Curse Of Genesis

In the dark of the night, two shadows prowl in the dark. They moved in a weirdly odd manner, such that no one could ever discern what their formation is. In fact, it is closer to the truth if one is to guess that their manner is random. One silently floats from shadow to shadow, appearing as though an apparition morphing from darkness. The other moves in a non-linear manner, making short but silent dashes from tree to tree. If there is only one thing they have in common, it is the direction that they seem to head towards together.

Of course, as one of the shadows myself, I am perfectly well aware of which of the two I am. But as to why I am sneaking about in the darkness, that reason comprises of a story that is in no way short.

The vampire princess, who melted out of the nearest trees' shadows, came to silently stand beside me with a serious gaze forward. Following her gaze, I can see our destination a distance away: The Earl's mansion, now collapsed into a conclusion of rubble.

"That's the Earl's Mansion..." (Me)

Violet stood silently, simply giving me a silent consent.

Just a while ago, Princess Violet and I were still enjoying the fireworks show on top of hill covered with luminous flora when we suddenly discovered the collapse of the Earl's mansion. It took us quite a while to recover because Flurea is a town of peace, albeit the mix of races living in this town. No doubt, an act of terrorism has occurred before our eyes, as though to disprove the concept of peace within Flurea. However, more so than our shock, anxiety overwhelmed our minds.

To which I believe, that such an emotion is resulted from our respective reasons for the Earl's safety currently.

Thus, we are currently approaching the Earl's Mansion as fast as possible, to track down the Earl's whereabouts and confirm his safety. If the Earl is nowhere to be found, we can hope to find some traces or clues from the mansion itself. As the site of the occurrence, the mansion of such a disruptive incident would definitely show us at least some information.

And if we are to rescue the Earl himself, it is also favourable that our act to save him can possibly buy ourselves a favour.

[Rey… Allow me to satisfy my curiosity, but I do not believe you have a reason to seek for the Earl himself.] (Violet)

While we close in on the mansion, I suddenly heard the voice of Princess Violet on my right.

[…I beg your pardon. If that is so, Princess Violet could treat it that I am only here as your escort.] (Me)

[I do not remember any escorts who move ahead of the person they are escorting.] (Violet)

…My senses are dulled from time. I should have been more aware of my own actions every time. The cover of being her escort for safety reasons is utterly destroyed by my own hands when I was the first to move towards the Earl's Mansion.

[…As Princess Violet already knows, I am likely being chased by the adventurers and probably even the guild itself when I had got into trouble with my superior back then. If possible, I would like to have the Earl of Flurea wield his authority in a manner that could aid me in my escape until things settle down. I could dim my presence as an individual with forged doc.u.ments personally procured by the Earl, which gives them raised credibility.] (Me)

This certainly gives me less trouble and annoyance in the near future. All I want is a simple life where I could fulfil my dream, away from the violence and pain I am tired of.

[I see, but how do you plan to get the Earl to agree with your proposition?] (Violet)

I was thinking of using your authority as a princess since it is quite likely you're meeting him for diplomatic purposes. I doubt a princess would travel in secret with a sole purpose of a simple greeting.

[I don't think that matters now. What about your highness then?] (Me)

[...A reason to seek the Earl of Flurea? I believe you can already guess to a certain level what happens when two representatives meet, being the sharp man you are.] (Violet)

A tease and a jab. The princess is getting better at annoying others. The 'your highness' must have been getting on her nerves.

I came to a halt before the collapsed gate, before throwing a swift glance at Princess Violet. Of course, this is an inquiring glance to our plan of action. After all, the Earl's Mansion could not have suffered an attack without any attackers. A logical choice would to be a cautionary advance.

Princess Violet seem to read my mind as she shrugged and gave an innocent looking smile.

I stretched my body a little, patted the little fox on my head, and smiled back.

Together, we broke into the destroyed mansion directly from the front gate.

***

[There seems to be a fight.] (Violet)

True to her words, the scenario that I am currently taking in visually is that of a blood filled struggle. The crimson markings seemed forceful enough to splash upon the walls and even a little got to the chandelier which somehow remained hanging on the ceiling.

This seem to contrast my expectations somewhat. If the attack is a planned explosion, it should have been sufficiently powerful to kill off the target in one go. Yet, proofs such as the hanging chandelier had obviously shown otherwise.

