I stared blankly at Daz as he mentioned Syemore. How did he know about my fight with him? Only the Black Wolves, the three Arabella maids back at home, Ryo, and Belle knew about the true events of that day. Did Ryo slip up and tell him? No, he would never go behind my back. But even so… if he did know about it now, why did he want to fight me?
"You seem confused. Surprised?" he said pleasantly. His tone went in and out of serene and savagery, "Don't worry. No one informed me. I found out on my own."
I tensed, then my eyes shifted back to the two Arc Slayers he held in both his hands.
"When I am away, I leave one Arc Slayer behind. Always. The blade is imbued with my magic ability, which is Nullifying magic. It not only nullifies the mana and magic of those it strikes, but it also nullifies the user's ability as well." He closed his eyes at this time in front of me. It was as if he was treating me like I posed no threat to him, "I leave it in the Valley as a last resort in case the threat to the Valley reaches its extremes—in this case—the Blue Phoenix Knights incident and its leader, Syemore." He opened those haunting gray eyes and glared at me again, "I left this Arc Slayer in Belle's hands as safekeeping in the Desert Kingdom—our Sub Kingdom. With the help of her sister Alice, she can access the room where the Arc Slayer is, with no exceptions. Upon entering the room, she may break the seal on it and then must use a spell to wield the blade. Even if it is only for a mere twenty seconds or so…"
I stared at him blankly. I didn't quite know where he was going with this… I had thought of striking first, but despite his nonchalance toward me at this time, his presence told me I would not be able land the blow—or catch him off guard for that matter.
"The point I am trying to make is"—he tilted his head as he maintained his glowering stare upon me—"I would have known if the seal was broken and the spell was used… and because it wasn't, I suspected someone else had broken the seal and wielded the blade of their own volition. But the fact that it was used without a user is a peculiar thing—and that's what got my attention.
I understood now, and he went on.
"On top of that, I investigated the scene as the Valley continues its rebuild and found the broken Arc Slayer among the wreckage. Judging by the time it was destroyed, I suspect it was destroyed earlier in the battle. And then there were the sizable casualties that occurred that were not of the Phantomdrakes doing."
Shadows formed over my eyes now as he spoke of this.
"Belle had notified me she tried to protect the citizens as much as possible with her Celestial Dome, but Syemore broke through… hard to believe, even with Forbidden magic. Her Celestial Dome is second to none; not even my Nullifying barriers contended with that spell."
He was right. In my memories after I had come back from insanity, I remembered Syemore's cannon blast onto me, but it only cracked the inner walls of the barrier and then bounced off into different areas around the Kingdom… What did this have to do with anything, though?
"There is only one other ability that can cancel out magic, just like Nullifying magic. However… unlike Nullifying magic, it has no counter—not even Forbidden magic, or Nullifying magic for that matter, can counter it… the ability is Tantra."
When he said this, my head rang as if it were something I knew but could not act upon.
The only thing I could think of in this moment was, What the fuck is Tantra?
"Tantra is an anomaly in our world of magic. Those who have it are usually the same ones who cannot use magic at all: those who are born without it, or those who chose to suppress their own magic to attain the ability… even so, to have one as powerful to fend off Forbidden magic and even break through Belle's magic is a rarer case… the only possibility I could think of is if you were a Sin."
He paused for a bit, thinking of his next words. I was still kneeling, compelled to listen. I wanted to know, even though the sound of Sin was a triggering word for me.
"I never understood your ability until I met with someone in Tartarus who claims you as his brother. It was only after speaking with him that I finally understood… and oh… how I felt so stupid for not realizing it sooner…"
Brother? I thought to myself.
"Only Sins can use a type of Tantra that can take the form of a magic ability and act as such without the use of mana or the the side effect of being nullified—even giving it physical form. Tantra is invisible, you see, but unless one is a Sin or has undergone a type of 'trauma' that triggers its awakening, its feel is the only way to know of its existence. You're one of either."
"And what makes you think my power isn't just magic?" I asked.
"You registered your 'magic' as Copper magic, yes? Even a Grand Copper magic user would bend at the will of Forbidden magic, let alone only have the power to break through a tough wall—not Celestial Dome. If you did all of that with 'Copper magic', then you should be the Arcane King, not me."
"Okay," I said, mentally tossing that impossibility out, "Even if it is this… Tantra, as you say… how do you know I didn't go through my own traumas?"
