Chapitre 19: Shameless poaching of talent
"Wait! …Young Girl… I can see that you are very talented. You haven't yet gone through those evil rituals during the blood-red moon to strengthen your mystic powers. Correct?" The Matriarch's words interrupted the actions of Count Monte.
"What evil rituals? You mean the ceremonies to canonize our ancestors who watch over our family?" Miss Fox was confused.
"So, you haven't… You haven't reached the age yet. You're lucky." The Matriarch quietly mumbled, her voice slowly turning mellow.
"If you ever want to break through to the mystic-king realm without becoming a slave to those evil spirits, come find me at the Dark Church." The Matriarch of the Dark Church started to shamelessly recruit a direct descendant of Augustus Manroe in the presence of the current head of the Manroe family.
"OLD HAG, BIANCA!" Count Monte growled. "…You are pushing it… Our Eastern alliance has a zero-tolerance towards people who try to recruit our descendants. Don't you know this?" Count Monte was enraged beyond measure.
"Yeah… Yeah… So what? You are powerless outside those prisons of yours that you call cities?" Bianca's tone was filled with contempt. She loathed the actions of the Manroe family.
"Count Monte! Rather than getting angry, you should be thanking and praising me… My actions might indirectly be saving your family."
"What do you think will happen to the City of Melekar if you continue your actions with impunity against other powerful organizations like the Medici family? Do you truly think your family is untouchable?"
"The others just need to pay a price to annihilate your Manroe family. …Sigh… talking to you about this is like playing a harp for a wild cat." The Matriarch added.
"Young girl! Why are you still quiet? If you remain with the Manroes, you will just end up as another sacrifice to the evil spirits like the rest?"
"What sacrifice? Are you still talking about the ceremonies to canonize our ancestors?" Miss Fox seemed not to understand what the Dark Church Matriarch was referring to.
"Fox girl! Don't listen to the lies of the enemy… That is just slander concocted to undermine the strong Eastern families." Count Monte curtly interjected.
"Count Monte! We are not elementary schoolers, so stop bubbling your nonsense here."
"Young lady! Why do you think all mystic-queens of your family always die-off mysteriously during the time of the blood-red moon? That old hag - Maria should be the latest victim to be sacrificed. How can you not know this?"
"Why do you keep calling our ancestral ceremonies sacrificial rituals. …Are you sure that the mystic-queens are killed off during the blood-red moon ceremonies?"
Miss Fox was astonished and scared by the allegations voiced by the Matriarch of the Dark Church. Despite her deep fear of Count Monte - her patriarch, she had to get to the bottom of this issue.
The dots seemed to connect perfectly in her mind.
Many junior family members, including herself, had lost their mothers mysteriously during the time of the blood-red moon. But their deaths were always attributed to calamity-beasts or assassination by enemies of the Manroe family.
Miss Fox needed to know whether her mother died during a hunting trip in the Savage Forest or was sacrificed during the Manroe family rituals as implied by the eccentric Matriarch.
The juniors of the Manroe family, including her were kept away from the full-moon rituals. One couldn't participate in the ceremony before reaching sixteen years of age. Miss Fox was still half a year away from gaining admittance so her knowledge was limited.
She was also forbidden from leaving the castle except in the company of one of the family's mystic-kings, supposedly to 'protect' her from the Manroes' enemies since she was a highly talented mystic with two inborn-abilities.
This further aggravated her ignorance about the family's activities in Melekar.
The Matriarch was surprised by Miss Fox's ignorance regarding the sacrificial ceremonies. She also noticed the sadness that was hidden by her youthful face.
"Hahaha… Old Ghost, I can't believe that you haven't yet made such a talented lass take the sacred oath of Evil. Sigh… You are the greatest of all the morons that have ever led the Manroe family."
"But I appreciate your stupidity. It may be a blessing in disguise for your household."
"I will fight you to the death…" Count Monte bellowed while promptly conjuring an oversized black wand out of thin air. He then chanted…
"…Nataka ubaya uishe roho hii…"
A sphere of compressed dark energy appeared on the skull-head top of his wand… And instantly, it drained away all the light in the surroundings of the count.
