Chapter 107: Come to me Angel of Music

A knock on the door and a subordinate entered Beta's room with a grim expression. Just by looking at her expression is enough for Beta to tell it's bad news.

"Lady Beta! We received a message from Number 626's team! They said they lost track of Princess Ro—Number 666 on the way to Aria Opera House and they arrived at a scene of a massacre! Number 626 is currently investigating the site as best she can whilst avoiding the town guards!" Reported the subordinate after bowing her head. As Beta thought, Number 666 went to target Countess Stevia first, and thus she went to Aria city.

"A massacre…?"

"Yes. Members of the audience, most of which were nobles, were killed. Those who escaped gave testimonies that when it was turn for an unknown songstress called Christine to perform, suddenly the stage goes dark and a masked figure wearing black clothes appeared on stage and proceeded to kill people en masse!"

"Where is Number 666 right now?" Beta asked the subordinate.

"Number 626 said she's still missing! Her team is trying to find her to no avail!"

"I see…" Is all that Beta could reply with. It is unfortunate that 626's team has no Beastkin with tracking abilities.

"Lady Beta. Could it be that… Number 666 has…" The subordinate said with suspicion.

Beta didn't reply as she recalled the conversation she had with another subordinate the night Number 666 left her office room to complete her next mission, which is when Beta realized something's wrong.

The subordinate reported the death of Countess Stevia to me just minutes after 666 left the room.

"What's the condition she's in when she was found?" I asked.

"Sh-She was skinned alive and her throat was slit… and her tongue removed." A gruesome murder… And happening in the Opera House. Come to think of it… all the gruesome murders happened in the Opera House. I thought it was a coincidence considering how popular the Opera Houses among the aristocrats of Oriana but…

Countess Stevia is part of the dossier I just gave 666 a few minutes ago so she can't be the one who killed her. Someone else is killing our targets!

Said person must also be responsible for the gruesome deaths of Gelatin, Isomalt and Schaumann.

"Gather 5 teams of three and send 4 of them to spy on these 4 individuals and 1 to spy on 666! Do not do anything, just spy on them and make sure to report to me when they are killed!" I ordered as I tossed dossiers of 4 people, the very same dossiers I just gave Number 666 a few minutes ago, besides the already deceased Countess Stevia.

"Yes ma'am!" The subordinate confirmed her orders and left the room.

Someone else is killing people from Perv faction. This is perhaps the work of Count Rajta's faction, whom I heard is trying to eliminate Perv Asshat in order to replace him. And they probably have sent a particularly nasty individual to do the job. As expected of the Cult. On the bright side, I don't have to worry about 666's mental state anymore.

Whatever. Their infighting will benefit us in the long run. I just hope 666 didn't encounter any trouble on her mission.

"Lady Beta?" Her subordinate's words took her out of her thoughts about the past few days and allowed her to focus on the present.

"No. I don't think it was done by Number 666 in her Owl disguise. I know her. She's not a gruesome killer like that. Not to mention she went to Aria city to chase after her next target, Countess Stevia, without knowing that her target is already dead days ago, long before she left this very room to fulfil said mission. Someone else is behind this. I want you to send a message to the teams we sent out to be wary of an intervention by a dangerous third party! Also send a team with a Beastkin with tracking skills to Aria city in order to search for Number 666 quickly before the trail goes cold!" Ordered Beta to the subordinate.

"Yes, Lady Beta!" Replied the subordinate as she left the room.

"Hmm… The appearance of this third party and how 666 went missing is… giving me a bad feeling… Is this another case of a Slumbering Legend? I hope not. Legends don't just appear left and right… right? But just in case… I need to call Delta and have her be on standby. If other trackers fail she probably still could search for Number 666 too." Beta remarked.

In a snowy field outside the city of Everick, two Beastkins are engaging in combat. Blood stained the pure white snow… blood that came from only one of the two combatants.

"Look at how low you have fallen, Gettan. Betrayed your family and clan… and this is all you have to show for it?" Taunted Adra, one of the combatants.

"Ughh… You… How much power did Necromancer gave you… Adra!?" Shouted the black haired wolf beastkin, Gettan, who's now openly defying the Necromancer in a desperate attempt to free Yukime from his influence. His body full of wounds and his katana is broken.

"You think this is all given to me by Lord Necromancer? No. I had to prove myself useful to his cause before I was even allowed to join his inner circle. What I showed you wasn't even a fraction of the power he gave me. It was my own." Replied Adra with an unusually cold expression.

Adra walked towards the fallen Gettan and pulled on his hair, lifting his head in order to look directly into his blind eyes.

"What do you plan on accomplishing by doing this, you fool? Why did you become hostile to Lord Necromancer? Didn't you want that seat in the Rounds? Or did you think you could actually kill Lord Necromancer and take his place with such meagre strength?" Adra asked out of curiosity.

"I don't care… about the Cult… or Rounds anymore… I just want… to set her free… even if it kills me." Gettan answered solemnly in between heavy breaths.

"Ha ha ha ha!" Adra laughed despite how serious Gettan was, as if he just heard the funniest joke in the world.

"After everything you've done to her, you chose now to regret everything? You're an even bigger idiot than I imagined, Gettan!"

"Laugh all you want. I know I've been a fool… And I've made her suffer unimaginable pain… But I must at least try... *Cough*" Gettan said as he coughed.

"Admirable. But futile. If you can't even scratch me, you have no hope against Lord Necromancer himself."

"…. Finish me then." Gettan replied.

