The Staff

[California]

[[Tina Minoru]]

"Mistress, the sacrifice has been prepared." 

Nico was an idiot for believing my words. Daughter or not, I was not willing to give up on this power for her. And as the last human with Minoru blood, she had to go. After the sacrifice, it was her turn to go.

"Make sure that only the grey and red robes are given entry."

"Yes, mistress."

Contracting the daemons was dangerous and trading with them… even more so. But it was a necessity to bring out the full potential of the Staff of One. 

Daemons demanded sacrifice, and I was willing to make that sacrifice for the ability of All-Tongue.

A sacrifice essential to use the Staff of One without any limitations. 

Blood of goats was used to draw the summoning circle while holy flames were mixed with human ashes to create the daemonic flames. The stench of blood and burnt flesh was horrendous, yet necessary. Daemonic powers flourished in unholy places and I was willing to go through such inconveniences if it guaranteed me power.

One hundred people were staked with one certain being at the centre… the most valuable of them all. 

A Nordic Angel.

"Æela, descendent of Rán. You have no idea how thankful I am that a Nordic angel decided to leave their haven to live with humans." I said, dragging my dagger against her caramel skin. "If not for you abandoning your home, I would have required to go through some extra trouble just to find a worthy sacrifice." 

Æela was one of the Nordic angels that left the tenth realm to know about humans but as they grew closer to humans, they lost the right to return to their true home. However, that doesn't mean they don't have their value.

They are still angels… just exiled. 

As I gouged her skin with a knife, she cried. The gag prevented her cry of help from escaping. 

"My foolish daughter made me promise to not harm you… she had grown quite fond of you." I stabbed her leg. "And I cannot accept that."

Nico held no interest in men which was both a good thing and a bad one. 

It made sure that no one would be able to use her against me… but it also meant that I cannot have an heir for our clan. Nico was impossible to control, but if I had a grandchild who would follow my wishes… it would have been a great boon.

But now it seems impossible and that leaves me with only one choice… 

Becoming immortal so that the Minoru blood is never lost.

I backed off from her and pointed at a minion to remove her gag.

"Remove the mouthpiece."

*Gahh!*

She coughed violently as the gag was removed.

"You will pay… The All-Father will drag you to Hel!" 

A chuckle escaped my mouth. "All-Father? The same one that exiled you?" The chuckle turned into laughter as her face fell. "He doesn't care about you Æela. You are an angel, a forgotten descendant. If you were a god he might have bothered... but for an angel? You can only wish."

Using the staff, I healed her wounds. It wasn't going to be an issue once I learnt the All-Tongue. 

"Enjoy your trip, Æela, daughter of Rán."

*Clap* *Clap* *Clap* 

"Who's there?!"

The clapping instantly made everyone Vigilant and as we turned to the left, a young man with black hair made his way towards us. 

How did he even pass the security?

"That was a good villain speech." He calmly walked forward. "But you guys should have read Peter's Evil Overlord list. Never gloat over your enemy's predicament before killing them."

He seemed to be a bit older than Nico but by not much, which meant he was not even twenty. 

"Who are you?" 

He laughed. "You broke another rule… Attack first and ask later." 

"Attack, what are you morons waiting for!"

Hearing my shout, they started shooting magical spells at him.

But as the spells reached near him— they vanished. 

"That's it?" 

He stood unscathed with a mocking smile. 

"Keep attacking!" 

Who is he? 

Even though the shots were more than enough to take down supernatural beings, the boy stood unfazed by all the incoming attacks. 

However, I didn't wait all this time to have my plans ruined by some kid. 

Taking out the Staff of One, I aimed it towards him which made him widen his eyes. 

"Freeze!" 

A beam shot towards him which surprisingly went right through him— without harming him in the least.

"H-How?"

No… there can be only one possibility.

"Those are some weak spells." He taunted, but I knew what he was doing.

"Disperse!" 

As I chanted the spell, the staff glowed white and his figure distorted.

An illusion. 

That was the reason none of the spells managed to harm him. 

"Well, that was fast." 

His voice echoed through the room.

"Show yourself before I erase your existence!"

Although, I said that. I didn't know if that was his real appearance so I cannot just cast an existence removal spell. Using it once will prevent me from using the spell again.

