Chapter 106

Chapter 106

Nix: The Shadow of a Night Gone Wrong

Just a few hours before Roxana set out from the Pedelian fortress, Orka found himself waiting near the Blue clan’s border instead of going straight back to the Fipellion territory as he had promised.

“Surely they’ve left by now.”

He was waiting for Roussel and Cassis to depart for the five clans’ meeting in Yggdrasil. Not long ago, a Fipellion messenger arrived at the Pedelian castle to inform him of the impromptu gathering in hopes of compelling him to return to the White clan. However, Orka was never one to care about such events, and he most certainly was not prepared to go home just yet. Thus, leaving the Blue fortress had merely been a pretense for him to plot his next move.

The reason he was willing to risk so much was simple. And that reason was Roxana Agrece—the master of the very poison butterflies he desperately longed to possess. He found himself drawn to her like a moth to the flame. In the past, the White Demon Tamer was ruthless enough to kill the previous masters of the demons he coveted.

This time, however, he was of the mind not to even if the opportunity presented itself. The truth was that this was the first time he had experienced any sort of interest or attraction toward a human being. The mere memory of Roxana’s posture and commanding presence while standing in the midst of her butterfly swarm back in the Pedelian garden sent chills down his spine. Up until meeting her, that had been a feeling he only ever felt around demons.

He had a hard time believing it himself, but the truth of the matter was that he had become smitten with both the butterflies and their master. The only remaining issue he faced was that she was clearly the Blue Heir’s woman, which was a difficult detail to overlook.

She barely noticed any of my attempts at seduction. As he thought about the conversation he had attempted to have with Roxana he scowled. She’d been overtly curt in how few words she used to express her disinterest in him. The more he thought about it, the ruder he found it.

Even so, Orka was never one to give up easily. In fact, he was the very type who was unable to rest until he obtained what he was after. Thus, for the first part of his plan, he had to get Roxana outside of the Pedelian fortress.

They’ll have to leave before sundown if they plan to make it to Yggdrasil in time. I’ll make my move around nightfall.

His plan was to simply lure Roxana out of the compound during Cassis’ absence. He was even willing to scale the walls again if necessary. Of course, he had to admit that there was no guarantee he would succeed. Nevertheless, with both the Blue Master and Blue Heir gone, he thought any attempt was at least worth a shot.

As he chomped down on a piece of dried jerky, he went over his plan once more. Sad to say that had Orka known that his target would be leaving the Blue fortress a few hours after the head Pedelian and his son, he would have likely not gone to all that trouble. But since he remained hopelessly unaware of that fact, the White Heir busied himself with going over every last detail of his plot again and again.

After waiting in the same spot for several days, he was beginning to get bored and itching for some action. But he continued to tell himself that compared to his numerous searches for demon habitats, this endeavor was more akin to a vacation. Moreover, a truly delectable reward awaited him. Then without warning, he spat the jerky out of his mouth and contorted his face.

“Damn it! All that delicious, gourmet food I had at the Pedelians’ has ruined my appetite.”

As he reminisced over the delicious meals the Blue clan had provided him and his older cousin, something seemed to waft past the back of his neck. It was as if there was someone or something near him. Suddenly, his skin broke out in goosebumps and all of his senses were on high alert.

But that’s impossible. I’m certain I didn’t actually feel anything.

Flip.

At the same moment he turned to check his surroundings, he was struck by a blunt object from behind.

Without a sound, Orka Fipellion was dealt with.

* * *

Topple.

Cassis eyed the White Heir contemptuously as the other man sagged to the ground. He used his foot to turn Orka over and found his eyes were closed. The White Demon Tamer was out cold.

Cassis glanced around at the jewelry and trinkets encircling Orka’s unconscious body. “A magic circle to hide his presence?”

The Blue Heir imagined his victim would have been better off if he had utilized a spell that could detect when others were approaching.

Crack.

Cassis ground one of the trinkets into the ground with his boot while keeping his stoic gaze trained on the Fipellion. Orka had been nothing but a pain all throughout his unwelcome visit to the Blue fortress, so seeing him secretly lurking just outside of the Blue territory was truly the last straw.

