Chapter 80: Everything is Changing.
"Claude… Normann…? How…. Why…?" I murmured… completely in disbelief as I beheld the form of the handsome young man, Claude Normann, wearing Necromancer's robes. His skull mask lied in the ground, no longer concealing his identity.
I don't understand. From the information I collected since before my encounter with him as Don Jon, Claude was supposed to be Lord Necromancer's enemy. Lord Necromancer did kidnap his sister a long time ago though she managed to escape. So why is he and Lord Necromancer the same person? This doesn't make any sense!
"…" he didn't answer my questions, still on his knees before me. His young… and handsome face is pale and strained, enduring the pain from my mother's attack. So vulnerable. So weak…
This is so confusing… but this is my chance… he's vulnerable and weak. I could probably kill him before his undead minions surrounding us could react. I need only brandish my fan and…
Instead of brandishing my weapon, I offered him my hand.
He stared at my hand for a few second before he finally decided to take it. I helped him stand back up but his body is still too weak and, as a result, his body fell towards me. I caught him in my arms, unintentionally hugging him. I heard his labored breath in my ears.
"Why? Why did you become Necromancer?" I asked again. He took a few seconds to reply.
"Because… I had no choice… but to follow the path I've doomed myself upon…" He replied with a whisper to my ears.
"Why did you doom yourself to this path?"
"Because I need… more power…" He answered with determined eyes which did not falter even with his pale face.
"Why do you need more power when you're already so powerful?"
"To… protect what matters to me the most… My current strength is not enough… it's never enough…." His answer is unexpected but… it hits close to home. Too close.
Gettan became the monster that he is because he was unable to protect what he cared about. I also committed many heinous acts to rise in power because I too failed to protect what I cared about and wanted revenge for it. We are both slaves to power. It is the law of this accursed world. Is Lord Necro—Claude the same? Did he do everything he did in pursuit of power too?
That explains so much.
"You've seen me… for who I truly am now. What are you going to do?" He asked me. I didn't hesitate to reply.
"I would help you. Please allow me to help you."
"You would… help me…? Even though I…"
"You've fulfilled my wish, shown me my biggest mistake and helped me lay my people's souls to rest. You've even saved my life. I owe you my life. Please allow me to continue serving you, Lord Claude."
"Really…?"
"Yes. You said it yourself that you still need me, didn't you? Although… I do hope that you would stop behaving so coldly at me." I teased with a smile.
"Heh. You're still trying to seduce me, aren't you?"
"I don't think I could keep up with your Acolyte in that regard though. I just want us to have a… more cordial relationship. But if you're accepting concubines I don't mind."
"We're not that close."
"For now."
"Hmph. Know that I will not apologize for what I did. For how I treated you."
"You don't have to. I can understand why you did it now. For I walked the same path."
"The path of evil…"
"Yes. Ever since my people were massacred, I've done many heinous acts in order to survive and get revenge to those who wronged me. From prostitution to assassinations. All for the single goal of making Gettan pay for what he has done to me and my people. In a way, I'm worse than you because I didn't have anyone to protect but myself. You on the other hand, did everything you did because you want to protect your sister, didn't you?" I asked in order to confirm a theory of mine.
"…."
He didn't answer. Looks like I was spot on. That's why despite ordering Adra to kill his own sister, he never expected Adra to actually do it. That's why he let Adra go even though Adra continue to disobey him. He saw himself in Adra.
Also, he must have a reason for kidnapping his own sister a long time ago. I imagine it's because he actually rescued her but in order to protect her from further attacks, he decided to take the blame and became an evil lord… to keep other evils at bay for her sake. After all, his sister remains unharmed ever since. His plans must've succeeded so far. But even so he is still desperate for power. And looking at his condition it seems like he has harmed himself so many times for that purpose. I can't allow him to keep harming himself. I don't want his pursuit for power to destroy him.
I pulled him closer to me and whispered in his ear. "Don't worry. I shall help you protect your precious one."
"…." He didn't answer and merely stayed in my arms, allowing me to share my warmth to him. He was about to fall asleep before we heard a familiar distorted voice.
"Lord Necromancer!" The Acolyte shouted as she rushed towards us. She became understandably enraged when she saw Claude in my arms.
"Get away from him, you fox bitch!"
"Ah, I'm so sorry, Lady Acolyte. I was helping Lord Necromancer stand back up."
"By hugging him!?"
"Sherry… that's enough." Claude said to her. So her name is Sherry? Cute name.
"But Lord Nec—Claude!" Oh. So they're both on a first name basis. I should've expected that considering they are lovers.
"That's… enough… She is now… our accomplice." He said weakly.
"I see… alright. I shall trust your judgment, Claude." The Acoly—Sherry said whilst holding back her killing intent.
I then let him go and allowed one of his undead minions to carry him back to his nearest teleportation gate in order to return to his secret lair. Before he left though, I must ask him something.
"Lord Necromancer. Can you allow me some time to… bury the bodies of my people?" I asked for his permission to do what I should've done years ago.
"Hmph. Do what you must." He granted my request as he left along with Sherry.
"Thank you… Claude Normann…" I whispered while tears fell to my face in gratitude.
I once feared and hated him. I thought of him as a monster beyond belief. This single incident… changes everything. Now I'm determined to support him. But…
"Haah…. I thought my cold cold heart won't ever melt again… Why do I feel… jealous?" I murmured while putting my hand close to my heart, feeling a bit hurt.
