Chapter 33: 33. Shit

The Sigurd Manor already blew its candles hours ago.

The servants were already resting, the maids doing their rounds finished, and only the night shift guards remained awake. However, the manor has yet to settle down truly.

When Theo returned, the first thing he did was bring the two girls back to their rooms. He tucked them in, and by the window, he saw Titus sneaking returning from his escapades.

“Older Brother? What are you doing here?” Asked Titus as he kept his sword and cloaked away, “Hmm, seeing how you’re also wearing a cloak, does that mean you’re here to invite me to go out? But I’m already tired, so I will have to pass—”

“Titus? What are you—shit!”

Whoosh!

His hand descended at the creature in between his sleeping sisters with an overhand grip. He was fast and effective, faster than even the previous night, but, on his trajectory, a foot got in the way and stopped his hand’s movement.

Theo kicked Titus' wrist, and the knife slipped out of his hands.

"No!" Titus panicked as the knife fell and that it might fall on his sisters, but Theo twisted his body and kicked once again, sending the knife flying across the room.

But with that, he used the last of his momentum and fell on the side.

Apo opened his eyes, momentarily got up, and saw Theo on the ground.

Thud!

“Ouch… stop… that… it hurts me too, you, hm? Heh, I hope he broke his leg… what an idiot….” It griped and then went back to sleep, still not noticing the two girls were embracing him.

The little Demonic Floof was too tired even to care.

“O-older brother, are you all right? Why did you stop me?”

Titus went around the bed and helped Theo up, but—

Tak!

—Titus instead received a chop to the head instead of a thank you.

“AH! What was that for?” he screamed in a whispering voice.

“You little! Do you want me to die as well?”

“What? But I was killing the Dem—ack!”

Theo delivered another chop filled to the brim with love.

“Dammit, older brother, I’m already stupid enough; stop hitting me on the head!”

“Then erase the idea of killing the Floof. That Demon and I ARE connected. If it dies, I go with it, understand? We also spent so much time trying to seal it; if we were going to kill it, we would've done it last night.”

Titus just nodded to avoid getting chopped.

“Good. Now, tell me if you sustained any injuries in your little escapades, so I can treat it and go to sleep — where is the first aid kit, Titus. I know every room has them.”

“Um… I used it last night; it’s underneath my bed.”

“…okay, found it, now, come here. I’m going to patch you up.”

“Take off your clothes— oh, that is a nasty bite.” Theo exclaimed, seeing the bite marks on Titus’ left shoulder wrapped in a handkerchief, “

Tell me what kind of beast did this to you. How it happened and what happened, I need the complete detail, okay?”

Titus followed his Older Brother’s instructions and began telling him his fight against the Earth Sharks that melds with the Earth to swim, how he fought a pack of four Earth Sharks and how it ended in a close victory.

Titus even told Theo what happened play by play as Theo patched his injuries.

Titus watched his older brother go around their room, searching for a first aid kit as if it was normal. The eleven-year-old boy sneaks out to fight and calm the flame in himself. Of course, he very knows that his parents and siblings would be horrified and worried if he told them he was fighting Magia Beasts in the wild.

Their parents were lovely and supportive, but they were too overprotective to the young. Only their Eldest Sister was allowed to go and fight, but not them. Titus doesn’t want to disobey them, but it has to be done or else. He doesn’t want to risk hurting them because of his Gifts.

He had been fighting without anyone in his family knowing, but being able to share it with his Older Brother relieved him some of the guilt.

“I managed to fight back and pick them off one by one, but it’s a shame I couldn’t beat them all alone and had to be saved by Anna multiple times. If only I could use my Hellfire, I would’ve been able to beat them all.” Titus grumbled.

“If you used your Hellfire, you would lose too much stamina, and you would’ve died. Practice your techniques and increase your senses, train your body, and then you’d be able to beat all those Earth Sharks even without your Hellfire — there, done!”

Titus looked at his bandage and how it felt like there was nothing around him at all. Nothing felt restricted, and the pain was minimal; truthfully, it felt as though he wasn’t injured at all.

“Hooh, this is amazing. You’re amazing Older Brother; you managed to do this with a simple first aid kit?”

With his nose pointed up, Theo laughed, “Of course I am, and that’s without mana, gahahaha!”

Theo was a mad scientist in a lot of lives.

“From now on, if you are injured, just come find me. You can’t go to the Family Doctor anyway, right?”

Titus happily nodded.

