The Jester of Apocalypse

Neave had something of a plan. When he wanted to rush at the diamond-path cultivator and the probably-diamond-rank dragon, he wasn’t just rushing out to get himself killed. In three-way fights, he would always have the option of pitting his two opponents against one another.

He would bet anything that he was faster and more maneuverable than the man wearing heavy armor. Although perhaps he was misguided in his thoughts, given that the armored man was on the diamond path.

Nevertheless, he could at least find a way to preserve his life. The allure of an opportunity to exterminate two massive pests in one swing was simply too much for him to deny.

This was when Dukean interrupted him. The way he asked Neave the question dispelled most of his battle craze and replaced it with a deep curiosity.

There was another peculiar aspect of a three-way fight. It may be even better to join later, once the two opponents have worn each other out. So Neave followed Dukean.

A bit away from the danger zone surrounding the intense fight between Carfen and the purple dragon, Neave and Dukean sat across one another in an abandoned building.

Dukean took his hood off and politely introduced himself.

“I do not wish to be deceitful or waste your time, so I will get right to the point. My name is Dukean, and I am from the Emperium sect. I am already familiar with your identity as well. You are Neave Zearthorn, a young master of the now-destroyed Zearthorn sect. Recently, I have met a person that I suspect to be your brother, and I also suspect he is in the capital to track you down.”

…What the fuck?

Neave stared at Dukean with utter disbelief. Before Neave had the time to butt in and say something, Dukean continued.

“I will be blunt with you. I have gathered all the intelligence I could about the downfall of your sect. While there were many inconsistencies and absurdities, I think I have a good idea about what happened. So allow me to ask you a question.” Dukean visibly tensed up. He placed his hands on his knees, steeled his gaze, and stared at Neave, “Do you have any connection to the demons?”

Neave stared back at him solemnly for a few seconds, and then he burst out laughing.

This didn’t make Dukean relax even a little. He tensed up and stared at Neave with trepidation. Neave finished his laughter and wiped a tear from his eye.

“Yeah, I kind of do. Why do you ask?”

Dukean was paralyzed. His eyes darted toward the entrance, and he looked ready to bolt any second. But he restrained himself and asked another question.

“Are… You an ally of the demons?”

“Absolutely fucking not.”

Dukean breathed a temporary sigh of relief and slumped over where he sat.

“Alright, that is good. I took a rather large risk by approaching you, but it seems by choice had been right.”

“Who says I’m not still going to kill you for your insolence?”

Dukean, to Neave’s surprise, simply smiled and looked at Neave.

“Call it a hunch.” Dukean’s posture hardened again, and he continued, “I have approached you to suggest a mutually beneficial alliance.”

“Okay, spit it, bucko. What do you want?”

“As I said, I need an ally.”

“Well, shit, I guess all you want is a buddy? Perhaps someone to drink with?”

Dukean chuckled awkwardly.

“I need your strength. I’ve met a group that reported fighting you recently.”

Neave’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“Strange, I don’t remember anyone surviving that.”

That made Dukean tense up a bit again. Neave’s face lit up in realization.

“Ah! Was it the people that fought me in the forest near Pavarrie?”

Dukean nodded.

“What did they say?”

“It isn’t a matter of what they’ve said, but how powerful they were. If they could corner you with their meager strength just a while back, you must have grown immensely in a mind-numbingly short time.”

Neave contemplated that a bit and then felt a pang of anger.

“So you have come to polish your chains?”

“My intentions aren’t sinister. I am simply here to offer you a trade. I am doing my best to be fully transparent, and you naturally have full right to refuse.”

That made Neave pause a bit. Now that he thought about it, was it wrong to seek guidance from someone powerful? He felt a strange sense of repulsion to such intent for a second, but the more he thought about it, he realized he had no reason to refuse to hear him out.

“Okay, hurry along. I have a battle to get myself needlessly involved in.”

Dukean glanced at Neave and decided it was time to get on with it.

“What I am about to tell you isn’t necessarily confidential information, but it would do you good to keep it to yourself. Are you aware of who the armored individual is?”

Neave shook his head. Dukean continued.

“That is Carfen, the diamond-path cultivator and the grand elder of the Langen sect. In the empire, few individuals have a better reputation than him. However, solid evidence suggests he may have a connection to demons.”

Neave laughed upon hearing that. Dukean was interrupted a bit, but he continued.

“It might seem funny, but the evidence is–”

“No, no, that’s not why I’m laughing. But you’re wrong. Well, you’re not wrong wrong, you just aren’t fully right. It’s not that he has a connection to the demons. It’s that he is a demon.”

A flash of anger crossed Dukean’s face.

“Please do not joke with this topic. The threat of someone–”

“I am not joking.”

“Then what evidence do you have for your claim?”

“I can tell.”

“That isn’t evidence. It is objectively impossible for Carfen to be a demon. He is a human diamond path cultivator who spent centuries serving the emperor. Few are willing to believe–”

“Let’s go outside and crack that armor open then, shall we?”

“Please, stop interrupting me and just hear me out.”

