"!!!"
Xio choked, breathless. "That — that can't be true, can it?"
"Unfortunately, it's as true as it gets." Vincent spread his hands. "But I'm not the one doing any of this — it's the rest of the Aurora Order. That man you were told to track down, Lanevus — he's the vessel for the descent ritual. He's currently in MI9's custody."
"So you're saying MI9 wants to cooperate with the Aurora Order to bring an evil god down onto Backlund?"
"That's roughly the situation, but it's complicated — I'll explain the rest when there's time."
He paused, then added, meaningfully, "The only thing you really need to know is this: whether it's the human trafficking from before, or the evil-god catastrophe planned for next week — all of it is a scheme cooked up by the Loen royal family. By George III."
"..."
"All right. Just remember what I said — stay close to the church and keep your head down next week."
With that, Vincent stood and left the private room.
Xio sat there, her face scrunched up as she turned his words over, marveling at how mad and dangerous this world really was, and at her own ignorance — until, at a certain moment, her heart suddenly seized, her pupils shrinking.
"...All of this — George III's own scheme?"
Could that be... the truth behind Dad's sudden "rebellion" and execution?
...
After leaving the private room, Vincent headed straight for the card room Maric usually occupied. Thanks to Sharron and Maric having acted early to take out the Indulgence Faction's pursuers, the Bravehearts Bar "safehouse" hadn't been exposed.
The old man, Kaspars Kanlening, hadn't been killed by the Indulgence Faction either, and Sharron and Maric had stayed on there.
The moment Vincent pushed the door open, he found Maric playing Texas Hold'em against several zombies he was controlling. Seeing Vincent walk in, Maric froze for a second, then stood. "Your Majesty, Queen Mystic."
"Is Sharron here?"
Sharron, in her long black dress, shifted from insubstantial to solid. Her face was as pale as ever, betraying little emotion. "Good morning, Your Majesty. What can I do for you?"
Vincent got straight to the point. "Have you managed to reach your teacher?"
"We have."
Sharron wasn't surprised that Miss Natasha would already know about her teacher's situation — after all, "Lord of Chaos" was the very title she herself had given him. She continued, "I passed along the request from Lord of Chaos. She said... to wait a little longer."
Even though members of the Temperance Faction were trained to keep their emotions in check, Sharron couldn't quite hide her unease — this amounted to a veiled refusal, a refusal aimed at a god's own request.
Vincent smiled, unbothered. "You don't need to explain that to me. I'm just one of Lord of Chaos's believers, after all."
"The reason I came to see you today is actually that I'd like to make a deal with your teacher, Her Highness Renet. If you can bring her over, I'll speak with her directly. If not, I'll trouble you to pass the message along."
Sharron thought it over. "Please, go ahead."
"You've probably heard the news that's been going around Backlund lately — about the Loen Emperor wanting to use a ritual to ascend."
Sharron and Maric exchanged a glance, then nodded together.
"Unless something changes, sometime next week Backlund is going to become the center of what you could only call a disaster." Vincent spoke with a mix of truth and misdirection. "I'm under orders from Lord of Chaos to stop that disaster from happening. But I'm worried we might run into resistance at the Angel level — so I'm hoping Her Highness Renet could lend a hand when the time comes."
"In exchange, the next time your Indulgence Faction runs into trouble, I'll step in and help you deal with it." He added, "After this is over, I'll also be advancing to Sequence 2 — a full Sequence 2, at that. So this deal won't leave you shortchanged."
"!!!"
A flicker of shock crossed Maric's eyes. He and Sharron had known this mysterious queen was a demigod, but they hadn't realized she was just one step away from Angel-hood.
"I'll need to consult my teacher on this."
Sharron said quietly, "Her condition right now isn't great. She hasn't truly fallen, but in her current state as a Spirit World entity, she's far weaker than she used to be."
"All I need is for her to help hold things off a little, when the time comes."
"Understood. I'll pass it on to my teacher."
"All right, I'll head out then."
Once outside Bravehearts Bar, Bernadette spoke up in her mind:
"As far as I know, the Loen royal family has one Sequence 1 Angel and one Sequence 2 Angel. That leader of the Temperance Faction can hold off the Sequence 2 Angel at best. What about the other one?"
Vincent shook his head. "I don't think this incident will be enough to make Loen deploy their Sequence 1. Even the Sequence 2 Angel showing up in person seems unlikely. Asking Renet for help is just me covering my bases."
He paused, then explained, "For one thing, since they're already planning to pin this on the Witch cult and the Aurora Order, they're unlikely to risk getting their own people involved. For another, protecting George III and the royal tombs is a higher priority for those two Angels than anything else going on."
"Best case scenario, the Castia and Tamara families come charging in and tear into the Loen royal family so hard the whole thing turns into a dogfight — Angels, George III, the tombs, all of it dead or destroyed. That would make things a lot simpler."
But that clearly wasn't going to happen.
At the Sequence 1 level, no one is a fool — nobody throws their life away that easily.
...
Half an hour later, Vincent had just gotten back to his rented place when the temperature around him suddenly dropped, and a cold, bitter wind blew in out of nowhere.
Then, a translucent head slowly emerged from the Spirit World, as if breaking through a thin membrane — pale gold hair, smooth and glossy, eyes blood-red, features striking and elegant.
But what followed behind that striking head wasn't a neck — it was a translucent hand gripping the ends of her hair. Only once she'd fully stepped out of the Spirit World did it become clear: a headless woman in an elaborate, somber black dress, carrying four heads.
Little Miss Christmas Tree — Renet Tinicole.
Vincent gave a slight bow. "A pleasure to meet you, Your Highness Renet."
"Your..." "...deal..." "I accept..." "..."
The four heads in her hands spoke in turn, one after another, in Ancient Feysac — though since each sentence was so short, by the time it reached the fourth head there was nothing left to say. Still, it opened its mouth, moving its lips without making a sound.
There was something about it — a strange, eerie kind of "cuteness."
Vincent smiled. "You won't regret today's decision."
"I have..." "...one more..." "...request." "I'd like you..." "to help..." "my disciple Sharron..." "advance to..." "Sequence 4."
Renet got the whole string of words out in one go, then, after what looked like a brief rest, added, "Because if I..." "step in to help..." "it will use up..." "...stored power." "If Sharron and the others..." "run into danger again..." "I might not be able to act." "Only if she..." "advances to demigod..." "will she have..." "reasonably enough..." "means to protect herself."
The broken, halting phrases pieced together, with effort, into what she meant.
Vincent thought it over and asked, "How can I help with that?"
"Sharron already has..." "the materials for Sequence 4..." "but she's still missing..." "a mummy..." "to complete the ritual."
"So you want me to get her a mummy suitable for the ritual?"
"Yes..." "...that's right." "..." "..."
This time, it was the last two heads that just opened their mouths without making a sound at all.
To be continued…
Guys, do support me on Patreon; It helps me a lot!
Advance 100 Chapters are up on my Patreon!
pat reon.com/AlphaSenatus