Chapter 64 | The End of The Tide!

“Theo! Are you okay? Can you hear me?” Satou tapped around on Theo’s soot-covered face. The young man had fainted immediately after the explosion, possibly from a mix of physical and magical exhaustion.

“Did we get him?” Tatsuya came limping on one leg. Satou shook his head in hesitation.

“I don’t know. But Theo seemed to think so,” he answered. System, was it? It must have given him feedback regarding the kill. He had a satisfied expression before fainting.

“Hmm,” Tatsuya looked toward the rising mushroom cloud, the iridescent lightshow of the strange chemical concoctions Theo had prepared reflecting in his eyes. “The Eviscerator’s aura is leaking in swathes, I think that’s his residual reserves. It seems he is truly dead.”

“Yeah…” Satou could only mutter. This was actually his first time seeing a master-rate die in real time. It was… Solemn. A bit flashy, sure. But flashy like a procession.

Master-rates had something called an aura seed. It was the sublimation of a warrior’s capabilities, giving them the essence of their personal abilities. And when they died, the aura seed would burst, causing their cultivation of energies to go out in a firework-like light show.

At least that was what he had heard.

“Nevertheless, we have to bring Theo back and let him rest. Theo seems fine, but he has been completely exhausted. And we aren’t much better off.”

Tatsuya nodded slightly, however, his attention seemed to be turned somewhere else. He was looking around in confusion.

“What is it?”

“Emma is gone. Ameda is unconscious.”

Satou’s brows rose. He quickly followed his gaze and realized that the girl was indeed nowhere to be found.

“Emma must have left for some reason,” he shook his head as he pushed himself up to his feet. The mushroom cloud from the explosion was just about to dissipate, and Satou wasn’t satisfied with assuming The Eviscerator was dead, so he covered his skin with his clothes and aura as best as possible. With his poison resistance as an assassin, it ought to be enough.

“What are you doing?” Tatsuya asked.

“I’m going to check the corpse. If there even is one left.”

Then, without waiting for an answer, he inhaled a mouthful of air and dashed. He couldn’t spend much time in the explosion area. Otherwise, he would suffer from toxic shock.

Where is it… He thought as the smoke constricted his vision into a small area in front of him. Fortunately, his aura sense helped him just enough to figure out the direction all the residue was leaking from.

The closer he got to the epicenter, the more suffocating it became. Even in death, The Eviscerator was strong enough to cause him trouble.

He crouched and tapped around the scorched ground. Finally, his hand made contact with what felt like bones. The skin and muscles had been completely stripped off, leaving only the calcified remains.

Good. This guarantees it.

Pulling his scarf even tighter around his mouth and nose, Satou got up to leave. But before he could, he felt something strange in the bones.

What is that?

Where the aura core of The Eviscerator would have been was a brilliant crimson seed, lying in wait. Satou thought only for a second before grabbing it, throwing it into his pocket, and tracing his steps back out of the smoke cloud.

“Were you able to confirm?” Tatsuya asked.

“I was. The Eviscerator has been reduced to bones.”

“Nice.” Tatsuya did a little fist pump in excitement. Albeit all the dangers he had had to go through, this would be a major increase to his company’s credibility.

“Alright. Let’s leave before the chemicals start oozing out into the environment,” Satou shook his head and sighed. He threw Theo over his shoulders as always. But before they could move, they found their path blocked by someone.

“Halt,” a man clad in brilliant golden armor said. The armor was terrifyingly complex, covered in a myriad of different magic circles. Satou couldn’t sense his rank, which meant that he was either a more skilled first-rate or…

Satou tapped Tatsuya’s shoulder and took a step back.

“You need not be worried, as I am not here for violence unless necessary,” the armor-clad man said. His voice was authoritative in a way that screamed ‘I’m above you’. To stand facing two first-rates and act like that meant…

This person is a master-rate. But who could it be? It isn’t Arthorias, is it?

He and The Lion of Vandreth had clashed swords once. It wasn’t because of a personal enmity, but because the King of Vandreth had ordered the execution of Satou.

