The God of Jesters
Chapter 319 - 5.13.3 I love a good game.

Chapter 319: 5.13.3 I love a good game.

Death could not come early for me, or so it seemed from Remira’s perspective at the moment.

"Your master seems a bit slow on the uptake, sending you alone will not do him good." She said, as she brought her flaming sword on Lecarth’s head before he could read. But she still looked down on his speed, as he had long disappeared from her attack range, appearing not too far from her.

"I guess, he believes I am enough for you." Mockery was written all over his face, as he showed some regret not being able to kill me, the Crow, as I went by.

But Remira on the other hand has already started to look and assess what his ability was.

A strong smell of course when she was close, she was sure of it. The man in front of her dabbled with curses, but for some odd reason, he didn’t possess the gloomy atmosphere around him, nor injuries or any level of corruption. He appeared as normal as a human can be, even when using his ability to dodge her attacks.

"All of you are an annoying bunch." Remira didn’t hold back, her flaming sword danced in the air and before Lecarth could react, a torrent of flames escaped her flames which made it harder for Lecarth to move.

Before flashing toward him without a moment’s notice, at a speed so fast that the naked eye of mine can’t catch up to it.

Lecarth was one of the rare mages that had dabbled in Curses for most of his life, although at Adept level at both. Using his magic as a sacrifice, he can fuel his curses and not be affected by backlash at all. As for his ability to move so fast from place to place?

A simple application of his curse ability modified by some spells where he can move freely in any place as long as he had stepped on that place before, including moving things in that constrained place as well

Which Remira seemed to have caught on to after just two displays of his abilities, a smart mind and probably experience at play. She burned the surroundings or the area where Lecarth might have left his mark, leaving him no place to move.

Or so she might have believed.

"??" Before she could successfully strike him, she moved from her position and appeared way on the back among the fire that didn’t burn her. But the confusion on her face was apparent.

"No need to be so confused... there are ways to make curses viable to be used against your kind." Lecarth laughed and then turned toward him, but I was not there. Instead, I had run from the scene and tried catching up with Rashid.

"That little runt." Lecarth made an annoying face before turning to Remira. "You are not behind me, and you will always be behind me." He said these words before ignoring Remira and started to walk the stairs again.

However, Remira was never the kind to sit still and just listen, she moved and dashed to catch up to Lecarth, but she found herself back in her original position.

"This." She knew, she had fallen for whatever trick Lecarth had been cooking up. But this was still not her limit.

If Master level doesn’t work, then grandmaster level strength should suffice.

And although she can’t reach her peak like in Durum as there was no moon here. The flames on her body took form as a wolf, which sent shivers down my spine, knowing full well that she was probably doing something stupid again.

But Lecarth, he was ready for her.

He had been ready for months at this point.

For if there was one weakness of Popular bloodlines, that is that they don’t have any secrets. Everyone in the world knows of their talent and limits of their ability and hence with enough research and understanding, they can counter it.

And Lecarth was the same. Although only at adept level, he had finessed his control of magic and curse to a perfect degree. And after years of research of his predecessors and his own talents, he was able to cook up ways to mess up with the protection against curses that a Radiant Knight possess.

Which is where his hybrid curses were made, which possessed the ease of utility of curses and the master control of spells together.

Of course, there was a single curse at work, which worked automatically the moment Remira had place her foot where he had left a mark.

As for how it worked completely?

That is for later, as it’s better if Remira can find the secret herself. That is, if she can find it.

"Move!!" I shouted toward Rashid, the boy with no family left. I urged him to run, as it would seem that Lecarth was gaining in on us. Which made Rashid run harder, knowing that an enemy was behind him.

An enemy on the same level as him, an adept. But this was the difference between the quality of different adepts. You might be on the same realm of existence, but there are always difference in the amount of strength one can display.

’The higher you go, the more you will see of your past loved ones, it affects the mind and the body to some extent.’ Rashid had turned slower and slower as time went on, poor boy was even struggling to dodge the shades that were on the steps at this point.

The past will come to haunt those with things to hide, and Rashid was experiencing it first hand, making it easier for me to catch up to him.

As for the things that moved past me?

The words spoken by friends, my pets, my past?

None of it held any meaning. No matter what this ruin showed me, my age and the time I have spent made me immune to such images, taunts even. These things were made for proper test goers, youngsters with weak mind.

"Why are you so slow." I asked before picking Rashid by the shoulder and dragging him up.

"Fath..."

"Don’t be delirious on me..., I betrayed them, they won’t leave me alone, you are my ticket out of this place." I said, hitting him in the stomach with an elbow.

"Cr..Crow?"

"Why help me?"

"Didn’t you hear what I said? Those bastards used my Master, and he is dead now. I know they will do the same to me, and you are my ticket out... don’t you have a close relationship with the ambassador of Cynark?"

"He... He is my foster father."

"Then even better... Just... just promise me a safe passage to your country, and we will be even after this."

It was perfect time for a long con.

*****

Right after being attacked by Crow and pushed out of the door, Sheva held injured Henry on her lap while she wondered what just happened.

"Ah." But there was no time for any of it. Henry was injured and he needed help. "This seems like a claw mark." She said, knowing the full range of Max’s abilities, she understood that Crow had hidden one of his form that he hadn’t told even Henry about, or she might have learned of it from Henry by now.

"Don’t worry." Although the face and words spoken by Crow at the end sounded suspicious. Her mind was not in the state to consider them too much, instead her eyes fell on the bag that Crow had been carrying all this time.

"There should be something." She said, opening the bag and turning it over, making all the items in it to drop to the ground.

There were potions, as expected, which she rushed to pick up, but when she checked the name, there was nothing on it beside a familiar insignia.

She recalled a memory. A memory she hadn’t forgotten no matter how hard she had tried."They wish for me to drink this to awaken... but I don’t want to." Those were Jara’s words before, that unfortunate day, he was forced to drink it.

A memory that almost made her want to shatter the bottle, but before she could, Henry’s pained cries awakened her from her stupor, and then she found another bottle which actually seemed to be the healing potion.

"This should work." She said, pouring the potion over his injuries before using a bandage from Crow’s bag to cover it.

"Did he betray us?" Henry asked, still not believing what happened there at all. But the only answer Sheva could give was. "I... I don’t know." She said, slowly putting the potion in her pocket.

"We... we have to go after him?"

"It will be death, with the things that are on the other side."

"Could he survive those things?"

"I don’t know." She really didn’t, not at this point when she saw what he was capable of, along with those weird words. "Things got boring because of you two." He said, which made her confused, and Henry was the same.

It was as if Crow came here expecting some challenge, when there was not many.

Is it the reason he harmed them like this?

But even if he did, why stay in that hellish field all by himself?

The answer they got to this question was instantaneous. "The door is not opening." Henry said, after standing up with much effort.

And Sheva gave it a try as well, because no matter what Crow’s intentions were, they had to get answers directly from his mouth. But it didn’t move again.

"It’s closed from the other side."