Chapter 10: An Old Rival

Yuri leaves his quarters and he walks towards the dungeons, unaware he's being followed. Lorelei hides in the shadows while she follows, wanting to know why Yuri goes to the dungeons so much lately.

Yuri goes down into them and he approaches the darkest corner. Lorelei hides nearby, watching Yuri as he activates a hidden mechanism and she whispers to herself. "What is this...?"

Lorelei quietly follows Yuri as he goes deep underground, and she watches as he chants something in an ancient language in front of a strange door. When he's done, the door disappears.

Lorelei watches as Yuri kneels in front of the altar and prays. She wants to hear what he's saying, but she stays where she is so she isn't noticed.

Soon, a portal opens and a strange purple-skinned man that looks similar to Lonril walks out of it. Lorelei knows that the man must be Rothzal, the assassin who attacked Shana.

She wants to go over and stab him in the face, but she reluctantly stays where she is. The man smirks at Yuri and mockingly bows to him.

"Hello, "My lord". Yuri glares at Rothzal as he stands up. "Why the hell are YOU here? I wished to speak with your mother." Rothzal rolls his eyes. "She sent me to deliver a message to you."

To Lorelei's shock, Grelnar silently walks out of the portal. Yuri looks confused. "Why is Grelnar with you?"

Rothzal smiles evilly. "That damned brat Brutus Crescent broke the enchantment Mother placed on him. I got bored of "playing" with them, so I left and took Grelnar with me back to Mother and she..."fixed" him."

Lorelei looks at Grelnar's eyes and she notices they're nothing but purple orbs. "Who is Rothzal's mother and what the hell did the two of them do to Grelnar...?"

Yuri silently stares at Rothzal. "Is there a chance that he will regain his senses?" Rothzal shakes his head. "No. Only if the spell is released, or if he is inflicted with a fatal wound."

Yuri nods. "Good to know. I already have a mission in mind for him." Rothzal wordlessly walks back into the portal and it closes behind him.

Lorelei quickly leaves the passage and hides in a corner of the dungeons. As Yuri leaves the secret shrine with Grelnar silently following, he shuts the entranceway and they re-enter the dungeons, but then Yuri pauses. "You can come out now, traitor."

Lorelei furiously goes up to him and glares. "What the hell are you doing?! You can't do this to Grelnar!" Yuri smirks. "I can do whatever the hell I want. I am the future ruler of this world, after all. Come to the throne room with me. I have a mission for you too."

Lorelei angrily follows Yuri and Grelnar to the throne room, where Lonril is already waiting. Yuri sits on the throne, while Lorelei and Grelnar stand by Lonril.

"I wish to speak to the three of you about something. The town of Lazarus has evaded my attempts to capture it for too long. Lorelei and Grelnar, you are to immediately head to Lazarus and take control over it."

Lorelei opens her mouth to say something, but she changes her mind and silently leaves, Grelnar silently following her. She gets some supplies together and she thinks of riding Seraph, but she knows Grelnar is most likely too heavy for the two of them to ride on her back, and she doesn't want Grelnar to walk by himself, so she decides to walk there with him.

Meanwhile, back in the throne room, Lonril waits. "Is there something you have for me to do?" Yuri grins. "Yeah. You are good at staying hidden, correct?" Lonril nods. "Yes. My shadows can cloak me."

Yuri stands up and goes over to Lonril. "Good. I want you to use that ability to go after the two of them, and report back to me everything that traitor dragoon does."

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I quickly ride through the streets of Lazarus, going towards my regular meeting spot with Shana. She's there waiting, and I get off of Spiritus, then go up to her. "Shana, do you have any information on your father? Something happened to him."

Shana looks shocked. "No, what happened?!" I give her a serious look. "I was able to free him from whatever was cast on him, but we were attacked by Rothzal! We almost defeated him, but his mother contacted him, then he dragged your father with him through a portal and they disappeared."

Shana growls. "That purple bastard! I don't have any information, but I'll go out right now and find what I can." I reach for some coins, but she shakes her head.

