Chapter 220: Master Exploder

William Oh once tried to give a fellow Climber some friendly advice. He showed the man a few of his techniques, to help the man learn his own Abilities better.

Unfortunately this had the opposite effect, because as soon as Will finished giving his demonstration, the man’s head exploded.

• Jason Salazar, level 50 Prophet of Ouroboros

“So Mr. Fontaine, you and your Party will be in charge of organizing the smooth entrance and exit of people in the town square tomorrow. Make sure to properly label each of these channels with color-coded one-way signs so that everyone can figure out the path that they’re supposed to take at a glance.”

William Oh straightened up from where he was staring down at the map of the town square near the outskirts of the palace. It was a place that was usually reserved for the top brass of the stronghold, but had been opened to the public for this particular event.

None of that mattered to Kyle, as he was climbing the walls inside his own mind, desperately trying not to let any of it show on his face.

Amy and Bess were similarly pale, while Roger looked inches away from drawing his bow and trying his hand at killing Will.

Does he know or what!? Kyle thought manically, searching the young Lords face and mannerisms for any sign of the swift retribution that was surely coming their way.

It was nearly five years ago. He was a gangly kid. did he forget? Or does he misremember?

Kyle himself hadn’t had much insight in the world of adults until his twenties, so it was possible that William Oh had simply assigned all blame to his friend. Young minds were simplistic like that.

Did he never find the boy’s body? How could he not? Did a monster drag it off or…what? Why isn’t he-

“Ahem,” Kyle cleared his throat in between William Oh’s suggestions for how to keep the foot traffic of the wedding going smoothly.

“W-why did you choose us, specifically?” Kyle asked. It was a blunt thing to ask a Lord, but if they were going to be killed here anyway, then Kyle didn’t give a shit about manners.

“I just recognized you guys off a list of people available to help and thought I’d rather work with some people I know, you know?” Will pointed between the two of them. “That way I don’t have to establish a rapport with strangers.”

“…Right.”

“Check out this corner right here.” Will said, his map focusing on a small alley.

“This alley is too narrow and cramped, and it makes a double blind turn here that’ll cause traffic to get jammed up.” Will said, peering down at the alley. “It reminds me of back home, actually.”

“How so?” Kyle asked.

“Well, sometimes the older kids at the orphanage would help the local farmers during slaughter season for a couple coppers. We’d throw up these wooden panels to make a narrow passageway that the sheep could only go through one at a time. The path would twist in such a way that the sheep never saw the other sheep being slaughtered.”

Wiliam Oh met his gaze. “It’s bad business to let beasts see the knife before it’s their turn.”

He definitely knows.

A wave of dread slammed into Kyle and he nearly went for his weapon right there, before he managed to muscle the reaction back.

So that’s his game, huh? He’s going to torment us until one of us tries something, then he’ll kill that person. A cat with a mouse.

If Kyle reacted and attacked now, he was dead, which was exactly what this bastard wanted.

Kyle swallowed the fear. The boy wanted to get his revenge toying with them and was playing head games. That was good, actually. They longer William Oh toyed with them, the greater the chance he would make a mistake.

And I suppose that’s the game, isn’t it? Kyle thought, meeting Will’s gaze. He wants to prove he’s better than us.

“We should block off the alleyway the day of,” William continued without missing a beat. “otherwise people could get hurt if they try to use it as a…” The young Lord’s gaze drifted to Mark, his expression turning into a frown. “Shortcut.”

William Oh’s gaze lingered on Mark for longer than Kyle would’ve expected, drawing Kyle’s gaze to the golemancer.

Mark looked…uncomfortable, but nothing stood out. you couldn’t even see his face through the slats of his helmet.

Matter of fact, I’m not sure William Oh ever saw his face. Mark was one of the injured ones that stayed behind in Ashwood while the rest of us fleeced those kids as a side-hustle.

Did William Oh forget who he is?

The young Lord glanced back at Kyle, and looked like he wanted to ask something for a moment before thinking better of it.

“Anyway. Mark, I want you to build temporary blockades here, and here…”

The meeting went on and not a single one of them died. Eventually William Oh dismissed them for lunch, reminding them to meet him at the palace square afterwards.

Yeah, he’s toying with us.

“We should run.” Bess said as soon as they arrived back at their rented crystal hovel. The barrier mage was hyperventilating, her eyes bloodshot.

“That’s what he’s waiting for.” Kyle said, keeping his voice neutral. “He’s poking us to see who flinches first. You can go ahead and run if you want. It’ll buy the rest of us some time.”

The brat wouldn’t have let them leave if he didn’t have some way of keeping tabs on them. Kyle needed to suss it out before he could affect an escape.

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Calm. Stay calm.

Bess seemed to draw some strength from Kyle’s tone, taking a deep breath and letting it out, flopping back against the wall.

Mark on the other hand…

The golemancer suddenly shot to his feet.

“Where are you going?” Kyle asked.

“…Lunch.” Mark said, pointing at the door over his shoulder.

“Well, if you’re planning on running, let us know so we can get our own food.” Kyle said.

“I’m just getting lunch. I’ll be right back.” Mark said, striding out onto the street beyond the door.

He was not, in fact, right back.

William Oh, on the other hand, had a different view on things.

Will was sitting on top of a crystal arch that loomed over the square where the wedding would be performed tomorrow, eating a star-filled sandwich. The meat and the blood of the constellation monsters still looked like a starry night, so Will felt like he was actually eating the void of space outside.

He put the bun back down on top of the meat and took a bite. The meat had a poison that made it tickle on the tongue like champagne. It was safe enough to eat over one hundred resistance.

So this is what stars tastes like, Will mused as he masticated, scanning the square blankly as he reviewed the conversation with Kyle Fontaine…and Party.

They were all guilty as Abyss. He only had to prod them the tiniest bit and fear gushed out of them like an artesian well.

Except for that golemancer.

The man in the waterproof smock…Mark, was his name. According to the profile he’d received from the foreman, Mark was able to shape mud into clay automatons that were harder than steel…but he couldn’t create mud.

The man had kit on that allowed him to summon and control ultrafine silt and water, allowing him to create his constructs without any need to rely on outside circumstances. It was messy, hence the waterproof smock covered in dried clay.

It was an interesting build, but it wasn’t revolutionary.

So why wasn’t he scared?

Does he think he could take me? Will mused.

Or is he convinced of his innocence?

Or…is he immune to fear?