"And your name just so happens to be Greed as well? How quaint."—he sighed—"To any case, my main agenda for coming back to the Valley was to see if my hunch was true, and if it was…" his glare became intense, and I felt the aura, but his was different—his… was like my own, "I am to remove the cancer."
I readied myself for battle as his aura shredded me. He was hostile.
"So, I will ask you one last time… and depending on your answer, I may make your death swift." He took a step, and instantly, I felt the air pressure around me thicken. It was hard to breathe. "Are you or are you not a Child of the Sins?"
There it was again—that moniker. Why was it so bitter to my ears? Why could I not answer for the life of me—even to lie about it? And even if I did lie, what was the truth? I choked on my response and could not speak. All I could do again was nod my head… no.
Daz sighed, "You know… I really hate liars."
The moment I blinked, he was right in front of me… His body was in a forward, dashing motion with his arms wrapped around him, and the Arc Slayers, extended past his grip, ready to swing in a direct cross onto me. I could barely react, and there was no time to jump away—I had to dodge.
The Arc Slayers swung vertically, and I threw my head back, arching my body like a reflex.
"Good reflexes. But futile, I hate to say."
He then raised the left Arc Slayer and swung down—way too fast for me to see clearly while I was still in this thrown back position.
The second he threw it down, I clasped it with both my palms, still bent over backwards, balancing that way. He flipped his right hand, reversing his other Arc Slayer, and swung inward to me again. When he did this, I forced my legs to jump in place and spun in the air opposite the direction that it had attempted to slash into me, pushing the other Arc Slayer I clasped with my hands upward, allowing space for me to flip in place.
Coming back down on the other side of his right inward swing, I finally had an opening and took my left hand, readied a punch, and threw it down to his side where he could not block. But right when I thought my fist was going to land, he used the wide side of the other Arc Slayer in his left hand above him to block it, facing the blade downward like a shield to my strike.
The impact pushed him back a bit, and our eyes met from the few feet of distance that was left there for us. When he stopped, he flipped around his large dual blades and repositioned himself for another attack, standing upright first and then crossing both Arc Slayers around him, dashing again. I also repositioned myself and jetted at him as well with a right fist this time, ready.
Just before we met, I put on that black coating on my fist before the cross slash made contact. In that extremely short moment, I saw Daz's eyes widen at the sight of my fist… but it was too late to stop his attack. It met with mine and right on contact from the shot of my fist, both blades broke from the impact of it.
Holding only hilts of the blades now, and their shattered pieces dancing in the air around him, Daz's face was in shock as he witnessed both his infamous Arc Slayers destroyed before his very eyes. He jumped backward in response, backflipping to a further spot away from me—finally being cautious.
"Now that's something… Guess my speculations about you are correct… You are a Child of the Sins."
Pissed, I finally answered him, "You keep throwing that title on me like I'm supposed to do something with it."
He smirked and stood upright again, "Well, you refuse to answer, so I am forced to come to my own conclusions… Plus, in battle, fists and blades do not lie."
Two new Arc Slayers by his side yet again.
"And here I was, going to apologize for breaking your Arc Slayer in the fight with Syemore. Guess I don't have to worry about that anymore, do I?" I said, standing upright as well, our eyes still glaring directly at each other intensely.
"How thoughtful… The Arc Slayers, Nullifying magic… The only type of ability that can go toe to toe with it is Forbidden magic,"—he raised both blades from his sides in the air next to him, they resembled wings—"and Tantra."
He dashed to the side, disappearing entirely. He was immeasurably fast. Faster than me, faster than possibly Brand as well…
He sped in every direction around me. I stayed in place as my eyes zigzagged, the only thing keeping up with him. Then, from directly above, he crashed into me with a heavy swing, and I blocked it with crossed arms above my head, cracking the ground.
He disappeared again and reappeared in front of me at a low angle, spinning as he did with both blades extended outward. My arms were still above me, and I was too slow to react as he proceeded to hit me on the side, the blade making contact with my skin, shredding my jacket and shirt.
The sound of metal crashing once again echoed. He saw a faint color of the black coating from the slit to my side as he slid his blade. The strike threw me off balance, but not enough to send me flying. And that's when he spun again and swung both blades down onto me from the same angle at lightning speed.
The blow was much heavier and stronger than the last as it sent me flying to the nearest wall, crashing into it and creating a crevasse from my impact.
He stood upright with one blade to his side and the other propped over his shoulder as he watched me. The smoke cleared while I sat within that crater in the wall, as if it were my throne, head down, and with shadows formed over my eyes like some crownless king.
