Chapter 109: The Phantom of the Opera
When she asked for who I am, I used my magic to press the keys of my pipe organ, once again playing a certain song that fits the theme of my current disguise.
"I am the Phantom of the Opera. I am he who haunts the halls of Opera Houses to bring the symphony of death and terror. And I want you to aid me in composing the best score of horror." I introduced myself whilst dramatically pointing a finger at the blonde princess. She frowned at my declaration as if disgusted.
"That's absurd! Why would I aid you in slaughtering people?" She replied. I grinned in response.
"Because cruelty is the answer to this country's problems. You know this to be true!"
"Impossible! Cruelty is the last thing this country needs right now!" She's in denial. How cute.
"Au contraire, my dear princess. Cruelty is what will fix the country and purge all of its corruption. The organization you joined agreed, that's why they had you killing people as well." That got her thinking for a second.
"No! They are part of the Cult! What I did was different!"
"Different how? I also killed the corrupt nobles who are part of the Cult. How different are we, exactly?" I said as I tossed some pictures of nobles I killed to her. She caught them and was surprised when she saw some of the pictures.
"Viscount Gelatin… Count Isomalt… Musician Schaumann… Countess Stevia too… They were my targets… Did you kill them?"
"Indeed." I confirmed, which makes her widen her eyes in anger.
"Then what was that massacre back in that stage? Why did you kill innocent people too?" She angrily shouted and tossed the pictures to the floor.
"There are no innocents, my fair princess. If they are innocent, they wouldn't be in that Opera House enjoying life as if nothing's wrong."
"But the performers! They-"
"Are complicit to the sins of the aristocrats by feeding their privileged habits. This fair country is on the brink of war and yet…"
"Once I free my father of the spell that binds him, we will fix everything and the war will be averted!" Oh you poor naïve creature.
"Will it, though? Blood still demands blood. No matter the reason, your father killed a fellow monarch! Midgar will either go to war against this country or demand heavy compensation that will ruin your country!"
"Then what do you suggest I do!? I don't see how killing people will make things any better!"
"Oh no, my princess. Purging corruption will be the first step in fixing your country. It will allow you to gather subjects loyal only to you. Only then… will you be prepared to go to war against Midgar."
"But I don't want war!"
"Si vis pacem para bellum. If you want peace, prepare for war. War will come whether you want it or not. Will you prioritize another country over your own? Will you betray your country just to avoid war? Will you submit to their every demand?"
"They won't do that! Princess Alexia helped me during my trial!"
"In order to use you as a pawn against your own country and then force you and your country to become Midgar's vassal state, if not outright annexing Oriana."
"That's impossible!"
"That is how war and politics are, my dear. Always has been. Regardless of how you wished it, every country works for their own interests, even if other countries have to suffer for it. Your friend Alexia knows this. Do you?"
"No. We can talk things out!"
"Mere words are not enough, my dear. If they are enough, you wouldn't need to kill your own subjects. You need to send stronger messages."
"By killing people you mean?"
"Yes."
"Hmph. I've heard enough. I'm leaving. I have a mission to complete." She said as she turned her back on me.
"Take the boat then. But know that your path will only lead to a dead end. You will soon return to me. Heh heh heh." I said as I turned to the pipe organ and sat on the seat to play it, with my fingers this time. She merely gave me a single glance before taking my boat to leave.
It is quite the surprise that Princess Rose herself is the Owl... and that she joined Shadow Garden. But this is a golden opportunity to mould her into my ideal villainess.
She is not yet convinced by my words but that's fine. It will take time to turn her into my ideal villainess after all. Using hypnosis is impossible as long as her will is still strong enough to resist the spell but that weakness can be covered by making her trust me bit by bit. My power over her grows stronger yet.
Now I just need to make sure that what I said will come true. After a few performances, I should return to Midgar to act as Claude and make sure to fan the flames of hatred towards Oriana.
My next target is Count Rajta himself. I need to make it flashy and make sure to spread terror to the entire kingdom. Heh heh heh.
Absurd. What he said were absolutely absurd! That's what I keep telling myself as I left his underground lair and returned to the surface. Turns out his lair I located underneath an Opera House in the capital. I'm already away from Aria city it seems. It took me a day to return to our hidden base at Mitsugoshi.
How much time has passed? I found out later that 3 days have passed since the massacre at Aria Opera House when I returned to our base and reported to Lady Beta about what happened. I passed out for two whole days when the Phantom knocked me out. I was more tired than I thought.
"The Phantom of the Opera, huh." Lady Beta muttered.
"Yes. That's what he called himself. His swordsmanship is… to my estimate, at least as strong as the Seven Shades. And his magic control at least as strong as Lady Epsilon's." I confirmed.
