Chapter 238 - APPA VERSUS PAPA BOSS
"RARA, I've healed the child's broken legs," Juri Wisteria reported to her, addressing her as "Rara" to protect her identity in her Spirit form. "He must have passed out from the pain when that crazy bastard hurt him a while ago."
Neoma let out a deep sigh. "I would have broken all that bastard's bones if you didn't stop me earlier, Juri."
She and her daughter heard everything– from the way the child called Greko (according to Aurora, the boy's Spirit Guardian) took the blame for everything to the way he was punished heavily by the man child called 'Master Alistair.'
Upon hearing that bastard's name, she remembered from her first life's memories that the owner of the Death Camp was called 'Alistair Madgwick.' That horrible man was the son of Count David Madgwick– one of the most influential noblemen from the Noble Faction.
She was indifferent towards the "Master" in the past. But now that she had witnessed firsthand how cruel that bastard was, her grudge towards him turned personal.
"You know why I had to stop you, Rara," Juri reminded her firmly. "We can't get exposed until we save Lewis and Jasper Hawthorne. I know that seeing the person who helped us get tortured is very upsetting. But in times like this, you have to keep your cool." She put a hand on her shoulder. "You can go crazy once we achieved our goal. I won't stop you by then."
She took a deep breath to calm herself down.
To be honest, she was a little surprised to hear that advice from Juri. After all, she was known for having a violent nature. But maybe she shouldn't have been surprised.
[In the end, Juri is still an a.d.u.l.t.]
Well, she was an a.d.u.l.t inside as well. It just so happened that she had a nasty temper. Plus, she felt strange for the past few days. She wasn't a violent person but for some reason, she wanted to answer violence to anything that annoyed her– even the minor inconveniences ones.
Maybe it was the stress.
"Okay, I'm calm now," she told Juri, then she paused when she felt the familiar Mana of that bastard Alistair Madgwick. The only good thing that came out from witnessing the suffering of Greko was the chance to learn about the bastard's ability. "Let's get out of here, Juri. The bastard is back."
Her daughter looked confused by what she said. "We're leaving the child here? But if that bastard finds out that he was healed, he'll realize that the tower has been infiltrated by other people."
"My gut feel says the tower has been infiltrated," she said. "After all, despite the explosion that we created, that Alistair Madgwick didn't dispatch his minions."
"That means the tower is almost empty," her daughter, as sharp as ever, said while nodding her head. "Since they were expecting "Prince Nero" tonight, it makes sense to move the residents of the tower to another hide-out."
"We have to move before they transfer Lewis and Jasper Oppa to another place."
Juri looked down at the still unconscious Greko. "How about this little one then?"
"I already sent a message to Jeno Dankworth," Neoma said, then she stood up and turned to the hole that she and Juri created in the wall. She could see Jeno Dankworth standing a few meters away from her with Soju, the toad, on his shoulder. "Jeno Dankworth, protect the child and deal with Alistair Madgwick," she said seriously. "But don't kill the bastard– I will punish him later with my own hands."
She was confident that Jeno Dankworth could defeat the bastard Alistair Madgwick.
Jeno Dankworth, who obviously heard her despite the distance between them, bowed his head politely. "I received your order, Your Royal Highness."
***
[FIRST, protect the child.]
Jeno carefully carried the unconscious young boy (called Greko, if he remembered it correctly), and laid him down on the bed made of clouds. The bed had two different types of solidified clouds. The lower part was made of clouds as hard as a wood frame, while the upper part was as soft as a mattress.
"Soju, please help me protect the child," Jeno said politely. The frog– uhm, the toad asked him to call him casually. Still, he knew that the Spirit was older than him. Thus, he couldn't help but speak formally to him. As formal as he could since he wasn't a sociable person. Moreover, he didn't grow up as a proper nobleman so he wasn't sure about his manners and etiquette. "I will take care of the enemy."
"Alright," Soju said, then he hopped and landed on the child's c.h.e.s.t. "Will you be alright, Jeno? Her Royal Highness told us about the enemy's ability."
"I'll be fine," he said. "Gravity can't push clouds to the ground."
The frog– uhm toad looked confused by what he said.
He didn't have the time to explain because he felt the enemy behind him.
"Who the hell are you?"
He turned around to find a man with moss curly hair, sharp olive eyes, and red lips. The man was also covered in all black clothes. The visible part of his skin was covered with blemishes.