"Rise. We're not done yet," he said commandingly, head raised and looking down at me with those howling, glowing gray eyes of his.
I loosed a big sigh before deciding to get up. Grabbing onto the rubble wall I was within, I used it to pull myself out and dusted my arms and legs upon standing. From behind me, the wall I cratered had completely mended back together as if it was automatically fixing itself.
"Not many mages can send me flying like that… Looks like you're not the Arcane King for nothing."
"I do what I can. I have a reputation to uphold after all," he said, shrugging, then continued, "If I can't even cleanse a measly Sin, then I don't deserve to be called the Arcane King."
His gray eyes blazed, and I felt his presence shred me once more. This was different than mana aura… I knew that now, however late the realization was of it.
"Okay then, pastor. Just try to cleanse me."
We dashed again, commencing in a series of close combat right at contact. Our clashes sparked, and the sound of metal rang. Through his dance of blades, I dodged and blocked, and he skillfully did the same. This was an opponent I couldn't just fight normally, and it seemed I was the same for him. He knew the black coated attacks would not only destroy his Arc Slayers, but they would also do damage to him if they made contact.
I mixed up my attacks, using regular strikes and black-coated strikes within them, attacking so fast to catch him off guard with one. I could sense his weariness when I did this—but he caught on quick as he started to match my movements with equal exactness.
When Daz found an opening, my arms were spread out from his double parry. With my center fully open, he drew both blades back so quickly and charged them at me in a stabbing motion. I readied myself and hardened my core right when the tips of the two large blades made contact, sending me flying yet again… but this time, it was on purpose… Adjusting myself in midair, before my back collided, I flipped myself so my feet hit the wall first. A shockwave from my landing caused the wall to ripple with cracks as I ricochet off; the bricks reforming as I flew back to Daz.
He dodged me, disappearing as I cratered the ground with my right fist in a downward strike. When he reappeared, he was behind with a swing. I raised my left arm, turning slightly to block as I still suspended my body with only a fist to the ground. He made a feint and juked a swing with the other left blade from around and into my blind spot.
When I saw this, my reflexes once again kicked in, using the momentum of my spin into a flip. In slow motion, it looked as if I were running upside down in the air—right leg leading, left leg trailing. Switching my legs in the air, my left leg was now in position to land right onto his Arc Slayer.
On the wide side of the blade, my left foot made contact, shattering it once more. I was now in position with my suspended right leg to swing another kick to the side.
Connected but blocked with his forearm that held the shattered blade, to the side of his head, I should have coated it to break past, but didn't, and he read me like he knew I wouldn't. Right then, finally connecting, from his angle was his right inward slash to the side of my head opposite him.
Blocked, and also in a similar fashion, with my left forearm.
We dashed apart, giving each other space once more. While in the air, as he jumped back, he threw the hilt of the shattered blade like a spear, reconstructing itself mid-flight, and once again becoming whole.
I grounded myself, deciding not to dodge, and threw a right punch directly at the tip of the impending Arc Slayer.
But then, right behind me… Daz was there. So fast, and ready to slash me from behind as the other Arc Slayer flew in the opposite direction from me.
He held the other Arc Slayer with both hands and said, almost like a lasting whisper, "Your arrogance is the reason you lost…"
Startled by his presence and barely able to make a counter or dodge, I stood there in a predicament. Though I would shatter the blade flying at me, he would still be able to strike me down from behind if I wasn't careful with my coating. So I decided then; it was time to stop holding back.
As both blades made impact, they exploded, disintegrating against my sheen body; my direct punch to the blade that flew at me, and his blade from behind as it made contact with my side. Daz's eyes widened as he witnessed my form—like he had known what it was.
The black coating had covered me from head to toe in a blink. Those infamous jagged, sharp teeth found themselves on my face, only half covering my head below my eyes.
He stepped back, and my eyes whipped over to him. Slowly, I fixed my posture, standing tall to face him directly. "Arrogance, huh?" My eyes glowed red, reflecting his face, which was a mask of shock beholding my form. "Guess we share that trait…"
But then, without his lips ever moving, he chanted ethereally,
"Nullifying Magic: Tartarus Cell"
Right then, the shards of the broken Arc Slayers floated in place from where they were shattered, suspended in the air there before hitting the ground. A black beam traced from each of them, connecting each of the pieces in one swift motion. And once connected, they clanged like a shield and covered me entirely in a black pyramid-shaped prison. It was too late. Since the moment he threw his blade, I had already been trapped in his spell…
All I could see now was darkness. The place I stood was but an empty void with nothing but pitch black and me in the center.
