Chapter 11: Know Your Enemy

 

 

 

Everyone in the room was shocked at the story Riley told them. It was unbelievable story, and if this were Earth, the Summons would have merely called it some fantastical action story or comic. Unfortunately, this entire story happened to be true.

“What a powerful curse…” Silas murmured, his mouth and eyes agape.

“So this… Persephone was able to injure you, Master Riley?” Zara asked.

“She was. She had a ton of force behind her strikes. Her regular attacks couldn’t do too much to me, but those explosions were deadly. I honestly thought that I wouldn’t survive when she concentrated so much explosive power into one attack.”

“The Wedlock Slaughterers…” Simon muttered. Most of Riley’s servants pretty much had the same expression of worry and slight distress. It was quite understandable too. They knew how strong their master was, but knowing that there was an army of people with that kind of strength in one country was terrifying to think of.

It was at that moment that they vowed to themselves to never let their master go anywhere alone ever again, even if he didn’t like it. No matter if he thought something bad might happen to them, they would refuse to let him go off on his own.

“What kind of monsters does Edinburgh even have?!” Edna yelled. “Those bastards! Nobody gets to hurt Riley but me!”

Edna’s sudden outburst caused the servants to smile wryly, Simon aside.

As Edna stewed in her own fury, the Summons and Caera residents were pale.

“Nearbran was annihilated?!”

“Why did they kill all of those people!?”

The royal siblings were petrified, thinking of what happened to the town. Even the raw power display they saw in Crestfall was tame by comparison. After all…

“The entire town was turned to ash?”

“The curse was bad enough, but Limit Break has that kind of power?!”

“After hearing how a person learns how to get it, it’s definitely not worth it. I can sympathize with the enemy this time… but still. If she wanted to die, why did she go through all of that?”

“…Monsters…”

Darius had already had a taste of Edinburgh’s power, but it was nowhere near that scale. Both Wyatt and Joy were in awe and fear of a Limit Break’s power. That’s also why Joy started to question Persephone’s motivations. Blanch just couldn’t believe his ears.

“Terrifying…”

“Ha! That can’t be right! Surely this is a bluff!”

Rain was downright horrified while Stefan wanted it to be a lie.

“If you don’t believe me, I can bring you there myself, but it’s only been a few hours. I’d wager those nutcases are still there.”

“Tch.”

Stefan turned his head to the side, his expression complicated.

“My guess was right. They were sent there to kill anyone who was escaping to Nearbran, meaning the royal family. If I hadn’t teleported everyone to my home and kept going, then it’s highly likely that I’d be the only survivor.”

“…And why do you seem to believe that you’d get out alive?”

Stefan still seemed to be highly skeptical of Riley, turning to face him again.

“I don’t like flaunting my strength, but I am strong.”

Riley, of course, ignored him and gave a simple passing comment.

“The strength of many individuals in Edinburgh’s military are extremely powerful. In Crestfall, I had to fight with less than half of my strength so that I could focus on my teleportation spell.”

”Less than half…” Elijah muttered, his eye twitching.

”You’d better move past the surprise. Anything to do with Riley is just going to end up with something out of this world. If you get surprised at everything he says, you won’t get anywhere.”

Edna could only sigh as she let out that comment. She’d clearly seen plenty of absurdities from him herself.

“Even so, I ended up fighting about seven to eight people whose strength was approximately that of a Seven or Eight Star adventurer. Holding back as much as possible meant that I was bound to get injured, but to think that they had so many people who could fight with such power is incredible.”

More than half of the room was confused by his comment, but the Gagnon siblings and Chevalier siblings immediately stiffened.

“They had that many people with strength like that? That’s not easy to come by outside the Adventurer’s Society.”

It would come as no surprise, then, if they had soldiers of Nine or Ten Star ranks either.

“That is not a pleasant thought.”

“Hey, we could still take them! So long as Master Riley is here, it’ll be a piece of cake!”

Everyone was confused by their reactions, but it was clearly foreboding, thinking that they were stiffened just by hearing them ranked in some strange way.

“Then, Big Brother, what about this Persephone person? She was able to force you into a corner and use all of your strength, right? That would mean that they have others like her right?”

“Yeah. There was also the guy who beat me back when we were escaping. That stupid bastard, stabbing me with my own hammer.”

Elice was worried and Edna was pissed. Even Darius winced at remembering his own defeat. Still, they brought up valid points.

“I can’t say that they were of the highest caliber out there, but yes, there will be many serious contenders. When I was fighting in Crestfall, I came across someone who could use gravity, and he called himself an Ace, just like the Wedlock Slaughterers. Not to mention that guy you mentioned, Edna. I believe he called himself an Ace also.”

