697. Confrontation With The August Manus

697. Confrontation With The August Manus

“It’s insane how they’ll let anyone down there. One wrong turn and you’ll be a slave yourself.”

Autumn sighed as they joined the crowd.

“Everyone’s free game once you’re down there. Hit a dead end or walk into the wrong room and that’s enough for you to become a slave. I don’t have to tell you not to inhale or eat anything in this town.”

“They will go that far to ruin a person’s life?” Deiman wondered.

“A Shell shouldn’t have morals. Don’t sound like you’re the better person here. That’s how it is.” Mae sighed.

“We play by their rules.”

Autumn’s heart wrenched.

She didn’t show this. It was damning to see that Grandis was the same even in the Bellum Empire. During her travels she had heard the stories of Brandar; the Nex Megalopolis, and other wonderful places.

Grandis had no chance of being redeemable.

“What would Frost say?” She asked herself, causing Mae to twitch her head in Autumn’s direction.

Where had she heard that name before?

Deiman wondered why he felt like their norms were not normal at all, and Mae couldn’t shake the feeling of her heart being caught up in her throat.

There was nothing for Autumn to think about any longer. And so, she patiently waited for their turn. She noticed that there were inhuman figures that oversaw the trade. They were dressed in funeral suits and had masquerade masks enchanted with [Illusion] Magic to conceal their faces.

[Total Concealment – Body Segment], a Tier 5 spell. It shouldn’t have mattered to her since there were bound to be people who wanted to keep their identity hidden. But the fact that they only observed raised red flags.

Not to mention that there were so many. Autumn could use Tier 3 magic at best. Tier 5 magic was at the level of Greatmages, and with such proficiency she had to wonder if they were potentially Archemages, or Court Mages of the Bellum Empire.

That was not the strangest part. Amongst them was a figure that vaguely resembled a human. An outsider would not have bat an eye, but she could hear the churning of gears beneath its blue, weighted robes.

Mae seemed to notice this as well, her face turning pale like had just seen a ghost. Before either of them could make sense of their situation –

“Ha... Hahaha!”

– A heavy hand suddenly clutched onto Autumn’s shoulder.

“To think that if I had drunk myself till I blacked out I would have missed you!”

The gruff voice belonged to someone she knew. She quickly turned around to face the hulking, two-meter figure. Several fingers were missing from the hand on her shoulder, yet it felt like all fingers were present due to his immense grip.

“The August Manus? Aren’t you supposed to be at Aquagale?”

The man who stood before her was Gustus, the leader of the present Division of the August Manus.

“Oooh. So she remembers us!” The man laughed sarcastically as others donned in giant, grey metal armor appeared, each with a hand mangled due to their roots of crossing with the Solemn Paw. “Strange of you to find yourself all the way here. Last time I heard –!”

Suddenly, Autumn braced herself for impact as she held out her staff, just barely blocking a punch to her gut.

“– You were with a Blessed!”

“Tch – What the fuck are you talking about!?” Autumn shouted, trying to rouse as much attention as possible as Mae instinctively took a step back, her throat gripped by an invisible hand. “Blessed!? You... Wait, is this about that Court Mage!?”

The space surrounding them instantly cleared up. But rather than trying to stop them, they were urged to spill each other’s blood for reasons they didn’t even know. They noticed Deiman and Mae, and immediately assumed it was for ownership over the coveted blonde-haired Demi-Human.

“Court Mage? I’d believe you if you didn’t disappear from Aquagale. But you were with them! Where are they, Apprentice Mage!?”

He recited like he had received his words from a higher being, his mangled hands reaching towards something above him.

“But I have seen the divine! A true prophet with flesh of gears! Not those who tug on strings! I was chosen! The Ones Who Wear Skulls! They approached me with a mission that aligned with my thoughts. To hunt down broken thorns, those with red eyes and blonde hair, and I knew precisely who to hunt!”

Insanity.

Autumn watched in agony as the cloaked being – the Clockwork Prophet – that Mae feared drifted towards the well, as did the followers of the August Manus. The black-masked individuals remained and merely watched for what she could only presume was for entertainment.

“Gagh...!” She clutched her chest. A rib had broken after her fall. “You’re... batshit insane if you believe them! Those things... they’re Corpse Snatchers...!?”

Her eyes moved to a weapon’s rack. Spears, swords, and knives freely hung, and they began to move to an invisible wing. The man’s arms were lowered. His guard was down, and Autumn purposefully kept herself on the ground to keep him from recognizing her as a threat.

“Only the greatest of the great. Calm yourself, Autumn. Unlike that Demi-Human, I won’t break you down. You are human. You therefore deserve the dignity of one –!”

Suddenly, a barrage of weaponry flew his way. Spears rattled as their tips broke the moment they made contact with his armor. Swords shattered as he swung his gauntlet. Daggers were easily caught and had their handles crushed before Autumn’s eyes.

However, that did not mean she couldn’t control the blade part of it.

And in that moment of weakness, she jammed one of the blades into his visor.

“AAAAAAGH! AH! GARGH! AH!”

Autumn hopped onto her feet, telekinetically moving pieces of wood to further hammer in the knife as he clutched his eye. He bashed the wood away before dragging the blade out.

“No. You’re a dog in the shape of a human!”

He raised his hand and with one swift movement, the blade was thrown at such a velocity that it cleanly passed through Autumn’s stomach.

“FUUUUUCK! A-AAAAAAAAAH! Ghhk!”

She had tried to make it to another weapon rack, but the injury caused her to collapse. A Mage could only take so much physical damage before they were out of commission.

Autumn was no exception.

He closed the gap before she could even rush to close her wound. In the next moment, she felt a boot press against her hand.

She knew what was coming next.

“You seemed close to that Demi-Human. Be at ease, Autumn. You won’t die. I can guarantee that. As a human, it’s only fair that we try you on the basis of an eye for an eye.”

She screamed as he pressed down.

“A-Ahaha! A Demi-Human befriending a human. I could tell they were not your slaves. I’d like to see how that Demi-Human reacts when he finds you as nothing more than a bloody – AAAAAAGH!”

Autumn’s telekinetic range was larger than he anticipated. This time, a dagger was shoved into the opening of his gauntlet. She didn’t know why she made it so much harder for herself, or why the mention of Deiman had caused her to react so violently.

“Demi-Humans. Demi-Humans. Demi-Humans. DEMI-HUMAAAAAAAANS! Look at how they poison humans! You could have come out of this unscathed! But you began this string of fate by chasing that Blessed like they were not the enemies of Granids!”

*Crunch*

She lost her hand under the immense weight of his boot. Autumn did not whimper or cry. She powered through the pain, gritting her teeth as she stared up at him defiantly.

“Go ahead. Believe she is an ally of yours. Your Teacher has already left for the Rodan Trade City.

No one is coming to save you or your friends, as it has been predicted.”