Chapter 141 - Beaten To It

Emperor Nicholas sighed. "It seems there is no reason to hide it from you all now. I expect you all to keep utmost secrecy when it comes to what I am going to tell you." The Six Slayers all gathered around and huddled up.

"The late Emperor before me, my father, has told me about the Book of Alacrity, it holds the location of a sword of a similar name. This was a secret passed down from generations of the royal family. The Sword of Alacrity is able to tear the Red Barriers of Niflheim down with just a touch of its blade. It was made by the blacksmith Gods of old in order remove the barriers once the Angels have been defeated." The Emperor looked down and shook his head once again. "But sadly, all others who have come before me have never had the opportunity to make use of it for its intended purposes…"

"Could this be the same 'key' that Adam Rosa is after?" The Specter posed the question to everyone. "Who exactly knows of the existence of this book and the sword, Emperor?" Ignis Silva turned to the Emperor to ask. 

"Perhaps my tongue slipped and I told him some bits and pieces of its story a long time ago. Back when he and Artorias Khalil were battling it out for the top rank one spot in the Corps. I do not expect him to remember it as it was so long ago. Yet knowing the Reaper, he will no doubt be able to recall our conversation in great detail. There is a good chance that maybe he already has…" 

The Basilisk Slayer stepped up. "Where are you hiding the book?!" He asked anxiously. "I-In the back most portion of the library, together with the history books. Worry not, it takes some time to decode the texts in the book, I have a copy of it here in my quarters. I was planning to get rid of it from there already after this meeting." The Serpent Summoner raised his hand. "The sooner we get rid of it, the better, your highness." Gavin said. "Very well, let us get going." The Emperor replied back.

Together, they all went down to the library to retrieve the original copy of the Book of Alacrity. The cobwebs forming the place indicated it was much due for a bit of cleaning, it was late at night so the librarian was no longer there. They only saw a handful of guards patrolling, most of whom were surprised to see the Emperor accompanied by such a power-studded stack of Slayers. "Y-Your highness, what brings you to this part of the castle?" One of them asked. "We are here for a specific book. You may leave the vicinity at once, I am more than guarded and secured with the individuals that I came here with." With that, the few guards saluted and exited the library.

As they walked into the dark corners where the book was supposedly placed in, a putrid odor made their expressions sour. They knew full well what that stench was. Rot and decay, death and pestilence. Nobody was saying a word, it was already understood that it was the stench of a dead body. "Are we too late?!" The Commander thought to himself. They jogged towards where the smell was getting stronger and stronger.

What they saw was something uncommon in Niflheim. A bunch of dead bodies of foot soldiers assigned to the Grand Castle was on the ground. Their bodies have been drained of blood and had turned pale from the touch of death. "What the fuck happened here?!" Artorias Khalil exclaimed while trying to see if some of them were still alive. About four of the foot soldiers lay on the ground, flies were already gathering around them. "Those guards outside, ask them if they saw anyone else leave or enter the floor, tell them to lock the whole Castle down!" Ignis Silva commanded Vale Ashford to do it as she was the quickest one here, speed-wise.

"The book! We do not know what has happened here yet, but it if it is Adam Rosa, then he has already made his way towards the Book of Alacrity!" The Emperor said while trying to find the book among the destroyed shelves he said it would be. Ignis, Artorias, Luken, Gavin, and Fen helped him in his search as well.

After wiping the sweat off of his temple, the Emperor already knew…the Book of Alacrity was far gone. "It is not here anymore." He said. "Shit. We got beaten to it by Adam." The Commander stared at the bodies of the dead foot soldiers on the ground. Their pale, white complexions were the same as that of an Angel. "He did this. Once again, we are left chasing after him." Luken took in what his eyes saw. He was fueling his rage against his former master, the one who taught him how to be the Slayer that he is today is a traitorous scum. 

The Specter came back after asking and alerting those guards outside. "They said they did not notice anyone come inside the library from the main entrance. It seems like he went in through the window." She said while pointing at the glass shards of the library's window glass now on the floor. "I have already informed them to lock this place down. Nobody has gone in or out after I told them."

"It is too late. He is already long gone. The Reaper got us this time. Tch." Fen Kaori said as he clicked his tongue after. "The Allcaster is right, what do you intend to do now, Emperor?" Ignis asked Emperor Nicholas.

"For now, let us regroup back to my quarters up stairs." After they did, the Emperor showed them the copy of the Book of Alacrity which he kept hidden here. He flicked the pages straight towards where the sword itself could be located. "Hm. This is not honestly too far from Niflheim." Gavin added.

"I shall assemble one team for every two of you here. The original book has not been deciphered yet, normally, it would take an average Slayer about two to three months of decoding the location of the sword embedded in the book, but this is Adam Rosa we are talking about, it would be safe to assume that he is already on the move. We shall have fifteen members in this squad combined. The Basilisk Slayer shall be with the Specter, Ignis Silva will be with the Allcaster, The Commander shall be paired with the Serpent Summoner. Each of you will be able to choose members that you sync with, if you have an organization, it is recommended that you choose from your ranks in order to avoid non-chemistry between teams. I will give you the freedom to choose whomever you wish to recruit for it. Just tell them that you will depart at noon towards where the 'tragedy' happened. It is there that the Sword of Alacrity is located in. We do not know when The Reaper will finish decoding the book's instructions, but we must assume that he will take less than twenty four hours to do so. A determined Adam Rosa combined with his methodical approach is a difficult enemy to race with against time. I will send you additional information via carrier birds before the night is over. For now, I trust you to recruit able-bodied individuals who are up to the task. No more than three recruits per team. That would be all. Dismissed." The Emperor gave out specific and concise instructions to the Slayers summoned there.

It was going to be a battle for the Sword of Alacrity. Whoever gets it first will be the victors of the million-year long war of mankind against the Angels. Both sides were unrelenting and have refused to back down, it was all or nothing for the sword.

"Who are we going to bring along, Gavin?" The Commander asked his partner. "Who else? Of course, we are bringing the young core of the Six Blades themselves." The Serpent Summoner responded with a grin. "Let us go tell them ourselves, then."

Ignis Silva walked alongside Fen Kaori on the way out of the Grand Castle. "Do you have anybody you wish to bring, Fen?" Ignis was actually very calm and non hostile when he talked to the Allcaster. "No. I do not. All three slots of our group are all up to you. I have no say in it, and I do not wish to." Fen replied with the same face, devoid of emotion. "Very well then." Ignis was getting ready to write a letter addressed to his chosen Inferno Garden members. They were written for Kai Xin, Hector Incendium, and one other member.

"Who are you inviting?" The Specter asked Artorias. "I still do not know yet, honestly, I might just pick out Slayers randomly from the top of my head…" He added.. "Well, good luck with that."