Chapter -64: Cut Peace to Pieces

Following a long walk, Carmine made himself a log to sit on and rest up at the edge of Aquamoria. It would take a little bit for Darnia to arrive and he needed to make sure he was well-prepared physically and mentally.

His feet were sore and he was breaking into a small sweat, part of which Ividae helped wipe off using a leaf extending from the vine on his shoulder.

"Thanks." He said, patting the vine empathetically, making it shiver up next to his skin.

He then took a quick breath and hunched over, placing his thumb against his chin. He then went for the knife and gave it another look over.

Ividae's vine poked into view and shriveled up with drier colors.

Carmine put the knife out of view and then watched the colors return, upon which he asked, "I know. I'm putting my life at risk. But once Darnia arrives, I'll feel safer."

Ividae's vine rubbed up against his cheek and tickled a smile out of him, leading to him then chuckling as he remarked, "I wish I was closer to you right now. My wife and daughter are likely going to worry about me too."

"Can you send them a clue through the forest? Let them know I've left?"

The vine nodded and Carmine gestured fondly at it, "Thank you again."

He then took a moment to soak up the sun while the vine crawled around him, wiping the sweat off with the leaf.

"If this is a sign of things to come, should we expect problems to arise in the forest again?" Carmine muttered to himself, "It's been quiet since we foiled Glade's plans. I've probably been too accepting of that..."

The vine pointed directly at him and absorbed his comments with a droopy hang, "Somehow, he keeps hidden from your sight. Plotting, scheming..."

"I wish I could understand him in order to stop him, but he's simply...dreadful. I don't want to ever walk a step in his shoes and I feel pity for anyone whom he has inspired."

Ividae made up some leaves to rustle around with and Carmine put on a surprised face. He then curled his fingers into his palm to remark, "D-Do I...really sound more agitated when I talk about him?"

The leaves shriveled and the vine bobbed.

"...I never felt that way when I was younger," Carmine commented to himself, curling his lips into a soft smile, "If I never met Sarajin...never got to expand my world, I would be a relaxing, soft little flower nestled against your skin."

"It wouldn't have been a bad way to live. But...I'm glad I get to experience all these other feelings. I'm glad I get to go to other places, and make new friends."

He then looked at the vine and nodded softly, "Which is why we're going to protect them. So will you stay by my side, Ividae?"

The vine bobbed like never before, and Carmine patted it to stiffness.

Then, a few moments after, he looked up to see Darnia dropping out of the sky a few feet away.

He was a few gray hairs short of a full change of color and was starting to get up in his years in other places but the kind and weary look made him a trustworthy companion, and one whose opinion Carmine respected despite little interactions between them.

"I came as soon as I could." He said in his markedly gravelly baritone.

"Sorry if this is a bother for you." Carmine remarked as he rose from the log.

"Relax, I could use the activity these days," Darnia gave a mildly humored response, upon which his more serious nature surfaced, "So, tell me everything from the beginning."

The two sat together on the log and Carmine recounted the information he had gathered thus far.

It burdened Darnia with a heavy sigh and his wrinkles crested his forehead, both out of concentration and a mild degree of stress-induced concern.

"Of all the times for them to strike..." He whispered.

"Needless to say, we're the only ones who can solve this mystery now." Carmine pointed out.

After edging off the remainder of his concern, Darnia reached out and grabbed his shoulder with a gentle touch, looking deep into his eyes much as a father should, "We will. Count on it."

Once Darnia's hand retracted, Carmine asked, "Do you have any ideas to start us off?"

"Let me take a look at the knife." Darnia reached out and accepted the murder weapon from Carmine. He held it with expert care, the age of his contemplating expression reflecting off the bits of the blade that were not stained.

He then closed his eyes and remarked, "Let us start by eliminating the Sages who couldn't be responsible."

"Vermilion, obviously. She is the last person I'd consider...subtle." Carmine said with a mild, venomous jab.

"I don't think Nimus is responsible either. I've seen his weaponry in person. He wouldn't give a curved blade to an assassin," Darnia added, before shifting his body aside to whisper, "What do you think about...Atrax, as a possibility?"

Carmine bridged his fingers under his chin and murmured, "I think he's involved in this scheme, but the instigator? No. It's safe to assume he'll be a neutral party to us solving this mystery."

"So, reliable only so much as we don't ask him to help find out who did it." Darnia mumbled with mild discomfort being accepting of that fact.

"..." Carmine then squinted his eyes and the deepness of his gaze stirred Darnia's interest.