Victor Agvirty was definitely powerful. He managed to bring Riley to his knees merely by appearing. He wasn’t able to hold him down for good, but his power was indeed incredible.

Then, of course, there was Omega. He managed to defeat Edna and Darius quickly, and he even tried to stop Riley with an incredibly wide ranged spell. He couldn’t make an accurate assessment of his strength, but Riley had a feeling that he would be a powerful threat.

Then the Wedlock Slaughterers. He couldn’t get an accurate read on them either, but one of them managed to nick him effortlessly, and they called themselves the same rank as Omega and Victor. That alone made Riley wary of them.

“From the way it seems, it’s possible the Aces are the most powerful. The fact that one of them was able to defeat Edna is proof enough that at least he has among the highest caliber of strength.”

Edna’s veins twitched in her temple as she muttered, “I’ll kick his ass next time.”

“Yes, I’m sure you will,” Riley responded, which caused Edna to puff out her cheeks in a pout in response.

“As for Persephone, in terms of pure skill, her strength is that of a Seven Star, pushing Eight. If I was able to use my conjuring freely, I could have defeated her much easier. Of course, her Limit Break does increase her threat level significantly, but I would have been able to deal with it with minimal effort. What actually made her dangerous was the effects of her curse. Aside from the fact that it basically killed everything around her, it pretty much stopped all forms of conjuring for those that could resist. That’s why she was so incredibly difficult to handle. Her Limit Break even concentrated her curse into her arms and ash soldiers, so instant spells and creation spells that came into contact were practically nullified. Combined with her ash, she had an extremely powerful defense that could even compete with mine.”

The explosions were indeed a threat, but if he was able to properly use his conjuring, then he could easily split everything in half. The ash giant would be nothing as it would be severed by space, blown away by his wind, or washed away by his water. There were plenty of countermeasures at his disposal. However, because he couldn’t access those so freely, the fight became that much more difficult.

Everyone was silent. Merely contemplating this was making their heads hurt. All they knew was that Edinburgh was too powerful, and the Caera Kingdom’s reign was at an end.

Seeing the pain on the faces of those who called that country home, Riley spoke up.

“Well, how about we all just go rest. Some of us have a big day tomorrow. I need to change out of these clothes anyway. Plus…”

Riley stood up and put his adventurer’s card in his Pocket Dimension, then he pulled out a bright red seed.

“I have a seed to plant.”

 

~~~

 

After that, everyone was excused. While the servants went back to their own business, the royals, Summons, and escorts all had to come to terms with what they lost. It wouldn’t be easy, but it was already too late to prevent anything.

Riley went outside and stood in front of Isabelle’s grave and gave a brief prayer. After that, he told her of the day he had and its outcome. 

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t protect your home. But still, your family and your people are safe. That’s what matters. Knowing you, you’d probably say the same.”

With some final words, he walked to the side. There was a lake here, but there was also a large plain. The nearest tree was a long distance away, so there was nothing in the way.

Riley crouched down and used Earth Conjuring to dig a small hole into the ground. Then he put the seed in his hand into the hole and covered it back up. He placed it just a short distance away from the grave so that when the tree eventually grew, it wouldn’t mess up the grave.

Once the seed was planted, he returned to Isabelle’s grave, and he used Stone Conjuring to create a new grave beside hers. Carved into it was:

Persephone Kore

May she rest knowing her soul

is safe

Her legacy…

That was what Persephone called this seed, but what exactly was it? That’s what was on Riley’s mind. She wanted to die, but she wasn’t able to explain why she couldn’t say much more than she did. She may have been cursed, but it didn’t seem to be what was keeping her from talking.

Loyalty? No, not likely. From the sound of that story she told me, that sounded more like a convenient offer than a true recruitment.

Persephone had no reason to be loyal to Edinburgh. Not based off of what he heard from her. That’s why it became much more confusing for him.

Still, he could understand her wanting to die. With a curse as powerful as she had, it must have caused her great suffering. She probably wanted her father to pay for what he did, but maybe she realized that he was unreachable?

No matter how he thought of it, Riley couldn’t say anything. The most he could do was grant her one wish: to plant this seed.

Maybe it’s part of her blessing?

Maybe this seed was her way of living happily. If so, then Riley was glad to have taken her up on her request.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t save you, but your father will not go unpunished.”

With those final words, Riley went inside.

Returning to his room which was lit by the evening sun, Riley pulled a notebook out of his Pocket Dimension alongside a pen. Sitting down at a nearby desk, he began writing.

I need to make an account of these people. They’re dangerous and need to be remembered.

Riley intended to use this notebook to keep as a record of everyone he may come across. This world was becoming more volatile as the days passed. Alsphen was in a constant state of war with several smaller nations nearby. Evernast was isolationist and unknown. Keres was a powerhouse that was feared, but it had had several internal squabbles over the years, so their real threat was diminished. At least that’s how most nations would see it.

The northeastern nations and the island nations in the ocean had little relevance to Riley as they mostly kept to themselves. They may one day be a threat, but as of this moment, it was hard to tell.

Caera was razed by Edinburgh, though. That’s just the start of the mess that was to come. Riley knew that this wasn’t over. It was time to start keeping track of everybody.

And he intended to start with Edinburgh.

