Old chapter 51.

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The Thirty-Seventh Testament

- The Disciples of Adam -

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They arrived suddenly, and in silence at that, to the outskirts of the location to which Road – in the guise of a small ragdoll – had led them.

As far as the shape was concerned, Allen had opted not to pry into the matter, seeing that he had other things to focus upon; planning his next move or something to the like, all whilst relishing the fact that he was no longer sharing the immediate company of Wisely. However, the latter would no doubt be turning up far too soon, along with other members of the family that did not have anywhere else to be once they had accomplished their respective assignments.

Before that though – before it all came down – there was still time and it was time that he was meant to do as had been agreed upon. Thus, with Road's doll seated upon his shoulder, he stood a step or two behind the Earl as the latter worked his way into the barrier surrounding the area which housed what Road had referred to as the "Alma Karma" – whatever that was – whilst the Earl had commented something to the nature that they – presumably the Order – had to be excited to have visitors, considering the welcoming committee of golems fluttering about like a colony of mechanical bats.

Allen himself on the other hand rather supposed that the people of the Order were agitated – or for that matter frantic – as they were faced with a party that was largely unknown to them, seeing to the fact that the Earl had yet to don his inhuman disguise, that Road was a ragdoll and that Allen was wearing a hood. Then again, with the golems fluttering about from most angles and no doubt relaying their recorded info to those housed in the black pyramid-shaped building that lay a bit further off – halfway hidden in a canyon, surrounded by large pillars – it was only a question of time before they would be re-categorised from an unknown threat to a known and indeed terrible one. After all, once the Earl turned up, good things rarely followed.

Then again, what was good and what was not was largely a matter of perspective. As far as the Order was concerned though, the Earl's presence would not be one of comfort; neither would Allen's own, or at least so he supposed, because in their minds he doubted that his potential for becoming an ally had ever exceeded that of him being a threat to them.

Then again, since he was there now, at least bodily siding with the Earl, one could hardly fault them for having drawn such conclusions; his potential as a do-gooder had always been significantly lesser compared to that of him being if not an outright harmful presence immediately, then definitely in the longer term.

After all, the latter as well as the former had by all means already been proven, and multiple times over at that. After all, he was…

He snapped his head up as something in the air crackled, signalling that there was something afoot. "They're attacking," he uttered softly, though this fact had hardly escaped the notice of his companions.

That they are, the Earl calmly imposed, reaching up to adjust his top hat before putting his hand out, gloved fingertips brushing lightly against the back of Allen's shoulders before a whole arm was laid across them, half-guiding and half-dragging him and by default also Road closer until he was by all means pressed up against the man's side, trapped there by the arm that remained firmly wrapped around his shoulders.

Moments later, beams of light assaulted them from above but impacted harmlessly against the Earl's own shields where he stood, not appearing strained in the very least as he instead lifted his cane from the ground and pointed it towards the tower from which the attacks had been launched, acting as much as a conductor as he did a general for the army of Level Fours that had manifested behind them.

As chaos erupted and the Earl's outer shell began to form around them, Allen felt a flutter of something in his chest; rebellion at being practically manhandled, perhaps? It hardly mattered which however, as the defences were swiftly overwhelmed and brought down, at which point the Earl had already loosened his grip on him before completely turning him loose.

Even so, Allen refrained from putting much distance between them, knowing that such an act would probably set the other off.

The Earl – once again having taken on his regular grinning appearance – seemed rather pleased with this, but said very little as they made their way inside by foot, strolling down at a brisk but by no means hurried pace up until one last staircase leading downwards, where the Earl's walk slowed to a more sedate pace and Allen – following with Road once more – followed suit.

Descending the stairs, Allen caught sight of a bunch of researchers lined up neatly against the wall, in the middle of choking themselves from the looks of it – Sheryl's work, no doubt. He spared them a momentary glance, but made no face or comment at their obvious plight. Instead, he picked up his pace ever so slightly so that he was now merely half a step behind the Earl as they reached the end of the corridor where it opened up into a large chamber.

"Ah, good evening!" the Earl greeted them all, acknowledging the members of the Noah family that were present – Sheryl; Wisely – before strolling up towards the hostages neatly lined up against the wall with their arms stretched out from their sides, both terrified and angered from what Allen could spot from a slight bit of distance. "I was in the mood to take a stroll; I hope that we didn't keep you all waiting for too long…"

Having greeted what was presumably the more valuable of the hostages, the Earl then turned anew, eyes no doubt falling upon Allen where he had remained. "Come now, dear child," the Earl scolded. "Need I renew my invite to come stay here at my side? From over there, you won't see a thing."

