The Wielder of Death Magic

“Alright everyone,” hailed from the backstage, “-we’re moving the paintings onto the stage,” time read 18:58. Igna waited amongst the empty seats, few of the guests climbed to the following event, ‘-if what I’ve hypothesized happen, the redo won’t toggle. Time’s being manipulated without the need for Kronos’s sickle, tis the first I’ve heard of it. What now, what then, is there a catch. If someone makes a move for the painting, blood-arts should suffice.’

*AHHHHH,* thundered from downstairs, those midways up, hurried downstairs, *ASSASSINATION!*

‘Damn,’ he threw a glance backward, the tongue clicked, ‘-focus on the painting,’ turned to the stage, a veil of black flurried by his side and onto the stage. It knocked Sophie onto her knees and held her by the long ponytail, *-DESPAIR* the neck slit; blood washed the tableau – the aura of dread permeated.

*Ancient Magic: Teleportation,* ‘-he’s been shot,’ down at the bar, ‘-this confirms it.’

‘See with thy mind and thou art to miss what is felt by the heart. Hear with thy ear, and one shall forget the touch, sense with thy skin, and the breeze shall guide the way, in many ways than one, despair follows, the curse of misfortune never left, the curse of restarting always remained, and now, before the lifeless corpse, the truth to the Haggards shall be exposed. The world isn’t pretty nor are the enemies, heed this from thy foe, we’re present, we know who you are, and trust me, the day of retribution is upon thee. The clock strikes, blood is spilled, the world ends, more specifically, your world ends.’

*Gasp,* “-welcome to the world of the living,” said lady Haruna peering over the unconscious figure.

.....

“Thank you,” he sat upright, “-lady Haruna, I must say, up close, you look even prettier.”

“Cut the flattery,” she giggled and made for the snacks, “-why do you look pale?”

“No reason, lack of blood,” he inched closer, “-my lady, might I ask a favor,” warm breaths blew on the side of her neck.

“What kind of favor?” she gulped, the eyelids fluttered impatiently, her legs tightened in anticipation.

“The kind which involves me sucking.”

“Sucking?” her breathing deepened, “-sucking on what?”

“Sucking thy blood.”

“H-Huh?” midway through looking back, *Bite,* a moan escaped, her fist clenched, the cheeks reddened, “-s-s-stop.”

‘In every instance, the painting is smothered in blood and the emperor is killed. When was the magic of such potency utilized, the trigger is present, I need to find the culprit before 19:00, leaves 30 minutes. Someone will die no matter what I do, the painting will always have blood, there’s the cloaked figure and gunman who fired at the bar.’

“I-Igna?”

“My,” blood down the lips, “-lady Haruna, the flavor in thy blood is indescribable. I very much enjoyed the gift,” from the neck, a quick peck on her cheeks led to a nonchalant grin, “-I’ll get going,” he bowed, “-may we continue this later on tonight, perhaps in a more intimate way?” a coy wink had her flustered beyond belief.

“STOP IT,” a pillow flew at the shutting door.

‘Everything’s reset,’ moved to the washroom, ‘-my magic’s being affected. I can barely use teleportation; there’s one option and tis realm expansion. Run back the events, we learned of an erected magical circle; afterward, I changed the nature of the spell from deadly to a show of fireworks. What if the spell activated the moment I altered it – everyone resets. The logical part of me says to bring the emperor upstairs and stop the tableau from being smothered.’

*Click,* “-Igna?”

“Yes?” he turned, “-my, lady Shiro Pierre Gaso, the outfit truly befits the draconian leader of the Gaso Group.”

“What are you implying?” an adorned hand-fan covered her mouth, “-speak thy mind, boy.”

“I find it interesting two leaders of the five greats decided to visit this lowly casino. I acknowledge the invitation was granted by word of mouth; the Gaso Group and the Haggards don’t have a stable relationship. The traitorous Dorino’s at it again,” he shrugged to the right, “-leering at the younger demographic, the man needs to be put behind bars.”

“Someone’s very vocal about his feelings.”

“Unlike those who keep their cards to their chest, I rather show mine and play. It’s more enjoyable. There’s no point in idle chitchat my lady, mind coming clean to why thou art here?”

“To enjoy the opening of a new casino, what else could there possibly be.”

“Lady Gaso,” he exhaled, “-I do appreciate Leina to send their stars, the night’s grown nicer as a result. Forgive my prior rude tone, I was in a bind, you know, humans aren’t perfect, mistakes are bound to happen.”

“All is forgiven, the star of tonight must have his own worry. I’ll say this, the five greats are now the four greats, Amsey’s out of the picture – before long, Patek and Gaso will hold the dominion over the town. We yearned for the opportunity to move in on Lumian O’dla’s holdings and assets. Time is nigh, strike while the iron’s hot. Doubt the viscount of Glenda to have sufficient assets to retain Lum’s investments. Purchasing the late count’s affairs had a toll, no matter; you have my word, the conglomerates have no interest in ruining the night. Word of advice, the godfathers are vexed; the casino was built from their bloodied money.”

“I appreciate the advice, lady Gaso.”

“You’re welcome, Viscount. Don’t disappoint me, I have high hopes.”

‘Peculiar,’ he watched as she climbed down, ‘a lot of information granted seamlessly. Can I trust her, tis the question, if the greats aren’t involved – the links point to a single place,’ *AHHHHHH,* ‘-right, I spent the whole time talking to her.’