~~~

Account of Threats, Vol. 1

Riley Murus, Keres Kingdom

I’m writing this both for myself and for those who may come after. The world is heading towards dangerous waters, and a storm is brewing. This account will document known threats and will be updated normally. Previously unknown person(s) may end up becoming susceptible to change as this is written.

This first account will be for threats created by the Edinburgh Kingdom. May in the future be known as the Edinburgh Dynasty, as stated by one of the threats I faced personally. I’m starting with this because they successfully ended the Caera Kingdom. Both the Capital city, Crestfall, and the fort city, Nearbran, have been destroyed. It was because of them that Cadmus and Gregory disappeared, Isabelle is dead, and Rosa is catatonic (cursed). They are an extremely dangerous threat that cannot be overlooked.

~~~

Rory and Elspeth Edinburgh

The current king and queen of Edinburgh. I don’t know much about them at all except for the fact that they’re the ones who ultimately founded the kingdom and that they gathered a powerful force beneath them that is referred to as the Deck of Fifty-Four. Ages unknown, number of family members unknown, children unknown. May change at a later date.

The country itself seems to be further along with its technological advancements. While they wield conjuring like the rest of the world, their weapons at least seem to be much more advanced. While guns do exist, not many people in this world have them. Most Summons keep the knowledge of their creation to themselves or simply do not know it. On the other hand, what knowledge was given might be passed down as a family secret. Such as in Arthur’s case. Some come to this world with guns also, like Nyx. But they never part from them as they are part of the person’s new strength. The fact that people other than Summons, Dead Summons, or myself have them may mean that the era of technological advancements is on the horizon. Even with the day to day tech being introduced by the Summons, Edinburgh may be much further along.

~~~

Deck of Fifty-Four

A force within Edinburgh that is likely based off of a deck of cards, as is the theme of the members. Further accentuated by the division of Black and Red Suits. It was said that the Black Suit usually handles more of the minor or specific issues while raids are handled by the Red Suit, but this is questionable as I once fought off a force of one thousand soldiers led by a member of the Black Suit, who apparently was classified as just a foot soldier. Perhaps because he was signified as a number instead of a letter, this may be the case? Up for debate.

~~~

Morrigan Corvas

Spade King, Black Suit

May be among the strongest of Edinburgh’s forces. As of this moment, it is unclear. Raven Conjuring. She also seemed to be a swordswoman who uses large broadswords made of her feathers. Blinded due to tattoos being seared into her eyes. Not there by choice, held back by hostages. I intend to retrieve the hostages eventually, but it’s currently hard to do anything about. Full strength unknown.

~~~

Cecil Rhodes

Spade Eight, Black Suit

Diamond Conjuring, has unbelievable strength. His Body Enhancement is currently more powerful than my own which is enhanced by my curse and Ether. Mine may surpass eventually, but for now, a single strike can easily send me flying and break my bones. Not an easy feat by any means. Seems to be a partner of sorts to Morrigan, held back by hostages. Like with Morrigan, I intend to eventually handle this personally.

~~~

Maxa Drein

Diamond Queen, Red Suit

This person, gender unknown, is dangerous. They have a power that lets them interrupt Ether, effectively erasing any Conjuring that they target. More dangerous than it seems. It can even interrupt Ether passageways or alternatively known as Ether veins. When interrupted, it can cause internal damage and partial paralysis of a body part. I was lucky it only hit my shoulder. Fights with an urumi and boomerang. They don’t seem to be particularly bad, and it is possible they are being held back by hostages. Unknown. Seems to believe that Edinburgh is unbeatable, but they are not loyal. Another person to attempt to save.

~~~

Sachi

Heart Two, Red Suit

A Summon and a child. Cruel. She has something called Miracle Conjuring. Seems to be a boost type conjuring that can enhance strength, conjuring, or anything else. Possible that “miracles” are not only limited to enhancements, but that remains to be seen. Seems to be innocent. Further investigation required.

~~~

Alistair Godard

Club Jack, Black Suit

A swordsman and letter. Wields a cursed sword that can cut through anything and create a vacuum behind it (can’t cut Holy Steel, though, since its attack centered around Ether) and a gun, a pistol of some sorts. His swordsmanship is impressive, and he even managed to deal quite a bit of damage to me. I did shoot him in the face, and he didn’t get up when he hit the ground. Likely dead. Susceptible to change. He did have healing which I assume comes from a blessing, but its limits and true effects remain unknown. 