"What is the rush?" His taunting continued. 

As I was about to use a tracking spell— my minions began to fall. 

One by one each of them fell on the ground— dead. 

How's he doing this?

"Show yourself, fiend!" 

He laughed. 

"As I said… What's the rush?" 

A knife shot towards me which I barely dodged. 

As I turned towards the direction it came from, a figure materialised— revealing the boy from before.

"Happy now?" 

Without wasting time, I rushed at him with the staff. I couldn't keep wasting spells.

I swung the staff towards him but he dodged it. 

"Out of spells already?" He chuckled.

*Tsk*

"Flame!"

A wheel of flame surrounded him which made sure that he didn't escape. 

Taking the chance of his surprised self, I shoved the staff towards him. But surprisingly…

He didn't dodge this time and the sharp edge of the staff tore inside his skin. 

Smiling in glee, I twisted the staff. 

But it didn't work… 

Looking up, I saw him standing with a terrifying smile. 

"You are stupid Tina… and that's a fact."

To my absolute horror, the staff went inside his body and his body melted. The molten liquid seeped away and as I rushed after it— it joined a shadowy figure.

"You messed up real bad."

It was a demon…

…

…

[[Markus Hanley]]

Contrary to popular belief, Tina Minoru was not a genius. She was just a woman that worked hard to make herself seem like a genius.

If she was any smarter, she would have never made such a mistake.

It was interesting to look at her confused and horrified face.

"H-How…"

"How did I take the staff?" I asked, already reading her mind.

Never reveal your secrets… unless you can read your enemy's mind. 

And I had that ability.

"Well, I took a bit of your daughter's blood and mixed it with mine." 

I revealed.

"The only conditions of using the staff is that the person must have Minoru blood and must be female… which—" 

I temporarily transformed myself into a female and took out the staff.

"Gender rule removal."

The staff glowed white for a second before going back to its original state.

"Which is fixed."

I immediately transformed back to my original self. 

Mixing Nico's blood with mine, I was able to make the staff think that I possessed Minoru blood. And removing the 'woman-only' rule was child's play.

"H-Human! Free me!"

The angel that Tina shackled shouted from behind.

From what I heard, she is Æela, one of Odin's exiled servant angels. 

"And why should I do that?" I said, shocking her.

"I am Lord Odin's servant!"

"So?"

Even Tina looked at me in surprise.

Believing that I didn't know about Odin, she proceeded to explain. 

"Odin Borson, the All-Father and the strongest man in existence will smite you if you don't free me!"

Odin the strongest? That's laughable.

"Is that so?"

 Not bothering to waste my time with her…

"Sorry, not interested."  

I snapped my fingers and her body exploded into a thousand tiny pieces, staining the floor red.

I turned to look at Tina. 

"And Tina, it was good to meet you… but unfortunately, you will have to die here. You see, I don't want any insane sorcerers after me." 

I pushed my finger over her forehead. 

"Don't worry, your Minoru bloodline won't be lost as I have no intentions of harming Nico." 

"W-wai—"

Not allowing her to finish, I made her body explode. 

Looking around, I shook my head. While trying to act cool, I had ruined my shirt. 

Well, it doesn't matter. 

I snapped my fingers and the shirt was back to its perfect state.

"That was interesting."

Betty walked in from the doorway with the ninja boys following behind her. 

"Was it?"

She walked towards me with a smile. "It was like watching one of those TV dramas."

I laughed at her implications. 

Both Tina and I were indeed talking like drama characters.

"But how did you know that the gamble would work?"

I shook my head. "I didn't. That's why I used a clone to take the hit. No way was I risking my life."

She chuckled. "So, what now?"

"Now, we go back and move with the main plan." 

It was finally time for Markus to make an appearance. 

A heroic appearance.

"Make sure that the show is perfect… we cannot afford any mistakes."

"Affirmative."

So, now the only thing that needed to be done was to use the loophole to remove the staff's restrictions.

"Well, I sho—"

*Flash*

"Sir?!"

…

…

Betty stood shocked as a ray of light engulfed Markus and when it dimmed— Markus had vanished.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

[[A/N:

Break up before Valentine's 🙂.

No chapter tomorrow. Mood off. ]]

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