Chapter thirteen

"Hahaha..." Pythius laughs hysterically. "Still a comedian, eh? Or ya still can't read the room? Just take a look at the boy. Does he look like he is here against his will? I am only his guest, though I own the place. He has his choices ya know? If he wishes to leave I won't stop him."

"You and that stupid accent of yours. And what do you mean? That good-for-nothing pervert is worth something? Tsk! If it is you, he probably means sh*t to you and you plan on tossing him aside when he is of no use."

"Well... Ya ain't entirely wrong about the tossing aside part but ya are wrong about em being useless."

"At least you are still candid. And you..." She turns to Cyril. "...you heard him, didn't you? You mean nothing to him. Why do you still sit there like a dog after hearing that?"

"Of course, he informed me of his intentions before recruiting me into his ranks. I may not be a howler but among his Seven Seats of Zeal, I sit on the fourth seat, I am who they call Ruse. You have heard of me, haven't you? You work for the Pact, I'm sure you have heard of my works, right?"

"I am surprised as to how you know I work for the Pact. But to lie about being Ruse, that is even more shocking. It just shows how desperate you are for attention. Come...come I am sorry for calling you a pervert. Let's go and I promise to convince your family to give you some attention."

"YOU BITCH!" Cyril erupts getting on his feet and slamming his hands on the desk. "I HAVE REMAINED COMPOSED ALL THIS WHILE LISTENING TO YOUR PRATTLE BUT NOW IT IS GOING TOO F**KING FAR! I SAID I AM RUSE SO YOU BETTER DEAL WITH IT!"

"Sheesh! Calm down, boy. I will ignore the fact that you called me a bitch and still give you a chance to return. I don't know how you know about the Pact or how I am in it since we always make sure our identities are veiled. Not even the members know themselves unless told. But you as Ruse? You can't even kill a fly. But Ruse, on the other hand, executed seven highly trained core figures of the Pact."

"Only because they were corrupt and deserved it," Cyril adds.

"Even if they were, they should have faced true justice. And that wasn't."

"You hypocrite! How many lives have you taken? How many women have you made widows? How many children have you made orphans? Are you saying it is wrong as long as you didn't have that ecstasy?"

"Ecstasy? It is torturous! You have no idea how it feels, to listen to your victim's heartbeat till the last breath. Looking into their sorry teary eyes that keep sulking with regret. Why do you think I left Armageddon?"

"Why? What is the point of leaving if you ended up as another dog on a leash? You still kill. Even more than before now. Are my right?"

"Yes, I do. But only when I have to. I do it for the better good. It is the Pact that keeps order among us Mythics. If it weren't for us, organizations like yours will be rampaging everywhere causing chaos."

"Woah! Hold your horses there. Can you not lump us with those mindless buffoons."

"Yeah love." Pythius comes in. "I have turned over a fresh leaf. I mean ya still breathing, aincha? Ya see, after leaving, ma rotten heart was pierced. Then I thought: the only way to win back ma lovely daughter is by becoming a symbol of justice myself. And that is what we are now." He adds cheekily, "But I still hunt for power though."

"Arghhh! I knew you were still the same. And how is murdering justice? Those Pact members were..."

"Corrupt!" Cyril cuts her off. "Master Pythius said it didn't he? We are a symbol of justice. Tell me, after their deaths, were not all those missing kids found? Have there been any more kidnappings after then? NO! So if you ask me, making them rip out their hearts was a befitting penalty."

"Think love. Three years ago, twenty-four kids were kidnapped from all across the Mythic races. But after the deaths of those seven, the kids were found. Now that ain't exactly what I will call a coincidence." Pythius says.

"Well even if they were responsible, it doesn't prove that he is Ruse."

"Oh, my-oh my-ma sweet heavens. This is what made it easy for me to recruit em. Every single one of ya wankers never stop cumming on his little pride. Ma sweet little fella always felt wounded when ya looked down on em. But to me, that was a chance to lure em like an ant and a cube of sugar. And now he is a monster in disguise."

"Pfff! What could you have possibly taught him?"

"How about I let ya find out? Oi Cyril, ya ready to rumble?"

"I think you know the answer?"

"I like ya confidence mate. So it's simple, Joan, ya manager to somehow make em submit, he is all yours, but if ma little monster takes ya down, ya have to live like tonight never happened. Are we clear?" She nods.

"Tell me something first, Cyril. Those people in the alley, did you make them like that?"

"Well technically, they did it to themselves but yes."

"Thanks for your honesty. Now then... " She dashes full speed ahead at Cyril with her claw stretched out for his throat. Inches from grabbing hold of his throat, she freezes like a statue.

"Tsk! And I thought she was going to entertain me better than Bill's thugs." He moves around the desk then gets nearer to Joan then whispers in her ear, "If you think killing is torturous, then you will rethink that fact after this millennia." He bypasses her and then heads for a refrigerator in the corner of the room.

"Lord Pythius, what just happened?" An inquisitive guy in the room asks. "Isn't she suppose to be strong like you said? I'm sure everyone gathered here was also expecting a battle of a lifetime." The people around nod in agreement.

"Hmm... This is why I warned her as a kid to always picture her opponent as the last freaking boss of a game. But I guess it's her fault for letting her guard down against a strong opponent. Now listen, y'all know Casters have five levels in their Emo measurement depending on the amount they have. They use this Emo in casting spells and the measurement of the power of the spell is arranged in the same order: First tier, Second tier, Third tire, Silver tier and Gold tier. The Casters have many spells they learn and they all come in the five levels each. But ma lad wasn't interested in learning the basics of every spell before improving on em. Instead, he singled out a single spell, Alucinar, a hypnotic spell. But the best part is that he didn't stop when he achieved the Golden tier of Alucinar but kept pushing and now he has something much more than the Golden tier. This rank is unknown so he calls this new skill, Ruse and hence his code name."

"Woahhhh! How does it work sir?"

"Not sure myself. But I will warn ya not to let em into ya head. He will make ya more than just see stuff. Ya will become a puppet."