Count Monte quickly extended his hand casting the dark sphere of energy towards the masked Matriarch of the Dark Church who still stood motionless, seemingly unconcerned.
"…BAAAAAM…"
Lady Bianca casually swatted the incoming sphere like an annoying fly despite it being an attack spell conjured by a rank-9 mystic-king.
The sphere bounced back like a basketball… Leaving a blur in the air, it accurately struck the translucent energy barrier that had timely appeared enclosing and shielding the patriarch of the Manroe family.
For a short instant, it stuck to the barrier, darkening further as it siphoned all the mana maintaining the barrier. Then …
"…BAAAAM…" A sonic bang sounded as the illustrious head of the Manroe family was flung back like a kite with its string cut. He landed unceremoniously behind Miss Fox and her beast and started gasping for breath.
Miss Fox had to cover her mouth with both her hands to prevent herself from screaming. What kind of realm of power could send a peak rank-9 mystic king with just a casual wave of the hand?] Miss Fox wondered.
"Girl! Listen closely…" The Matriarch commanded.
"I will now offer you a once in a lifetime opportunity… that is if you wish to defy your predetermined fate of becoming a sacrifice to one of those evil spirits. Follow me from now on. You have ten seconds to decide." The Matriarch stipulated.
"Fox girl… let's leave. Valentino will get worried if we delay." Count Monte implored; his voice shaky with dread. He had already picked himself up from the ground indicating that he hadn't been seriously injured in the exchange.
The count looked at the Matriarch with a venomous expression. He sorely wished to annihilate her for humiliating him, but he was now certain that his mystic powers were not up to par.
"Old Ghost! Do you want to fight? …Eh… Eh…!?"
[Fight your grandpa and six generations of your ancestors.] The count thought but he replied…
"Matriarch why are you bullying me? This girl is my niece, an underage mystic who requires permission from her guardians before being recruited into any organization. Why are you forcing her to join the Dark Church?" Count Monte's voice was meek.
"So, now you care about the rules! What happened to the savage leader of the Manroe family who abhors all rules?" The Matriarch taunted, her words further trampling Count Monte Manroe's dignity.
"…Old Ghost! Don't interrupt me when recruiting a disciple. That is, unless you have the power to fight me."
"What is your decision?" The Matriarch inquired, once again looking at Miss Fox who had not yet recovered from the shock of seeing the Manroe family patriarch soundly beaten into submission.
"I can promise you that the Manroe family will not dare to threaten your life when you follow me…"
It was at this instant that an orange talisman burst out and descended into a black pouch hung at Matriarch Bianca's waist. She retrieved the low-tiered communication talisman from the talisman pouch and started mentally reading the information stored within it.
"We are leaving if you haven't decided yet. Take care." The Matriarch sounded detached.
"Wait!" Miss Fox's voice anxiously replied.
Count Monte's face seemed to age quite a bit after hearing that short reply.
"Do I have to fight the Eastern families if I leave with you?" Miss Fox inquired.
Miss Fox had decided to leave with the Matriarch but did not wish to fight against her childhood friends who were still part of the Manroe family.
"No. You just have to take the 'Dark Oath' to ensure that you never harm your brothers and sisters in the Dark Church. I don't have time to explain all this. We are leaving." The Matriarch sounded impatient.
"Okay! I will leave with you." Miss Fox replied while caressing her wind-fox.
"Okay, let's leave. The others are waiting." The Matriarch replied curtly before wrapping the lady-beast duo and the slumbering form of Ali Baba in a white glow and disappearing from the clearing.
"OLD HAG BIANCAAAA!!! …Today's humiliation will be repaid to you a hundredfold …no a thousandfold in the future." Count Monte could be heard bellowing in the clearing after the Matriarch's departure.
****
Deep in the Savage Forest, the members of Hugo's party had been already breathless trying to escape the pursuit of the second mystic-king.
Valentino Manroe was a rank-5 mystic-king who had relentlessly hunted Hugo's party since they fled the battle between Ali-Baba and Miss Fox.
"Little rabbits! Where are you? …Please come to grandpa…" The mystic king repeatedly hummed those words like a children's rhyme. He seemed to be playing a game of 'hide and seek' with the fleeing party.