“But still, your wound was dressed quite admirably, but this feels like the one who did this wasn’t used to treating others; was it another warrior who did it?”

Titus nodded, “It was Anna; she, ah, applied some ointment to stop the bleeding and wrapped it with a handkerchief.”

“Handkerchief? What? They didn’t have any bandage in their settlement?”

“They don’t.” Titus’ expression deepened, “They lack almost amenities they need. Their medicines, as well as

“Hmm, if that’s the case, why not send a representative to the city? If I remember correctly, we don’t have anything against anyone. We’re neutral, and if they don’t post any threat, they would be recognized as citizens. If that happens, then we’d be able to give them opportunities, work, and even resources.”

Theo couldn’t understand

“They did send someone to talk with Father.”

“Oh? Then, that’s good.”

“Father rejected them.” A silent atmosphere filled the room, “Anna said that her father went to ask for help two months ago but got rejected for unclear reasons. Father didn’t chase them away, but we didn’t help them either. News of this reached the ears of the people; because of this, they are even being refused transactions thinking it would anger Father if they did. Their medicine is dwindling, and many are injured because of their constant hunts. Those who can hunt are lessening every day. They do not stop to rest for even a day, you know. Day and Night, they go into the Forest, searching.”

“I see.” Theo couldn’t tell him to cheer up. Titus was slowly becoming despondent, disappointed, and then… angered.

PAH!

A red handprint appeared on Titus’ back.

“ACK!”

“Stop that, you fool, your flames were about to burst. Two months ago, there must have been something that happened that caused Father to reject their request.”

“But still.”

Tak!

Another chop of love!

“Ack! Please, stop that, brother; it really hurts!” Titus complained.

“Then stop being such a downer. If their problem is they do not have enough medicine and bandages, then I know someone who can help. Tell Anna if she wants medicine, then come to me to talk.”

“You can do that, Older Brother!” Titus’s eyes gleamed with admiration and expectation.

Theo revealed in them.

“Of course… I know a guy... or rather a girl… wait, a woman.”

“Thank you, Older Brother!”

Watching his younger brother jump around happily, Theo could not help but laugh as well. He was taking a liking to Titus, “Settle down; you’re going to open your wounds and wake Lisa and Lyria.”

“O-oh, sorry.”

He apologized while stifling his laughter. Theo said his excellent night to Titus and went to his room. He left Apo with his sisters as they wouldn’t let him go, and as for Titus, he began snoring the moment his body touched the bed.

In the hallway, Theo walked alone with his thoughts. He was humming along the way, for he had quite the perfect day,

Discovered future customers; made a deal with a Vampyre; found his younger sisters were more capable than he thought; and that Titus was more likable than he initially thought.

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Either way, it was a good day, and most of it was guided by luck.

‘Truly, a hero class luck.’ Theo praised.

He entered his room practically dancing.

He took off his nasty clothes drenched in sweat and could not wait to take a bath. He was humming with joy, and just as he was humming with pleasure… he stopped as his smile froze and his eyes turned sharper, "I'm usually the one who does the stalking, not the other way around. Got to say, I would rather still be the former."

"We've noticed. Some of us liked watching you move around like a rat, but we especially like how you summoned the Archduke." a voice answered from the shadows.

'A woman?' Theo took note and steadied his breathing, and activated a command, "Did you like watching me put him in the body of a Floof as well? Because I liked that very much."

"..."

'I touched a nerve....'

From the shadows, three glowing purple lights appeared. Slowly, the one in the darkness walked out from the corner of the room. It was a woman cloaked in black with an extra eye on in the middle of her forehead. She had a rather burly build but still a beautiful visage, but that was not what surprised Theo the most. What surprised him was how she towered over him.

Theo was almost two meters tall, but the one in front of him stood taller than him by a complete meter.

Her three eyes glowed a purple demonic light. She looked down on Theo like some puny kid, "Did you miss me, trash? I didn't expect the Goddess to take an interest in worthless candidates."

"Oh, good news for you then, you might become the next Saint."

He quipped, and she snorted in derision.

"Woah, easy there, big girl. I mean, no offense, you did just badmouth me. Anyway, from your words, are we perhaps friends? I'm sorry, I have amnesia and can't really remember people. If I owed you money, I could pay you back. I found my wallet just now."

Theo sported a calm and collected demeanor, but he was far from being relaxed.

