The Jester of Apocalypse

Occasionally, the best way to hide something was to do it in plain sight. Large sects weren’t strangers to flaunting their wealth and influence with parades, so the group marching down the streets didn’t raise even a single eyebrow.

Every once in a while, Ilkivir would signal them, and they would all collectively take a deep breath. No one demon could tell precisely where to go, which was why they would go in the direction most demons were pointing.

This scouting group had spent a while just sniffing around the capital. When one had the touch of divinity on them, regardless of whether it was by a god or a devil, it was almost impossible to purge the remnant influence thoroughly. Breaking a devil's curse took this to an extreme.

The demons following Ilkivir weren’t regular ones. These unique demons were sent for the specific purpose of tracking divine influence.

Both to locate any remnant devil artifacts and to sniff out the interference of the gods.

Currently, they were trying to sniff Neave out in the capital. They had been for quite a while at this point. Ilkivir was just about ready to pull his hair out.

Nothing made sense. Was there a natural calamity happening that just carried a devil's influence everywhere?

So far, Ilkivir had located over twenty holes—just small openings, right about the size of a finger. For some fucking reason, these holes smelled of a devil's influence.

Did the capital have a ‘devil worm’ infestation?

The influence was so scattered that Ilkivir was starting to doubt that Neave was actually in the capital. If he was, then he was up to some unusual activity. Only once the influence led them to the grand library had he felt more confident Neave was here.

It was a little unusual that a backwater sect master like Marven could afford to get Neave into the library, but that explanation made the most sense.

Now it was only a question of tracking down the sect they were staying in. Again, this led them to a lot of holes.

Perhaps there were devil worms plaguing the capital after all.

***

The headquarters of the Emperium sect wasn’t very flashy. Kingean, the sect master of Emperium, was the Emperors greatest admirer. And the emperor was an incredibly frugal and humble man.

This admiration was clearly reflected in the construction of the Emperium sect. It was a large building of stone and wood. Naturally, the rock and timber were of the highest quality and reinforced with tons of metal and even a crystal skeleton beneath, but none of that reflected on the appearance.

The gardens also appeared wild. There were no shaped bushes or planted flowers. It was maintained rigorously, naturally, but it seemed as if it were nothing more than a beautiful and serene patch of the wilderness carved out and placed in the middle of the capital.

Through this garden, a young man decked out in flashy robes walked right into the main building of the Emperium sect.

No matter who he encountered, he was treated with the utmost respect. His appearance was highly unusual compared to most other members' plain robes. Although everyone kept their mouths shut, they were acutely aware of this discrepancy.

The moment the young man approached the core of the premises, one of the elders walked up to him and escorted him to a hall.

Around thirty men sat in a messy pile in this hall and intently stared at the entering figures.

The young man stepped forward, bowed a little, and introduced himself.

“My name is Dukean, and I am a young master of the Emperium sect. Since my father is away on an important mission, I will hear you out in his stead.”

One of the men, a ragged individual with long greasy hair, stood up, bowed awkwardly, and introduced himself.

“My name is Lank. Thanks for your time.”

Dukean nodded.

“I am going to be fully honest with you. The elders that heard you out were skeptical of your claims.”

“What!? But the fucking… I mean, I’m–”

“Please, calm yourself. I’ve only heard a summary of the report, so I have no opinion yet. I would like to hear your full testimony directly. I prefer all your companions wait outside.”

A fat man sitting close to Lank looked nervous, and he turned to face him.

“It’s ok, Bev. You go outside, and I’ll tell him everything.”

Bev nodded and, together with the others, walked out of the room. Dukean nodded to the elder, and he also left the room.

“If you wish, you may speak comfortably with me. Do sit as well, if you please.”

Dukean sat cross-legged on the ground, and Lank mirrored him. He didn’t look quite as dignified as the young man, however.

He retold him the entire story of how they set off to hunt the demon child in the wilderness. Lank retold the encounter with the three gold path cultivators. Then, with a great deal of hesitation and a bit of shivering, he retold the fight.

Dukean intently listened to Lank’s retelling. Lank finished his story shortly after retelling how they escaped and ran to the nearest town, where they contacted the branch of the Emperium sect.

Dukean sat silent for a while, frowning and contemplating the story's details. After a few minutes, he raised his head and met Lank’s eyes, who shifted his gaze to the side a bit.

“Purely by how you retold everything, I find it difficult to disbelieve your story.”

“Oh, does that mean–”

“But… There are too many dubious details. I find it too convenient that the three dead gold path cultivators were from the Bentheta sect. Given that it has been destroyed at the same time as when your fight took place, there’s no way to confirm that they died in the wilderness rather than inside their own sect.”

“You can go into the wilderness. You’ll still find the bodies!”

“That is extremely unlikely. Even if they died there, monsters could have eaten the corpses.”

“But they couldn’t have fucking eaten the sheer carnage that demon child left behind!”

“Calm yourself.” Dukean didn’t raise his voice, but the tone instantly made Lank shut his mouth, “We will have the site investigated, granted that you can provide us with the exact location details. But that might not even be necessary. You said that you were provided with armor by the gold path cultivators?”

Lank lit up.

“Shit, we were, you’re right. My men took off the gear and dropped it so they could run as fast as possible, but I’m sure a few of them at least kept the bracers or something.”

Dukean left the room briefly and walked back inside, holding a metal mitt. He examined its construction, eventually locating a small insignia. It was the emblem of the Bentheta sect. Dukean nodded.

“At the very least, this confirms that you’ve had contact with the Bentheta sect. I will consider having the location of this hypothetical fight investigated. I would like you to tell me as many details as you recall.”

Lank thought for a while. He remembered nearly nothing that he hadn’t already shared. Dukean asked again.