“Then why are you stopping us?” Satou asked.

“I am here to affirm the nature of the conflict that just occurred here. I sense the death of a master-rate.”

Satou and Tatsuya looked at each other. Tatsuya was probably worried that the killing of The Eviscerator would be attributed to this unknown knight.

“Correct. We just killed The Eviscerator,” Satou answered. The armor-clad man went silent for a moment.

“With three first-rates and a first robe mage?”

“Four first-rates.”

“…Whether you want to or not, I will learn what happened here,“ The armor-clad man stepped forward. A simple step from him was enough to cause Satou and Tatsuya to collapse to their knees.

“We utilized unorthodox methods,” Tatsuya groaned between his teeth.

“What sort of unorthodox methods would allow mortals to kill a demigod?”

The ‘demigod’ mentioned here was obviously not a divine entity, but one of the many ways people used to address master-rates. It was simply a way of addressing the disparity between their strengths.

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“A lot of traps and poisons set up by a master alchemist,” Tatsuya answered, wincing. Satou had expected him to keep his mouth shut, but it seemed Tatsuya was in a worse state than he seemed. He really couldn’t handle more pressure.

The unknown man’s visor turned toward the unconscious Theo.

“This mage? Master alchemist, you say..?”

He seemed to hesitate for a moment. The aura pressing down on Satou and Tatsuya softened slightly. He finally reached for his helmet with both hands. He turned the helmet slightly, causing the array of magical etchings on its surface to get disconnected. The armor hissed and whirred, releasing a gust of steam out of its crevices.

And when the helmet finally lifted, Satou could only gulp nervously.

So it really was Arthorias. Why didn’t he kill me?

“As I have said, be worried not, Satou Hiroshi. I was not sent here today to antagonize you,” The Lion of Vandreth explained as he held his helmet to the side. His long, flowing golden hair rested on his shoulders. His pupils were like a deep northern lake, an ice-cold blue. “It is rare that I take off my helmet and let others see my face. Take it as a gesture of my sincerity, as the King of Vandreth does not want conflict with precious assets. Not to mention, we might have once been enemies, but there is no personal vendetta between us two.”

“Then wh-”

“You were simply a threat to the king, and I was ordered to eliminate that threat,” Arthorias stopped Satou from asking. “You are no longer a threat.”

Satou’s mouth opened and closed. He considered how to respond, but realized there wasn’t anything left to say.

“Fine then. I have confirmed the death of The Eviscerator. As there are no other parties to be found, I will accept your testimony. Though,” his brows furrowed ever so slightly, causing chills to run down Satou’s spine. “If my investigation here reveals that you lied to me…“

Satou nodded, the heat of The Eviscerator’s aura seed pulsating in his pocket. He wasn’t sure if Arthorias hadn’t noticed it, which was a low possibility, or if he was holding off on commenting on it for now.

Arthorias looked down at Theo, then back up at Satou.

“Nevertheless, I shall fulfill my second set of orders.”

“Second set of orders..?” Satou muttered.

”By the decree of His Highness The King, Shigeo Akiyama…” he started. Satou’s ears immediately perked up. Japanese names weren’t that frequent over in these parts of the continent. It especially wasn’t common for a king of all people.

The King is an abnormal..?

He didn’t know. Satou hadn’t met the new king personally before, after all.

“…I have come here to offer the mysterious master alchemist of the south, Theo Robbins, a chance at employment. I shall follow you until he wakes up to personally make the offer.”

“…”

Theo woke up to the smell of rosemary. He felt as if he was submerged in mercury, his muscles struggling to answer his call.

Shit. I must have strained my mana too much.

Although Theo hadn’t gotten particularly too wounded, he had completely exhausted his mana pool. He had an instinctual understanding of the importance of mana to his physiology. In fact, he was pretty sure that he would actually die if something destroyed his mind palace.

He finally managed to gather enough energy to open his eyes. He was in a room with walls of unpainted bricks and a floor made of dark-colored wood.