"Is that what this is? A suicide attempt? I would've been happy to grant you your request… but you've hurt Yukime, a dear friend of mine. Not to mention I hate those who betray their families with a passion. I won't give you a merciful death when even Yukime didn't give you one. I have no right to rob her of her revenge after all. Instead, I'll give you something else to contribute to her revenge." Adra remarked ominously as his form began to shift. Gettan, blind to what's going on, can only sense Adra's growing magical power to notice the transformation and he shudders in fear.

"I'm going to give you... a little surprise. You will understand soon enough." Said Adra in a bestial voice befitting his current bestial form.

Gettan braced himself for the upcoming pain of death as Adra lifted him with a massively clawed hand, only to hear him whisper.

"You know, Yukime is doing well. Too well in fact, more than I imagined possible. I don't know why but she seems to be closer to Lord Necromancer these days. The other day I even smelled his scent on her and hers on him. And she has been behaving… very seductively towards him and he… didn't behave coldly towards her like he usually did in response. I wonder what happened between the two of them. Heh heh heh." Hearing that information, Gettan gritted his teeth.

"Yuki… me…!"

"Are you jealous? You shouldn't be. You forced her into a life of prostitution in order to survive. You deserve much worse… and I'm going to give it to you. Say goodbye to your peaceful life, Gettan." Said Adra before opening his massive jaw.

Epsilon ran as quickly as possible while following the direction of 612, the panicky wolf beastkin, as she tracked down Gettan's scent. She set out quickly with 612's team the moment she heard news of Gettan entering Everick territory in order to intercept him and ensure that whatever sinister plan he has next fails. His last scheme to create the counterfeit bills were quite dangerous for Gamma and the Mitsugoshi after all.

When they arrived at the scene, they found Gettan almost buried in the snow bloody, full of wounds and nearly dying. A huge bite wound on his shoulders stood out among others as it is fresher than others. Number 612 trembled when they arrived, not because of the chill of winter but because she smelled a familiar scent, a scent she has smelled before in the Crimson Tower, belonging to someone she haven't personally met but whom she knows is someone who scared even the Seven Shades.

"Lady Epsilon… Be careful… His scent… the scent of that wolf… he was here…!" Warned 612 while trembling.

"Acknowledged." Epsilon said, wary of Adra, whom Beta claimed to be as strong as Delta.

"Ughh… Are you… Shadow Garden…?" Despite his wounds, he still have some strength to converse.

"Indeed. I am Epsilon of the Seven Shades. You are Gettan, I assume?"

"Indeed… Though I am but a shadow of my former self now…"

"What are you doing here?"

"Same thing as you… Trying to find Necromancer's lair." At the sound of the name, Epsilon's eyes widened. She almost gasped but held it back in order to start interrogating the wounded man.

"Where is he?" She asked.

"Last I heard he… went to Oriana." Gettan answered weakly. This information caused Epsilon to finally gasp, for her love rival and comrade is there and she is in danger.

"Where is his lair?"

"Only the Reaper Squad knows. I attempted to make one of his minions tell me… and look where that got me." Gettan answered while laughing sadly at himself.

"I see. What will you do from now?"

"Besides waiting to die? To be honest, I don't know."

"Hmm…" Epsilon contemplated for a few seconds before coming to the conclusion that keeping him alive will be more beneficial to Shadow Garden considering how compliant he has been with her so far.

"610. Perform first aid healing procedure on him! 611. Carry him to the base! 612. Keep your senses sharp just in case Adra comes back!"

"""Yes, ma'am!""" Her subordinates confirmed their orders and started healing and then carrying Gettan with them to their secret base.

"Heh. So you're keeping me alive in order to interrogate me, aren't you? Fine by me. If whatever information I have can help you defeat Necromancer, then so be it." Gettan remarked as they left the scene.

"Ughh…" I woke up in a dark, cold and damp place. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I realized I am lying on a boat in an underground cavern. I rose up and beheld a tall and dark figure rowing the boat crossing the underground lake towards a portcullis. The figure is dressed in a black tuxedo, a black cape and a black fedora hat. His white mask, which reminds me of my own Owl mask, covers only half of his face. A sinister smile adorned the half mask covering his face. The rest of his face looked young and handsome.

"Arise… and come to me… my Angel of Music~!" The man said as if singing. The moment he does, the portcullis rose up, revealing a room full of candle lights, several musical instruments and a grand pipe organ built into the cave walls.

The pipe organ, without a player, began playing a sinister tone on its own, giving me chills as I felt that he played the pipe organ with is magic power alone. Such a feat requires precise control over magic on the level of Lady Epsilon… and he did it… just to play music!?

"Just… who are you?" I muttered in a low voice.

We entered the room with many musical instrument and the grand pipe organ and the boat stopped before a wooden stairs. The man held his hand out invitingly.

"Come to me Angel of Musiiic~!" The man sang as he invited me to enter his world.

Author's Note:

The grand reveal is here.

Guest: Oh man am I excited. Is this going to be Jack the Ripper (Cid) vs Phantom of the Opera (Claude)?

Answer: Maybe not. Not this time.

Knolleg: oh did she break mentally and in her psychosis kill a lot of people or was it necromancer? Can you tell me what kind of tech necromancer has with him since I know he has guns but from what time period? Revolvers, pistols, and bolt rifles?

Answer: Your first question has been answered on this chapter.

Guns he have is from modern age but not all types. I just don't want to bring submachine guns, miniguns or the like. Just some pistols is enough for the shoot out between Don Jon and John Smith.

Guest: Claude is not going to be happy when he hears someone else is stealing his thunder again.

Answer: Maybe it wasn't really someone else.