Point-of-View: Arturo Lagusa

  During: After Infiltration Arc

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  "Wow, he really whooped your asses, huh, guys?" Laughed Rion, with a look of amusement.

  His painfully positive attitude was rather infuriating, to put it lightly. It was a day after we were defeated by my old apprentice, we had healed our injuries and were currently in the God Tier area castle, in the meeting hall. We were to have a conference regarding my apprentice, all members of the Retribution Tier were to be present. At the moment, it was myself, Azeria and Rion, the others were yet to arrive.

  "His power was unbelievable, what the hell was that insanely powerful form? I felt sheer terror when he transformed," Remarked Azeria with a grave expression.

  "I have no idea, it did not appear to be Karma, his lightning was red in hue. Even with three of us, it was a one-sided fight," I frowned, scratching my chin.

  My old apprentice……you're going to be a rather large obstacle, aren't you? Unbelievable, how did he end up reincarnated in the same world as I did? I doubted it was simple coincidence, the odds were far too unlikely……that being responsible for reincarnation must have done this deliberately, that was the only explanation. Either way, that boy's presence in this world was going to be a nuisance.

  And his rage was rather strong, he must have had quite the experience in our previous world before he died. Just what was that power he used, his speed and strength were off the charts, considering that we're supposed to be the strongest humans in this world.

  Our leader, Tirayze Valaque was almost certainly stronger than him, but……it may not be by a very large margin. After all, I doubt we saw the full extent of what he was capable of in that form. He was highly confident, and if he was the same as he used to be, he wasn't the type to be overconfident.

  "Hey, didn't you say he has a weakness, Art?" Inquired Rion curiously.

  Ah, yes……

  "That's right, he is deathly afraid of frogs. I do not know how or why he developed that phobia, I once attempted to cure it through exposure therapy. More specifically, I locked him in a room filled with frogs for an entire day……that only made it worse, and nearly left him in a catatonic state. After that, even the sight of the sight of a frog makes him freeze and tremble," I explained.

  "Seriously? That's kinda……huh," Replied Rion with a look of surprise.

  "Even with a weakness like that, I would prefer it if we actually had a way to beat him in a fight. He's definitely stronger than us……a lot stronger. I nearly lost my arm," Responded Azeria with a sigh, before moving her right arm around, which was scarred at the point where it had been torn off.

  We had managed to stitch it back and heal it, but the fact that it had been torn off in the first place was highly concerning……that boy is far too strong.

  "Hm, perhaps it would be a good idea to absorb some 'souls', if each of us can develop at least two Elemental Magic types, we might be able to put up a fight," I suggested.

  "We'll need at least six thousand people to sacrifice though, for all six of us to get a second Elemental Magic type," Pointed out Rion.

  "True, that will not be easy……even if we request more slum residents as test subjects, it will be difficult to get that many, not to mention that we'd need at least a thousand people with the same type of Elemental Magic. This world is so small, there aren't nearly enough expendable humans available."

  "Man, you really don't see other people as anything but resources or assets slash liabilities, do you? Well, I have to respect the fact that you treat everyone like that indiscriminately," Shrugged Rion with a sigh.

  "Hm? You think so?" I replied in surprise.

  I had never really thought about it……but perhaps he has a point.

  "You honestly never realized it? You always refer to incompetent subordinates as liabilities, and I've heard you mumbling to yourself that you would probably kill Hacte if he wasn't such an asset," Added Azeria in agreement.

  "Oh……well, that makes me sound rather heartless, I don't think I'm that cold a person, am I?"

  "……dude, you sold out your fifteen year old apprentice to save your own skin, you tell me," Rion responded with a raised eyebrow.

  I suppose that was fair enough……

  "I admit, that was not my proudest moment……that cult was rather terrifying though, I was quite desperate to cut my ties with them. Well, excuses won't change the past, I suppose," I sighed wistfully.

  "You don't really get emotionally attached to anything or anyone, do you?"

  "No, I suppose I don't."

  The door of the meeting hall then opened, and Hacte walked in, followed by Kuua and Presde.

