Alaric was sitting beside Tylor.
Tylor had arrived ten minutes ago at Alaric's house. If someone knew the real Alaric partially, it was only Tylor Vanevold.
Tylor leaned forward. "The reason I am here for is very important for both of us."
Alaric raised his brow. "and how?"
Tylor leaned back.
"I told you once that what you want is what I want....you want Volt dead and i want something related to that. You also know about Lunar eclipse is approaching....so Ascilis and Volt will definitely announce it publicly and that's your only chance to kill him without waiting for Lunar eclipse."
Alaric chuckled. "You expect me to kill Volt...when it's been max to max twenty days since i have become arcanist. I don't even know...how and when to use the basic four things you told me."
Tylor narrowed his eyes. "Experience....These are things you can't learn just by sitting in your estate."
"If I wanted if would have attacked Volt way before....and I would have died , and if i attack him now I will still die and most importantly...it's not good to use me to complete your agenda."
"And you expect that you will be ready in five days when Lunar eclipse will come?"
Alaric stood up. "Maybe."
Tylor immediately stood up, following Alaric. "It's not time for this things...if we can't win then we should atleast try."
Alaric stretched out his finger and pointed at him. "Not we..it's always me."
Tylor made a scratch on his hand. A drop of blood came out from the scratch. And instantly, Tylor was pointing an arrow made of reddish-black particles at Alaric.
"It's always you...but sometimes it can me also."
First inhale.
Alaric walked toward Tylor slowly. "You need to understand....I'm not at that level."
First exhale.
Second inhale.
Alaric continued. "If I go...I will only die."
Second exhale.
Third inhale.
Tylor answered, "and if you don't do it now...then you will certainly die during Lunar eclipse."
Third and final exhale.
The purplish particles started to materialize into the same weightless, perfect blade.
Singularity.
It was then Alaric noticed there was a long sword made of reddish-black particles resting in Tylor's free hand.
"Do u really want to fight?"
"No." Alaric answered, knowing the truth.
They both simultaneously dropped their Lumen Siphon. The arrow vanished like it had never existed.
The heavy silence of the bedroom returned, the invisible particles of their dropped weapons still faintly vibrating in the air.
Tylor let out a long, controlled breath, his aggressive posture fading as he smoothly adjusted his cuffs.
"This is the only path forward, Alaric," Tylor said, his voice dropping the confrontational edge and adopting a calm, reasonable tone.
"You are looking at this like a standard market trade where you lack the capital. I am telling you, this layout is the absolute best advantage you will ever get. Volt is exposed, the crown is distracted, and you have the blade to do it."
Alaric stood perfectly still, his eyes narrowing through his messy black hair.
"Don't lecture me on market layouts, Tylor. You talk about advantage, but all I see is you placing a high-risk wager using my life as your currency.I deny it.I am not stepping onto that stage until my own variables are calculated."
Tylor stared at him for a long moment, the silence stretching between them until a dry, hollow chuckle escaped the Arcanist's lips.
He leaned against the mahogany desk, crossing his arms.
"Fine," Tylor whispered, his expression turning cold, stripping away the layer of friendly peerage entirely.
"If you won't move for your own vengeance, then let's look at the real ledger. You think this is just about a petty grudge against a noble who pulled some merchant strings?"
Alaric didn't answer, maintaining his unyielding gaze.
"My reason to kill Volt is not to kill Volt," Tylor revealed, his voice dropping to a sharp whisper that seemed to chill the room.
"Volt is just the gatekeeper. The true target is Ascilis. If Volt falls during the announcement, the Crown's administrative hold on this sector fractures entirely. And when Ascilis stumbles, my father the Lord Regent can finally step across the border."
"He will have absolute control over the entirety of the Valthokar Kingdom, not just the frozen wastes of the Northern Sector."
Tylor stepped closer, his eyes gleaming with a calculated, manipulative intensity as he reached out a hand.
"Think about it, Alaric. Under the Lord Regent's new architecture, a man of your caliber won't just be a high-tier merchant hidden in the Western docks. You will be an architect of the new economy. You will have everything restored, ten times over.We can balance every single debt together."
The words were perfectly tailored, designed to play on a broken man's desire for security, power, and ultimate validation. It was a beautiful piece of theater.
But Alaric's brown eyes remained entirely deadpan.
His knuckles didn't twitch, and his pulse didn't elevate.
He had spent his entire life listening to ambitious men dress up their greed as a grand vision.
Tylor's words didn't manipulate him in the slightest, they merely exposed the underlying transaction.
"A beautifully written prospectus, Tylor," Alaric said nonchalantly, his voice completely flat as he turned his back on the Arcanist.
"But I don't buy shares in other men's empires. Your father's ambition is your own weight to carry, not mine."
Tylor's face tightened, realizing his grand rhetoric had completely failed to penetrate Alaric's armor.
"However," Alaric continued, adjusting the lapels of his suit as he looked out the frosted window toward the brewing storm of the coming days.
"The parameters still align. You want the Crown to stumble, and I want Volt thoroughly liquidated. I don't care about your Lord Regent, but if i fail...it doesn't matter and after Lunar ecplise you will do one thing that i will ask for."
Tylor relaxed slightly, a sharp, grim smile returning to his face.
"As long as the ledger balances in the end, Mr. Xyle. Five days."
The ledger can never be balanced.
Alaric stood up. "If you want to do that....then it's time to get some conduit medicines."