[This must be Alistair Madgwick.]
Aside from his appearance, he noticed something strange about the enemy.
[Why does it feel like there are two different energies inside him?]
"Huh?" Alistair Madgwick said while taking a good look at his face. "You look familiar. Which household do you belong to?"
He pulled out his gun instead of giving the bastard an answer.
The so-called "master" smirked haughtily. "Well, I can always make you answer my questions later," he said confidently, then he raised his hand with the palm facing his direction. "First of all, I'll make you kneel before me."
Alistair Madgwick slammed his hand in the air as if he was swatting an insect.
Too bad for the bastard because he already anticipated that he would use his control of gravity to crush him right off the bat. Thus, he pulled the technique that his Brother Sean taught him as soon as he arrived at House Dankworth.
That technique was the reason why the master's ability didn't work on him.
"What the hell are you?" Alistair Madgwick snarled while looking up at him with glowing eyes. "Why is my ability not working?!"
The answer was this: Jeno just turned his whole body into a human-shaped cloud. It was the reason why he floated. And yes, even the gun in his hand changed its shape.
"It's not like your ability isn't working on me," he said to the enemy. "After all, gravity still affects clouds. Let's just say that right now, my body is made of zillions of tiny water droplets. You know that each water droplet doesn't weigh very much at all, don't you?" He was borne aloft by air currents right now. And since he was very light, it didn't take a very strong wind to counteract the pull of gravity. "As long as I'm in this form, I will stay in the air."
Until his body grew too large to be held up by air currents, that is. But he would return back to his original form before he got to the point where his body that was currently made of clouds fall to earth as rain or some other form of precipitation.
[Not that Alistair Madgwick needs to know that.]
The fact that the enemy didn't know that he was a Dankworth was something that he should be thankful for. Because of Alistair Madgwick's ignorance of his ability, he attacked him with gravity.
[But even if he realized that I'm a Dankworth, I don't think he'd suspect that I know how to use this technique.]
The ability to turn their body into a piece of cloud was a technique passed down to the Dankworth Heir only. He didn't know why his Brother Sean taught him that technique (and they kept it a secret from their father). As the current head of House Dankworth, his brother should have reserved teaching the family's secret technique to his future child and successor.
But whatever his brother's reason was for passing down the technique to him instead of saving it for his future heir, he was grateful for his Brother Sean's generosity.
Moreover, he was lucky that he was matched with an enemy that he could overcome with his ability. He was glad that he wouldn't disappoint Princess Neoma.
That thought distracted him for a moment.
[Wait… did Princess Neoma order me to apprehend Alistair Madgwick because she knows my ability is a good match for that bastard's gravity control technique?]
If his hunch was correct, then Her Royal Highness was indeed very smart.
He was distracted when he realized that Alistair Madgwick disappeared in front of him in the blink of an eye. The bastard was now quickly running in Greko's direction.
[As if I'd let you lay a hand on the child Princess Neoma asked me to protect.]
Jeno pointed the gun at the bastard's right leg. Despite being in the form of a cloud, it still functioned as a normal weapon. So when he pulled the trigger, Alistair Madgwick was shot in the leg and fell to the ground yelling in pain. "My master told me to keep you alive," he said, then he continued shooting at Alistair Madgwick's limbs. "Try not to die from blood loss, bastard."
***
NEOMA wanted to scream as soon as they reached the prison cell where Lewis and Jasper Oppa were supposed to be.
It was now empty, but she could feel the two's lingering Mana behind.
[I'm sure that Lewis and Jasper Oppa were here earlier.]
"It seems like Alistair Madgwick didn't deploy his men to protect the tower because there's no one to protect here anymore," Juri, with his hands on her waist, said while shaking her head. "It seems like they have already transported Lewis and Jasper Hawthorne to another place."
"They must have been brought to the Death Camp," Neoma said in an eerily calm voice that spooked even herself. "There must be at least one person in the tower who has teleportation skills. Moreover, they must have been strong, too. I can't imagine Lewis and Jasper Oppa getting caught together without putting up a fight."
Her daughter nodded in agreement. "That's true. Alistair Madgwick looks weak. But he won't be able to run the Black Market without the help of influential people. That bastard probably has an army of exceptional warriors, too."
That made sense.
But if that was the case, how did Jasper Hawthorne apprehend the Black Market in her first life? She wasn't underestimating the young duke. But did it have something to do with Jasper Oppa's age at the current timeline?