“No. If you have investigated the downfall of my sect, you probably know about the cursed tome as well, right? You keep saying that you will be blunt and direct, but you keep beating around the bush. Let me help you out. You believe that I have encountered demons due to the tome. Something about that connection also resulted in me getting a lot of power. Now you think that I will greatly value your information on demons.”

“No.”

“Alright, then tell me. What exactly motivated you to approach me? And don’t give me any bullshit or any around-the-bush beating. Just fucking tell me outright.”

“I took a risk by approaching you. I do not know your connection to the demons, but you have stated they’re not your allies. I am merely sharing my motivation and stakes.”

“And you’re beating around the bush again.”

Dukean gritted his teeth and took a deep breath.

“I have a solid reason to believe demons have infiltrated the high society of the Yixine empire. I want to exterminate them. I have approached you intending to trade material wealth and goods for your services. I am rich. Extremely rich. You are young, and yet, you already have so much power. I believe making allies with you and investing in your growth will pay off in the fight against the demons in the long run.”

Neave contemplated his words a bit then he grinned. Suddenly, his hair changed to its standard color, and he morphed into his young master form. Dukean gaped and stared at Neave in shock.

“Y–You! How!?”

Neave hollered and rolled on the ground. Dukean jumped back and grew highly apprehensive.

“Relax, dude. If we’re being honest already, we will be fully honest.” Neave got off the ground and stared at Dukean, “I have decided. As far as I can tell, you’re a pretty cool dude, and having an ally in high society also serves my goals. However…” Neave’s gaze sharpened, and Dukean gulped, “If we are going to be allies, then you will listen to me. That Carfen guy is a demon.”

Dukean bit his lip a bit and asked.

“Can you at least tell me how you concluded that?”

“It’s rather simple.” Something in Neave’s eyes shifted, and a chill crawled down Dukean’s spine, “I have suffered under a devil’s curse for uncountable years. There is no reality in which a demon could hide from me. No matter how many layers of deceit they hide behind.” Neave’s gaze betrayed fury so eternal and bottomless that Dukean struggled to breathe, “If Carfen has any form of connection to any devil… He will be extinguished.”

Dukean’s heart felt like it wanted to escape his chest. Neave smiled and continued.

“Either way, I might not have any direct evidence for him being a demon, but something unusual happened less than an hour ago.” Neave told Dukean about the attack by the man in red armor, or as he overheard his father call him, Ilkivir. “Now that Carfen suddenly appeared, just a bit after an attack by such a figure, it feels a little bit less like a coincidence, don’t you agree?”

Dukean nodded at that.

“It is most certainly suspicious. Doubly so, given that the rest of the diamond-path cultivators of the empire aren’t present. If they’re in a situation where they’re too occupied to come, even when such a crisis is underway, then Carfen may have come here with the explicit intent to finish the job of the red-armored man. Or perhaps, he intentionally kept this incident a secret from the rest, although that is highly unlikely. I have to wonder why the demons would target you specifically, however…”

“Oh, man, you have to hear this. Apparently, some planet was attacked by these spooky void creatures, and they completely annihilated it. The devil found this secret important enough to place a horrible death curse on the book to protect it!”

Dukean listened to Neave with curiosity, but he despaired as he realized the implication of what Neave had just told him.

“Why would you tell me that!? I don’t want to know something a devil will death-curse me for!”

Neave laughed.

“Don’t worry about that, dukey-boy!”

“Please don’t call me that.”

“If any scary devils come after you…”

“I am going to extinguish them as well.”

***

Carfen took a step back, avoiding the muscular puppet.

These ethereal puppets were one impressive power. Even he had to admit. But this dragon was far from powerful enough to threaten him.

He took another swing with his axe, and long cracks spread through the puppet. He stepped forward, powering through a heavy rain of crystal shards and fighting through the telekinesis.

The dragon kept taking measured steps back, but Carfen had already discovered its weakness. It had to manually control the puppets, meaning it lost focus on its body whenever it used them. He observed the puppets, noting whenever one of them seemed to ‘take over’ to use the moment to cut the distance between himself and the dragon.

The dragon shifted between focusing on keeping itself as far as it could from Carfen and manipulating the puppets. After several rounds of this, it grew complacent. The dragon thought it knew Carfen’s range.

This was when Carfen sprung forward like an arrow.

The dragon couldn’t shift its focus back on time.

Carfen threw a massive punch from above, kicked the dragon up, dashed above it, and slammed an axe strike at its torso. It flew to the ground, smashing into the earth and leaving a small crater. Before it could get out, Carfen had already landed on top of it.

Axe cut after axe cut left lacerations and gashes all over the dragon's body. It shrieked and blew another breath at him, but he was already gone before it could hit him.

Carfen readied his axe and prepared for another attack.

He was angry that the third disciple had failed at slaying the child. But no matter. This was the perfect opportunity for the first disciple to strike.

He smiled beneath his armor.

The fate of humanity on this continent would be decided, and finally, the scales would tip in favor of his masters once more.