The God of Jesters
Chapter 108 - 2.29.2 Meeting of fates.

Chapter 108: 2.29.2 Meeting of fates.

The Knights of Radiance informed the military of the rat nest where this wave of curses originated from. They went back on their journey, never informing of who they were and why they knew this.

They didn’t even speak a word besides the knowledge they wished to convey before they started to look for more of these rat nests that might be hidden below walls, dug by rats, away from the eyes.

And this way, they found a total of two nests, each one deeper than the next and requiring even more effort to reach. But none of the knights made a sound as they acted in tandem like a well-oiled machine before digging through the dirt and blasting the magic formation one by one.

But the more they broke it, the more they noticed how futile their effort seemed. The curse had long spread and didn’t even seem to depend on the formation anymore. It would increase in intensity as the night went on and there was no way to counter it.

At least not now.

Before Vance ordered to move forward once again in a bid to at least do something that might change the situation. He heard a blast.

A strong blast that shook the ground. Something escaped the ground and exploded in the sky as if asking for people to look in that direction. Which Vance did, as he was the closest to the blast.

Or so he had thought.

When he eventually zoned in on the area, he heard the voices of some others. Some people were also attracted to the attack and why would they not be? It was too eye-catching to ignore.

The area they came to was a large square, with a fountain in the center that had been blown up and the pipes connected to it showered water everywhere. Causing the steps to turn wet and making sloshing noises.

But the men that had already arrived here before him made none such voice, as they were floating high in the air.

A total of two tower leaders were followed by a bunch of mages that looked over the destruction and then the Knights.

"Our assumptions were right. You people really ran wild these past few days." Annaturam spoke, as she looked to her companion, the ever-silent Kassandra, before continuing. "I am Anna, from the Tower of Contracts and I believe you guys should have some ideas on what is going on?"

Vance has the full right to be silent and doesn’t humor this Arch-level figure. But he knew, even if they didn’t have great relations with the mages of Durum city, he needed to work together.

Or at least agree on not disturbing each other. And that can only start with showing some ’goodwill’ and ’trust’ between each other.

It’s why, against the suggestion of his men, he spoke. "I am Knight Captain Vance Clifford of Radiance Society and the leader of these men." Vance bowed while giving his identity.

Causing a bit of hub hub between the mages who were still not sure of the identity of these shining Knights in armor. And none of it was good. So Anna called out to them with a "Hush." Before turning to the Knights. "Please ignore their chatter, it’s their first time seeing Knights of your kind. And please, explain."

"I believe there is nothing to explain. This all happened due to the corruption of this city, if you, the mages had cared for it as much as you did for keeping us away, then things would have been different." Carrion spoke, his voice holding annoyance towards the Mages that didn’t even care to talk on the same level, instead of choosing to stay in the sky, making the knights like them look up.

Which was humiliating to some extent. Though, he won’t point out the lack of manners among the Mages, for they were beings who never had any, to begin with.

"Please ignore Knight Carrion, he is old and struggles to hold his inner thoughts." Just like Anna did before, Vance also apologized for the bad actor that was Carrion, before continuing with his words. "It’s the Blue Lotus cult and their machinations. Their attempt to revive an old deity, which many among you might be familiar with."

Hearing those words, Anna’s eyes shined bright. Being the master of contracts, she could not only contract with the beings on the other side or elementals, but even gods as well.

And in case, this god that might be reviving is in a weak position, she can just swoop in with an imbalanced contract and make that god her slave. Which is something she had done before, but on much weaker opponents.

But with this greed of hers, she knew the price she had to pay. So she stopped her thoughts before her desire overpowers her rationality. Then turned to Kassandra, who had remained silent during this exchange.

"How about we work together with them? Don’t we always need some meat shields?" Anna asked in a hushed voice using transmission magic, so that only the Tower Master of Illusion and Phantasm, Kassandra could only hear it.

And her companions’ response was also a mild agreement, which she showed through a nod.

"Knight Vance, I wonder if it’s alright if we tag along with you, down there. We had sensed a powerful mana fluctuation from down below and would like to learn about it."

"And isn’t it always better to bring some support?" Her voice held honey, but she didn’t hide her intention at all.

Neither did Vance. But he knew, any help at this point was necessary and might increase the speed at which they did their job. And who knows, the expertise of a Mage might become necessary.

Although he held some apprehension, just like many of his own men. Vance nodded towards the mages, who in return also dropped down off their floating pedestal and on the same level as the Knights.

"Please, lead us." It was the same as asking as being the meat shield. But Vance was going to go down anyway. So he led his men, followed by the mages who summoned a shield of their own and dropped down the hole where the water had filled up to the knees.

Sounds of disgust and vomiting came from his back, though he knew that it was not his knights, but the greenhorn mages that had tagged along with their master.

And knowing from the story of what happened with the military, he understood the level of individuals he was dealing with.

But the low-level mages mattered not to him. With a single glance, he can tell the experience of the four individuals that kept their mouths shut beside the Tower Masters who just used a single spell to filter the air around them and then used a simple floating spell to stay above the water.

"It’s this way." From the path of destruction, they came across a large teleportation circle. "Was this the one giving off the magic radiation from before?" One of the mages asked.

But the tower master shook her head and looked around.

"Can you decipher it? Show us where it goes?" Vance asked, but all he got in return was a disappointment. "I know most of the symbols used here, but it’s heavily encrypted and besides a formation specialist, and months of time, it’s virtually impossible to do at the moment."

"Unless of course, you have the key." Being a contract specialist herself, most of the runes used here were familiar to Anna. But it didn’t mean she could crack the code itself. The two studies only used the same symbols. "Or if we came here earlier when the magic was still somewhat active in this teleportation circle."

"Sadly, it’s been a while."

"If it’s drained, then what is causing such an intense magic reaction even now?" One of the mages called out, curious for a bit.

Kassandra, who had been silent all this while, turned to look in my direction.

Not Farhad me, but one of the rats that were hiding in the corner. Before her head turned to the human me not too far off from her position.

Which easily showed that she had detected my presence. Which was a bit unexpected.

"Found it." One of the mages called out, holding a simple broken brick. Which was anything but simple.

"A seal?"

Anna was the first one to notice the peculiarity of the stone. A stone so brittle that might break easily if hit.

"A seal of someone that was transported from here." Kassandra continued as she took the stone from the young mage and then held it in her hand to feel it. "A fire mage with peculiar fire magic."

"It’s Varkus Maisel’s seal."

Hearing those words, Vance stepped forward and asked. "Can you locate him through this?" With the attack that was meant to attract attention, a seal that was only given to someone trusted just strew about in the area close to a teleportation circle.

And a man that had gone missing for the last few days.

It was easy to conclude. This was Maisel’s way of asking for help, a method to make others follow him.

"It’s close, it’s in the city?"

"Then it’s time for you to lead. Move fast. We can’t delay any longer."

Finally, they had a lead. A lead that might just bring them to their target. The bastards that were the cause of all of this.

Of course, poor Vance was unaware of how wrong he was going to be.