Was it because the young duke hasn't mastered his poisonous butterflies technique yet?
Curtis Smit's image suddenly flashed in her mind.
Ah, of course.
[The sudden appearance of the crows messed up the events in this timeline.]
"Rara, what should we do next?" Juri asked, distracting her from her thoughts. "I don't think we can handle this on our own anymore."
That was what she thought, too.
"Let's regroup with Jeno and Soju first," Neoma said, then she let out a frustrated sigh. "I wonder who Papa Boss sent as reinforcements."
***
"WHERE is Mona?" Nikolai snarled at Gavin. "If you're still alive, then she must be alive as well."
To be honest, he was curious as to how Gavin was able to come back to life.
But his head was only filled with thoughts about Mona, making his c.h.e.s.t tighten painfully. Was Mona still alive just like Gavin?
[And if she is, where could I find her?]
Gavin smirked bitterly. "Your Majesty, Neoma's life is in danger and yet, you're more concerned about Lady Roseheart?"
"Who gave you the right to call my daughter by her first name?" he confronted the traitor. "It's 'Princess Neoma' to you, Gavin Quinzel."
"I don't have time to talk to you, Your Majesty," his former commander said, then he turned his back on him. "I have nothing to say to you anyway."
"Did I give you permission to leave, Gavin Quinzel?"
Gavin suddenly stopped moving, and it was obvious that he couldn't take another step away from him.
Yes, it was his doing.
For the first time after a long while, he released more than half of his divine energy. He used it to put pressure on Gavin. Thus, preventing the traitor from moving.
But the bastard still looked unfazed.
In fact, the former commander even turned to him with a smug look on his face. To other people, it might look like an ordinary "charming" smile. But he knew Gavin, and he could see the arrogance that he could hide under his friendly demeanor.
"The last time I left, you also didn't give me the permission to do so," Gavin said in an annoying "playful" and mocking voice. "But were you able to stop me? You didn't, Your Majesty. Do you think I will listen to you this time?"
"The last time you disobeyed my order, you managed to stay alive," Nikolai said coldly, his bloodl.u.s.t now directed at Gavin Quinzel. "But this time, I'll kill you in a way that not even the Devil or the Fox's Marble could bring you back to life."
***
Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~
***
Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>
Neoma let out a deep sigh. "I would have broken all that bastard's bones if you didn't stop me earlier, Juri."
She and her daughter heard everything– from the way the child called Greko (according to Aurora, the boy's Spirit Guardian) took the blame for everything to the way he was punished heavily by the man child called 'Master Alistair.'
Upon hearing that bastard's name, she remembered from her first life's memories that the owner of the Death Camp was called 'Alistair Madgwick.' That horrible man was the son of Count David Madgwick– one of the most influential noblemen from the Noble Faction.
She was indifferent towards the "Master" in the past. But now that she had witnessed firsthand how cruel that bastard was, her grudge towards him turned personal.
"You know why I had to stop you, Rara," Juri reminded her firmly. "We can't get exposed until we save Lewis and Jasper Hawthorne. I know that seeing the person who helped us get tortured is very upsetting. But in times like this, you have to keep your cool." She put a hand on her shoulder. "You can go crazy once we achieved our goal. I won't stop you by then."
She took a deep breath to calm herself down.
To be honest, she was a little surprised to hear that advice from Juri. After all, she was known for having a violent nature. But maybe she shouldn't have been surprised.
[In the end, Juri is still an a.d.u.l.t.]
Well, she was an a.d.u.l.t inside as well. It just so happened that she had a nasty temper. Plus, she felt strange for the past few days. She wasn't a violent person but for some reason, she wanted to answer violence to anything that annoyed her– even the minor inconveniences ones.
Maybe it was the stress.
"Okay, I'm calm now," she told Juri, then she paused when she felt the familiar Mana of that bastard Alistair Madgwick. The only good thing that came out from witnessing the suffering of Greko was the chance to learn about the bastard's ability. "Let's get out of here, Juri. The bastard is back."
Her daughter looked confused by what she said. "We're leaving the child here? But if that bastard finds out that he was healed, he'll realize that the tower has been infiltrated by other people."
"My gut feel says the tower has been infiltrated," she said. "After all, despite the explosion that we created, that Alistair Madgwick didn't dispatch his minions."