There are simply insufficiently good reasons to explain this shabby work of a bombing.

Masking the presence of this attack and hence lowering the power of the explosion seems to be useless since there is simply no need for that. The aftermath would still be discovered so the difference had no significance.

Sending people to finish the job, as presumed so from this bloodied struggle scene, only wastes manpower. Nothing on this train of thought makes sense.

Unless, the motive behind this attack was not assassination.

If I have to make an intelligent guess, the explosion only served as a distraction.

Under the auditory guise of the ongoing firework event and hidden from the bustling atmosphere, this plot was designed as a means to buy time.

Following that, the supposed manpower would then come into play, finishing whatever objective they need to accomplish.

For instance...

I slanted my head to the right as a jet black projectile shot past where my head was, embedding itself on the torn carpeted floor.

Immediately, I grabbed my assailant from my left with an iron grip and twisted, forcing his knife out of his hands. I yanked him hard towards my embrace, following up with my right arm to wrap around his neck.

I held this black masked assassin in an improvised chokehold while stealing a glance at Princess Violet.

She seems to be doing fine as a corpse laid lacerated, possibly by wind blades, before her and another nicely roasted to charcoal.

She really isn't lying when she proclaimed herself to be knowledgeable in few aspects of magic.

At some point in time, I felt the weight off my head and something sneaking into the folds of my clothes. It's good that I don't have to worry about it being on my head at the wrong times.

Meanwhile, I feel the struggles of my victim grow weaker and weaker.

Before he could regain his senses, I released my grip and swung him around in a violent jerk, feeling a heavy thud resonating through him.

Thunk!

His colleague seemed to click his tongue under the mask as the knife sank deep into the c.h.e.s.t, instantly killing him.

I kicked the corpse towards him and spun around. With my palm shaped like a grip, I shot it forth while taking aim at the throat of yet another attacker.

I could hear a crack and a cough before the man, who took a leap of faith from the ceilings, fell to the netherworld.

Not too far away, Princess Violet had somehow made herself a throne of ice while she casually flicked her palms and snapped her fingers. Around her, a storm of elements seem to ravage and mercilessly rip the masked men into shreds. Combined with the traditional costume of Flurea, Princess Violet seemed to represent the image of a playful divine entity.

[Need some help Rey?] (Violet)

Her smug expression almost made me lose my composure and risk a stab in my gut.

[...I appreciate your kind compassion, your highness, but I believe that some work out wouldn't hurt for myself.] (me)

[Tch.] (Violet)

The hurricane of lightning and ice seemed to grow ever so slightly, to the point where I started suspecting that I had somehow also become one of her targets.

I skipped to the side while two ice arrows flew to where each of my arms were. One of them impaled itself on yet another masked individual before he could swing down the oversized hatchet.

[...] (me)

Afterwards, our fight went on for a while. It wasn't until I realised that the storm had fully focused on me did I discover that there is nothing left of our assailants.

***

Coming out with slightly singed hair, frozen eyebrows and what seemed to be arm hair charged with static electricity, I silently observed the new crime scene.

Of course, this time it was littered with black masked individuals to the point where I couldn't make out the blood scene which we encountered initially when we first arrived.

Not to mention, the scars left by the chaotic rampage of a certain mage.

[...It wasn't my fault. The blame can only be on the intruders themselves.] (Violet)

[...] (me)

I decided to keep quiet.

I went to one of the cleaner corpses and squatted beside it. Flipping him over, I nonchalantly ripped out his mask to reveal his identity.

[...] (me)

I proceed to then rip off the headdress, followed by the body gear, and even his shoes, till the corpse had literally nothing on him.

[...] (Violet)

[...Are you hungry?] (me)

[No! And why are you stripping a corpse!?] (Violet)

[I'm looking for any signs or markings such as tattoos to get a clue on the affiliation this motley bunch has.] (me)

Unfortunately, the search came up empty.

One thing is for sure: these assassins could be said to be highly trained. Their weapons are coated black in order not to reflect light, and their movements are trained to the point where coordination is well used in live combat. If I was alone, I would have been eliminated for sure.

The only thing they lacked was their information sources. They certainly did not expect a vampire of royal lineage bursting down the front door and wiping them out.