“Alright, do you remember any other general details about the child?”

“Well, there was one thing. He killed a lot of monsters, but there were no monster corpses anywhere.”

Dukean raised an eyebrow at that one.

“Do you remember anything about the child's appearance?”

“Nothing that I hadn’t mentioned yet. Pink hair and very young.”

“Anything more specific than that?”

“He looked dirty as shit, I guess? It was hard to tell, given how far I was.”

“I see.”

Dukean interrogated him a while longer, but there was little else he hadn’t already been told. Eventually, Lank was dismissed. However, this wasn’t the end of the interrogation.

Lank left the hall only to find that his crew was separated. Then, one by one, they were interrogated individually.

Dukean asked them the same questions and received similar answers, to his surprise. Of course, this wasn’t concrete evidence that they were telling the truth, but it was unlikely they could have coordinated the entire story so perfectly.

He was about to finish the interrogation with the seventh individual. This would be the last person he interrogated, as he had already spent too much time on this.

“Now, please tell me if you remember any details about the child.”

“Hmmm… He had pink hair with red streaks.”

Dukean paused.

“Wait, can you repeat that?”

“Yeah, I said pink hair with red streaks.”

“Not just pink, but he also had red locks?”

The man nodded nervously.

“Are you sure about this?”

“I am an archer, so I’m pretty confident in my eyes. Is there a problem?”

“No, no, I just find the detail… Rather peculiar.”

***

After adopting Hunter into the sect, rather than explain anything to Harel or Marven, Neave just left.

He made his way to the library again. This time, he sought all the possible qi techniques in the books. Sadly, there was no such thing as a convenient book with an extensive collection of techniques.

There were, actually, but they didn’t have all of the qi techniques, which meant he was back to digging through piles upon piles of books again.

Neave was a little distracted this time around. People pointed fingers at him and whispered behind his back. His enhanced perception let him hear almost everything, even the chatter concealed by privacy artifacts.

As far as he could tell, everyone here was curious about his identity. The person he had talked to last time he was here was apparently a significant young master from a peak sect. Neave pretended not to hear any of the chattering, but inside, he gloated.

Something about seeing the masses so blown away by his magnificence left Neave with an intense feeling of ecstasy.

Good, good, my little children, yes. You are right, blonde girl who is chatting to the brunette. I, indeed, am hot and mysterious.

His reading speed was considerably slower this time, given how much attention he paid to all the gossiping.

Eventually, he sat down to let all the new knowledge settle. He didn’t need it to integrate since it was just a long list of qi techniques, but the headache was starting to disrupt his focus.

As he sat down, he sensed a spirit. He didn’t turn around, but he didn’t need to either. It was a girl that felt around fourteen years old, which was quite impressive for someone on the third step of the silver path.

She was a short girl with blue hair. She looked intense and dignified outwardly, but her speech was anything but.

“Gre–Greetings, senior! M–May I introduce myself to you?”

Senior? Neave held back a chuckle. He gave her a stern look, then shook his head.

“No, you can’t.”

She awkwardly stammered and shuffled away in embarrassment.

Ah! The joy of shattering the heart of a maiden! Come at me, the bravest of ye women! This arrogant young master has rejections to serve!

Unfortunately, it wasn’t another pretty girl that stepped up this time but an angry teenage boy.

I somehow doubt he’s coming to flirt with me…

He was a silver-haired boy wearing yellow robes with a purple star insignia. Judging by his life force, he was around sixteen, yet he was already on the golden path—impressive for someone so young.

The boy pulled a sword out of his dimension ring and pointed it at Neave.

“Junior! I challenge you to a duel!”

“I refuse.”

“Wha–!? You dare!” The boy smiled and shook his head gleefully, “It is obvious why you’re hiding your growth with an artifact! Don’t think I can’t see right through you. You are nothing but a fake!”

Neave nodded sagely.

“You are indeed right. I am at the very beginning of the foundation realm. It would be unfair for someone as mighty as yourself to challenge me to a fight.”

The boy scoffed.

“You think you’re funn–”

Neave dropped his veil around his spirit and revealed his cultivation as genuinely being at the beginning of the foundation realm.

“How laughable! You think a cheap trick like that will save you from fighting me?”

Neave looked at him and put his veil back around his spirit.

“I will agree to fight you on one condition.”

“You better not request I go easy on you!”

Neave smiled.

“I request a deathmatch.”

The young man flinched just a little bit but then scoffed.

“You bastard, do you think I wouldn’t kill you?”

Neave stared at him, not breaking eye contact for even a millisecond. The young man clicked his tongue.

“You brat. I wouldn’t want to sully my reputation with the blood of somebody so worthless.” Then he turned around to walk away. Not even seconds later, he realized this sounded like an excuse. And he didn’t want to seem like a coward after starting this.

The boy whirled back around but froze just as he was about to speak.

Neave had a subtle but obvious hint of excitement in his eyes. The young man took a few deep breaths and raised his sword again.

“My name is Kolben Yvellsare of the Star Tamer sect! Tell me your name and what sect you come from!”

“No.”

Kolben clenched his teeth so hard they creaked under the force.

“If you do not introduce yourself, I will find out who you are the hard way, and trust me, you wouldn’t want that!”

“Go ahead.”

At this point, a few of the disciples present started chuckling. Kolben was thoroughly embarrassed, but internally he yearned to put this brat in his place. He seethed and put his sword down.

“Alright, you asked for this, you rat.” Kolben turned around and walked away, “You won’t be able to say that I didn’t warn you!”

Neave didn’t even look at him as he walked away.

Ah fuck, did I get a bit too into the whole arrogant young master thing?

He contemplated it for a bit.

Nah, that was totally worth it.

He picked up another book and continued reading.