The Wielder of Death Magic

Time passes to an awkward drive to Konlda, where many of the buildings stood at equal height. Most shops were closed to honor the deceased, or so was the portrayal, the truth, none wanted to be stuck in the firing line, especially the small businesses.

Kul and Asmodeus headed on to where Esvalo called, the glances were rather awkward and uncertain. The mental image of the prince of lust being dominated couldn’t be washed either with bleach or acid. The traumatic experience etched itself into her heart.

Soon, the driver pulled to an elevated pavement. A hail from Kul signaled them to continue forth. Behind, the prince stumbled to dust off his clothes, the mind and body trembled by the subsequent ‘enjoyment’ of before. To their shoulder, people in trench coats walked briskly, some accidentally hit and begged pardons to hurry along.

‘Peculiar,’ pondered Kul. Most kept their heads down before the rather blocky building ahead. An estimate showed around six floors excluding the ground level. White frames protruded out the building, the architecture was a simple rectangle on which had boulder frames.

“Come along,” said Asmo, “-we ought to meet an old comrade,” they climbed the rather dirtied stairs to a stuffy inside. Cold and free to hot and smokey, the wood kept the stench of spilled liquor and tobacco. To the left side after an arrangement of maps, laid seats bolted to the walls. A deeper scan inside revealed scratches and dents across the wall paint.

“Gets rather eventful at night, doesn’t it,” commented the sneaky Asmo.

.....

“How do you come to that conclusion?” they paused, a known suited man nodded down the hall, ‘-I’ll fetch Esvalo,’ said the expression.

“Because,” the arms crossed, “-bolted chairs and empty shelves. A violent drunken stupor, don’t you smell the alcohol. It’s pretty self-explanatory...”

“Oh yeah, pretty easy,” she glared.

To and fro of concerned figures crossed the open-ended room, childish remarks proved the entourage as daft and sexist.

“How goes it,” gestured Esvalo, “-you guys came at the perfect time,” the hefty arms drowned the bystander’s view, “-let’s go for a smoke,” he whispered. “Tell the boss I’ll be back,” he chuckled with a fake sense of control and left.

“Holy hell,” he panted, “-that man has presence if I’ve seen one,” quick on his step, “-follow me,” they walked at a father pace to the closest intersection. The stoplight interval between green, yellow, and red. Pedestrians were confident to cross no matter what the little man said.

Back again to a drippy wall, “-sorry about that,” the fingers trembled to light a cigarette.

“Here,” offered Asmodeus, “-how ruffled are you?”

“Very,” *cough,* “-you don’t understand the Yanok’s reach.” Kul watched straight-faced and unimpressed.

“Don’t give me that look,” he coughed, “-the Yanok and Vermillion are on bad terms. I came here as a mediator for both families. The Yanok was money, and the Vermillion wants brute strength, I’m stuck as the middle man.”

“Karma,” said Asmodeus, “-you two-faced fat-drum. Stop with the burgers and be loyal for once. The packages at the normal location. Send the money to the same account, 10000 Exa for 1 Kg.”

“Too expensive, come on,” he shouted, “-the going price is 1 kg for 8,500.”

“Too bad,” he smirked, “-the other suppliers have run in a bit of trouble since the terrorist attacks. The shipyards were attacked, and guess what...”

“You greedy bastard,” gritted Esvalo.

“Mind your tongue, big boy,” threatened Kul, “-supply and demand. Control the former and the latter is easy pickings.”

“Ay, Esvalo,” approached a heavily accented man, “-the boss wants to see you.”

“Damn it,” he snarled, “-negotiate to the boss directly then,” he smirked. ‘I’m not taking the blame alone.’

Thereon, the setting changed to a stuffier blacked-out room. A broken desk held the leader’s authoritative elbows, “-what’s this?” he squinted.

“They’re Raven,” said Esvalo.

“I’ll introduce us,” interjected Asmo, “-my name’s Asmodeus, and here’s my right-hand man, Kul. We’re from the newly established motel in the red-light district, and the ones who exterminated the 50-Blood Brothers gang.”

*SMACK,* he pounded the table, “-IT WAS YOU,” as weird as it was, the eyes clenched,”-YOU SLAUGHTERED MY MEN-”

“Don’t blow your load,” remarked Kul, “-the blame is on the two-face Esvalo. We had a contract and fulfilled it. We kept our promise.”

“-Here I thought the underworld to be based around Loyalty and family,” completed Asmodeus, “-numbers or weapons don’t scare us,” a cheeky half-smile neutralized the onlooking watchmen.

“Weapons down boys,” said the boss, “-the sheer hatred and will to kill, I see the Raven’s are fearsome,” leaned into his chair, “-Sorry about the outburst, I wanted to judge what characters you are. When someone’s faced with death, the true self comes out. Esvalo here turned to be a great asset, given the opportunity, he turned coat and became a Yanok.”

“Please,” a distant voice stumbled through the door, “-I don’t want to anymore,” begged a lady in but a dressing gown.

“WHY YOU!” an unzipped, peculiarly dressed man crossed the door, “-shit,” escaped the lips, “-sorry boss, the lass ran away... it was my turn too.”

“N-no m-more,” she begged, “-I’ve repaid my debt already, please, let me go,” she clawed to Esvalo’s feet, “-please, I wanted to be an idol... Ansoft’s done, I can’t find anything else, please, I bear your child... ESVALO!”

“Shut up woman,” *kick,* the head knocked back, the weeping continued, guards and boss alike watched with a certain disdain. “-Sorry boss, the girl got a bit too carried away,” he grasped her hair, “-I’ll teach her a lesson, don’t you worry.”

“Let her go,” fired Kul.

“Hey, this is common here,” reassured the boss, “-they’ll treat her fine.”