  "This is so stupid, I hate meetings……so you guys ran into someone stronger than you, big fucking deal," Huffed Kuua, her expression irritable.

  She had not gotten to fight my old apprentice, and as a result……she was sulking. What a troublesome woman, she is either dramatically gloomy and bored or overwhelmingly hyper and restless, there is no in-between. At the moment, it was the former. She is the type to live in the short-term and chase thrills to stave off her boredom……therefore, she was not happy about missing out on fighting the strongest enemy we had encountered by far.

  "Are you seriously still upset over missing the fight? I would have gladly traded places with you, you should be glad that you did not get involved," Remarked Azeria with a frown.

  "I'm not upset, you little fox bitch! I don't care about missing out on the fight, what makes you think I'm upset, huh!?" She snapped defensively.

  "……my mistake," Azeria sighed in exasperation.

  At some point, we had all gotten used to this and found ways to deal with her mood swings……but it never got easier.

  "You should really grow up, Kuua. You're like a little kid getting all sulky," Chimed in Rion.

  Idiot, do not add fuel to the-!

  "Huh, what'd you just say, turtle boy!?"-

  fire.

  "Hm? Oh, I said 'you should really grow up-'."

  "Alright, that's it! Outside, you and me, Rion!"……

  I did not think anyone actually said that in real life. She was likely just looking for a reason to fight someone.

  "What foolishness, you lot need to settle down-," Scoffed Hacte disdainfully.

  "Huh!? I don't need to hear that from the guy who got his ass kicked the hardest yesterday, you were completely useless!" Snapped Kuua tauntingly.

  This was going to ugly if they kept on provoking her, regardless of whether it was unintentional.

  "How dare you!? I outrank you, so-!"

  "Oh, yeah? Then why don't we put that to the test, I bet that I won't even break a sweat fighting you!"

  "Enough!" I exclaimed, slamming my hands on the table to get everyone's attention, "In-fighting like this may have been precisely why we were beaten yesterday. In the past, we have all opted to fight by ourselves since we assumed no one else in this world could measure up to us……we shall need to learn to fight in tandem with each other, if we cannot beat someone one on one, we may be able to do so if we all work together. And besides……Lord Valaque will be arriving any minute now, so calming ourselves down would be prudent."

  "Good point……let's pick this back up after the meeting!" Grinned Rion jokingly……no, more like half-jokingly.

  Good enough for now, I suppose. All that yelling was giving me a migraine.

  "Tch, whatever," Muttered Kuua, pulling out a chair and turning it backwards before sitting on it with her front facing the backrest, her scaly tail whipping the ground a few times in irritation.

  "I suppose that would be the best thing to do," Hacte agreed begrudgingly.

  "Kuua started it, it's not like any of the rest of us wanted to argue," Shrugged Azeria indifferently.

  Presde was already seated, leaning back in his chair with a drowsy expression.

  "Enough, don't provoke her any further, it is not worth the trouble," I sighed, rubbing my temples.

  "Hey, don't talk about me like I'm not here!"

  No one else said anything, and finally, we got some silence in the meeting hall. Ah, much better. It was two minutes to 3 PM, the scheduled starting time for the meeting. Tirayze Valaque should be arriving any minute now.

  "Arghhhh! Fuck, this silence is so awkward!" Kuua suddenly exclaimed, thrashing her tail against the floor.

  "Phew, I'm glad someone said it……that was getting unbearable," Agreed Rion, letting out a sigh of relief.

  "Indeed, I did not like that," Added Hacte with a nod……

  was I the only one who had been enjoying the silence?

  "Huh, what are you talking about, it was so peaceful till you ruined it, Kuua!" Snapped Azeria, who had been dozing off while snuggling her tail.

  "All you brats need to shut up, it's too early for you to be this loud," Groaned Presde, rubbing his eyes.

  Hm, looks like I wasn't the only one who preferred the silence, after all.

  "……it's the middle of the afternoon," Responded Rion.

  "Your point is……?"