"This old man is insane." Tracy was gasping for breath as she escaped with baby Hugo embraced in his arms.
Tracy's long black religious-habit was now tattered after repeatedly being tangled and torn in thorny bushes of the Savage Forest. Baby Hugo was enclosed in a light translucent barrier that protected him from the surrounding dangers.
"Better him than that psychopath Monte. That one kills everything that he comes across." Aladdin replied also gasping for breath.
"You dare call the head of my family a psychopath. I promise that I will kill you slowly when you land into my hands."
"Young scoundrel! …I will first slowly cook your legs, then your thighs, before sacrificing you to Cerberus. He will love those juicy thighs of yours." Valentino's voice once again sounded a distance away behind Hugo's party.
[This world seems to be filled with mad freaks. If I survive this, I need a way to protect myself from such psychopaths.] Hugo in the arms of Tracy was once again filled with the familiar emotion of helplessness.
Hugo hadn't had a moment of rest since he encountered those Nazis back in his previous life. He was faced with a series of enemies that seemed to follow him when all he wanted was to be left alone.
"Old goat, Valentino! Chasing young kids. Don't you have any shame?" A new female voice sounded just behind the escaping party of Hugo.
"It's you… What are you doing in Melekar?" Valentino no longer sounded playful.
"I am here to save my younger sister from old perverts like you."
"You also have a younger sister! I thought that you were an orphan when you were taken in by that old hag." Valentino was doubtful.
"Hehehe! …Old Ghost Valentino! …We meet again. Did you just call me an old hag?" A new voice emerged ahead of Hugo and the rest.
"Matriarch! I'm glad you're here." Tracy shouted in relief.
"No! I didn't bring any harm to the kids… Matriarch! You have to know that I was just protecting the kids from the nearby calamity beasts. I didn't harm a single hair on their heads." Valentino replied, his voice rising a bit towards the end.
"Then why are you driving them towards the inner area of the Savage Forest?" The matriarch questioned.
"I was just… I was just going… WAIT! …Fox girl! What are you doing here? Has the Matriarch kidnapped you? Where is your granduncle?" Valentino was anxious after seeing Miss Fox Manroe accompanying the matriarch.
"Old ghost! Don't thank me. I just saved your grandniece from those evil spirits. Or were you also advocating for her to be sacrificed?" The Matriarch sounded very angry.
"Bianca! You know me very well. Do you think that I'm the sort of person that likes killing my family members." Valentino replied, sounding like a wronged housewife.
"Yes, I am sure that you are such a person." The Matriarch replied, her voice firm.
"Really… But I need to go back with my grandniece… Otherwise, the ancestor will feed me to the rats in Melekar's beast dungeons."
"Enough. I don't want to hear your nonsense. Leave before I lose control and feed you to the calamity beasts."
"Okay Matriarch," Valentino replied curtly before turning to head back to Melekar.
"Valentino! …Tell Augustus that our patience is running thin when you next see him."
Valentino's steps faltered for a bit after hearing Bianca's statement, however, he resisted his urge to turn back and disappeared into the jungles to the North East.
"Oh my God! Captain… what happened to you?" Aladdin anxiously inquired after realizing that Ali-Baba was strapped on the back of the white fox-like beast. He had been quiet the entire time making the others overlook him.
A rueful smile was Ali-Baba's only reply.
"Let him be. We shall talk later. We need to leave as soon as possible. The beast kings of the savage forest may sense our presence. That will lead to a lot more complications." The Matriarch was as decisive as ever.
"Where are we going?" Tracy was also anxious to leave Melekar. She had had enough stress for a lifetime during her stay in the small chiefdom.
"We are going to Giza."
"GIZA…!" Aladin, Miss Fox, and Tracy gasped in surprise after hearing such an answer from the Matriarch. Even Ali-Baba, who was strapped to the back of the wind-wolf couldn't help but look over.
"Yes… We are heading to Giza - the Dark Church's hidden base." The Matriarch answered while ignoring the shocked gazes of the youngsters around him.
*** End of Volume 1 - Genesis ***
Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
reçu État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone