Chaos Ascendant

Chapter 7

Things weren’t looking too good in the land of Shabranigdo. In fact, the Knight of Shabranigdo was pacing furiously back and forth, fire fairly burning in her eyes. She’d called a summons that had yet to be answered, and she was a being of little patience. Her task was set, but complications had arisen. Therefore, she had called upon someone who could eliminate the complications as it were.

“Ah… Kira. How nice of you to call me for assistance.”

The Knight of Shabranigdo glared at the man clad in violet. “I am not that pathetic mortal, though she struggles yet to be free. You are Mazoku, Xellos Metallium, and therefore subordinate to me.”

Xellos tried not to bristle to that. He didn’t like being subordinate to anyone, even to his Mistress, though he accepted that. But, there were times when he simply had to pretend the part. Right now was obviously one of them. “What is it you wish I do?”

“The mortal girl known as Sylphiel nels Rada. Is she known to you?” The Knight of Shabranigdo queried.

Sylphiel. Xellos’s brow arched, and he looked to the Knight of Shabranigdo with amusement. “Indeed. I know her. Pathetic little thing. Why she should present herself a threat to you I have no idea. Her Flare Arrows are known better as Flare Carrots, and she is too gentle a creature to be of much use to you.”

She looked so very much like Kira Inverse as she stalked to and fro across the room that it unnerved him. But even as he’d had a healthy respect for Kira Inverse, he had a near unhealthy lack of respect for the Knight of Shabranigdo. He’d somehow thought that Kira, once touched by Chaos, would have been immune to the touch of the Dark Lord. “She is not to be of use to me. You are to destroy her.”

Xellos actually blinked. Destroy Sylphiel…? “How would you have me accomplish this, oh unholy one? Shall I feed her as sacrifice to aid our Dark Lord’s rebirth? Or perhaps I should trap her in the Realm of Eternal Dispair for her emotions to feed our Dark Lord when he is reborn?”

“Do what you will, but she must be destroyed before she discovers the power that lies within her,” the Knight stated flatly.

Xellos watched the Knight pace back and forth. Power within Sylphiel? Time to ask a few questions without being too obvious about it. “What power is that? Perhaps we can twist it to our advantage…”

The Knight rounded on him, eyes ablaze. “The power that lies within her can no more be twisted to our advantage than you can be moved to act for Cepheid. Now go to the task appointed you and cease wasting my time with foolish questions!”

Well. That told him a good deal of what he wanted to know, and he’d only had to ask one question. Affecting a bow, he faded from the Knight’s sight, mulling this over. If he had his ideas all lined up, then Sylphiel was more than just a Cleric of Cepheid. His best guess was that she was to become the Protector, and the Knight needed the mortal destroyed before that transformation could take place. Moved to act for Cepheid, indeed. He thought as he headed out to find the Cleric, knowing full well what he'd have to do. He only moved to act for himself. If it aided Cephied for a moment, well... he'd just take care of the consequences later.

He smirked as he phased into corporeal being outside of Sylphiel’s house. He never ceased to find it amusing that the most powerful beings relied on the very mortals they sought to use. Without Kira Inverse, the Knight of Shabranigdo would be nothing more than a non-corporeal being. Whereas himself, well… he didn’t need a mortal to give him shape. A plan was beginning to form in his head, but suddenly his train of thought was knocked off-track by a large rock. More precisely, it was the large rock that Lina had just hurled at his head.

“Hey fruitcake! How long do you plan on standing there and letting me use you as target practice?” She had her hands on her hips, looking expectantly at him.

It wasn’t the first time that Xellos had disobeyed orders. It certainly wouldn’t be the last. But his ultimate plan did not involve a dead Sylphiel, so he simply had to take matters into his own hands. He lifted his staff and casually aimed it at the small house. “Lina… how lovely to see you. Now, please step aside so that I can kill Sylphiel.”

That brought Lina to a sudden stop. “What? Xellos, you can’t kill Sylphiel!”

With an affected sigh, Xellos lowered the staff. It was good to know that Lina was still as predictable as ever. “Oh well. It wasn’t what I wanted to do anyway. But since the Chaos Knight was so kind to remove me from that duty, I can go on about my business.”

He would have actually phased out were it not for the fact that Lina had stalked over to him, grabbed him by the collar and shook him until he could actually feel what he imagined to be his teeth rattling. You’re definitely spending too much time among the mortals again, Xellos. Perhaps a nice vacation to Wolf Pack Island with Elena could cure that. Say maybe spend a few centuries playing Lord of the Mortal Underworld again... Lina’s voice cut through his momentary thought, and he allowed himself to be rattled while she spoke. When dealing with someone who could throw Chaos without thinking about it, it was always wisest to irritate them as little as possible. “What the Hell are you talking about, fruitcake? If you’re up to something, you’d better come right out and say it, or I’ll fry you right here and now.”

The other convenient thing about not being tied to mortals was that he could simply withstand most punishments. However, he knew better than to think that Lina couldn’t back up her threats with the power required to reduce even him to a cinder. So, once she’d stopped shaking him, he opened his eyes and looked at her most seriously. “Complete the ritual tonight, before the Knight of Shabranigdo herself comes to do the task that I was just released from.”

Lina looked at the Trickster Priest in confusion, dropping him back onto his feet. “Ritual?”

“Summon the Protector before it’s too late, Lina.”

She blinked. “But Xellos… You’re a Mazoku. Why are you telling me this? Why are you…?” Her voice faded off as Xellos put a gloved finger to her lips.

“That, my dear Chaos Knight, is a secret.”

And then he was gone before she could utter a single syllable of her near-instant fury at his words.

But more to the point, she knew that he was right. Now that Sylphiel had been discovered… they had little time to spare.