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Chapter 319: The Second Round [2]

It was for that reason that upon seeing the young man in front of me I felt that something was familiar.

... It didn\'t take long for me to associate the sense of familiarity.

"What are you talking about?"

His hair color was different, and so was the color of his eyes. However, upon closer look, he had the same general tilt to his head when he walked. The same little habit of pursing his lips before smiling, and the same serene and calm look that displayed his utter confidence.

There was obviously a chance that I could be wrong, but I lost nothing by acting like this. Furthermore, I was almost certain about my intuition.

I had observed the person who had taken my role in Olga\'s play for long enough to notice this.

"What do you want?"

"Just some coffee."

His calmness in response to my actions was also something to take note of. Not only did he seem unfazed by what I had said, but he even went ahead and ordered himself some coffee while smiling at me.

It was only when our orders came that he talked again,

"The coffee\'s nice, isn\'t it?"

He started off the conversation by talking about the coffee. Seeing that he still had not left, I sighed and took a sip of my own coffee. Since I wasn\'t worried about him doing anything to me considering we were in a public place, I could only sit and get a better understanding of the situation.

The first thing that I wanted to figure out was who in the world he was.

\'Someone from the organization...?\'

That could very well be possible. In that case, I needed to be careful with my words.

"....It\'s decent."

I placed the cup down.

He did so as well as he smiled yet again.

"How did you figure it out?"

"....The same way that you\'ve figured me out."

"Oh?"

He looked surprised by my words.

But to be honest, I had no idea how he figured it out. I was just speaking out of my ass.

He looked around before turning my attention back to me and blinking his eyes, displaying his yellow pupils and hair for a brief moment before returning to his original appearance.

The moment his appearance was revealed, I had to try my best to hide my shock.

\'...This isn\'t what I expected.\'

The one that sat before me wasn\'t a member of the organization. At least, the one that belonged to this Empire. No, rather...

He was the number one ranked person in the Summit.

Caius.

Now, why would he be looking for me...?

My thoughts started to run rather quickly, as I thought back to all possibilities. I thought about how he had taken the role from me, and the possible reasons for why he would do so. In the end, it didn\'t take me more than a minute to understand his intentions.

"You\'re insecure about your Emotive Abilities."

I ended up blurting out my thoughts without realizing it.

Caius\'s hand, which was about to pick up his cup, froze.

"What did you say?"

He looked at me with a ridiculous expression.

"Insecure about my Emotive abilities?"

"...Yes."

I doubled down since I had already said my piece.

"Why else would you take over my role in the play?"

"Hahaha."

Caius suddenly laughed, leaning back against the chair and slapping his thigh in the process. His laugh echoed loudly within the small and secluded area as he continued to slap his thigh as though I had said the funniest thing ever.

He went on like this for a good minute before finally wiping the corner of his eyes.

"That was funny."

He shifted his attention back to me, his expression still carrying a smile.

"I took your role because I could. You ended up being a no-show, and in her desperation, Olga took me. It\'s not my fault you didn\'t show up. It wasn\'t as though I had the intention of taking your role in order to show that my Emotive Magic is better."

"I\'m not buying that."

"....Oh?"

"You wouldn\'t have left the play had that been the case."

"Hah."

Caius looked a little stumped after hearing that. He seemed unsure of what to say. In the end,

he could only shrug.

"....I just thought your play was quite nice, and didn\'t see the need to perform any longer."

"So that\'s why you left?"

"You can say so."

I almost burst out laughing. He was bullshitting again.

Though I didn\'t quite pay attention to what happened to Olga after I left, considering that nobody said a thing about it, they appeared to have found a last-minute replacement. It wasn\'t uncommon for plays to have backup actors in case one didn\'t show up.

But I also knew that she didn\'t receive her desired performance.

The fact that no one had been talking about it showed that it wasn\'t that well-received by

those that she wanted to impress. But at least this was what I had assumed.

I honestly couldn\'t have cared less about her at this point.

"Well, if you say so."

I took another sip of the coffee before placing the cup down.

"...It\'s definitely not because you saw all that you needed to see and assured yourself that your

Emotive magic is better than mine, right?"

Caius smiled.

"You\'re again going with that?"

"...It\'s the truth, isn\'t it?"