"There's one person I question the involvement of...Borealis."

"Hmmm, yes, I hadn't even considered him." Darnia admitted while stroking his beard.

"And why would we?" Carmine muttered, slowing down the pace of his voice as he came to a startling realization, "We need to step back a moment and think about what this murder has accomplished so far. It's increased hostilities between Pulsa Minoria and Oreore."

"It's an attempt to push the two Tribes towards an engagement on the battlefield." Darnia added.

"Or at the very least, make forging a relationship between them near impossible..." Carmine sat up and put his arms to rest at his sides, "I don't know, the more I think about this, the less I see it as something Borealis would attempt."

"Can you say that for certain, though?" Darnia remarked.

"I don't know, I've never met him."

"Neither have I..."

"The only one who has..."

"Is my son."

With a little bit of melancholy on their minds they turned to face one another, where Carmine gestured his hand out and remarked, "For the sake of this mystery we'll simply have to take Sarajin's opinion of the man as absolute fact."

"I agree," Darnia nodded, "But this can help us further narrow down our options."

"Oh?" Carmine rose with positivity.

"Consider WHO would have the most to gain from deepening the blood feud between Pulsa Minoria and Oreore."

Carmine immediately jumped to an idea, "Then let us forget about Adderbolt and Carolina."

"The Electric Sage I can understand, but why the Ice Sage?" Darnia said, more gently urging for answers than frustrated with his confusion.

"Though she's mostly an enigma to us, she's never been spotted outside of her domain. Not to mention the knives of Cryofloe have a distinct frosty sheen to them."

"Hmmm..." Darnia raised the weapon and flicked the side of the blade, causing it to make a metallic ringing sound instead of a crystallic one.

"This doesn't necessarily eliminate her as a suspect..."

"But we can lower her as a priority." Carmine remarked, the two reaching a mutual agreement on that front.

Darnia then said, "That leaves Torren, Glade, Lilith and Stonestein."

Hearing the name of the one who has troubled his home the most becoming ever closer to this murder filled Carmine's heart with dread. So he put his focus elsewhere for the time being...

"Stonestein...If there is any among the Sages who is the most enigmatic, it's him. We can at least put activity to Carolina and motive to Borealis. For all the years we've tangled with the Sages, we've barely learned anything about Stonestein."

"He could be a potential suspect, but I have my doubts and here's why...Ezekiel said it himself, a knife isn't the common tool of an Oreoreian," Darnia then waved his fingers in front of Carmine's face while proposing a question to be either answered or, for the better, lead them to a conclusion, "Why would someone stationed in Oreore supply an assassin with an easily disproved connection?"

There was a long pause between the two where they stepped back to rethink their argument. Upon which Carmine's eyes slowly rose with a dawning realization while Darnia itched the side of his face with a mild look of irritation.

"Wait...I am a fool, what am I thinking?"

"You realized it too..." Carmine sat up and took the murder weapon from Darnia's grasp, presenting it towards his face, "We weren't meant to be in possession of this."

"Exactly..." Darnia grumbled and then snapped his fingers in frustration, "I almost fell victim to the same trick the mastermind is attempting to pull over Valic..."

Carmine stared at the knife with a hint of scorn, "A steel blade, their best mind slain, an easy motive for murder. That's all that would have been needed to escalate the conflict between them."

Carmine then saw Valic and an imagined dead body in the reflection of the knife, "But Valic lived, and with it...so did the evidence."

"So our mastermind is careless. Sloppy even." Darnia said with a damning tone.

"Or maybe it's only the assassin who was careless," Carmine remarked, "Either option doesn't strike me as something Glade would allow. He's meticulous, cunning, patient...A snake, waiting to snap a bite of flesh from the grass."

Which then led to him squeezing his eyes shut with his mind straining to pursue the next line of thought.

He stood up, adhering the knife to his hip with a vine before gesturing to Darnia, who stood up as well, "I...want to go into Aquamoria and confirm something before we continue this discussion."

With a sigh that weighed on his shoulders Darnia reached out to him with a hint of sympathy pain in his voice, "I think...I understand."

It was a short walk for them to get to the village from where they were. Carmine took shelter under the usual palm leaf while Darnia was content to summon a light amount of cold air around himself.

There was only one person they needed to see and they hoped to keep the meeting brief, a hard task if there ever was one.

And they couldn't immediately find him in the main part of the village so they tried directing their attention towards the docks.

