Fool – Part 08
“Let me share my theory. Blacksmith, you claim your first creation was destroyed by Valbanill. But it actually managed to inflict at least a superficial wound, didn’t it?”
Three years ago, Luke and Lisa, just a boy and a girl, wandered deep into Blair Volcano, into the sealed lair of Valbanill. Armed with her childhood friend’s sword, Liza fought the Inhuman and, in a desperate moment, executed a Demon Pact, sacrificing her flesh to protect Luke.
According to Luke’s account, that katana was easily broken. But in reality, it had managed to inflict a minor injury on Valbanill.
“At that time, your katana had Valbanill’s blood on it. And when Lisa Oakwood executed the Demon Pact, that blood was absorbed as well.”
For a theory, his reasoning was surprisingly sound.
Siegfried continued articulating his thoughts. “That means your demon’s body must have absorbed your katana too. Aetheria, a woman’s flesh, the blood of an Inhuman, a terrible sword. Oh, and didn’t your left eye get mixed in there too? Wow. A bona fide hybrid.”
“Luke! Is that really true?!” Lisa cried out. “Th-That I have—”
Her words were abruptly cut off as Luke pulled her tightly against his chest.
“It doesn’t matter,” he choked. “You are who you are.”
“Don’t dodge the question!”
“Nothing changes!” Luke shouted. Lisa and Cecily flinched. “It doesn’t matter what you are. It won’t change a thing!” His desperate screams sounded like a cry to Cecily.
He was right. No matter what Lisa was made of, it wouldn’t change their relationship. There was no reason it should. But the truth was undeniably harsh.
Lisa stopped resisting and clung to him, sobbing quietly.
Cecily finally regained her senses. Anger reignited within her, and she shot a fierce glare at Siegfried. To her surprise, he was watching the master and apprentice with a sneer.
Luke knew the truth about Lisa. Cecily started to understand why he’d kept it from her, even from Lisa herself. Because if the truth ever got out…
“Would you let me dissect that demon? We might learn something about Valbanill.”
…people like him would show up.
Cecily’s hand tightened on the hilt of her rapier, the Infernal Blade at her side. But before she could draw it, a pale hand covered hers, pressing down. A faint presence. Evadne. She had suddenly appeared beside her, silently restraining her.
“Let go of me.”
“Siegfried.” Luke’s voice was dangerously low.
Cecily turned her gaze back to him. Holding Lisa close, he was staring straight ahead, his right eye bloodshot red.
“If you plan to make this public, I’ll kill you right here and now.”
Cecily’s hackles rose. Her own urge to strike paled in comparison to the sheer fury in Luke’s eyes. The malice in his gaze as he stared down the man in black was so intense that even Cecily, just watching from the sidelines, felt stifled.
Lisa carried Valbanill’s blood. If word of this reached powerful nations, they’d all covet her for research. Information about Valbanill was priceless. They’d tear her apart, dissect her without regard for her will.
Luke had to silence this man, even if it meant taking his life.
Siegfried, however, only shrugged, unfazed by the threat.
“I won’t. I don’t gain anything from doing that, anyway. Just think about it.”
Though the continent enjoyed a period of stability, the nations were far from united. It wasn’t hard to imagine the chaotic disputes over which country or research institution would take custody of Lisa. Without exclusive rights over her, Lisa had no value to him.
“I just wanted to confirm a few things today.”
“Then go,” Luke growled. “Leave now, and don’t come back. You’ll never have Lisa.”
Siegfried snorted and turned on his heel, leaving without a hint of regret. Evadne gave Lisa a quick bow before following him. Cecily was left alone.
“You can go too.”
“I, uh…”
“Now. Just go.”
With no words to offer the pair, Cecily reluctantly turned and followed Siegfried and Evadne.
Siegfried hurried down the path through the farmland, and Evadne quickened her pace to match his. There was an oddly urgent rhythm to their steps.
Cecily, struggling to keep up, felt helpless. She was frustrated and heartbroken that she couldn’t be with them now, couldn’t hold Liza close, and it left her feeling pathetic. Anger simmered as she stared at the black-clad figures ahead.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
“What do you mean?” Siegfried shot back without turning around.