Perhaps of Nullifying magic… but magic still…
I threw a punch into the void, but nothing happened. I threw another, and another, and another, but to no avail. I looked like an idiot flailing about… and then I heard Daz's voice.
"If you're trying to break out of here, I'm afraid that's not going to work."
Right then, from the darkness, he appeared, as if passing through a shadowy wall. The shadows, like smoke, enveloped him, then faded as he entered the space.
"What have you done?" I asked.
He looked at me with an innocent, confused face, "Hm? I just chanted the spell, I thought it'd be obvious."
I did nothing but glower; even if I had tried to attack, he seemed to be fully in control. My efforts would only be futile.
He finally answered, staring back with that innocent, blank face. He shrugged as he did, "Okay, okay… This is a place that traps magic in its deepest, darkest prison. Once cast, the very fabric of the arcane is severed within a designated area, drawing all magical energies into a singular, inescapable void… hence the name… In this place, no spell can be cast, no incantation can take root, and no force of sorcery can exist. We are all just normal beings trapped within its confines. Left powerless and at the mercy of the forces beyond its shadows. It is a space devoid of everything except"—his eyes were soft, and then he smiled pleasantly—"the existence of man."
"How poetic," I replied flatly with an expressionless look.
"Truth, nonetheless."
"So, that goes for you as well, then?"
"Precisely."
"Perfect."
I dashed over to him so fast, he didn't see it coming. There in front of him, I dared not even to strike from behind. I was to show him the results of my training. Physical strength and speed… that was enough… I had thought…
The second my fist had made contact with his face, it went through him completely…
What? I thought.
Daz simply smiled as my fist shot through him like it was not even there.
"An illusion?"
He stepped to the side casually and tilted his head innocently like a child, "Oh, no… nothing like that."
He grabbed my arm, turning around, and suplexed me over onto my back. I grunted at landing, actually feeling the impact, regardless of it being a simple move…
"What the fuck?"
He gave a joyous laugh, contradictory to how he had been this whole battle, "Oh, I forgot to tell you that this magic is the only type of magic that exists in this space… a no-brainer, being that it was a spell… but I digress… because it exists, it chooses to protect me, even though I cannot control it within this space."
"Magic has a choice?" I asked from the ground.
"Yes. And the ones who don't give it choice… are us mages. You see, magic is a living thing as well. I bet you never learned this in the academy?"
"I never went to school."
"Ah, then that explains a lot… but yes, magic is alive. It doesn't have a physical form or feel like other organisms… Think of magic like plants. They are alive, but cannot see, cannot speak, cannot feel. The only things it can do are feed and just exist. In return, they produce fruit, vegetables, cleanse the air, and so on and so forth… It's the same with magic. Except instead of the nutrients for it being water and soil, the nutrients for magic are mana… So long as you have mana, it will produce for you, however—"
I was still on the ground and tried to escape from his hold, but when I did, he jabbed me on the neck and shoulder, temporarily disabling my arm from any further use, and brought me down to another, changed hold on the ground… Guess he also was capable of holding his own magicless as well… I'll give him that…
He continued his speech as if nothing had happened, "As I was saying… magic produces what its caster gives it. Hence, the need for us to always supply it with mana. The typical mage will always just supply mana and have magic produce the end result, but for me… I like to give my magic a choice. Freedom to do as it pleases—to take or not to take. Because when you give something a choice, it's a form of love… You see where I'm going with this, right?"
I quite frankly wasn't… but since I was stuck here, I had no choice but to listen. But I had a question first…
"Cool story. So then what about Tantra? If that is my power as you say it is, why then can I not just break free?"
"Because… I can use Tantra too."
My brow twitched at that, and he sensed my discomfort at the statement—he can use Tantra too… and yet, I still did not know what that meant.
"Like I said, only 'the existence of man' exists here. And I will give man one thing—the ability to produce against all odds. Those odds being magic, and the production—Tantra. That is how I am able to go toe to toe with a Sin without my magic being deterred," he said, blinking without expression as if I was supposed to know that. "Understand?"
I said nothing.
"Well then, I think we had enough fun for today, don't you think?"
He let me go at this time and simply knelt over in front of me as I turned around to sit up. It had seemed we were done fighting. I sensed no hostility now like I had before for some reason, and so I chose not to react so brashly.
"Hold still now," he said as he grabbed my head and put his thumb on my chin.
"What are you?—"
"I said hold still."