~~~

The sniper.

I don’t know this guy’s name, but he has become a personal target. He managed to shoot off my arm despite my curse and kill the Caera queen at the same time. I won’t need Chaos for him. He will meet with my blessing one day. That I can promise.

~~~

Georgius Clast

Black Suit

According to Edna, this guy was an arrogant bastard. He was able to keep up with a high speed carriage and fight evenly with Edna. Seems to have Earth Conjuring. On top of this, he uses throwing weapons. Their speed is unparalleled. Edna managed to severely injure him though, so he may eventually die of his wounds.

~~~

Elly Bathory

Red Suit

According to Darius Watkins, the Summon, she used Flash Casting rather effectively. She was capable of flight through unknown means, and she fought with an extremely long range weapon. Kusarigama with an excessively long chain. Darius couldn’t fight at full strength, like Edna. Still, it was an intense match-up for the two. May be a very dangerous opponent in the future.

~~~

Dedaun

Diamond Nine, Red Suit

I remember this guy. I even killed him once rather easily. I cut his head off instantly. He also managed to defeat Maria in the past. I thought I killed him, and he didn’t seem to be cursed. Still alive, probably a blessing of some sort keeping him alive. Wields a yanyuedao, and his conjuring type is unknown. I killed him a second time, Edna killed him once, and according to his own words, Maria killed him once this time too. Further investigation is definitely required.

~~~

James Hutton

Spade Three, Black Suit

I will end this bastard personally. So far, he is the person I want to kill the most in this world. My blessing doesn’t seem to work on him, so I have no idea what is going on. Maybe a blessing. Uses a rot based skill. He uses this to survive what would be fatal attacks sometimes. I failed to kill him twice now, but he will not survive next time. That is a guarantee. Even if my blessing doesn’t work, I will brutalize him until he begs to die.

~~~

Zhin Ampriev

Club Ten, Black Suit

After seeing Maria’s condition, her amethyst curse, I’d say it’s safe to assume she has become a vampire, meaning the one who turned her is also a vampire. Calls herself the “Broodmother” according to Elijah. Abilities unknown, but she likely possesses high regenerative skills as is typical of most vampires. As she is a vampire, I’ll have to ask a certain fellow vampire about her.

~~~

Agnes

Don’t know anything about her besides the name. May have something to do with curses? At this stage, I can’t say anything yet.

~~~

Omega

Diamond Ace, Red Suit

A very powerful enemy with at least powerful Wind Conjuring. Strong enough that he defeated both Edna and Darius with minimal effort. Though he was wary of me, he may have the strength to fight me on even terms, but it’s hard to determine right now.

~~~

Victor Agvirty

Club Ace, Black Suit

Seems to have an Amber Curse, but the effects are unknown. Can use Gravity Conjuring. He attempted to crush me with it, but fortunately, Spatial Conjuring can easily cut through it, so I managed to get away. He’s definitely not to be messed with.

~~~

Kane and Clovis Caedes

Heart Aces, Red Suit

Infamously known as the Wedlock Slaughterers. I know their names and epithet, and I know they were responsible for the destruction of several towns. Love and fun is their motto. I don’t know their strength, but it’s terrifying to think that Edinburgh managed to recruit these two psychopaths. Even more so to think that they managed to nick me.

~~~

Persephone Kore

Spade Four, Black Suit

Deceased. She was responsible for the destruction of Nearbran and the deaths of all of the town’s citizens. It was not her choice as she was cursed with a Ruby Curse that caused everything around her to, as she put it, “lose motivation.” It even worked on conjuring, so it was unbelievably tough to take her on. I even had to resort to using spells I didn’t like using. Used ash conjuring, had a Limit Break called Askafroa, and her curse made her both dangerous and pitiable. Her father cursed her, so he’s one of my targets. I ultimately managed to defeat her, but I don’t know her motivations. When she died, she left behind a seed which is now buried beside the queen. It’s unfortunate that I couldn’t save her or take in her curse, but if I didn’t kill her, she would have been a dangerous existence, and she would only end up in more misery. I don’t know much about the seed she left behind, but she called it her legacy. Hopefully, she can rest knowing her legacy will live on.

~~~

Further entries will be added later on. Repeat entries may be necessary as I learn more.

~~~

Having written all he could for now, Riley put down his pen and closed his notebook.

This week has been a wild one. When I meet with the queen tomorrow, I better be sure to bring this up to her, too.

Having had a troubling day, Riley changed his clothes, ate some food, and then decided to rest for the rest of the day.

Hey guys. After this, there’s just the epilogue left, and then Volume 2, and the arc, will be completely finished. 

Next chapter will be Saturday, April 27.