The docks were looking a lot more compact these days as the creation of boats was leading to voyages out to sea on the regular and so the unneeded wood went to making more boats.

But the dock still serves its purpose proudly for the fishermen starting at the basics. Carmine felt a slight urge to try fishing again some other day.

The two kept looking around close to the docks until they finally caught someone rowing in, a group of two as a matter of fact.

It was Brine and his daughter Tina, now five years old and more than capable of keeping pace alongside her father with her small, peppy legs.

She was carrying a bucket full of strange, needle wrapped orbs drenched in salty water while Brine was dragging a long, slimy eel behind his back.

The two's grinning celebration was spoiled by the dour mood their company had.

It was like the two had just come off a funeral and Brine had zero reason to suspect that their expressions had anything to do with him, thus approached them with his normal friendly attitude, "Oy chum, and sir...What brings ya around these parts?"

Tina ran past her father, her bucket of catches rattling before her legs, "Uncle Carmine!"

Carmine couldn't give anything less than his best smile to this sweet young girl, "You're looking as healthy as ever, Tina. Oh? And what have you caught today?"

"Heh heh," She grinned with a tooth missing, then shook the bucket at his face, "A whole lotta spiky things!"

"That's great. And what will you do with them?" He said in a sing-song tone.

Tina smiled sheepishly and tucked her head between her shoulders as she whispered, "Don't poke my fingers..."

Carmine rustled her hair and she giggled.

Meanwhile, Darnia smiled and felt some comfort putting his attention towards Brine as he asked, "I hope you're not too busy?"

"N-No, not at all. Just got back. Ya need me for something? Some sorta...Genesis Samurai business?" He was randomly throwing out ideas, sounding eager to be involved.

"You could say that..." Darnia said, a little overwhelmed by his enthusiasm.

Brine then read the mood deeper and quickly nudged his head in his daughter's direction, "Hey sweetie, take yer bucket back home. I'll be with ya in a few, ok?"

"Ok!" Tina then sprang up high enough to kiss her daddy on the cheek, stumbling on landing but immediately running along like a fish atop the water, "I had fun today, daddy!"

"Heh, that girl..." Brine's fond smile turned to a more neutral, fish-eyed look towards his comrades, "Sorry, go on."

Carmine hummed internally, the hesitation pressing against his mouth until Brine was prodding it out of him, "Seriously, what's up? I don't like this quiet tone yer takin', chum."

Carmine's eyes closed and he held his hand aloft, "No, I don't either. Sorry..."

Darnia put his hands behind his back and murmured, "We should take this elsewhere. It would at least delay the risk of his daughter coming back to us."

Brine's brow rose with suspicion but he kept a neutral look as they left the docks and went further down the shoreline, away from most of the populace.

At that point Carmine reached down and took the knife out into view. Brine turned around just in time to have it put before his face with all it's sharp, blood-caked disgust present.

"Eaugh...! What the..." The colors on Brine's face churned and then he bit his teeth down, drawing his hand towards the knife. He then sharply retracted it and squeezed his fingers into his palm.

"H-Holy mackerel."

Darnia firmed his gaze and then began to take his more authoritative tone, "I'll keep it brief Brine, is this type of blade common in Aquamoria?"

"N-Not at all mate...!" After Brine composed himself with a few pants he remarked, "Errr, lemme try that again. We wouldn't be caught dead with such a clumsy lookin' tool!"

"Oh?" Carmine murmured.

Brine motioned his finger in the air to imitate the blade's shape, "A hook's for catchin' fish, not cutting it!"

"Ok no wait, hol' up! Can ya explain what yer doin' with that in the first place?!" He demanded, flailing his hands about.

"There was a murder in Pulsa Minoria." Carmine said, holding nothing back in the severity of his words.

Brine, however, took this information with his eyes fluttering in confusion, "I mean...ain't that normal? We're still in a war...right?"

Darnia shook his head, "This was no mere killing, it was an assassination, meant to be done in secret."

"W-What...? Someone's starting to take people out in secret? Well?! Who was the victim?!"

"A scientist. But the intended target was Valic." Carmine said.

"The guy Sarajin's mum tried to recruit to our group? He a...big deal or somethin'?" Brine said, trying his best to follow along.

"Sarajin says he's the smartest man in the city." Carmine remarked.

"So yes," Brine was beginning to get it only to regress quickly into confusion, "B-But wait, what's this hafta do with my home?"

