The God of Jesters
Chapter 562 - 9.03.2 Old flame.

Chapter 562: 9.03.2 Old flame.

Humans are flawed creatures, hypocritical to the extreme as they barely stand up to their beliefs. They say one thing and do the other.

Sometimes driven by desires.

Sometimes driven by their greed.

Though most of the time, it’s generally emotions.

Emotions are what make humans so unpredictable. It’s what makes them flawed.

Which is not a bad thing in the slightest.

Amir in all his wisdom still remained weak in certain parts. Since long ago, the eyes of Team One had been on him, they witnessed his arrival and the subsequent departure of the boy they wished to recruit.

A boy they could have easily tracked on their own with Mini’s talents, but like a bunch of lazy hounds, they planned to borrow some effort on Amir’s end, they followed Amir’s group for days on end, looking for an opportunity to strike.

Of course, it was harder said than done, as the opponent had a powerful Legendary in his midst, making any actions that Team One planned to execute seen from miles away.

Dangerous, this was all so dangerous if one were to think it through.

The opportunity came when Amir and his crew stopped at a small island for resupply, also the time when two of their targets chose to leave the ship for some rest in the settlement’s inn.

"Fast, away from the eyes." With time, the talent of Team One became more potent and varied. With no immediate eye of the legendary all over the islands, like he had on the ship, and a greater area to maneuver, they set up a simple trap for these two powerful Grandmaster grade Exorcists, and even though all the Team One barely had strength that rivaled the people that came with Amir, they still fell in Team One’s trap.

"Scart, take their faces and some blood off, we don’t have much time." Ordered Owl. Scart’s expertise lies in stealing, but it would be doing Scart a disservice by calling him a simple thief.

He earned the name Scart the Collector for a reason. He was an expert at his craft and he barely damaged the goods his eyes fell onto. Meaning, that Scart can skin these people alive, take out their organs, blood, and even bones, but still keep them alive.

But such a level of brutality was not needed at the moment. Not because Team One wished to show mercy on fellow Exorcist, no, the reason being, even if Scart stole all of those while keeping them alive. They won’t be alive for long, which might expose them.

Their death would probably be noticed by Amir due to the contract in his hand. So it was of utmost importance to keep these two alive for as long as possible.

Of course, this brought its own challenges, what if these two were to ask for help and such?

Even that was taken into account by Owl and obviously, that plan had failed considering the Armada was closing in on them.

’Jig is up.’ Like a simple sailor, Owl spoke with a tired voice. There is a reason why the Armada had remained so far from the main force. For one, they didn’t wish to intrude upon whatever actions that Amir was taking due to privacy concerns. Second, such a big force coming so deep into the sea ought to cause certain concerns among the nations of the Irban Fateh Alliance.

Such actions can be grounds for war or at least a greater political discourse. Which the current Cynark can’t deal with considering the state of their borders.

Which made all of this far more frustrating than it had any right to be. ’You people really treat this Prince like a true heir.’ Owl knew the jig was up and intended to call out the Team One to escape with their prize.

But before he could do so, Gazelle, who is usually the most sensible of the group, spoke some self-incriminating words.

"You still remain the same... as human as always."

’Exposed are we?’ Of course, there was not much fear in Amir’s eyes.

"You... You are Gazelle?" Amir asked, looking horrified as his eyes turned toward the robed Kuti and her entourage.

"Well, your army already found out about it, meaning they found the ones to whom this face belonged," Gazelle said pointing toward the mask she had poured all her energy into making.

Though this action which can be seen as a kind of affirmation faced a certain level of response from the Knights, who were still in their armor. All of whom didn’t stop at all when they attacked this odd enemy that came out of nowhere.

Before they can harm her, Amir gives an order out loud. "Don’t be stupid and stop, the opponent is not so simple as you expect," Amir warned, stopping his men specifically Hemant and his friend in their tracks.

"But sir, she..."

"Listen to your Lord here, I gave you all protection from that monster’s curses, the very same monster that is sealed under the seals of my making." Gazelle was not so good at sealing, she had just borrowed some of the talisman and techniques from Owl, making it appear as her own.

But in a certain way, she didn’t lie at all, any harm on her and Owl might just release that monster back into the wild. A monster who without the suppression of an Exorcist might just end up killing everyone on the ship.

Well everyone except Amir due to the brooch he carried. Though such a luxurious item was not for everyone.

"Gazelle... I never expected to meet like this. But this also proves it, Soros is part of your team, or at least someone with a connection to that clown." There was so much to talk about, so much to ask about.

An obsession of sorts that had lit a fire in Amir’s heart for a long time. A fire that hadn’t gone out even after so long.

Pretty pathetic if his grandfather were to learn of it. Though he won’t be so foolish to expose such feelings in the open anymore, he needs to keep his head straight and not be swayed by an obvious manipulator.

Or was she truly a manipulator? Amir can’t tell, he can’t tell a thing, nor ask any of the countless questions he has in his heart. He just looked at the woman, deeply, hoping to see past the mask she wore, but all he got as result was a disappointment.

"Not till now, but we do hope to recruit him, his talents will be useful in our goal," Gazelle spoke some lies, all done in favor of their master, as at the end of the day Rosso was a monster that caused the death of countless people.

However, none of this causes any less disgust from Amir’s heart. "The very same person who spoke of evils in Cynark is not recruiting a mass murderer?"

"What actually happened in Rudrain, we both know Prince, so don’t act so innocent. And I am not here to discuss morality here... I am here for one thing and hope to take it with me before your friends arrive." Gazelle spoke in a soft voice putting which did make Amir a bit frustrated.

Then came silence. "I can allow you to take him, but only after he dies." With those words, Amir under the surprised gazes of virtually everyone, lifted his armored leg and then sliced it toward the very ship itself, causing a red blood blade to flow out and cut the ship in half.

"You have turned crazier than the last time we met," Gazelle spoke as her entourage which turned out to be Skulker grabbed her back and jumped off away from the Knights that were ready to strike Gazelle.

"Save the fallen Sailors, the rest, completely obliterate the coffin before it opens up." Shouted Amir as he directly flew toward the Coffin that was currently floating among the wreckage of the ship.

Before he could close in, Amir suddenly felt his sense of direction change, causing him to collide with Hemant who was rushing next to him.

"Huh?’ And the same was the scene all around, the Knights instead of going toward their target, kept colliding with each other.

"Illusion?" Amir wondered but now was not the time to think. The paper seals on the coffin were burning even when wet with water, it can be seen that the unsealing process was currently taking place, and it wouldn’t be long before the monster was released.

"Sir, don’t worry about us... we are sailors, we know how to swim." Shouted the Captain unaware of the struggle Amir was going through.

’No, I can’t.’ Amir understood the Exorcist very well. Usually far weaker than Knights, Mages, or even curse Wielders in the same ranks. They are not good at direct confrontation, instead they are more prone to planning and preparation before a fight.

And as long as they have the time to do that, then their win is almost absolute.

Which might have happened here. For who knows what kind of plans and traps these bastards have set up in this place?

’No, this is not it... we can’t reach the coffin at the moment, so why aren’t they taking it away?’ Amir’s eyes suddenly opened up, something felt wrong in the current situation.

But with his limited knowledge against this odd set of opponents, nothing he can think up helped in any way.

While he struggled to think what was going on, one of the Knights whose body was completely covered in MAAS armor made a pained groan, followed by a cursing voice. "Hah, I was going to claim this ship for my own collection.., why did you have to take it from me?"

Spoke Scart, holding the heart of the first death among Amir’s men.