"No, you don't need to pay me this time. This is personal. There is something you can help me with while I'm gone, though. There's been this strange ronin stealing from people everywhere, and I made a deal with the guards that if I helped them catch him, they would leave me alone, but I can't go after him right now. So, can you try and catch him while I'm gone? Graham should have more details."

I nod. "Of course. I'll go talk to him right away." I jump back onto Spiritus and ride him to the guard barracks. I quickly go in and storm up to Graham. "Alright, where is this thieving ronin?"

Graham glares at me. "It's not your job to find him. It's that thief girl's." I roll my eyes. "Shana had something important to do, so I'm helping her out as a friend. Now, where is he?"

Abel sighs from where he and Kruz are standing. "Just tell him, Graham." Graham growls. "Fine. He's usually spotted in the main square, but we haven't been able to catch him because he uses the rooftops to escape."

I nod, then I wave to Kruz and Abel as I leave. I de-summon Spiritus and walk towards the main square, where very few people are right now.

I look around and then I smell ash and smoke. I hear a voice from behind me. "Brutus Crescent. I finally found you." I immediately turn to look behind me and I see a familiar looking man in reddish-orange cloth armor.

I look closer and I recognize him. "Akai? Is that you?" Akai chuckles. "Yes, it's me. I have tried to track you down for years, and now I've finally found you."

I smile and I start to approach, but he yells. "I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO ME!" Akai angrily reaches for something strapped to his back, and he pulls out a large orange shuriken.

I try to say something, but Akai growls. "You destroyed my life, Brutus. I think it's time I did the same to you! INFERNIUS FLAMMUS!" His shuriken suddenly bursts into flames, but the flame doesn't burn him. He immediately jumps at me. "You will pay for what you did!"

I quickly summon my katana and block as the few people in the area back away from us. "Akai, what the hell?!" Akai angrily swipes at me again. "Do you know what happened after that day?! Do you?!"

"Your father said that you left on a journey!" Akai snorts in disbelief. "The bastard disowned me after what you did! He banished me!"

Akai backflips and he flings his shuriken at me. I roll to the side and stand up, but the shuriken comes back around and it manages to slash my side as it returns to Akai's hand.

Akai smirks as he sees me quickly pat out the fire the weapon left on me. "You should give up, Brutus. I have grown much stronger since we last fought."

I give him a serious look. "Akai, what happened that day was an accident. I had no idea your father did that to you. I'm sorry it happened."

Akai glares furiously. "It's too damned late for apologies." I jump at him and I manage to slash his arm, leaving a cut. Akai growls and uses his free hand to blast fire at me. I'm too slow to defend, and the fire scorches my armor.

Akai laughs and he somehow backflips up onto a roof, then he mockingly gestures for me to follow. I immediately jump up and try to slash, but he uses his massive shuriken to block my attack.

Akai backs up and he swipes his weapon in my direction. A wave of fire comes out and I just barely manage to duck. I lunge at Akai and cut his leg, making him stumble a little.

He tries to swing at me, but I quickly throw a lightning orb at the grip in the middle of his shuriken, making him drop it. I go up and point my katana at him.

"It's over, Akai. I won. Please just come with me." Akai spits at me. "I will never yield!" He reaches into his belt and pulls something out. He smashes it on the ground, and I'm immediately blinded by smoke.

By the time I'm done coughing and I'm able to see, both Akai and his shuriken are nowhere to be seen. "Damn..." I sigh and I climb back down to the main square.

I head back to the shady district and look around for Shana. After a few minutes, Shana speeds up to me, looking shocked. "Brutus! I know where they are!" I look at her, confused. "They?"

Shana nods. "Both my father and Lorelei are heading here through the forest!" My eyes widen. "What?! I need to go there now!" Shana grabs my arm. "You're not going there without me!"

I shake my head. "No, I have to do this by myself, alright? I'll do my best to come back with good news." I summon Spiritus, then I swiftly leave an angry Shana behind as I head to the forest. "What the hell is Yuri trying to do?"