'A Triclops… she's most likely a Martial Practitioner, enhanced with demonic energy. I can't escape, and I'll endanger myself if I call for help. She's big, but this small room is now her domain. I scream to alert the others, and she'll just reach out to snap my neck. I haven't trained, and even when I have some retained Demonic Energy from earlier, it's too small of an amount. I am still transforming it to Magia.'

He was cornered. His words were his only weapon.

"Your words seemed to have gotten sharper since we last saw each other. Makes me want to rip it out."

"Oh, it's not just my tongue that's sharper."

The triclops only became more infuriated with Theo, but,

The only reason he's yet to be abducted was that the triclops was also worried.

Theo is the Fate Saint; there must be a reason why he was chosen by such a picky Deity.

If she moves too hastily, it might be her who would be endangered.

Theo's armor was his status as a Saint and Apo, and his sword was his words and the fact he's in his home.

'I'm a weakling, but they don't know that.'

Show weakness, and the woman knows he can be killed with one hit.

Thus, he remained calm and collected, albeit a little cockier than usual.

The tall woman was taken aback by Theo's words. She did not remember him to be so confident.

The triclops smirked, "Oh yeah? Then, let's find out how strong you've gotten."

The Triclops called out his bluff, disregarding everything, and kicked Theo with all her might!

'SHIT!'

An explosion shook the entire Manor, waking up the people of the manor.

"Heh, as I should expect from the Saint. I couldn't even get close."

The triclops' fist stopped half a meter away from Theo. She couldn't touch him because of an invisible barrier.

Theo amusedly smirked at the triclops.

His life was in danger, and he had little to no more extracted magia. But, he could feel it, adrenaline and excitement filling his drive.

'She's a fighting nut. That single punch took 90% of the Magia I had to guard with Uruc (Ancient Defense Invocation. I can't take another punch from her... but can I perhaps hunt her down?' Standing still, Theo showed the triclops a twisted smirk, "You really want to fight me, Demon Follower!?"

His voice rang throughout the entire manor, and soon, the sound of sharp movements echoed from afar, "My Family's Elite Forces is arriving already? That's a shame."

The triclops looked around, disappointment plaguing her eyes, "Tsk, I guess I don't have much time. Here, take this."

The triclops threw something at Theo.

He was worried but, he didn't act the least bit uneasy. His bluff can't have any holes in his act; thus, he accepted what he was given, but when he saw what it was... Theo's mind blanked.

It was a pair of bloodied black gloves.

"How did you get these gloves?"

"It wasn't easy to get, you know? She was a beast, as one would expect from Blood Flower. She took out eight of my best men and even managed to wound me before supress—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

BAM!

The triclops quickly sent a punch behind her, but no one was present. There was not sneak attack and no assassin to be seen.

"What was that?"

She clearly felt that someone was about to take her head from behind.

Yet, no one was there.

When she turned back to Theo, what she saw made even her sweat, 'Ooooh, that's an angry face if I've ever seen one.'

The light in his eyes disappeared.

"Do you all want to die?"'

The triclops smirked at his words, "I want to take that offer, but I can't risk fighting a Saint."

"Where did you take her?" Theo asked, stopping himself from being taken over by his rage.

The triclops smirked at his question, "There's a map inside the gloves. Just follow that, and you'll find us."

The triclops walked towards the window as if he was taking a stroll, "You have ten hours, and make sure to go alone. For every man that accompanies you, we'll sever a finger."

"Theo!?!" from the door, there appeared Levia holding her sword. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the unknown woman in the room, and without any hesitations, she pulled her sword and made a decisive swing, "Render Ashura."

Flames appeared from her sword, and from all sides, ten more assassins who responded to what was happening appeared holding swords.

All eleven spoke no words, but their position secured no opening for the triclops to take.

'So, this is the Ashura and the Swords in the Shadow? Tsk, I want to fight them all.... but.' The triclops sent a telling look at Theo.

"EVERYONE STOP!!"

SLASH!

The swords of Levia and the assassins stopped at a hair's breadth away from his vitals.

"What are you saying, Theo? She's a Demon Follower; we could kill her now!" Levia glared at the triclops, who smirked back at her. Levia's sword inched closer to the triclop's neck.

"Stop!" devoid of light, Theo glared at the triclops with seething rage.

"How smart, anyway, you know what we want, Saint. Deliver him to us, and we'll return her to you." the triclops laughed, "Remember, go alone, or else."

"Hey," Theo called out to her as she was about to leave, "You're going to die a painful death."

"Is that a prophecy from the Fate Saint?"

"No, it's a promise."

The triclops smiled from ear to ear, "I'm looking forward to that."