It was then; an unknown power surged as he chanted a single word, "Break!"
Freeing me of whatever was holding me back in speech moments before… a red sigil formed around my head, and an invisible marking that I had no idea existed under my tongue formed and then disappeared—looking like it was cracked, weakened by being in this space.
A shatter sounded from the seal as if breaking glass, and right then, I felt a rush of sudden freedom course through me. It was as if I had escaped from a prison unbeknownst to me until now.
"What… What did you just do?"
Daz stood up, and once he did, the darkness we stood amidst crumbled as well, taking us back to the underground arena we were just dueling in. "I freed you." He said.
"Freed me?"
He nodded, turning his back to me.
And I watched him as I spoke, "So, are we still fighting?"
He stopped and stood there casually. Putting his hands in his coat pockets, "Depends on your answer… are you or are you not a Child of the Sins?" he asked nonchalantly—carelessly as if to once again trigger me.
Pissed off at the question—the label, I shot up, still kneeling on the ground, and proclaimed in the most pent-up, rage-filled way. I had always felt this way, but right in this moment I truly felt that I could express it… and I crashed out.
"Here we go again, damn it. You keep asking me that. You wanna know so bad, fine! The answer is yes. Yes, I am a fucking Sin—Child of the Sins—whatever! But I fucking escaped… You know why!?"
Daz didn't move or speak. He just listened.
"That damn family… all of them are fucking monsters! I hate every single one of them. Every fucking one. I ran away because I didn't want to live up to their fucking expectations… I couldn't… live up to their expectations." My head lowered, shadows over my eyes. The rage grew and faded as if I were a child and could not control my temper. "Day after day, they pitted us against each other to fight to the death. Day after day, the loser would starve in a cell while the winner would eat. Day after day, you were beaten to a fucking pulp, not only by your siblings, but by the goddamn caretakers as well—because they all thought you as weak… Funny, really… I don't even think they were human. But who am I to say? Apparently, I'm not either… I am a Sin as you say." I sort of laughed to myself at the thought, feeling almost delusional as I was saying all this to him. I went on softly, "Day after day, your siblings looked at you like you were trash—the bullying turned to the point of torture as they beat you till you bled and stabbed you with rocks or sticks or anything they could get their hands on; leaving you to rot in your cell, shitting yourself—drowning in your own salt and iron."
Daz didn't even bat an eye. He was just listening as I threw my tantrum. I could hardly believe it, but I was more surprised at the words that were coming out of my mouth than anything else.
"And then him…" I said as his ears perked, "he let it all happen like he did not care if his own son was going through this torture. He would meet me with a fucking smile like I wasn't crying tears of blood and would say, Do better…" I began to laugh hysterically like I had lost my mind. The feeling of hate taking over me like some violent disease. And then I silenced myself just as quickly as I continued, "Do fucking better. That was all I got. And still he wanted me to call him the Lord." I chuckled.
Daz's silent stares became almost uncomfortable as the expression on his face changed from a ruthless blank to that of… empathy, it seemed. Had I truly become so pathetic?
"I thought of dying… but… when I looked outside, and I saw how everything else around us—the birds, the animals, even the wind… it was all free. And I wanted to be just like that. I couldn't get that through death… There is no freedom in a grave… well… maybe there is. Bliss, as they say, can be found in life and in death." I felt tears forming in my eyes. I had no idea why, but I wanted to cry… I bit my lip so hard I even bled.
"I JUST WANTED TO LIVE GODDAMN IT! LIVE! I WANTED TO BE FUCKING FREE!"
Silence overtook the space. There was no other sound except my tireless panting. "Is that so much to ask?"
I canted my head upward to the blackness above, and wrath filled my eyes. Ironic that I have my brother's eyes in this moment. Daz stared at me all the while with a sad, pitied look at first, but then the glint in his eyes gave me the impression he no longer felt sorry for me. He looked as if he was inspired by my hate toward my family of Sins.
I breathed heavily, contemplating at the same time. What had I said just now? Was all of this really okay for me to express? Will I be punished? Not by Daz, but by someone or something else? Just like that time with Belle?
Daz let the moment be mine until he spoke at last, his next words were something I had both anticipated and not anticipated, but for some reason, it felt reassuring to hear, "Now that… that is the truth."
With my knees kissing the ground, I lowered my arms to my side and slowly tilted my head back to face him. I now glowered at Daz with clarity of thought, "What have you done to me?"
Then, without a hint of hesitation, he said again,
"I told you. I freed you."