  We were right back to square one. As far as group dynamics go……the six of us did not work well together. We were civil enough to each other if we happened to pass by or talk to each other, but if we were all in the same place for an extended period of time……this happens.

  We did our best to get along while in front of the lower ranking members of The Empire, but……I'm fairly certain that the boy picked up on the fact that there is some friction amongst us Retribution Tier members. I had blasted Hacte and got into arguments with Azeria, Kuua and Presde during the lapdog training camp……yeah, he had almost definitely noticed.

  We should have sent more spies to the Rustlands after I realized who it was that Rion ran into the night we destroyed Goldway……within a couple of months of dispatching a handful of spies to that nation, we stopped hearing from them entirely, meaning they had likely been found out.

  The information inflow from the spies in Silvland had also drastically decreased as of late……that boy may not be the only person we have to worry about. Silvland, Bronztan and the Rustlands had formed a three-way alliance, which meant that they outnumbered us, even with our alliance with Platinberg.

  That is why we have been taking our time building up our arsenal of weapons, but……if that alliance opts to strike first, we would be at a disadvantage. Especially if there were others with the same type of power my old apprentice displayed……

  "Hey, what's on your mind, Art? You look deep in thought!"

  "Well, there is a lot to think about……perhaps we……," I began replying, when the door opened……and the leader of The Valaque Empire stepped in.

  "Sir!" Greeted Hacte, standing up and bowing, the rest of us following suit.

  I find these formalities a nuisance, but I suppose it does help keep the members of the lower tiers disciplined. Still, I couldn't help find all of this posturing rather……cringy. Not that I could say that out loud. It had gotten better though……in the start, Valaque insisted on everything being very formal and for us to talk like how kings and soldiers do in medieval shows……fortunately, he himself started to find that annoying and embarrassing, and eased on the formalities to an extent. These days, he was getting increasingly informal.

  Oh, that's right……the boy always despised figures of authority, it was always quite annoying to deal with the displeased clients he provoked for no reason. It would seem that he has matured, I never sensed any displeasure from him during the training camp……of course, he was likely putting on an act in order to maintain his cover, but even so……

  "Good, you're all here. Let's get down to business, then," Replied Valaque with a nod, the six of us sitting back down as he sat at the head of the table.

  Tirayze Valaque, the man at the head of The Valaque Empire. Like me, he too had the memories of his past life, and had been in this world for thirty-two years, having reincarnated as a baby like most people who do. He was tall and strongly-built, with a heavily scarred body and a diagonal scar across his face which started above his left eye, went across his nose and ended just past the right side of his mouth.

  He sometimes acted a bit immature and childish, presumably as a defense mechanism for the immense trauma he had likely suffered through his early years in this world, but he was serious enough when it mattered.

  He had longish, untamed white hair that framed his face, the front growing past his eyebrows and the back stopping just short of his shoulders. His eyebrows were white as well, his eyes were light gray and he had a small mole on his chin. Apparently, he had started off with black hair, but according to him, the sheer stress of his early years in this world Kanekied his hair. If that was really true, then it would mean the Marie Antoinette syndrome is a real disease……but then again, this is a world of magic.

  Anyway, he was dressed in a black shirt and white trouser, under a thick white cape with a white fur outline. You know, like those heavy red capes kings wear in medieval shows. It was rather pretentious, but I suspected there was another reason……

  He was likely self-conscious about his white hair, that is why everyone in this organization wears white, so that he won't stick out. True, they had been wearing white even before he took over, but still.

  Hm, that cape reminds me of the time I caught my old apprentice posturing in the mirror while wrapping a blanket around his shoulders like a cape, I believe he was eleven or twelve at the time. If I'm not mistaken, he had been watching The Heroic Legend of Ars.

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  Point-of-View: Kuro Black

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  H-hold on a sec, th-that's confidential! Er, I mean……that's not true. A-and even if it is true, which it totally isn't……bringing it up is totally not cool, man, major dick move!

