章節 37: The Clown wants to play a game

While the Clown and Scorpion were busy setting up a trap for Draven and the Black Knight, Draven forced Barnabas to hover the blade directly above the abandoned steel factory. Inside the factory, Sarah dismantled her workstation and placed each and every piece of equipment into the wooden boxes.

"I am ready," Sarah looked at the door, expecting Draven to open the door any second. Instead, she felt the factory trembling slightly. Even when the blade was flying so close to the steel factory, Sarah didn't hear any sound until the rusty metal roof began to crumble down.

"What the?" Sarah looked up to see the roof was penetrated by a giant sword. In a few moments, the blade touched the ground and the door slid open, revealing Draven and Barnabas.

"Is that Barnabas Layne?" As soon as Sarah saw Barnabas, she recognized him. She didn't know whether to be relieved or worried to see Barnabas alive.

"Come on, we are leaving," Draven stepped forward but didn't take the sword away from Barnabas's throat. The wooden crates were all tied with thick ropes. Luckily, Draven was strong enough to drag them inside the ship. But to do that, he had to let go of Barnabas.

"Take that dagger," Michael pointed at the jade dagger on top of a rusted barrel.

"What are you planning to do?" Barnabas trembled as he was scared of losing his life. There was no need for Draven to keep him alive. Barnabas still had no idea how the heck he bounded himself to the ship. According to the Jade Palace mages, the ship was engraved with complex, powerful runes and arrays to prevent an outsider from bounding with the ship. Except for Barnabas, only Magnum Layne could bound the ship to himself.

Draven pushed Barnabas towards Sarah after she took the dagger. Since Barnabas could still feel the sword against his neck, he didn't dare to run away. However, his instincts told him to do everything he was told, and he might survive this.

"Hold him hostage," Draven ordered Sarah. At first, Sarah was a little reluctant but after a few seconds, she took a deep breath and approached Barnabas.

"Trust me, don't do anything stupid. He won't kill you if you do as you told," Sarah gave Barnabas a piece of advice before placing the jade dagger against his throat.

"Who are you, people? Do you know how much trouble you're in?" Barnabas waited until Draven dragged the wooden crates into the blade to ask Sarah.

"Dude, he wiped out the thieves guild, killed Scarface, invaded King Richard's castle, and kicked the Black Knight's ass. All within two days. Do you really think you can scare him? Just keep your mouth shut and get out of this alive,"

"You seem like a nice girl. What the heck are you doing with a murderer like him?" Barnabas tried to initiate a conversation with Sarah in the hopes that it could save his life.

"I am not being forced if you're wondering. On the contrary, I am helping him clean up this kingdom. When he is done, you will have a peaceful kingdom to live in instead of this infested corrupted shit hole you call kingdom," Sarah coldly whispered to Barnabas. Part of him wanted to try to escape, but his courage vanished every time the cold blade touched his throat.

"You can still fix this. The entire kingdom is hunting for him. If you help me, I can offer you a way out,"

"That's where you are wrong. They are not hunting him. He's hunting them,"

As Sarah was threatening Barnabas, Draven stepped out of the blade and teleported behind Barnabas.

"What else do you want with me? You have the ship. You're bound with it. Just let me go, please," Barnabas pleaded, only to get transferred from Sarah to Draven.

"I will," Barnabas felt relieved deep down,

"After you teach her how to fly the blade. You said anyone can fly the ship right? Prove it. You have two hours," Draven brought Barnabas back into the ship.

Sarah was genuinely surprised by the war room and the simplicity of the ship's functionalities. Before she joined Barnabas, she quickly set up her workstation just beside the cockpit and connected the round table with her workstation. Now she could use the ship's holographic runes to form holographic images above the table. She couldn't wait to impress Draven and Marogoth with it. But for now, she had to learn how to fly the blade from Barnabas.

*************************************************

Meanwhile, back in the dark cave under the Layne manor, the Black Knight, AKA Magnum Layne sat atop a table being stitched up by his butler Leonard.

"He killed so many people, Leonard. I should have stopped him. Instead, I let him escape," Magnum's hazel eyes were full of concern and self-pity.