“Master, there’s been a murder upstairs,” reported Asmodeus, “-Mammon managed to apprehend the killer.”

‘A great development,’ they dashed up to see Romeo drowning in his blood, the painting was untouched by the blood, emperor Markus, first in the climbing crowd, arrived in heavy pants, “-What’s the matter?” he breathed heavily.

“Someone’s been murdered,” reported Igna, “-where’s the culprit?”

“There.” A cloaked figure restrained by a magical barrier, ‘-the same presence I felt,’ then and there, a link clicked, “-let her go.”

“But master...” the order had the demons in shock, “-you can’t be serious...”

“Yes, I am,” he smirked, ‘-I’ve cracked the mystery.’

“No, we won’t accept!” screamed Kul, “-it killed a person in cold blood, not to mention, during thy party. A tortuous death awaits the damned culprit, they who dared harm my master’s repute will suffer,” orbs of dark intensity summoned.

*Death-Element: Mana Cancellation,* the cage broke, it zoomed, stabbed the emperor and smothered painting with blood, the latter reacted in a high pitch, Despair spelled across. ‘See with thy mind and thou art to miss what is felt by the heart. Hear with thy ear, and one shall forget the touch, sense with thy skin, and the breeze shall guide the way, in many ways than one, despair follows, the curse of misfortune never left, the curse of restarting always remained, and now, before the lifeless corpse, the truth to the Haggards shall be exposed. The world isn’t pretty nor are the enemies, heed this from thy foe, we’re present, we know who you are, and trust me, the day of retribution is upon thee. The clock strikes, blood is spilled, the world ends, more specifically, your world ends.’

*Gasp,* “-welcome to the world of the living,” said lady Haruna running her fingers through his hair.

“Lady Haruna,” he looked upward, “-you look splendid up close,” he caressed her fiery hot cheeks, her pupils widened.

“What a-are y-you saying?” her smile couldn’t be faked.

“Action reveal more than words,” he pushed her onto the couch and presided on all-four, “-I’m sure everyone’s said this before, you look absolutely amazing,” the fingers ran along her neck and towards her chest, “-lady Haruna,” moved to the side of her neck, “-I promised we’d get intimate,” the teeth sharpened.

“D-don’t!” the sharp canine had her roll away, “-d-don’t, I c-c-can’t t-take it, if you do it again, I might lose my control,” her legs tightened whilst her face had lust written in bold red.

“Whatever do you mean?” he smiled, “-lady Haruna, far as I remember, I only sucked the blood from the prior loop, not this one,” *Blood-Arts: Extria,* her body flung and locked her on the couch, “-this game has gone on for far too long,” leaned to the couch’s side, *Mana Control: Ice Element Variant: Waterfall,* her face doused in ice-cold water, she practically begged for air, “-did I cool you down?”

“What’s the meaning of this,” she fought to no avail, “-Igna, what’s the meaning of games?”

“Lady Haruna,” the watch showed 18:49, “-a large scale realm has expanded over the casino. In it, conditions were made for the emperor to be killed and chaos to ensue. The deaths of those in attendance. There are two factors involving the realm, first, the magical barrier which said at 19:00, an explosion destroys the casino, and the second, the trigger for the spell whomst turned out to be a pawn’s pawn. You have orchestrated the assassination of the emperor – however, another party wanted the painting of Jerian to be smothered in blood. See, it’s very unique, two unknown parties got in each other’s way and unknowingly transferred the burden of pillar onto you. The spell will always lead to someone’s death and the painting’s bloody bath. I also had a subconscious intervention; I altered the large-scale spell to create fireworks as opposed to an explosion, the commands must have transposed and merged into a loop the moment the realm expanded. Should I take a break?” the arms crossed.

“How about letting me go,” she pouted, “-I don’t know why, but I remember everything, the many deaths and the chaos which follows. I promise not to cause harm, can I please be freed, I need to scratch my nose.”

“Sure,” *snap,* “-here’s the deal, everyone influenced our current predicament. The one who cast the realm is Loftha Sultria, the signs were there, she changed the moment I showed her my memory, her mind became easy to control, and I’m sure someone of an otherworldly origin has the reins on her actions,” he moved to a corner, “-the gunman,” a sack flew onto the table, “-you killed the emperor time and time again. In other words, to dispel the realm, certain conditions must be met.”

“Why should I care, my orders are to kill the emperor, nothing more, nothing less.”

“Sure there’s more to the orders, I might not look it, I do love torturing the tightlipped. Look at the time,” he sat, “-how about a bet.”

“What kind?”

“Without our intervention, the painting will be smothered in blood and the emperor will die.”

“No, not possible, if I don’t kill him, there’s no point.”

“Thus, our bet, if I’m right, you’ll do as I say, and if tis wrong, I’ll do whatever you say.”

“Overly confident, aren’t you?”

“A man has to trust his gut.”

“Okay, a bet, deal, should we shake on it?”

“As you pleased,” the clock struck 19:00, ‘See with thy mind, and thou art to miss what is felt by the heart. Hear with thy ear, and one shall forget the touch, sense with thy skin, and the breeze shall guide the way, in many ways than one, despair follows, the curse of misfortune never left, the curse of restarting always remained, and now, before the lifeless corpse, the truth to the Haggards shall be exposed. The world isn’t pretty nor are the enemies, heed this from thy foe, we’re present, we know who you are, and trust me, the day of retribution is upon thee. The clock strikes, blood is spilled, the world ends, more specifically, your world ends.’

*Gasp.*