  Why does this old bastard get his own chapter anyway, I get that we need more time to get to know the villains or whatever, but come on……all he's doing is bitching about me, and when he's not doing that, he's bitching about his own teammates!

  Couldn't we have, I don't know, told this scene from someone else's POV? I mean, really, he's practically an emotionless robot……remember the time he sold me out, because I sure as hell haven't! And……w-wait, what was that?

  What do you mean 'if you don't give back the POV, you'll be killed off and replaced with a new protagonist!?', you can't just……! F-fine, I'll let him continue, jeez……man, my author sucks.

  H-huh, must be your imagination, I didn't say a thing!

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  Point-of-View: Arturo Lagusa

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  "Is something wrong, Sicario? You look kinda……exasperated," Remarked Valaque with a raised eyebrow.

  "Oh, pardon me, my lord……I believe I am a bit worn out after yesterday, it is nothing to worry about."

  He insisted on being addressed as 'lord', it was quite annoying.

  "Yes, let's discuss that matter. This 'Kuro Black', a ridiculously uncreative name, by the way……"

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  Point-of-View: Kuro Black

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  Hey! You wanna say that to my face!?

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  Point-of-View: Arturo Lagusa

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  "-how strong is he, exactly?"

  "Very strong, my lord. He might even be strong enough to take all six of us at the same-," Began Azeria.

  "Mhm, that's great and all, but what I want to know is……is he stronger than me?"

  "Uh, let me think……," She replied, pondering it.

  "Don't be foolish, Azeria. Of course our lord is stronger-!" Hacte spoke up immediately.

  Quite the kiss-ass, this one.

  "Arturo? What do you think?" He turned his attention to me, ignoring Hacte.

  "Hm……I would say that you are stronger, but he is likely to put up a good fight, I do not believe there is that significant a power gap between you and him," I answered, after thinking it over.

  Occasionally, Valaque asked one of us to spar with him……most likely due to boredom. And he was far stronger than us, he made full use of the fact that he can use all five Elemental Magic types. He literally has the power to cause artificial re-enactments of natural disasters. For instance, and this is speaking from experience, he once created a typhoon by combining water and wind, as well as adding lightning to it, because……why not?

  "Interesting……I think fighting him might be fun," Responded Valaque with an intrigued look.

  "Don't forget that the guy has a pretty legit Healing Factor, I was pretty shocked when I first saw it in action," Added Rion with a grin.

  "Setting aside the matter of his abilities, there is another concern……what he was doing here," I brought up.

  "Yeah, that's a big problem. He was probably sent to spy and gather information on us. Any idea on how long he was here?"

  "I would estimate……at least two weeks. That's when I first took notice of him, and Dr Reel did mention that he had become a lot more competent as a lab assistant, seemingly out of the blue," I replied, recalling the events of the past couple of weeks.

  "Two weeks, huh……that's kinda impressive, but then I guess it's not that surprising. I mean, he was an assassin like you," Pointed out Rion.

  "Indeed. He certainly has the skills to pull it off, but it is surprising……he always preferred short-term jobs, it was quite a pain convincing him to accept jobs that would take more than a week to complete. And he has a huge problem with authority. Taking all that into consideration, I must say that I am surprised that he did this."

  "Well, you know……people change and stuff," Remarked Kuua with disinterest.

  "Let's get back to the matter at hand, what are the questions we need to be asking right now……just how much information did he gather? Was he the only one, or were there any other spies? Are there still any left within our walls?" Inquired Valaque with a raised eyebrow.

  "He likely has a good grasp on all the assignments Dr Reel was assigned to over the last two weeks. What else……he knows the names, appearances and abilities of all six of us of the Retribution Tier. Then there's Dr Reel's death……quite curious, he did not have so much as a scratch on him. I have no idea how he was killed, and I could not find any puncture marks on his skin, so he may not have even been injected with truth serum……but, then, how did he interrogate him, there were no signs of torture……," I frowned.

  "He probably has another ability we're unaware of," Suggested Rion.

  If that was true, that made him all the more troublesome. Just how were we supposed to deal with my old apprentice?

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  Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism! Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.