"Haaah… First the Black Knight, now him… Did he say anything about having a master…? Or did he show any signs of being affiliated with Necromancer?" Lady Beta muttered while clutching her head in frustration as she asked these questions.
"As far as I'm aware of, no, Lady Beta. So far he has shown that he acted alone."
"Well… Since you know where his lair is, I'll confirm it myself together with Epsilon." Lady Beta remarked.
"Lady Epsilon is coming too!?"
"Yes. She received intel that Necromancer is here in Oriana, and thus she will come to assist me. Delta is supposed to come too but she left before Epsilon could call on her, saying she caught a familiar scent. But even though she would be late, she will come. She is scheduled to come as my reinforcements after all." Lady Beta said.
The knowledge that three of the Seven Shades will come to assist is reassuring… though will that be enough when Necromancer himself is here? Especially when he brought a minion who is strong enough to severely injure Lady Beta?
Thoughts about Necromancer, the source of my country's troubles, reminds me of the Phantom's words… As I was deep in thought, Lady Beta interjected.
"Do not let his words influence you, 666. What he said may have some truth in it, but using terror is not the answer. Rest assured that we have good allies in Midgar and we will prevent the war from happening. Leave the Phantom to us." Lady Beta said.
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Now then… for your next mission-" Lady Beta was about to give me my next task before being interrupted by another Shadow Garden member barging through the door in a hurry.
"Urgent news, Lady Beta! Another murder has occurred in an Opera House! This time a message was… carved on the victim's chest. The message said "The Phantom of the Opera is there inside your mind"!" The hooded girl said. What did his message mean? Her words prompted Lady Beta to stand up from her seat, though she clutched her still aching wound immediately.
"So he has decided to properly introduce himself. Where did it happen?" Lady Beta asked.
"In the Opera House in Muse city."
"That's… close to Count Rajta's territory. He might be aiming for Count Rajta next. While I'm glad he's doing our work for us, he's spreading unnecessary chaos to the kingdom!"
"What should we do with him, Lady Beta?"
"Nothing for now. I will handle him myself once I've recovered and rendezvoused with Epsilon. You two should continue focusing on your tasks."
""Yes Ma'am!""
Count Rajta is in a bad mood. His position in the Oriana and the Cult is severely undermined by how many of his allies have been assassinated by both Owl and the newly introduced Phantom of the Opera. Even as a Cultist, he is also still an Oriana Aristocrat, and thus he enjoyed Opera like any other nobles of Oriana and the recent murders, which robbed him of his allies, also robbed him of entertainment, as many of his favourite performances have been cancelled.
Still, that doesn't mean all performances in Opera Houses have been cancelled and he, as an aspiring faction leader, didn't want to appear as a coward and thus chose to continue attending opera shows. With many 2nd and 3rd Children as bodyguards hiding in the shadows of course.
With that many guards he is confident that he will survive the assassination attempt and even capture or eliminate the assassins.
Everything that's happened was merely setbacks. I still have a lot of Children under my command. The nobles who were killed can be replaced. My political position is still secure. I'm still fine… Everything is going to be fine… Thought Count Rajta nervously in an attempt to reassure himself that he will survive this night, the night where he will attend a show in an Opera House in Muse City. Despite the recent murder happening on another Opera House in the same city, some nobles are still brave enough to attend.
The Opera House he attended tonight possess an enormous pipe organ which is beautifully decorated and located above the stage. It is a prominent historical feature of said Opera House that made it quite popular, especially for plays that re-enact the tale of the Three Heroes, where the pipe organ is played on various scenes, especially ones involving the Goddess Beatrix.
Tonight's show is a stage adaptation of Natsume Kafka's latest hit novel, Alucard. He have heard of the name of the person responsible for Duke Perv's falling out with Mordred and he is interested to see how much of this tale is true and if he could glean some information out of it.
"Listen to them. Children of the Night! What sweet music they make!" The actor who played Count Alucard said his line in front of the actor who played Johnny Barker, who reacted to the howling wolves and Count Alucard's words with fright.
But as they were about to continue the scene, suddenly the pipe organ played an ominous song. The audience noticed that nobody is playing the pipe organ and they grew nervous as they heard of the massacre in Aria's Opera House where the Phantom first appeared in public and controlled the musical instruments to play his own song, completely crashing the show before slaughtering the people.
"He's here. Be prepared." Ordered Count Rajta towards a subordinate wearing a suit, who proceeded to leave his side in order to deliver the message to his hidden agents.
The pipe organ continued to play. Both performers and audience alike are bewildered. Some stood up and tried to leave… only to lose their heads immediately the moment they stood up. It was like their heads disappeared in an instant. Screams followed and no one dared to leave their seats again.
When they turned back to the stage, they saw the figure of a masked man wearing black cloak and a fedora hat who suddenly appeared there without anyone noticing, not even the actors on stage. They recognize him as the second murderer, the Phantom of the Opera.