A new question remains on my mind.

Why did they stay here?

[Your highness, did...] (me)

An icicle came flying at high speed, nearly missing my head and taking off a few strands of my hair.

[...] (me)

[Yes?] (Violet)

The sweet smile Princess Violet shows me now, surely would have charmed anyone out there. Unfortunately her smile did not reach her eyes.

[...Princess Bereqor, did...] (me)

I felt something off with my body. When I look down, I see my feet encased with ice.

[Rey? I don't know what you wanted to ask, but I think I'd like you to believe that my accuracy is decently high.] (Violet)

Even though I have ice on my body, I'm sweating. Although, anyone could tell me that I am having cold sweat right now.

[...Princess Violet?] (me)

[...I'll make do with that right now.] (Violet)

I know we shouldn't really waste time like this since the fact that we were already attacked shows the potential danger we're in. But while I was literally frozen on the spot, I did catch the princess snap her fingers and set something in the shadows on fire.

[...Princess Violet, did you know the background of the Earl? For instance, family members or peers.] (me)

[I'm sorry, I do not. My intentions were not something I'd like to get through with threat after all.] (Violet)

[Pardon me, but I believe that Princess Violet seems to be inexperienced at diplomatic relations.] (me)

[Let's just say that I am here not purely for diplomatic matters.] (Violet)

Caught off guard by a statement out of my expectations, I barely held onto my poker face.

I see her wave her hand in an elegant and refined manner while maintaining eye contact with me. With that, I hear something static behind me, followed by a smell of smoke.

[We've strayed from the topic. The point I was trying to being across is, we cannot proceed currently due to insufficient information.] (me)

Taking a look around her, Princess Violet nodded in agreement.

[There seems to be no end to them. Coming here had meant that we will definitely end up being tracked down.] (Violet)

I stomped on the foot of one of our trackers who had appeared behind me. Using my other leg, I drive an upward kick beneath his jaw in a sudden explosive force.

[That may be true, but it is also time we consider some reinforcements.] (me)

Hearing that, Princess Violet tilted her head in wonder, before looking at me in amazement.

[What a method of escape.] (Violet)

I shrugged my shoulders while stepping away from the falling corpse.

Minutes later, the knights of Flurea arrived in a rowdy fashion, shouting for our surrender.

***

[Peh, peh! Was this even necessary?] (Violet)

[Actually, not really.] (me)

I looked at the mask I had just taken off and thrown to the ground. Beside me, Princess Violet continued to spit, displaying her desperation in getting rid of what presumably is the smell of the mask from a corpse.

[Since we were already seen by the assassins themselves, being seen by the knights seemed no different.] (me)

[Then why!?] (Violet)

[It's just less trouble. The knights are officially protectors of Flurea, so having our identities known by them is much more troublesome than assassins who value their secrecy.] (me)

I glance beside me to see a look of hatred directed at me.

[...Besides, I know Princess Violet washed it with water, dried it with heat, and then even placed a layer of ice between your face and the mask. I don't see how Princess Violet is so concerned about the piece of cloth compared to me. In fact, I thought Princess Violet could have used magic to conceal your face instead.] (me)

[There's a limit what I can do with magic! And you absolutely do not understand a maiden's heart!] (Violet)

[I'm sure that nothing will go wrong with Princess Violet's talent in magic and attractive looks.] (me)

[Is that a compliment!? Because that sounds like an insult!] (Violet)

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a spark of flame, followed by burning apparel.

[Besides, I felt like I was used just now!] (Violet)

[We needed a really big distraction just now. All that comes after was just setting the knights against the assassins.] (me)

What we did was simple. I just had to send a corpse in his assassin apparels flying at high speed towards the incoming knights, and had Princess Violet make him explode upon contact.

While the knights were stunned and dazed, both of us would escape under the cover of smoke.

And since the knights would have only caught sight of the assassin, that would be the only target in their minds. It only amplifies the effect when they rush in to find a pile of them within the scene of the accident.

In other words, it was just another version of a smoke bomb.

[We weren't even seen! Was the mask even necessary!?] (Violet)

[Now that I think about it... I am not so sure.] (me)

[What!?] (Violet)

As we left the discarded masks behind us, we slowly headed back to the Ivy Cottage whilst melding in the shadows.