Darnia furrowed his brows and sighed, "To make a long story short, we've determined that one of the Ten Sages is behind the assassination attempt, and are trying to narrow down our remaining options."

Brine's eyes were slowly changing over time. First he was confused, then dismissive, before outright looking towards Carmine with scorn.

"Ya suspect Torren, don'tcha?" He said in a barely audible voice, muffled with disappointment.

Carmine couldn't muster up a response, leaving his friend to stew in his anger. A few grumbles strained out between his teeth, until he just couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Ya know...Yeah, Torren chose her side. And I ain't happy about that! But her eyes never lied to me...so I know DAMN well she couldn't bring herself to hurt a trout let alone a living person!"

Carmine promptly interrupted him with a smile and a brief puff of relief through his nose, "It would have concerned me if you believed us."

Brine eased up but looked the most confused he had thus far. Left with his mouth agape and a tenuous grip on his prior anger, he proceeded to rub the back of his head and mutter, "So ya don't think she did it?"

"That's what I was hoping for anyways." Carmine admitted.

Darnia, however, had his own thoughts to bring to light, "Once we pegged the murder as sloppy, she was the first culprit who came to mind for me, given your description of her."

Though he was blunt, he minialized the damage to their relationship by adding on with a sigh, "But if the make of the knife doesn't match any in Aquamoria, then I can't possibly see how she'd be involved."

"Whew..." Brine slumped over and put on a happy face, "Ya really had me goin' for a moment there, that wasn't very nice at all chum!"

"Sorry..." Carmine remarked.

"Ah, water under the docks," With a brush of his hand Brine then tucked his arms against his chest and remarked, "So whose that leave ya with?"

"Glade and Lilith." Carmine remarked.

"With potential suspicions raised towards Stonestein and Carolina." Darnia added.

"That snake again?!" Brine shouted, "What's the eel that crawled up his ass and made him such an unpleasant lout?"

"You sound like your teacher." Carmine said with some jest.

"Well ya could stand to raise yer voice a little too, chum! I mean good grief, he's causing trouble for ya again!"

"Admittedly, this doesn't really concern me directly..." Carmine said, briefly scratching the side of his head, "The mastermind is trying to make Oreore and Pulsa Minoria fight each other. I just happened to be chosen to solve the mystery."

"Well, with two of the brightest minds on our team at it, that snake oughta go cowering in the depths of the briney blue if he knows what's good for 'im! But enough spittin' venom, I wanna help out as much as I can!"

"I-I appreciate the enthusiasm but I can't imagine how you can assist." Carmine said.

"Eh, lemme take a look at that knife," Brine snatched it out of his hand without hesitation and turned it around before his face. He immediately paused to hold it down and look at his comrades with bewilderment, "Ya know, it'd probably help if ya cleaned the blood off it."

Carmine and Darnia's eyes froze with flat looks at one another. Darnia raised a fist to his mouth and let out a couple dry coughs, "S-So we would. Please, if you would, Brine."

Brine bent down to the sea and one quick soak later the blood was cleaned right off, leaving a perfectly shiny blade and handle...In fact it was too clean, the sun was being fired off the blade and nearly blinded Carmine.

Ividae put the leaf down before his face and Brine chuckled, "Ooops, sorry chum."

Brine handed the knife back over to Darnia, who could overlook it with a new perspective.

"Hmmm...I thought we'd uncover some new clue. Perhaps an etching in the handle..." He then held it out atop his palm to let his comrades have a chance to try and see what secrets it held.

Brine quickly gave up and remarked, "Looks like a fancy knife to me."

Carmine, however, glared harder and harder, putting every ounce of focus he could muster until he drowned out all other sounds but his thoughts and voice.

"The handle..." He muttered.

It had a clean wood finish like most knives tended to, even across the other Tribes. But what was different was that there were two thin lines indented into the wood. And what filled it...was a metallic gloss that was lighter in color than bronze, but had a clean reflection like silver.

"What is this...?"

Ividae sprang to attention, prompting Carmine to echo his revelation, "Gold...?"

"What did you say?" Darnia's inquiry forced his return to reality.

Carmine raised his head and pointed at the vine on his shoulder, "Ividae claims there's...gold in the knife's handle."

Darnia's eyes blinked twice and then he seemed...happier all of a sudden, "Then...this knife couldn't possibly have been made in Oreore."

"Gold is the rarest metal that can be found in Oreore, almost a myth to be precise. If a miner came in possession of it, they wouldn't waste it forging it into something as banal as a knife, let alone use it to commit murder."