"Ladies and Gentleman! I am the Phantom of the Opera! Welcome to my one man show!" Declared the Phantom, confirming his identity before the audience. The mere mention of his name terrified the audience much to his delight.
"Fondest greetings to you all! Allow me to criticize your performance!" The masked man, the Phantom of the Opera, declared as he turned towards the nervous actors.
"He's here! Go get him!" Count Rajta ordered his men… only to be met with silence.
"What are you fools doing!? Go get him!" Count Rajta turned back, only to see his men lying on the floor bloody and in pieces. They have been mutilated without him noticing.
"What!?" He exclaimed and was about to leave before realizing that he would be decapitated the moment he stood up. There is no escape.
"Our main villain, Count Alucard, should be more frightening than this! Your costume is worse than a Halloween costume!" The Phantom criticized the actor who played Alucard, before proceeding to slice his head off with a wave of his hand. Screams from the audience followed.
"And our protagonist, Jonathan Harker… Could use an acting training! Your scared act is horrendous!" The Phantom decapitates the actor with another wave of his hand.
"As for the rest of you…" The Phantom turned towards the audience, who reacted with fright.
"I advise you to run… and try not to die!" The Phantom declared whilst throwing heads of people whose heads he stole just moments ago towards the audience, immediately prompting the audience to scramble away in complete fright, Count Rajta included.
As they reached for the entrance, the door suddenly closed before them and won't budge no matter how hard they push. A few audience members lost their heads as if an angel of death is collecting them. The scared people screamed louder.
"The Phantom of the Opera is there inside your mind~!" The Phantom's singing voice echoes throughout the halls of the Opera House.
Count Rajta tried to escape through a secret passage that only Cultists knows, a secret tunnel he prepared as an emergency escape route for this kind of situation, passing through several corpses of his men on the way, which scared him even more.
"I should never have underestimated that monster!" Count Rajta shouted as he ran.
"Yes. You shouldn't have." A voice whispered behind him, prompting him to stumble on one of his men's corpses and fell down the floor.
"Uwaah! S-Stay away from me, you monster!" Count Rajta shouted as he tried to crawl away but was stopped when both his foot was sliced apart.
"Uwaaaarghhh!" He screamed in pain.
"Yes… scream for me. Music to my ears." The Phantom remarked with a sinister grin before proceeding to cut Count Rajta's stomach open, pulling his intestines out and tied it on his hands which is raised above his head, making him resemble a Cello, with his intestines serving as his strings. The Phantom then proceeded to pull out a violin bow and started to swipe it on the intestine as if playing a Cello. Count Rajta's screams of agony served as the music which played until he died of blood loss.
Author's Note:
More horror scene. Since this fic has a horror tag, I thought I need to add some more. Soon we will be back to comedy. The song that the Phantom played in the pipe organ is obviously The Phantom of the Opera song.
Wholesome07: So while Claude disguise as Phantom of the Opera, will Cid continue to disguise as Jack the Ripper too?
Answer: Yes, but in Midgar.
A-Yellow-Liz: Nice! Loving it so far. I'm really interested how the next epic rival battle (tm) will go with the music theme.
Answer: Glad you liked it. Currently no plans for another battle with one of Cid's personas though.
Guest: Adra is always such a joy to see. Way too friendly to be evil. Always "accidentally" slipping information to try and undermine his boss.
Answer: Yeah. I came up with him when one reviewer suggested one of Necromancer's minions to be Delta's brother who hates her. I decided to go for the opposite and go for a kind brother instead in order to make him different from the rest of her brothers who have appeared on screen.
DerTrap: The plot just keeps getting better.
Btw. are we basically entering "The Necromancer in Shadow" Season 2 with that new cover art? Btw. is there a link for a bigger version of the cover art? Because this a very good cover art.
Answer: Glad you think so.
According to my Arc list in Sufficient Velocity, it's actually Season 3 now.
Season 1 (Rivals in the Shadow) was from Chapter 1 to 50, covering the Rise of the Necromancer Arc, Alexia Kidnapping Arc, School Terrorist Incident Arc, Goddess' Trial Arc and Bushin Festival Arc.
Season 2 (The Alter Ego War) from Chapter 51 to 100, covering Carmilla Arc, Alucard Arc, Red Moon Arc, Haunted Village Arc and Don Jon Arc.
Currently we are in Season 3 (The Civil Wars) in the Serial Killers Arc.
The new cover art was for Season 3 but I sort of want to draw cover for Seasons 1 and 2 too. Maybe one day.
You can see the full art on Sufficient Velocity (I posted this fanfic there too) and all my artworks related to this fanfic is there) or on my Twitter ( TheOminousRain), Tumblr ( ominousrain), DeviantArt (OminousRain) or Instagram ( ominous_rain).