
"Young Master, would you like me to take this man to Master?" Oliver spoke up, still slightly bowing with courtesy as his hand rested on his chest.
"Ah, that won't be necessary, you did well enough as is." Rhys shook his head as a satisfied smile appeared on his lips.
"I'll take him to father myself."