"That means the tower is almost empty," her daughter, as sharp as ever, said while nodding her head. "Since they were expecting "Prince Nero" tonight, it makes sense to move the residents of the tower to another hide-out."
"We have to move before they transfer Lewis and Jasper Oppa to another place."
Juri looked down at the still unconscious Greko. "How about this little one then?"
"I already sent a message to Jeno Dankworth," Neoma said, then she stood up and turned to the hole that she and Juri created in the wall. She could see Jeno Dankworth standing a few meters away from her with Soju, the toad, on his shoulder. "Jeno Dankworth, protect the child and deal with Alistair Madgwick," she said seriously. "But don't kill the bastard– I will punish him later with my own hands."
She was confident that Jeno Dankworth could defeat the bastard Alistair Madgwick.
Jeno Dankworth, who obviously heard her despite the distance between them, bowed his head politely. "I received your order, Your Royal Highness."
***
[FIRST, protect the child.]
Jeno carefully carried the unconscious young boy (called Greko, if he remembered it correctly), and laid him down on the bed made of clouds. The bed had two different types of solidified clouds. The lower part was made of clouds as hard as a wood frame, while the upper part was as soft as a mattress.
"Soju, please help me protect the child," Jeno said politely. The frog– uhm, the toad asked him to call him casually. Still, he knew that the Spirit was older than him. Thus, he couldn't help but speak formally to him. As formal as he could since he wasn't a sociable person. Moreover, he didn't grow up as a proper nobleman so he wasn't sure about his manners and etiquette. "I will take care of the enemy."
"Alright," Soju said, then he hopped and landed on the child's c.h.e.s.t. "Will you be alright, Jeno? Her Royal Highness told us about the enemy's ability."
"I'll be fine," he said. "Gravity can't push clouds to the ground."
The frog– uhm toad looked confused by what he said.
He didn't have the time to explain because he felt the enemy behind him.
"Who the hell are you?"
He turned around to find a man with moss curly hair, sharp olive eyes, and red lips. The man was also covered in all black clothes. The visible part of his skin was covered with blemishes.
[This must be Alistair Madgwick.]
Aside from his appearance, he noticed something strange about the enemy.
[Why does it feel like there are two different energies inside him?]
"Huh?" Alistair Madgwick said while taking a good look at his face. "You look familiar. Which household do you belong to?"
He pulled out his gun instead of giving the bastard an answer.
The so-called "master" smirked haughtily. "Well, I can always make you answer my questions later," he said confidently, then he raised his hand with the palm facing his direction. "First of all, I'll make you kneel before me."
Alistair Madgwick slammed his hand in the air as if he was swatting an insect.
Too bad for the bastard because he already anticipated that he would use his control of gravity to crush him right off the bat. Thus, he pulled the technique that his Brother Sean taught him as soon as he arrived at House Dankworth.
That technique was the reason why the master's ability didn't work on him.
"What the hell are you?" Alistair Madgwick snarled while looking up at him with glowing eyes. "Why is my ability not working?!"
The answer was this: Jeno just turned his whole body into a human-shaped cloud. It was the reason why he floated. And yes, even the gun in his hand changed its shape.
"It's not like your ability isn't working on me," he said to the enemy. "After all, gravity still affects clouds. Let's just say that right now, my body is made of zillions of tiny water droplets. You know that each water droplet doesn't weigh very much at all, don't you?" He was borne aloft by air currents right now. And since he was very light, it didn't take a very strong wind to counteract the pull of gravity. "As long as I'm in this form, I will stay in the air."
Until his body grew too large to be held up by air currents, that is. But he would return back to his original form before he got to the point where his body that was currently made of clouds fall to earth as rain or some other form of precipitation.
[Not that Alistair Madgwick needs to know that.]
The fact that the enemy didn't know that he was a Dankworth was something that he should be thankful for. Because of Alistair Madgwick's ignorance of his ability, he attacked him with gravity.
[But even if he realized that I'm a Dankworth, I don't think he'd suspect that I know how to use this technique.]
The ability to turn their body into a piece of cloud was a technique passed down to the Dankworth Heir only. He didn't know why his Brother Sean taught him that technique (and they kept it a secret from their father). As the current head of House Dankworth, his brother should have reserved teaching the family's secret technique to his future child and successor.
But whatever his brother's reason was for passing down the technique to him instead of saving it for his future heir, he was grateful for his Brother Sean's generosity.