"Think what you like."

In the end, he shrugged and moved forward, reaching his hand to grasp mine...?

The fuc-

"In the end, facts speak for themselves."

Suddenly, a jolt shot through my mind, and my heart began to pound uncontrollably. My entire body trembled as a chilling cold swept over me, my muscles tightening in response.

I tried to resist, but I found it hard to do so. My mind was still exhausted from having developed the domain this morning, and so I found myself unable to extricate myself from

his actions.

Thankfully, the sensation didn\'t last long. Caius took his hand away as soon as he placed it, smiling at me with the same confident smile.

Feeling sweat cover the side of my face, I looked up to see Caius smiling down at me.

"See?"

He downed the coffee in front of him before standing up.

"....You still think we\'re at the same level?"

He chuckled slightly before shaking his head and turning. Placing a couple of bills on the

table, he proceeded to leave.

I sat in silence for a good minute, staring at his departing back before taking a deep breath.

\'He really was insecure...\'

Why else would he do something like this?

Nonetheless, after experiencing his Emotive Magic, I had to say that he was rather skilled. But

it was just that...

I turned my head and once again stared at his back where a small glowing tag appeared.

\'...I\'m better.\'

I extended my hand and prepared to snap my fingers when I froze.

"Uh?"

With rigid movements, I turned my head and saw a man I didn\'t recognize. Holding onto a

small cup, he stood there, his mouth agape, as a stream of liquid dribbled from his lips. His

face was eerily still, and his eyes were bloodshot.

Flick, flick.

As his head flicked from my hand to the seat opposite me, he took a step back, unable to disguise the shock and horror from his face. It seemed to say, \'Again?\'

His disguise flickered along his expression, revealing an all too familiar figure.

"Ah."

I stared back at my hand before feeling my mouth twitch.

"....What\'s with you and your timing?"

***

"What happened here...?"

It wasn\'t difficult for Aoife to discover Kiera\'s whereabouts. As the Princess of the Empire, she

had eyes and ears in nearly every corner of the two cities. With little effort, she pinpointed

where Kiera resided and made her way to her directly.

Aoife wanted to get a better understanding of what her message meant, but upon entering the room, she was shocked to see that it was in complete ruins.

The bed was shattered, the desk split in half, and the wall partially collapsed. Before arriving at the Inn, Aoife noticed that the Inn\'s keeper had already contacted the

guards to report the situation.

Several people stood nearby, peering into the room with curious expressions on their faces.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"There\'s likely been a conflict, Princess. As you can see from the damage to the wall, it\'s clear someone was thrown against it with considerable force. The table and bed, on the other hand, seem to have been broken by a simpler attack. The strangest part of all this, however, is that there\'s no evidence of a second person being involved."

The guard seemed to be at a loss as he explained, scratching his head in embarrassment.

Aoife quietly stood while nodding her head.

"It appears everything was done by a single individual. If you give us some time, we can uncover more details about the situation."

As she listened, she was reminded of Kiera\'s message.

\'Possessed.\'

She also recalled the strange behavior that Kiera exhibited during the first round of combat,

and her expression underwent a subtle change.

"Princess?"

"Oh, no, nothing."

She only snapped out of it when the knight called for her. Putting on a smile, she thanked him

wholeheartedly before leaving.

As she left the building, Aoife directly headed for the Royal Library. Near the Megrail Estate stood a grand, white dome-shaped building, covering a vast plot of

land and towering over most of the surrounding structures. It was one of the tallest buildings

in the city, surpassed only by the seven great cathedrals, each representing one of the Seven

Gods.

The insides of the Library were just as one would expect.

Tall shelves lined the walls, filled with thousands of books. At the far end of the library, a tall

window let in light that gleamed on the polished marble floor. A spiral staircase ascended to a platform that encircled the library, where even taller shelves were packed with more books.

The number of books that were present in the Royal Library counted hundreds of thousands, with almost the entire world\'s knowledge located in the library.

Organizing such a vast number of books and locating a specific desired one would seem like a difficult task, but fortunately, the librarians in charge had nearly every book memorized.

.... It was with one of their help that Aoife was able to find the book that she wanted.

[Epoch of the Rilgona Monarchy]

Seated at one of the wooden desks in the library, Aoife opened the thick book before her and

skimmed through the pages.