"Well… he is indeed handsome. Though I'm surprised that he's actually younger than me. And I suppose that Sherry is closer to him in age, that's probably why he preferred her over me. Ahh… young love."
I admit that I'm envious of how close he is to Aco—Sherry. Even me and Gettan weren't that close… not close enough to walk the same path… and support each other no matter what.
No matter. I owe him my life. I shouldn't ask for more.
"May you find happiness with your beloved Sherry, Lord Claude. I hope your fate is better than what I had with Gettan."
I kept my eyes on them whilst they leave the village, reminiscing my first meeting with him as Don Jon. Come to think of it…
"But now that I confirmed that he's not a homosexual, I can also confirm that he is indeed interested in me. The intense gaze he had when he stared at my cleavage that time… Hee hee hee. I still have a chance."
I blundered. My performance was so lame in that village. My identity got exposed. I even got hurt while shielding Yukime. I did that because I still need her in order to achieve economic dominance. I can't be bothered to search for someone else to take her place as the manager of Snow Fox Corporation.
I have to praise my acting skills.
The story about the ritual only allowing us to perceive her people's spirits was a lie. My magic actually disturbed their rest and brought them forcefully to the land of the living. I actually intended to guilt trip her and coerce her to serving me more loyally by holding the souls of her people hostage but the spirits were stronger than I anticipated. I was too arrogant. I even endangered Sherry. Luckily the exorcism ritual I performed in the end succeeded and I managed to banish their spirits back.
What I told Yukime afterwards was the same lie I told Sherry. Luckily she accepted my lie and didn't betray me. The drain on my power would be horrendous if I was forced to fight her and regenerate physical wounds too. Thanks to that, I was still able to achieve my original goal, even though my soul paid the price.
I should've listened to Sherry's advice more. Now I must rest in order to heal my spiritual wound… Though I doubt I could truly heal it considering my extremely limited knowledge on souls at the moment. I must conduct more research on souls… secretly of course. Wouldn't want Sherry to get mad because of another reckless blunder after all.
Speaking of Sherry, she's mad. So mad. Not only because I got hurt again but also because she saw Yukime hugging me. Now she won't stop cuddling me while I'm resting in my bed, though it gave my weakened body a much needed warmth.
"Claude… Do you like big boobs?" Sherry asked something out of the blue.
"W-What brought this on?"
"You like Yukime, didn't you?"
"No. I don't."
"Then why did you hug her back then?"
"I was weakened and…"
"Then that fox bitch took advantage of you!" She exclaimed angrily.
"Sherry. Don't. She is an accomplice. I still need her to be the head of the Snow Fox Corporation. I'm also thinking of promoting her to replace Carmilla in the Seven Wraiths."
"If you say so, Claude." Sherry said, still sounding depressed.
"Haaah… What can I do to ease your worries, Sherry?"
"…." She hesitates for a few seconds before dropping a bomb. "Take me… here and now."
"Eh?"
"Take me… Sleep with me… H-H-Have s-s-s…"
"Okay. I get it. But…"
"Am I… not attractive enough for you?" This girl… Even though she's so cute she still doubted her charms… charms that attracted me to her since our days at the school.
"You have no idea how attractive you are to me." I answered honestly.
"R-Really!?"
"Yes. I mean it, Sherry. Do you want this?"
"Y-Yes…! I do!" Sherry answered while blushing furiously. I'm sure I'm currently blushing as much as she does. I gave her a kiss on the lips and she reciprocates. Our kiss lasted a few seconds before we broke it after nearly losing our breaths.
"Did you like that?" I asked while staring at her beautiful eyes.
"Yes… I want more…" She replied with a yearning voice.
We ended up having sex that night.
Author's Note:
If you notice, the title of this chapter is a reference to Mayu Maeshima's song of the same name, which is the ending song for The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 Episode 7.
I've thought about this arc ever since I wrote the first Don Jon chapter months ago. The For Honor OST: Hana no Chiruran aka the Main Menu Theme of the Shadows of the Hitokiri event, also served as the inspiration for the previous chapter.
HundredMasks: very surprising, I actually thought you would've gone full evil with yukime, but I'm interested in how you'll cook too, I'm also now just realizing that the earth arc has the potential to allow Claude the Persona of a mad scientist when he's not having a kaiju battle with Cid, he can go full "I love my adopted children but I'll experiment on them anyways because science" bondrewd and it won't be weird, and I'm guessing Yukime is gonna be Carmilla's replacement? the cards are open, but I'm more interested in how this will affect the John Smith vs Don John conflict, and I can already feel you cook
Answer: I love how fast you are at writing review for every chapter update. For return to Earth arc, I have some plans though I'm still choosing the right ingredient. Yukime will replace Carmilla, whose spot is reserved for sexy female subordinate because Claude want a bit of aesthetics for his Seven Wraiths. At this rate she is Claude's Gamma after all. I'm also still trying to choose the right ingredient for John Smith VS Don Jon. Hope I can do this arc justice.
Bolvar57: Nagash esta mas débil de lo que creí, ano ser que sea un plan suyo. Los no-muertos tendrán protagonismo? Y Krell? Seria estupendo que se luzcan
Answer: This is a part of his power growth. The undead will take center stage during the war arc, which has not come yet. War takes time to prepare after all. The undead replacement for Mundane Mann will come later. No promises that said undead will be named Krell though.