The Prince Of Magic

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The doors of the elevator separated, revealing his Master, Hadrian, in all his calm and majestic glory.

Seeing his master calm and poised, as if nothing ever bothered him, Kieran grinned and gave a jaunty salute to his benefactor.

"Wassup, Boss." The retainer greeted. "Nice shooting. Ya got the bastard, but how'd ya do that?"

"While the elevator was going up." Hadrian answered, stepping beside his retainer. "But, don't let your guard down yet. He's still alive."

"Wait, I thought ya aren't going up here?" Kieran asked, brows furrowed in confusion. "Who's protecting the people below?"

"Don't worry, I left someone capable of guarding the others there." Hadrian said with confidence, smiling pleasantly, as if he knows an inside joke that Kieran wasn't aware of.

They were interrupted when a series sounds of bones cracking echoed in the room, causing them to turn their gazes to where Jester Karture was located.

When they sighted him, the vampire was in the process of regenerating. His bones were forcefully righted as his regeneration undo the damages, albeit in a slower paced than before.

The young mage did a number on the intruder's body, to the point that it took a whole minute for the latter's body restored enough for him to stand.

Hadrian and Kieran did nothing, simply observing and waiting for the intruder to regenerate.

They had this feeling that the intruder had something to say, now that Hadrian was present.

True enough, after Jester forcefully righted the bones in his shoulder and straightened his posture, he flashed a smile towards Hadrian and bowed to his waist.

"Greetings, you must Hadrianus Mathius von Schweinorg. I am Jester Karture, a mere Dead Apostle. I am deeply honored to be in your presence." The intruder greeted him.

"So I've heard. Now, state your business here before I lose my patience." Hadrian warned, bright cyan eyes narrowed.

While feeling a bit intimidated by the glare, Jester simply flashed him another smile, one that seemed genuine but lacked any warmth inside.

On anyone, it might even seemed true, but on the vampire's face, it just felt like the mockery of what a smile was. That was what it felt to Kieran.

"Very well." Jester coughed in his hand, continuing on. "I am simply here to deliver you a message. This letter, actually."

"A letter?" Kieran repeated, skeptical.

"Yes, a letter." Jester affirmed with a nod.

He reached into the inside of his blazer's pocket, uncaring of how Kieran quickly pointed his gun at him, ready to shoot, as he grabbed something and pulled it out.

True to his words, in his right hand was a small envelope that was stained with a bit of blood. It was even stamped with a red seal.

Hadrian already had the automaton scanned the item, and found nothing magical on him. He was still cautious though, but his instincts also told him that it was a simple letter.

Knowing that the two wouldn't take the letter from him even if he offered it to them, Jester kneeled on one knee to the floor and laid the enveloped gently on the torso of one black clad skeleton.

He stood up and sighed in relief, causing the amber eyed retainer to frown suspiciously at him.

"There, I've done my part. Now, I must return." Jester announced, giving another bow to Hadrian.

"What makes ya think we'll let ya leave here, eh?" Kieran began, glaring at the vampire.

"Oh, I think you have other matters that would concern you greatly." Jester replied, smiling toothily.

The amber eyed servant felt uncomfortable.

From the beginning, the vampire had been calm and nonchalant. Even when they had been fighting earlier, Jester Karture was nothing but apathetic to everything around him, including the deaths of his soldiers. Now, however, the blood-sucker looked almost amused, despite his unkempt and bloody appearance, which gave eerie vibes to Kieran.

For some strange reason, Jester reminded Kieran of an unsettling clown. The ones that act genuinely, yet distant and cold at the same time.

It was almost as if emotions was an alien subject for Jester Karture; that was the impression that Kieran was getting.

Just as Kieran was about to tell the vampire to f.u.c.k off, he was beaten to the punch when Hadrian disappeared beside him, only to reappear next to Jester in a split second.

In slow motion, the retainer watched as his master kicked the intruder in his midsection, launching him away and made his body to slam roughly against the wall before the young mage followed it up with two powerful Finn Shots to Jester's face and c.h.e.s.t, which caused the vampire blast through the wall of cement that seemed six inched thick in mass.

Small debris fell over as a man-shaped hole was made, while Jester disappeared behind it and was thrown into the ocean.

In a rare moments, Kieran found himself speechless.

He had fought the vampire, albeit briefly, but the power Jester can muster was not a joke. Now, he just witnessed his master overwhelmed Jester, even outmaneuvering and besting him.

The power behind his Finn Shots alone were enough to damage a six inches of thick concrete, and make a man-shaped hole of an eerie vampire through the said cement.

'Yeah, one of the reasons why I'm not pissing him off anymore. Learned my f.u.c.k.i.n.g lesson...' Kieran thought, feeling a trickle of sweat as he started at the man-shaped hole in the wall.

He was broken out of his reverie when the entrance opened and admitted a certain Knight of the Love Spot, who entered to the scene in a run. Dia ran inside, but stopped when he noticed the state of the room, his fellow retainer and his master inside.

Said spear-wielder looked around with a confused expression, then turned to Kieran.

"Did I miss something?" Dia asked, glancing at the man-shaped hole in the wall.

"Yeah, a lot." Kieran snorted, shaking his head with a wry expression.

"Come along, you two." Hadrian interrupted, walking towards the entrance. "We must get to the others."

"Ah, but what about the people here?" Dia asked, hurrying to his liege's side along with Kieran.

"They'll be fine. I doubt there would be anymore intrusions after this." Hadrian answered, keeping his gaze straight ahead. "The enemy's main is in the island, not here."

With that said, the young mage sped up his walk, following after him were his two retainers.

One was dutiful and loyal, while the other was apprehensive of what was about to come. Both are different, yet united in their loyalty and trust to their young liege.

Kieran merely hoped that they were not about to walk to their deaths.

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