Cassis had doubted the demon tamer from the moment he had agreed to return to his clan without so much as a smug remark. Especially, given how hell-bent the Fipellion had been on infiltrating Roxana’s chambers. But what really made Cassis upset was hearing from Isidore about Orka’s overt attempt to win her over by blathering on about all sorts of nonsensical things.

It had been rather obvious to Cassis that Orka was hiding out near the Pedelian border for one reason or another. The young Pedelian’s best guess was that the White Demon Tamer was most likely waiting for him and his father to leave in order to carry out yet another idiotic scheme.

“I should have known better than to be so charitable to a fool.” Cassis stared acidly at Orka a few moments longer, then bent down to inspect the felled man.

Snap!

Cassis crushed the trinkets that had adorned Orka’s cloak into pieces in his fist. As he scattered the shattered bits over the grass like dust, the imprint they facilitated between Orka and his demons severed.

To say the least, this was a nightmare scenario for any demon tamer. Since they were used as a means to control demon monsters while lightening the physical toll on the hosts, their greatest drawback was that those same links would break almost instantly when the little accessories sustained damage.

It was a given that they were imbued with sorcery and made with exceptionally durable materials unique to the Fipellion clan, thus were usually rather difficult to destroy. In most cases, the little tinkling items would only shatter because the monster they were linked to had perished. That or because the spell on them had broken.

So needless to say it would have shocked the White Heir to no end to see Cassis Pedelian break all of his accessories bare-handed without so much as blinking. He had simply gripped them with slightly more force than he would a wine glass, yet in doing so, he had cost the White Demon Tamer every single demon monster the young man had so painstakingly imprinted upon.

Had Orka been conscious, he would have likely fainted all over again after seeing Cassis’ vicious display of power that resulted in each of his monsters being set free one after another.

Smash!

With the last of the jeweled items ground to fine powder, Cassis stood up straight again. There wasn’t a shadow of guilt on his face. He had actually held back since he did not wish to create any trouble within his clan’s fortress.

The White Heir had clearly thought himself the one exercising restraint, but in truth, the Blue Heir would have undoubtedly wiped the smirk off the Fipellion’s face and sent him back to the White clan in several pieces had he chosen to act on his own impulses. Since Orka should have returned to his clan as the Pedelians had been gracious enough to allow him to do, he honestly had no one to blame but himself for his current plight.

Cassis eyed the prone figure at his feet while wondering if he should just leave the eyesore there in the midst of demon territory. However, he also knew that all sorts of questions regarding the young Fipellion’s last known whereabouts would lead back to the Blue clan, so he abandoned that idea.

“Consider yourself lucky,” he grumbled as he grabbed Orka’s collar, then dragged the unconscious man away with him.

* * *

Before long, Cassis emerged from the woods nearest his clan’s fortress.

“Um, sir... Isn’t that the White Demon Tamer?” Isidore was uncharacteristically taken aback upon seeing his master lugging dead weight in the form of the White clan’s heir apparent over his shoulder. His usually unperturbed face was riddled with shock and confusion.

At some point, Cassis had hogtied Orka before hoisting him up to dangle over his shoulder. “Yes, I happened upon the little snake as he was hiding in the woods.”

Roussel Pedelian had already gone on ahead to Yggdrasil, so Isidore hadn’t suspected anything when his young master expressed a desire to scout the area. He knew all too well that his leader was the cautious type. What he never expected to see was the Blue Heir return with an unconscious White Heir.

After handing Orka over to his men, Cassis instructed them to return the intruder to the Fipellions immediately.

“Make sure to tell them that I just happened upon his unconscious body on our way to Yggdrasil.”

“Yes, sir.”

Despite every last one of them sensing what had really happened to the White Demon Tamer, they all pretended Cassis’ explanation was fact.

“Shall we resume our journey, sir?”

Cassis ignored Isidore’s question to look off into the distance for a moment. His gaze was aimed in the direction of his home.