"Eugy Eugy, are you finally gonna become a whole demon?"
I looked at the arrow that had flown into my room as Titania spoke.
Bathym and Glasses… should be here by now.
Two months had passed since I had left the Apollon County, it was about time.
But before that…
"I think I'll have to set straight someone out to kill me."
It seemed that would be taking precedence for the time being. Sighing, I grabbed the arrow and rolled open the scroll tied to its back with the mark of the Dark Moon on it.
Written there was a single line.
[The Secondth Whip Awaits The Lord Dark Moon]
"Why would he capitalize every word?"
"I guess being a bandit doesn't get you far in the way of education."
"So pitiful."
It was pitiful.
If Bathym was here already, even if I had to take a few days away, I was certain that Albert and Luka would be able to handle things here.
With the next group likely arriving tomorrow, and the other groups making their way to the other dungeons around this place, we would soon be ready to move out. In that case, meeting up with Bathym and fixing this issue first hand would be good.
And in case things went out of hand, I was looking forward to whatever power the authority would be bringing.
First.
"Let's take care of a punk."
I sighed and jumped out of the window. The glow of the moon was bright outside.
What a drag.
***
A clearing had spread in the middle of the coppice of bamboos.
The slanted trees' tress of greens formed a dark shade over the slick veneer of grass.
In the middle of the cleaning, under the glow of the moon.
Stood a man in dark robes, his hair tied into a pony tail and his hands peacefully on the handle stuck to his sides.
I slowly walked out of the trees and stepped out into the clearing.
"You are here… Lord Dark Moon."
I raised my brow.
"That's a lot of disrespect for someone you're calling lord."
The man scoffed, his robes fluttering in the wind.
"I do not acknowledge you yet," he muttered.
I mean?
Fuck if I care.
"I don't care. Are glasses and the other one here?"
"Glasses? You mean the first whip?"
"How many of you even are there?"
"We're the seven whips. Three of us are now dead though."
"Did you replace them?"
"No."
"Then you're the four whips?"
"Of course not, we're the seven whips."
"But there's only four—Man… I don't give two fucks. I'll let glasses handle this so—"
"I am not going to accept you yet, Lord Dark Moon."
A sigh left me at this absolute goof.
"Dude. I've been leading your organization for what, six years now? Really not the time to say this."
"Not until you prove, that you are a master of the whip! I have been told enough by the first whip."
Great, he's not listening to me anymore now.
The second whip breathed out and pulled out his whip.
"This, is the following of the Dark Moon! [Whip Arts, Second Movement: Dragon Whip Charge]"
The man swung his whip all on his own. His wrists moved faster than one's eyes could see and he cut off everything behind me, widening the clearing in the middle of the bamboo. If that wasn't enough, he had also cut up the bamboo into rough sculptures of dragons.
Now.
I made a great effort in knowing and doing all that could be known and done, but this was definitely stretching it a bit.
I could pull it off, use intent ki wave this thing around randomly and all is good, but still.
"Can you show me, your whip, Lord Dark Moon?"
"Why don't you just do it?" Titania muttered into my ears. "Its not like you'll be free of these idiots later."
That was true.
If I wanted them to behave it would be best to show them something about the Dark Moon. It was more like a cult than a religion anyway so just showing them a trick or two and then proclaiming myself their god would be more than enough.
What to do…
The chains in my hands whirred then.
As if a torch had lit up during a blackout, an idea flowed into my mind.
"Fine. You challenge me? Then as your lord, I will show you."
I raised my hand forward.
"The true form of the Dark Moon's whip…"
The man gulped.
"Is a chain."
Catene whirred again. It's tail turned toward me and small black streaks like eyebrows formed on it as if scowling.
The man ahead was surprised too.
"When you don't need a handle, and instead rubber which is easy to make flexible, you show your skills with iron."
"What…" He reeled back in surprise. "You mean, making an Iron chain flow like a whip is a testament of true skill?"
I nodded.
"Then, can you use the seven movements with that chain? Is that what you mean?"
I shook my head this time, suppressing a chuckle.
"Fool. What you did was a mere party trick."
"How dare you—"
"The true essence of the Dark Moon whip. Is in your ability to give it life."
Catene clenched my hand like a snake right then. It must have figured out what I was planning.
I slowly brought the chain close to my lips and murmured.
"I had found a very racy book in that library, with illustrations."
Catene let go of me and coiled out of my hand, filled with unceasing determination.
"This…!"
The second whip screamed.
The chains on my hand released me completely and started floating in the air.
"What is this…? It's almost as if… your whip is alive!"
"Catene, knock him out."
The chains dashed through the air and smacked the bastard straight in the back of his head. He flew meters ahead and fell right next to my feet from the sheer impact.
"Oh… Dark Moon…"
He collapsed.
I hoped he wouldn't forget all this.
I looked at the sky and sighed.
"Being the only normal one amongst weirdos sucks…"