Crafty

"Huh? Why the hell would I care?" Isle rudely asked.

The crow stared at him for a few moments before busting out laughing.

"You really are shameless you know that…? Atleast listen to my final words since I'm letting you kill me."

A chain from the floor rose up to wipe a tear from his face then retreated back to the floor.

"Fine… Make it quick, I'm tired of this place." Isle tapped his foot on the ground impatiently.

"Ahem… Before I was imprisoned here my name was Viole de thread."

As Cassius said that. Pitch black strings attached themselves to Isle, Making him a puppet with the crow as his puppeteer.

Isle's eyes widened as he attempted to break free but even with the newfound abilities from Cassius' blood it was of no use.

This was clearly a spell. Spells were already hard to deal with but this was a spell being casted by a deity, A weakened one, But a deity no less.

"You fell for it… You really fell for it." Cassius chuckled incredulously.

Isle's limbs began to move without his command, Despite knowing it wouldn't change anything, He still fought to break free.

With Rene in his hands Isle's muscles flexed and he destroyed the chains binding Cassius' right arm.

Isle's eyes widened in shock. He didn't think it'd even be possible for him to break the chains until he thought back to what Rene was made of.

Vermilion's blood, Mana, And scales. That alone made this weapon insanely powerful, But those odd runes on it seemed to have their own secret.

The rest of the chains binding Cassius were destroyed in the same fashion. While Isle could only watch in terror as his body was used to do it.

As the chains broke, Mana flowed court of them and into Cassius.

Loud creaks could be heard from all around the realm as he was unchained.

Cassius' naked body floated in the air for a moment before he glided to the ground, His feet hit the ground gently.

"I really wish they could've left me clothed…" He sighed as two severed wings from the ceiling floated down and blocked his lower half.

His slender but toned body could be seen now, He looked a little different than Isle had guessed.

"Hm? You like what you see or something? You can't have me you know…" Cassius snapped and the spell was undone.

The instant Isle was freed, He shot towards Cassius and thrusted his lance forward. His sudden attack was instantly dismissed with a wave of the crows hand.

Isle's trajectory was altered, He flew towards the wall behind Cassius, He stomped his foot into the ground and turned.

Cassius looked back calmly, Not even bothering to turn around.

Instantly goggles and earmuffs appeared on Isle, He threw a flash-bang at Cassius, He rushed towards Cassius before it blew up.

Once it went off he silently leaped into the air above Cassius and thrusted Rene down at his back.

The lance bounced off of a severed wing that moved, It returned to blocking the crow's lower half afterwards.

"That was a very good attack, Much more creative than your other ones so far." Cassius smiled.

"How about this, Let's play a game. I'll give you exactly 3 minutes to even graze me with an attack and I'll send you home myself, If you fail then you'll get beheaded, So what do you say?" The crow tilted his head in curiosity.

"How do I know you'll keep your word?" Isle's grip on Rene tightened.

"You won't. But it's not like you have much of a chance of killing me, If any at all. So it'd be better to play my game." The deity grinned.

"Fucks sakes, I'll play your dumb game and you'll take me home." Isle smiled slightly and threw a grenade at the crow.

Cassius instantly kicked it back. Isle's already small smile had completely vanished as he saw the grenade fly back at him.

He tried to fortify his body with mana but forgot about the feather currently wrapped around his mana core.

He held out his hand and created a large shield that may as well had been a wall. The grenade blew up and he still stood behind the shield.

"You only have so much time you know…" Cassius said playfully.

Obviously Isle knew that, He was just thinking up a plan.

Cassius heard something blow up and the shield shot at him. He held out his hand and the shield crumpled into a ball, Leaving nothing on his flawless skin.

He heard an explosion behind him and a piece of shrapnel came from behind him on his right, It was blocked by one wing.

On his left, Isle had appeared and slashed at him with a dagger, That attack was blocked by the second wing.

Another dagger shot at him as he heard an explosion, It flew at him from the right side of the ceiling. He held out his right hand to block it.

Cassius now had only one hand free and his wings were recovering, Isle held Rene tightly and thrusted it at him.

As Isle had expected, Cassius blocked it with his left hand. The attack left the slightest scratch on his palm.

A bead of sweat ran down Isle's forehead. Cassius looked down at his hand and saw it, He seemed amused.

"What is that thing anyways? I thought it must've been special when it broke the chains, But it was even strong enough to scratch me…" He looked at Rene a little before Isle hid it away.

"Just get me out of here. Or will you go back on your word?" Isle glanced at him.

"Sure thing, But let me see that first." He had a small smile.

Cassius' right wing moved and grabbed Rene before returning to him, Isle's eyes widened and he tried to move towards Cassius before being restrained by chains.

"Hm…? Vermilion made this?" The runes on Rene glew more than usual.

A mouth formed on the handle and Cassius' hand was swallowed whole.

There wasn't any blood and Cassius didn't show any signs of pain at all, It was quite the odd sight.

Isle's watched the scene incredulously.

"What a bad girl…" He grinned as he sauntered towards Isle while releasing him from the chains.

Cassius lobbed Rene at him, His hand had healed in an instant as if he'd never been bitten.

When Rene landed in Isle's hands the mouth vanished but the lance seemed much sharper and the runes kept the same hungry glow.

It was clear at this point that this wasn't some simple lance, Vermilion had clearly created this with the potential to kill Cassius and it likely would've.

If it weren't for the fact that Isle fell for Cassius' trick then it would've been fairly easy for him to impale the crow and go home, But he was still going to go home anyways right?

"You've had your fun… Now take me home."

Isle looked at the crow expectantly.

He still wasn't completely sure that the crow would take him home but he held a little bit of faith that he would.

"Fine. I've seen just about everything about you that I think is interesting. I'll leave you with one final gift though."

Isle raised an eyebrow.

'What could this dumb bastard want now?'

Isle thought.

"Let's make a contract. You have one with Caeruleus right?" The crow grinned.

"No thanks. Take me home now." Isle hadn't given it a second thought.

He was very grateful to Caeruleus and the mysterious voice didn't seem to like Cassius so who could say what he might do if he found out about Isle having a contract with the crow.

"Why not? It'll be fun. Imagine the power of two deities contracts. I'll even throw in one of my eyes if you like." His grin grew.

"Why the hell do you want me to? What's in it for you?" Isle frowned.

"Hm? I get to see my little brother thrive."

Isle could swear that he heard glass shattering somewhere.

"What did you just call me…?" His grip on Rene was tightened to the point his knuckles turned white.

"Isle? Why?" The crow thought for a moment then laughed.

"Oh you thought I was calling you brother? No, I was referring to Caeruleus. Didn't Vermilion tell you?"

Isle brought the tip of the lance to Cassius' throat.

"Am I really supposed to believe that? Vermilion despises you like you're the plague, And I'm meant to believe that?" Isle was starting to get annoyed at the crows claims.

The crows smile was smaller.

"…He hates me because I left them, Him and Caeruleus. I left." Cassius' smile was melancholic.

"Why…?" Even though he was annoyed, Isle could still feel a little sympathetic for the crow.

"Make a contract with me and I'll tell you." Cassius said it more as a joke than anything but it still couldn't bring back his smile.

Isle sighed.

"Fine I'll make a contract with you, You'll tell me what happened, Then you'll send me home. Alright?" Isle smiled at the crow.

"Really? You're… You're a lot like Caeruleus before I did it…" Cassius smiled back genuinely for the first time in awhile.