Moreover, he was lucky that he was matched with an enemy that he could overcome with his ability. He was glad that he wouldn't disappoint Princess Neoma.
That thought distracted him for a moment.
[Wait… did Princess Neoma order me to apprehend Alistair Madgwick because she knows my ability is a good match for that bastard's gravity control technique?]
If his hunch was correct, then Her Royal Highness was indeed very smart.
He was distracted when he realized that Alistair Madgwick disappeared in front of him in the blink of an eye. The bastard was now quickly running in Greko's direction.
[As if I'd let you lay a hand on the child Princess Neoma asked me to protect.]
Jeno pointed the gun at the bastard's right leg. Despite being in the form of a cloud, it still functioned as a normal weapon. So when he pulled the trigger, Alistair Madgwick was shot in the leg and fell to the ground yelling in pain. "My master told me to keep you alive," he said, then he continued shooting at Alistair Madgwick's limbs. "Try not to die from blood loss, bastard."
***
NEOMA wanted to scream as soon as they reached the prison cell where Lewis and Jasper Oppa were supposed to be.
It was now empty, but she could feel the two's lingering Mana behind.
[I'm sure that Lewis and Jasper Oppa were here earlier.]
"It seems like Alistair Madgwick didn't deploy his men to protect the tower because there's no one to protect here anymore," Juri, with his hands on her waist, said while shaking her head. "It seems like they have already transported Lewis and Jasper Hawthorne to another place."
"They must have been brought to the Death Camp," Neoma said in an eerily calm voice that spooked even herself. "There must be at least one person in the tower who has teleportation skills. Moreover, they must have been strong, too. I can't imagine Lewis and Jasper Oppa getting caught together without putting up a fight."
Her daughter nodded in agreement. "That's true. Alistair Madgwick looks weak. But he won't be able to run the Black Market without the help of influential people. That bastard probably has an army of exceptional warriors, too."
That made sense.
But if that was the case, how did Jasper Hawthorne apprehend the Black Market in her first life? She wasn't underestimating the young duke. But did it have something to do with Jasper Oppa's age at the current timeline?
Was it because the young duke hasn't mastered his poisonous butterflies technique yet?
Curtis Smit's image suddenly flashed in her mind.
Ah, of course.
[The sudden appearance of the crows messed up the events in this timeline.]
"Rara, what should we do next?" Juri asked, distracting her from her thoughts. "I don't think we can handle this on our own anymore."
That was what she thought, too.
"Let's regroup with Jeno and Soju first," Neoma said, then she let out a frustrated sigh. "I wonder who Papa Boss sent as reinforcements."
***
"WHERE is Mona?" Nikolai snarled at Gavin. "If you're still alive, then she must be alive as well."
To be honest, he was curious as to how Gavin was able to come back to life.
But his head was only filled with thoughts about Mona, making his c.h.e.s.t tighten painfully. Was Mona still alive just like Gavin?
[And if she is, where could I find her?]
Gavin smirked bitterly. "Your Majesty, Neoma's life is in danger and yet, you're more concerned about Lady Roseheart?"
"Who gave you the right to call my daughter by her first name?" he confronted the traitor. "It's 'Princess Neoma' to you, Gavin Quinzel."
"I don't have time to talk to you, Your Majesty," his former commander said, then he turned his back on him. "I have nothing to say to you anyway."
"Did I give you permission to leave, Gavin Quinzel?"
Gavin suddenly stopped moving, and it was obvious that he couldn't take another step away from him.
Yes, it was his doing.
For the first time after a long while, he released more than half of his divine energy. He used it to put pressure on Gavin. Thus, preventing the traitor from moving.
But the bastard still looked unfazed.
In fact, the former commander even turned to him with a smug look on his face. To other people, it might look like an ordinary "charming" smile. But he knew Gavin, and he could see the arrogance that he could hide under his friendly demeanor.
"The last time I left, you also didn't give me the permission to do so," Gavin said in an annoying "playful" and mocking voice. "But were you able to stop me? You didn't, Your Majesty. Do you think I will listen to you this time?"
"The last time you disobeyed my order, you managed to stay alive," Nikolai said coldly, his bloodl.u.s.t now directed at Gavin Quinzel. "But this time, I'll kill you in a way that not even the Devil or the Fox's Marble could bring you back to life."
***
Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~
***
Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>
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