751. A Bloody Visit

751. A Bloody Visit

“No. He has nothing to do with me. Neither do I want a piece of whatever he’s getting. I just want my own things. It’s far more convenient for me to work with the Broken Thorn.”

“Bzzt. All Children of Adams will return to the Broken Thorn in one way or another. Bzzt. Including your sisters. Bzzt.”

“I had hoped they’d come along. That way, they’d be left immune to the coming storm.” Raoul left before Beethoven could say another word.

He returned into the tunnels again, with the Masque struggling to keep up.

“Mr. Wise Black Wolf! If they won’t join us... agh... then what should we do about them!?”

“I’ll take care of them.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier... ack... if we helped accelerate it?”

Raoul suddenly took the Masque by the throat and slammed them against the wall.

“Are you insisting that you confront them?” The shadows behind him took the form of three wolf heads. Each took a limb into their maws, ready to tear the Masque apart.

The Masque was by no means a pushover. They were quite powerful on their own. But Raoul was on an entirely different level. He was a Star; a feared Star with a reputation akin to the Iron Stars who were infamous for exiling entire civilizations.

Raoul only had the Solemn Paw and the City of Spades Massacre behind his back, and yet he was feared like those monsters.

“... we would never.” The Masque uttered. “We’d never... even think about it. Your sisters... are immune, as part of our agreement... after all, right... right~?”

Raoul growled. His shadows disappeared as he fixed his tie, annoyed that Ara wasn’t present to do it for him.

“... close...” The Masque whispered, terrified by their brush with death. Even though they could just respawn, a death through Raoul was unpleasant to the say the least.

Suddenly, an Etched Coin fell from the Masque’s pockets. They wanted to teleport out of here since they had no reason to stick around, especially not when Raoul’s fuse was lit. However, something was wrong with their Etched Coin.

“It’s not glowing...?” They whispered, causing a walking Raoul to immediately stop in his tracks. “Why isn’t it... Wait – the Heart – THE HEART!? IT’S DESTROYED –!?”

*Crunch*

Before the Masque could warn the others of the disappearance of the Heart of the City, Raoul’s shadows stretched beneath them. Then, like the jaws of a giant flytrap, they snapped them up.

*Crunch* *Murmurs* *Groans* *Crunch*

The Masque died immediately.

Without a Heart, it could not respawn.

“Even if you existed on a two-dimensional plane, you would not be able to grovel low enough before me. Blood hierarchies don’t favor lesser beings.” She scoffed at him before moving towards Ara, her boot crushing the ice with each step. “Ahhh. Is this one of those who had their wishes granted by the Wishcatcher? How humorous. Her face alone would be enough for that bitch... Ahem, that Angel of Lust to fawn over her. Not a bad specimen. She does have a sweet scent...”

She took a single strand from her hair and inhaled its scent.

Then, she placed the hair on the edge of her blade. It was instantly vaporized upon contact.

“... Oh, has this one interacted with the Captured Star?”

She hummed with amusement.

“Bzzt... I do not understand. Forgive me. Bzzt.”

“It’s nothing for you to know. Interesting. I wonder if the Captured Star cares enough to rescue her. I’d prefer it if she couldn’t, like how she was supposed to be. But – you can’t always win. Not when you don’t involve yourself.”

She heaved her blade over a single shoulder.

“Maybe I should’ve killed Iscario for failing. Oh well.”

“Bzzt...?”

“Oh, I’m just talking to myself. Keep at it, insect man.”

It was the first time Beethoven had ever heard someone talk ill of the Brightest Star, even if it was a joke.

Not to mention that it came from someone so close to him.

Uriel whistled as she headed out, but not without trailing a finger across the walls. She left splotches of blood where she stepped, and they flowed up into the services where her fingers ran.

They spelt the passage of a language that Beethoven did not understand but recognized to be: “Abandon all hope ye who enter.”

“Goodbye. May GEN-04 grant your wish.”

She clicked on her pocket watch and instantly teleported away, leaving a still groveling Beethoven to ruminate on what had just occurred. He felt like if he stood in the next hour then he’d be executed on the spot.

An Angel was not a being that they could reason with.

He knew this much.

“Bzzt... I must return to converting my grandniece into a Maestro. Bzzt. There must not be any more distractions. Bzzt.”