“You did that out of pure spite!”
Luke might have intended to keep the truth hidden forever, to carry the secret to his grave, without anyone else knowing about it. And this man stepped all over his conviction like it was nothing.
“Why—”
Siegfried stopped in his tracks. As he turned his head, his face revealed an unsettling emptiness. The insidious smirk had faded from his face, replaced by a blank expression.
Cecily followed Siegfried’s gaze to a dilapidated barn beside the path. With its earthen walls and shabby appearance, there was nothing particularly noteworthy about it.
“You shouldn’t trust that man too much,” he said.
“What?”
Cecily felt blindsided and confused. What did he mean by that?
Still staring at the barn, Siegfried spoke slowly. “He’s forcing his assistant to make sacrifices.”
“Wait a minute. What are you talking about?”
“The brat’s ability—Infernal Bladecraft—has a cost. That cost is the demon’s own flesh.”
“Flesh? What?”
“The brat’s flesh… well, think of it as glue. You know what glue is, right? Adhesive. Her flesh acts as a glue that holds the shape of the conjured Infernal Blade.”
“What are you saying?!”
“Every use of the ability consumes the kids’s flesh. She gets whittled down.”
“What?”
“If he keeps using that ability, that demon will eventually die.”
Panic washed over Cecily. Everything was coming as a complete shock. Cost? Flesh? Consume? Whittle down?
Lisa would die?
“You shouldn’t trust him.”
Siegfried turned to look at her slowly. His face remained blank, devoid of emotion.
“It might have seemed like a beautiful bond between master and apprentice, but it’s just a façade. There’s sacrifice involved. She’s being forced to give her own life. He gets her to worship him and serve him, while he takes everything without losing a thing. Do you know why that man is so valued as a blacksmith across nations? It’s because of the Infernal Bladecraft. He’s built his current position by sacrificing someone close to him.”
Cecily realized something. This man was attempting to turn her.
She couldn’t make sense of it all, couldn’t understand a single thing Siegfried was saying. She had no idea what was true and what was empty rhetoric. But she sensed one thing: his intention. He was trying to sway her.
He had been unusually talkative for a while now, starting from the state of the continent and moving on to Lisa’s true identity and Luke’s secrets. Beneath his loquacity lurked denial. He aimed to shake the very foundations of everything Cecily believed in: her environment, her relationships. By dismantling her values, he sought to negate the very essence of Cecily Campbell. That’s what Siegfried was after.
“I get your point now. I finally understand everything you said today.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah.”
Cecily was able to regain her composure. She remembered the person she should be and where she stood.
It was simple. If he continued to put her down, then she would pull herself back up. It wasn’t just him, either.
“Don’t get too cocky, Cecily Campbell. Without your Infernal Blade, you’re nothing.”
“There’s only so much you can actually do.”
Her colleagues and Luke had both dismissed her. They all kept saying that she was wrong, that she was powerless.
I don’t care. I will push through.
“I believe in Luke Ainsworth.”
She would stand by her beliefs.
She met Siegfried’s gaze with unwavering determination. “No matter how much you try to manipulate me with your words, it won’t work. I trust what I’ve seen with my own eyes and felt with my own hands.”
“Really? Even if everything you believed in until now was a lie?”
“Say whatever you want. But I know Luke is someone I can trust. I’m sure of it.”
“Oh? Is that so? How unfortunate.” Siegfried cracked his neck and scratched the back of his head. “Such a pity.”
Scratch, scratch.
“Oh, how unfortunate. It gives me the creeps.”
Scratch, scratch.
“It makes my skin crawl. It makes me want to… you all.”
“What?”
“I will…”
Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch.
The scratching turned into the sound of nails scraping against skin and flesh.
Weirded out, Cecily backed away. “Wh-What are you doing?”
“It makes me want to wreck you all.”
Suddenly, the man in front of her blurred like an afterimage, and then Cecily felt herself yanked downward.
“To break you.”
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