772. Compounding Complications

772. Compounding Complications

“Bzzt. The Towers are no longer under our control. Bzzt. How problematic. Bzzt.”

The Sins left behind by the Red Wing slaughtered Impuritas messengers at the entrance of Beethoven’s frozen auditorium. No words needed to be conveyed to him. Their deaths alone were enough for him to recognize the severity of the situation.

“Bzzt. We have lost our guarantee to survive this. Bzzt.” A part of him wished to curse at the Red Wing, but he held his tongue, less he wished to be targeted by the Vexed Consanguinities.

One of the master plans revolved around the Major Luminescences located in each of the 5 Major Arcane Towers. It would have granted the Impuritas immortality to weather the apocalypse.

However, something had gone terribly wrong.

Not even the Agonized Messengers of Sect of Gears could deliver to him his promised predictions or news of the situation beyond his secret auditorium.

He could only speculate as he paced around the auditorium, preparing his living Instruments in preparation for Ara’s awakening.

“Bzzt. Now that it has come down to this... Bzzt. My own grandniece will be required to at least protect the north from the Red Wing’s influence. Bzzt.”

The knees of his shivering Instruments were cleaned with a damp cloth before their heads were drenched with a bowl of cold water. Trembling murmurs left their frozen lips, creating a sound that delighted him.

“Bzzt. It must sound like a lullaby to you, Ara. Bzzt. S7 was a wonderful choice. Bzzt. You must be dreaming of the time spent in that marvelous place. Bzzt.”

Beethoven saw S5 and S7 as beautiful.

Both Sectors illustrated the art of the Maestros of Flesh naturally in a world untainted by the laws of civility. If one desired it, then they could have it no matter the cost.

“Bzzt. Music, O’ Ara... Bzzt.”

“Mmmph!?”

He latched on the frozen gags of six different Instruments. With a single, swift tear –

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

– Their gags were torn apart with the sound of ripping cloth. Frostbitten flesh was carried with it and discarded whimsically before their feet.

Beethoven was deaf to their suffering.

“Bzzt. ... Music is an artform that has no limit to how it can be expressed. Bzzt. It must come from the flesh. Bzzt. Morality must be challenged, so that the most perfect symphony can be made. Bzzt. Your grandfather was one of us, but he saw music in a different light. Bzzt.”

Finally, Beethoven moved to Ara’s unresponsive body. She laid atop a platform held up by hands from a deep pit. He clasped her cheeks with a single hand, squeezing her face so that her mouth could part open.

“Bzzt. ‘Music is an expression of the soul’. Bzzt. He came from the Subderma Layer like all of us. Bzzt. But he ascended. Bzzt. Up past the suffocating veils and layers of the Subderma. Bzzt. Then, he ascended further into this plane... Bzzt.”

Ara’s appearance was astonishing. With a bit more effort, Ara could become something great. Beethoven already intended to transform his grandniece into an Impuritas. He stared at Ara, opening her eyelids to see her emerald eyes. Then, his compound eyes moved to her green hair.

“Bzzt. ... Leaving behind such beautiful offspring. Bzzt. Your hair is so much like Hellen’s. Bzzt. Nothing like that disgusting Alice. Bzzt. I always lamented on why it was only him who could leave our hell Bzzt.”

* * *

Beethoven was the brother of the Green Composer. Seeing Ara’s human form reminded him of his old self: a human man with blonde hair and blue eyes. Aside from this, there was nothing spectacular about him than perhaps his origins from the Subderma Layer.

He was always at odds with his brother ever since they were young. As the youngest brother, he always felt like he was elapsed by his eldest brother. The Green Composer... Haydn, was celebrated whereas Beethoven was seen as thorn on his side.

An unidentifiable mark glowed with a colorless hue. It caused the Sins to tremble as they backed away. Beethoven could not tell if it was out of reverence, restraint...

... or fear.

“Bzzt... You’re... Haydn’s wife? Bzzt.”

“You must be his brother.”

The two instantly recognized one another. This woman was Autumn’s Teacher – a Grand Magician that had somehow found her way into Beethoven’s auditorium. Her naturally composed face was twisted with confusion, as she herself did not know how she appeared here.

“... and that person... over there. Who might that be?” The woman asked, grimacing in pain as the light on her hand intensified.

“Bzzt. That does not concern you. Bzzt. To think I’d see your face here of all places. Bzzt. Did you come knowing?”

“Knowing? Such a broad term. I came looking for what I needed. Thanks to ‘them’... I could have sworn I was lost in a desert.” The woman looked around her, as though she was dreaming.

Neither of them knew why the woman was here.

However, Beethoven did not let his guard down. Teleporting here could only be done through an Etched Coin, but ordinary people could not use them.

Somehow, this woman was teleported here through an entirely different method. This combined with the mark she bared caused him to deploy multiple magical barriers.

A second hand drew a conducting wand to join the first.

“Bzzt. A desert...? Bzzt.”

“A desert with so many endless dunes and ruins that I thought I was in another world. Steel spires so tall that it puts our Major Arcane Towers to shame. Oh what they must have looked like in their prime.”

“Bzzt... Which Region are you talking about? Bzzt.”

“Does it look like I know? You and I know that I didn’t come here to talk.” Icicles rose from the ground like thorns.

They surrounded the woman defensively as she eyed Ara’s body with yearning eyes.

“... my wish was granted after all, for the small price of this ‘mark’. I’ve been wandering the world for a long time looking for Ara.”

“Do you even know what that mark entails?” Beethoven hastened the pace of his symphony, causing their hoarse voices to produce bloody musical notes.

They hovered in the air, surrounding the woman like drawn arrows.

“I doubt you do yourself. Oh Thoven, the light I saw in my dream inside of the sandy dunes led me here straight to what I wanted. Now I must ask you –

She too drew frozen projectiles of her own. Floating icicles each a meter thick surrounded her like the arms of a clock.

“– What were you planning to do to my grandson!?”

Though she was famous for being able to manipulate boulders, she could manipulate ice with just as much proficiency. Her eyes brimmed with sudden fury. In that moment Beethoven knew that he would be locked in combat.

The Maestros of Flesh desperately needed another musician to replace Ara now that another hurdle had arrived.