"Every villain has their best days, Master Layne. But that doesn't mean they are unbeatable. You will bring him to justice, just like you did with every supervillain who threatened Veland,"

"I don't think I can beat him, Leonard. He is much more powerful than me and he's evolving by absorbing others. I have never heard of a gifted one who could absorb others' powers,"

"There is a first time for everything Master Layne," Leonard finally finished stitching the deep long cut across Magnum's rib cage. He had lost count of how many times he stitched Master Layne since he lost his parents.

"Have you heard from General Barton? Was it true? Did I kill that innocent girl, as he said?" Magnum questioned Leonard with a heavy heart and grave voice.

"Master Layne…" When Magnum heard Leonard's voice trailing away, his heart skipped a beat.

"Answer me, Leonard. Is it true?"

Leonard's silence made Magnum clench his fist. Then, he jumped from the table and grabbed Leonard by his collar.

"IS IT TRUE?!" Magnum shouted, yanking Leonard.

"DID I KILL THAT GIRL AND DESTROY A BOY'S LIFE?" Magnum's eyes turned red as veins in his body bulged up.

"It wasn't your fault," As soon as these words escaped Leonard's mouth, Magnum lost all control of his body and let him go.

"You didn't know they were there. You saved hundreds of people that day Mayster Layne,"

"But I killed an innocent girl," For the first time in a long time, Leonard heard Magnum's voice stammer.

Magnum tried to walk away only to stumble,

"Master Layne!" Leonard reacted quickly by grabbing Magnum by his hand before he fell down.

"You're letting a killer get to your head, Master Layne. You cannot allow that,"

"They are poor, but to that father, his daughter was his princess,"

"Every time you battled The Clown, an innocent man or woman going with their own life died. But you don't read that in the papers, only the headline about how you fought and apprehended The Clown for the millionth time,"

Magnum's mind played Draven's words again and again in his head.

"But you'll feel it only if you are in my place or that father who lost his daughter," Magnum could see Draven's face and hear his words so vividly.

"The cry of anguish, you will hear the wail of death. Your thighs will tremble. Your legs will stumble without listening to your mind. Look at my hand,"

Just as Draven said, Magnum heard the cries of a young girl as his thighs trembled. Soon, he started to wander only to stumble again.

"Master Layne, please sit down," When Magnum stumbled the second time, Leonard helped Magnum to the nearby chair.

Magnum could barely hear what Leonard was saying to him as his mind was with Draven and his words. At last, Magnum raised his hand to see its tremble.

"Your hands will shiver like this," Magnum repeated Draven's words, looking at his shivering hand.

While Magnum was drowning in self-blame, the marble table in the cave suddenly lit up. Soon, a holographic image of the Clown emerged from the table's center.

"Master Layne," Leonard shook Magnum's shoulder when he saw the Clown and had a bad feeling in his gut. The wider the Clown's grin grew, the gloomier Leonard's face turned.

"My dear Black Knight!" the Clown jested and bowed as though he was performing a show.

"And my beloved people of Veland. Welcome to the special show presented to you by your own, loved, super sweet darling of children, THE CLOWN!"

Boom!

Under the exploding firecrackers, the Clown stepped aside to reveal a large number of people being tied up to a pole above a bubbling green liquid.

"In case you're wondering, yes. The green goo is poisonous, and it will melt them in a few minutes if I press this button," The Clown held a cube with a red button in his hand.

"But I want to play a game. A game, if you win, can save these poor soldiers and adventurers. But it's a two-person game. So you need another one to play the game with you…." The Clown stopped talking as he tilted his face, running his eyes to the corner.

"The bell sound now…" The Clown talked without moving his lips.

"Oh yeah, sorry boss!"

Boom!

Suddenly, a loud bell rang throughout the place the Clown was.

"Luckily, your friendly neighborhood Clown has already found the other contender. It is none other than our favorite murdering maniac who has no name, so I decided to call him the black one,"

The brutes beat the bell again to create a dramatic effect.

"You know, since he is always seen wearing black armor. So if you two don't show up at the abandoned circus in the next three hours, I really hope you do for their sake," The Clown gently patted the red button with a devilish grin.

"Your loyal guards and innocent adventurers will be bonafide, if that's a word. Hehehehehehe,"

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