The theory seemed sound, especially with a Titan backing up the discovery.

However...

"If the gold couldn't have come from Oreore, then where?" Asked Carmine.

Darnia groaned with thought, "I lean towards Borealis again. His Drive could have the ability to create gold."

"But again, logic dictates that he wouldn't be involved in this." Carmine pointed out.

"Ya sure about that, chum? Sounds like that guy's had it out for us for a while now." Brine added.

"Sarajin trusts him enough, so I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on this murder."

"Yeah but Sarajin's been wrong before..." Brine hated to admit.

"Hrrmmm..." Darnia built up to his next remark, and delivered it with a dabble of curiosity, "There was something my son said about the man a few years back that puzzled me. I was struggling to remember it until now..."

"He said that Borealis seemed almost...ignorant to the actions of his other Sages."

Brine crossed his arms and murmured, "But...he's the one given 'em orders, ain't he?"

"They do defer to his leadership, yes, but that doesn't necessarily mean everyone is obedient to his will." Darnia said with an ominous vibe to his voice.

"Hmmm..." Carmine started thinking, and then gestured his hand out with a look out of the corner of his eye that suggested he was coming up with an idea, "You're suggesting that one of the Ten Sages is chasing their own agenda?"

"I am only throwing out the possibility. How else could you explain a murder that goes against Borealis' ideals?"

"But if that were to be the case, then wouldn't the culprit have to be someone who is very close to Borealis?" Carmine asked.

"Who'd that be?" Brine chimed in.

"I...don't know actually." Darnia was forced to admit.

"Well we gotta figure this out somehow! If they can get away with killin' once, they'll do it again!"

"I get your concern, Brine, but without enough clues we can't determine the identity of the assassin let alone it's master."

As the two trailed off into their own miniature debate, Carmine was sinking deeper into his own thoughts while Ividae's vine watched on with worry.

"It's been quiet since we foiled Glade's plans. I've probably been too accepting of that..."

"Can you say that for certain, though?"

"We weren't meant to be in possession of this."

"I almost fell victim to the same trick the mastermind is attempting to pull over Valic..."

"Admittedly, this doesn't really concern me directly...The mastermind is trying to make Oreore and Pulsa Minoria fight each other. I just happened to be chosen to solve the mystery."

"Well we gotta figure this out somehow! If they can get away with killin' once, they'll do it again!"

"But the question remains...Which Sage is responsible? Figure that out...and all other questions in this mystery shall fall into place."

Carmine's skin felt cold and with his mouth hung open with a stutter he wondered aloud, "Why...why was I chosen?"

Darnia caught him out of the corner of his eyes and faced him with an eye full of concern.

Then Brine did the same and uttered a remark of, "Hey, ya doin' ok, chum?"

Carmine squeezed his eyes shut and gulped, then stood tall and waved his hand out, holding up his face with a smile, "I think we can handle this mystery on our own from here."

"Huh? You got an idea?" Brine wondered.

Carmine paused for a moment then mustered up a tone of certainty, "...Yes."

"Well why do I gotta be cut out of the answer? C'mon, tell me! I'll help out!"

Carmine smiled at his friend's enthusiasm and so it felt all the more heart wrenching to tell him, "I appreciate the offer, but this really isn't your problem to solve. Besides, aren't you keeping your daughter waiting?"

"But-"

"I'll be fine, Brine...leaf it to us." Carmine said, giving a quick wink.

Brine sighed in a humored tone and then rubbed the back of his head, "Still need some work, mate. Fine. Alright. I'll leave the mystery solvin' in capable hands. Just tell me who did it when you're done, ok?"

"Of course."

Carmine then watched Brine run off elsewhere, leaving Darnia to address the shift in mood.

"You've figured it out." He remarked quietly.

"...This whole mystery has been about misdirecting us with the clues presented. In fact, my assumption could be another misdirection at least...I hope that's the case." Carmine started to mumble near the end.

"Lets start from the top," Carmine began making his theory known, "The murder. We assumed that we weren't intended to get the evidence of a killer...What if we were?"

"But the killer was targeting Valic. The only reason aggression was aimed at Oreore was because he lived and another died." Darnia pointed out.

"That's not true," Carmine hastily said, "Valic is an important figure in Pulsa Minoria society. THE...most important person in fact. Someone else would have targeted Oreore in vengeance, whether alone or in numbers. A scientist who looked up to him, the person who died in his place, the leader Rai perhaps."

"...Hence why Atrax was positioned where he was. A person leaving Pulsa Minoria to seek vengeance was to be his signal to move." His tone began to weigh more on the heavier side as he dipped deeper into this theory.

Darnia rubbed his chin, "Move for what end though?"

His gaze began to hollow out and with his mouth partially held agape he began to stare towards Carmine, who closed his eyes with a somber air surrounding him.

Carmine took a deep breath to steady himself, and then gestured his hand from his hip, "...Why was I chosen to solve this mystery? It was the question I asked myself when we started to reach a dead end."

He then looked out towards the sea, where the sun's reflection showed it was starting to set, and the skies changed color to reflect that ominous fact.

"What is Valic's place in all this...? We've been looking at him as just an important figure in his society, and definitely, that's part of why he was targeted. But also..."

"He is an ally of Sarajin's."

Darnia's heart stuttered, and with a discordant tone in his voice he muttered, "You're the next target..."

Carmine peered open part way and then turned to embrace the twilight of the sea, "The timing, the choices made by our mastermind, even the people involved...It was all a deliberate set of moves to get me out into the open, where I'd become too distracted by contradictions pulling me in multiple directions until ultimately...I'd be vulnerable to the assassin's blades."

"...I'm positive now that Glade is involved in this somehow, no..." Carmine turned around to look at Darnia with his final conclusion, "That multiple Sages are working together to undermine Borealis Aurora's authority...and seek the escalation of war for their own ends."

"So now that leaves one question left...Who is their leader? If we consider Glade a pawn in this scheme, that can only leave our two major suspects...Lilith and Stonestein."

With a heavy heart Darnia's tone was urgent in his mission, "What are we supposed to do now? Your life will end today, either at the assassin's hands or at the mercy of Valic's vengeance driven heart."

Carmine hung his head, comforted by the concern of his comrade and the touch of the vine of his friend against his cheek.

And here, he still felt a glimmer of hope at the end of this road...

"Our mastermind is careful, calculating. They knew how to manipulate all these elements to reach their end goal. But they made two mistakes, and that is our chance to avert my demise..."

"One..." Carmine raised a finger alongside his head, "Atrax isn't as fully committed to their cause as they believe. And two, because of that...I was able to bring you into the equation. Darnia Stratos...the rogue element that will unravel this whole mystery and reveal the identity of our culprit."

With a dry sense of humor Darnia admitted, "So I am to be an unexpected thorn in their side, much like my son? Hah..."

He then smiled, "I'll do whatever I can. I defer to your wisdom, Carmine Rose."

"Good, because you may not like my plan..." Carmine tucked his hands behind his back and spoke with bravery enforcing his demeanor, "We need to give the assassin exactly what they want."

A few minutes later, Carmine was walking back alone in the direction of Oreore, out in the open as the sun was close to setting over the horizon.

The vine on his shoulder was shriveling up and he reached out to pat it, "I know you're worried, Ividae. But it'll be fine. With this evidence we've gathered it should be more than enough to expose the mastermind behind this murder."

"All we have to do is make it back safe and sound." He said, knowingly tempting fate as he walked under the shadow of a rock structure.

Atop said structure was a silhouette draped in a cloak that absorbed the twilight sun, and blended them against the sky.

They dropped from up high with twin crescent knives sliding out from beneath their cloak. In an instant, they would swoop by Carmine and with any luck, take his head with them.

Carmine, however, suddenly paused in place and glanced in the cloaked figure's direction.

"Now...!" He shouted.

Darnia erupted out of the ground beside him with his scythe drawn at the ready and his laser-focused gaze locked on the incoming assassin.

He took one swing and unleashed a gale that blew them away into the side of the rock, throwing cracks halfway up the structure.

The assassin quickly fell to the ground and without pause, hunched down and sprinted after them like the wind. Their face was covered by a round mask with hollow black eyes and reddish creases that went from the bottom of the eyes to the cheeks, giving it a demonic resemblance.

At the base of their cloak were a new pair of the exact weapons that were responsible for the murder in Pulsa Minoria, now poised to take their lives as well.

Any other features were unable to be captured as their movements were like a streak of silver emanating off their cloak.

Darnia landed and braced his scythe, while Carmine held his hand high ready to offer his support.

"Stand your ground, Carmine, here they come!"

Their assassin lunged through the air, fearless and unaffected by pain, as their resolve was sharpened by their drive to kill.

Time was running out...

And this battle would decide who would live or who would die...

Next Time: The Silver Shroud