She had a general understanding of the Rilgona Monarch, one of the few ancient monarchies

that had once existed in the Mirror Dimension. They had evolved beyond the Era of the

Shattered World, transitioning into the Age of Umbral Dominion.

Though details were scarce due to their distant past, the collected scriptures, statues, murals,

and text provided them with enough information to put some of the pieces together.

If there was one thing that was unknown, it was how the Monarchy ended.

That was still a mystery that was left unsolved to this day.

"Ah."

Letting out a small exclamation, Aoife\'s eyes paused on a certain page.

Titled; [Angel of Sorrow], a picture stood beneath the title, displaying the all too familiar

statue that she had seen in the main Plaza of Grimspire.

"The Angel of Sorrow remains among the most mysterious relics belonging to the once-

mighty Rilgona Monarchy. This statue, an image of a mournful angel with an outstretched hand, as if pleading for mercy, now resides in the main Plaza of Grimspire."

Aoife began to read, murmuring quietly as she read.

It was a habit that she developed during her childhood. Mainly because reading out loud

helped her memorize the information more.

"While little is known about the sculptor who fashioned this poignant figure, recovered fragments of ancient texts suggest that the statue symbolizes a significant yet grim chapter in their history, an event referred to as the "Night of the Scattered Death."

Aoife frowned while reading the next.

Night of the Scattered Death. This sounded rather haunting... "Historical records depict the Night of the Scattered Death as one of the most catastrophic

episodes in the history of the Rilgona Monarchy. Chroniclers of the time described it as an act

of divine wrath, with the gods unleashing their fury upon the people. On that fateful night,

countless citizens were overcome by madness, turning against their own kin and companions in a frenzy of violence."

"This horrifying event left a deep mark on the collective memory of the monarchy, being one of the discussed reasons for the Monarch\'s downfall."

"The Night of the Scattered Death was without precedent, a calamity that shook the very foundations of the Rilgona Monarchy. Despite the full exertion of the Royal family\'s power, the chaos proved nearly impossible to sustain, with many of the Royal members also falling

for this madness."

"By the time the madness was quelled, the streets were already dyed with the blood of countless citizens who had perished in the chaos."

"Yet, the most chilling aspect of this event was not the numerous deaths, but what resulted in

such deaths. In a turn of events, the madness-driven citizens, as if driven by a singular, dreadful force, simultaneously ended their own lives. Each one decapitated themselves, holding their heads in their hands in the same manner as the statue."

"As if they were offering it to the gods in the sky."

Aoife paused for a brief moment, taking a deep breath as her eyes lifted toward the statue,

and her mind forming an image of over a thousand people, offering their heads in the same

position.

She felt her entire body turn cold.

"....The general consensus among historians is that the Night of the Scattered Death was

triggered by the sudden outbreak of a plague. Yet, there are those who argue that it was an expression of divine wrath, a punishment from the gods, given the nature of their deaths." "However, upon closer examination of the ancient texts and the deciphering of the symptoms described, many scholars now believe that the true cause of the event was something

altogether different."

Different...?

Aoife felt her reading slow down upon reaching this point.

She had a feeling that she was now getting closer to the truth.

"After piecing everything together, historians have come up with a single conclusion."

Aoife held her breath.

"The event was all due to what appears to be a case of... body possession."

As if two invisible hands were gripping down her throat, Aoife found herself slowly starting

to suffocate, her words starting to slur as her mouth grew dry.

Kiera\'s words rang in her mind again, and she felt her heart pause.

\'It can\'t be, right...?\'

Swallowing her saliva, she continued to read. Even though she didn\'t want to, she had to read.

There was still one last bit of text.

Just a little...

"The general symptoms of body possession are..."

"Pale expression. Unfocused eyes. Behavioral changes, and in least common cases, loss of taste. Sweet foods become too sweet and salty foods become too blan..."

Aoife stopped herself mid-sentence, her expression gradually changing as a face appeared in

her mind.

"This..."

She let go of the book, moving back and staring at it with an incredulous look. The last words continued to ring in her mind, over and over again, as if whispering in her ears, and as her eyes

traced those words again, Aoife felt her heart stop.

"...No, it\'s not possible. It can\'t be."