‘-oh yes we will,’ said the growing shadows, the doorway brimmed with countless faces of demons, her heart and mind shuddered, “-no... no... no... no.”

“Leave her,” said Asmo, “-I’m only interested in money.”

“P-please,” her bloodied cheeks clawed to Asmo’s feet, “-if I could, I’d make a contract with the devil and vanquish all this suffering...”

“Shut up lady,” fired Esvalo, “-else we’ll kill you,” pistols clocked.

“Please,” she stared into his eyes.

“Lady,” he held out a hand, “-doth thou wish for death?”

“Y-yes.”

“Will thee sell thy soul?” he narrowed.

“Whatever the price to escape this hell...”

“Deal,” she grasped his palm, “-I’ll take this lass as compensation. You don’t mind, do you?” he asked, Kul cracked her knuckles menacingly.

“Esvalo, your chick, your word, decide...” said the raspy beaten voice of the boss.

“Take her,” he replied, “-don’t need a drug addict cramming my group.” The little distraction led to the lass being cared for by Kul. First aid and a few healing potions were administered.

“You selling Angel’s dust?”

“Yeah, 1 kg for 15,000 Exa.”

“WHAT!” exclaimed Esvalo, “-boss the rate is too much.”

“No, no,” he gestured to quiet down, “-if the stuff is refined and high quality, it can go triple the amount. Besides, we had a terrorist attack, most of the produce was dropped in the ocean. Whoever did it must have planned the downfall.”

“Here’s a sample,” a small packet flung onto the table. The negotiation continued until the boss agreed on a rate of 17,000 Exa for 1 kg. The drive to the motel felt more or less normal, they made a grand total of 170,000 Exa. The quality was the best the continent had witnessed so far. The creator added precautionary measures to prevent needless deaths, feature customers appreciated.

As the afternoon grew close, Aceline and Kinless left from the memorial. Videos of their solidarity reinforced their station. “-I know everyone’s outraged at the shooting. There was no excuse for security to allow such a travesty to happen. I’ll speak loudly and openly, the hate-filled Arcanum writers are to be shamed, as well as the new stations. I stand firmly with Ansoft. If not for our intervention, and I’m sure the videos made news, the death count would have reached hundreds. No matter how wrong and bad one thinks of the agency, the treatment is biased. What about the hotel that carelessly allowed the shooters into their room, the root of the problem could have been stopped with proper precaution. To prove my point, here’s an example,” a giant hologram displayed a statement from another hotel, “-Aslio(another hotel) halted and captured a would-be criminal from the terrorist group before they could bring weapons. Goes to show, if hotels were even inclined to provide safety, it would have never happened. Ansoft went bankrupt, and is in a dire situation, the leader, Amsey, paid triple the amount and handsomely allocated money to the victims. Giving money isn’t an easy way out, the point is, he acknowledged, repented, and vowed to do something to appease the harm that was done. Call me selfish, call me whatever, I’ll stand by my friend forever and always. He tried his best to handle the issue; our concern must be placed on seeking solutions and prevention of such events. Not aimlessly channeling the unjust anger to a singular party. What about the AHA, what about law enforcement. In what world is a few guards sufficient to guard such a mass of people, the responsibility is on us all, I take the blame, Aceline stands truth on said point. Don’t get me started on the Gaso Group’s opportunistic attempt and making her agency grand and pure. In a moment of sadness, the conglomerate thinks of money, what does that say about the state of this country. Then again, I’m just an artist and noble from another continent, I have no say in the matter, my voice isn’t strong, tis the people who decide what is to be done. In a way, I envy and abhor the current rulership. Those deaths could have been easily avoided if only the conglomerates banded as one to make the event a success, if only unity was present, if only the public service accepted and help to make the night safer and better... the if’s will never end, and for that, I’m truly appalled. Odgawoan is far from the land of dream, tis a nightmare,” he clenched Aceline’s hands, “-Alphia tried to take my companions away from me, they’ve taken people who mattered, and for that, I have but one thought, forgiveness begets a backstab. The honest never strive, underhanded tricks prevail... I’m angry, furious at how all of this could have been stopped,” a pause shook the crowd, “-let’s pray for their safe passage into heaven.” The speech made waves around the Arcanum, few rejected his idea, and most embraced it, public opinion swayed massively in Ansoft’s favor. The bandwagon of ‘boycott Ansoft’ halted in its track, questions and the underlying doubt and insinuation of the Gaso Group having caused such a tragedy sparked another revolt. Anger, true and legitimate, flamed their social media and customer support.

“Quite the show of words,” said Aceline.

“I had to,” he explained at greater length. 15:00 showed the clock, the manor rose in the distance.

“I’ll get back to work,” said Aceline, “-we have music to make,” her mood cleared from the prior events.

“Alright,” grinned Igna. *We need you.*

A sharp pull spirited the body into a land of relative familiarness. ‘The Shadow realm?’ he sat in a crowd of thousands, an open-roofed arena gave to fireworks and cheers.

“Welcome back,” said Miira,”-I thought you’d want to see the final trial of the fallen heroes.”

“Hey there master,” waved the homunculus from below.

“What’s she doing in the stands?” he faced Gophy.

“We accepted her right away,” she replied sternly.

“Don’t worry,” elbows pressed against his shoulder, “-every crucial member has to undertake Gophy’s test,” Intherna leaned and peered over his head.

“Over here,” screamed a very elegantly dressed lady, “-it’s me, Athena!”

“What is she doing here...”

“Came for a visit,” said a voice a seat after Gophy, “-she’s my best friend after all.”

“Goddess Nike,” he bowed, “-I’m pleasantly surprised of the corporal form.”

“Hey, the shadow realm is awesome,” she winked.