From the way in which both Sheryl and Wisely turned their heads to leer at him, Allen supposed that they were under the impression that he ought to feel indignation at being addressed in such a matter.

His younger self – Red – would no doubt have bristled, and perhaps even resorted to acts of violence should he perceive there to be such a need. Allen himself on the other hand – though a tad irritated – reached up to pull his hood down, and act which elicited looks of even greater alarm on the faces of the hostages. Then, Allen proceeded to cross the distance between himself and the Earl, but not before pausing briefly to let down the pintsized Road, for the latter to marvel at the still body lying on the floor and being guarded by Wisely.

Kanda Yu, Allen noted absentmindedly as he spared it a momentary glance before once again reclaiming his spot at the Earl's side, not even acknowledging Sheryl who in turn gave him a short look harbouring no warm sentiments besides those of burning resentment and then proceeded to look away and to cross, uncross and then re-cross his legs where he was seated upon something that looked remarkably much like a casket; one that Sheryl himself would probably take a great deal of joy in filling with Allen's mutilated remains, should such an opportunity present itself.

Judging from the way in which Wisely momentarily broke off his conversation with Road to snort with seeming amusement, the former had no doubt caught onto at least a fraction of the thoughts passing through Allen's head.

"That's right," the mind reader uttered out loud, confirming his suspicions.

Though sincerely tempted to ignore the other's obvious breach of privacy, Allen did turn around partially, eyes flickering to rest briefly upon the still body on the floor once more before finally levelling upon Wisely who looked rather pleased with himself. "Is that so?" Allen finally drawled, turning around fully. "I'd personally say that you went a bit overboard on this one, crushing his skull and all."

Momentarily, Wisely looked stumped. However, knowing well to what he was referring, the other swiftly caught onto the new direction and played along, a hint of curiosity flickering in their eyes before disappearing into amber depths as the other shrugged their shoulders slightly. "Nah, he looked too troublesome to deal with… 'sides, he's a Second; they're not that easy to kill."

Whatever this Second thing truly entailed, it did cause a startle amongst those still paralysed and lined up neatly against the wall.

"That's right, master," a smiling Wisely intoned anew and with a gesture added for the sake of drama, addressing one of the hostages this time around before seemingly addressing the lot of them. "You lot ought to know what happens when one meddles with that which ought not to be meddled with… and the result of said meddling… what the Black Order detests the most."

Allen shot a brief glance in direction of the hostages before following their horrified gazes to Kanda Yu where he lay, and only then really took note of the disfigured face that appeared to be floating there beneath, in the tank on top of which they were apparently standing.

"You will be killed by a monster of your own creation," Wisely went on to claim. "Alma is sealed, but… how's this one then?"

Before him, Kanda Yu stirred and heaved himself partially off of the glass; just enough to stare down at the face beneath them, likely a bit disoriented but with a rapidly growing amount of clarity as whatever damage Wisely had dealt him had seemingly healed.

For whichever reason, the Earl appeared thoroughly pleased with such a turn of events. Pleased? No, that was a bit of an understatement; ecstatic even. However, before the madman had managed to make even more of a fool of himself, a gleeful Sheryl intervened, telling the man to wait. "Aren't we still waiting for a guest?" he then persisted. "After all, we-…"

A gate to the Ark appeared as he spoke, admitting an unknown male to the scene wearing a smile and a white branch leader coat and carrying a struggling child on his arm.

One of the still paralysed hostages apparently managed to partially break the imposed paralysis, seeing that they managed to voice their disbelief out loud rather than merely inwardly. "Branch Leader Nansen?! What are you-…?!"

The struggling child – none other than Timothy Hearst – was promptly deposited in front of the Earl, whilst the still smiling countenance of Andrew Nansen turned to face the hostages – some of whom were fellow branch leaders, other of whom were not.

"My, my," he finally said, aloof as he shifted his focus towards an utterly displeased-looking guy who looked ready to kill. "Inspector Lvellie, even in this kind of situation, you are really as intense as ever…"

This Lvellie guy looked – if possible – even more displeased then.

Timothy on the other hand seemed a tad disoriented, though he appeared far more incensed than scared as the Earl stared down at him with a mixture of obvious distaste and seeming curiosity. Then, with frightening speed and accuracy, the brat shifted his attention straight towards Allen where he stood, torn between so many things happening at once, all of them seemingly worth his attention.

Kanda Yu – still not quite over having had his head bashed in – still appeared to be staring down in disbelief at the face beneath them.

Lulubell shed her disguise and odd mannerisms, bowing her head before the Earl who praised her for a mission well accomplished.

Timothy Hearst stared up at his greatest foe in open defiance.

Sheryl smirked.

The Earl grinned.

Allen took a step forward.

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